> That may be true - but if the state is anything like much of the
> private sector, the explanation may be that the system continues to
> run well so there's little justification for a large capital
> investment to upgrade or migrate.
>
> IT systems supporting a process like Payroll are seen as a baseline
> commodity, and it is always difficult to get someone to loosen the
> purse strings for an "unnecessary" upgrade if the existing system
> continues to function. "Eventually you will want us to do things the
> old system can't do" rarely works as justification for the upgrade,
> since the business folks can't possibly imagine that scenario until 2
> seconds before they think up the new things....and then they complain
> that IT isn't flexible. ;-)
>
> The state I live in (PA) runs SAP, and there's actually a 3-way
> revolving door between the Harrisburg State IT, SAP consultants, and
> private industry.
>
Good point. If it's not really broke, why throw money at an upgrade?
I was thinking that there are probably some solid payroll and accounting programs out there. It sounds like the conversion would mostly involve transferring data, but I guess payroll is pretty complicated. I'm just more familiar with website programming and library management software.
You mention another concern of mine and that's the corruption involved between government and contractors.
-- Chuck Munson
Bread and Roses Web Design http://www.breadandrosesweb.com/