Bob Taft's Computer System Sucks. Mary Taylor Blames Ted Strickland.
Submitted by Nick D on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 11:35pm.
In the summer of 2006, I happened to be present when former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft came to the State Library of Ohio to deliver a pep talk to the state employees and contractors who were working on implementing Ohio's new ERP computer system, called the Ohio Administrative Knowledge System or OAKS for short. I personally heard Bob Taft call the OAKS system his "largest piece of unfinished business" and an "important part of my legacy."
Well, today, this important part of Taft's legacy is holding up the State of Ohio from releasing its final financial statements for fiscal year 2008 (which ended June 30, 2008), which is the State's first fiscal year on the new system. Naturally, Auditor of State Mary Taylor, a GOP hack if ever there was one, blames this delay on Ted Strickland. From the Dispatch:
"How will the governor know where to go fiscally if he doesn't know where he's been?" Taylor asked at a news conference today in Columbus. Taylor is the only Republican to hold a nonjudicial, statewide office in state government.
"Failing to prioritize the preparation of financial statements stands in the way of a timely audit, and I believe the taxpayers of Ohio deserve nothing less," Taylor wrote.
Ahh. I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning. Why don't you call Bob Taft and ask him to straighten out this mess, Mary?
Oh It's All In There..
Submitted by Nick D on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 4:58pm.
... now they have to build the reports to get it all out. This process has taken over 400 days at two other states that have recently implemented ERP systems, as the Governor's spokesperson pointed out yesterday. As someone in the computer software industry, I understand just how tedious that task is. It would have been made simpler if Taft had specified an "out of the box" solution, instead of the heavily customized one that OAKS turned out to be. But there you go.
Taylor's press conference yesterday was about nothing other than partisan witch hunting. Just what you'd expect from her, in other words.
???
Submitted by conservacratgal on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 8:43pm.
Hasn't OAKS been operational for awhile now? I recall most agencies transitioning in late 2006 or shortly thereafter, so how did Strickland/Taylor have the info for the FY07 audit but not FY08?
Stages
Submitted by Nick D on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 11:36pm.
OAKS was rolled out in stages. While the HR functionality was rolled out in late 2006, the Finance functionality wasn't rolled out until July 1, 2007 to avoid switching systems in the middle of a fiscal year. That's why SFY 08 is the state's first on this new system.
No motivation
Submitted by ninefires on Wed, 03/04/2009 - 8:41pm.
Maybe Strickland would get better employee productivity at building OAKS reports if had not cut state employees pay and personal leave for the next 3 years....
Strickland was inaugurated