I became aware of the failure of my Company’s computer systems in 1986. While on the staff of the Vice President of Manufacturing I was asked to look at the problems with the company’s aging IBM computer systems. I did this in an unusual way over the objection of our IT manager I put up a wall chart of blank paper and had the “users” of the systems tape their part of the system on the wall. Each user added their application programs and showed where the data needed to run the application program came from. After a few days all of the users had put up their part of the system. The result was astounding for the next week all of the departments of the company had a chance to view the wall chart. What was discovered was that there was very little integration between application programs most were standalone with data being keyed in by hand with the application producing a printed report. One major fault was the passing of a 3x5 card of items required for manufacturing to purchasing personnel to enter into the purchasing application program. Our fix for the problem was to program entirely new applications with separate relational databases called a Relational Database Management System (RDMS). The project failed when the IBM data processing personnel refused to help program the new system. The revolution has been a long time coming since me and others have known for more than twenty years how to fix this problem.

More and more people are using the internet query methods made popular by Google and others allowing the easy search of Relational Databases throughout the world. They will demand that IT Managers stop this insane practice of continuing the development of obsolete computer systems. The failure to manage state resources in all areas but especially in welfare and Medicaid is costing states $billions. Most state computer systems are incredibly obsolete with information silos, duplicated data and inability to share information leaving the state vulnerable to open fraud.

Systems integration is achieved when separate databases for storing data are created using the Structured Query Language (SQL) database language. This allows IBM, Digital Equipment and other Vendors using SQL to access the databases. The process works this way when an application program needs to retrieve or store data it uses an SQL request to find data or store data it needs in separate relational databases. This is the similar to the relational database structure used by Google on the Internet and allows queries to be made easily without having to write a program for the query.

Most of the public including government and academics still are not aware of the problem. They seam to be unaware that the programming skills used in the obsolete systems are no longer needed for the new RDMS. The following is one example where academics are concerned about the loss of competent IT workers when the real problem is how to get competent RDMS workers and what to do with obsolete IT workers. In short “they just don’t get it”.

Dusty Data By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
Governing Magazine August 20, 2009
How to hang on to IT staff? Very few states, counties or cities want competent IT workers to leave their jobs. Although the recession may have led to some loosening of the job market, once a technology expert is familiar with the workings of a particular entity, she’s worth her weight in gold-sheathed silicon. Enter the University of Arkansas, where professors Margaret Reid and Myria Allen, along with colleagues at Baylor University and Florida State University, have some answers. In a presentation they’ve put together, the academics offer some keys to hanging on to these cherished employees. Among their suggestions: Help employees avoid becoming exhausted from overwork; provide an environment that is conducive to continual learning and change; make sure they work for knowledgeable managers; and provide the chance to receive cross-training. The absence of these elements is responsible for a big chunk of IT turnover.

So why is a revolution required to get the new RDMS? The revolution is in the State IT Departments after all you can not expect someone worth their weight in gold-sheathed silicon to give up their powerful knowledge for a new system that makes them redundant.

What is needed is for one state to develop or lead the development of the nearly 50 application programs and 30 relational databases to run the state’s Centralized IT Systems. And since the new software can be universally used on many different computer vendor platforms once it is developed it can be replicated on most other state computer platforms. I have recommended that the federal government pay for the development of this state computer system and then make it freely available to all states for their implementation. See my articles 120, 138, 143 and 144.