According to a recent report by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, five of the 89 agencies tasked with
switching over to the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA), a
privately managed IT network, have failed to do so six years into the
commonwealth’s contract.[1]
Through the month of April, three of these five were forking over a combined
$100,000 a month in extra fees.
State agencies have handed over an additional $745,485 on
top of their routine costs for IT so far this calendar year.[2]
The five agencies who have yet to switch over to the
centralized network managed by Northrop Grumman and VITA are the Department of
Medical Assistance Services, the Virginia Department of Corrections, the
Virginia state police, the Virginia Employment Commission, and the Virginia
Department of Emergency Management.
Of the five, the first two are reportedly
on track to complete their integration this summer.
Whether it has been a lack of leadership in these agencies,
an inadequate prioritization of transferring to the central network, or
incompetence, there is simply no excuse for the amount of taxpayer money that
has been wasted on this slow transition.
In a week that has seen millions of dollars of taxpayer
money being given away[3],
the news comes as all the more outraging.
Ultimately, some of the responsibility has to fall on Northrop
Grumman and VITA who were tasked with providing support to Virginia’s agencies
in the transfer process. That means that
Republican appointee and head of VITA, Sam A. Nixon Jr. (appointed by Gov. Bob
McDonnell)[4],
should take some of the blame for the sluggishness of these last five state
agencies.
What will Gov. McDonnell do now to cover his tracks, offer
Northrop Grumman a $4 million grant to continue doing its job? Might as well,
right, it’s not McDonnell’s money anyways!
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