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Waste of Money Does Not Compute

In all likelihood, the history of taxpayers being taken to the cleaners by information technology companies — computer firms, in everyday parlance — starts not long after the first digital processing machine was put in service. Once again, it appears West Virginia state government has paid far too much for information technology that was supposed to make things easier and cheaper.

A legislative auditor’s report alleges far too much money has been spent on the $123 million wvOASIS supercomputer system that handles state government functions ranging from payroll to general accounting.

Part of the problem is that though wvOASIS planning began more than seven years ago, the state is continuing to pay consultants to operate the system. Obviously, state employees should have been trained to take the work over years ago.

How much has that cost? According to the auditor’s report, the state has paid consultants from $90 to $225 an hour. State employees on the wvOASIS project are paid from $15.38 to $51.03 an hour.

During the past seven years, the state has paid a whopping $24 million to Information Services Group for work on wvOASIS, including consultants. It doesn’t require a calculator to conclude millions of dollars have been wasted.

And, according to the auditor’s report, documentation to prove consultants actually provided services for which the state was billed is lacking.

How was this allowed to happen? It is understandable that early in a complex information technology process, state officials and employees would have to rely on service and equipment providers. But seven years? How is it that during that time, no one questioned why the entire wvOASIS system was not being operated by state employees?

Gov. Jim Justice and legislators need to get to the bottom of this fiasco. It sounds suspiciously like someone was asleep at the switch.

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