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NY Pays 230 “Consultants” $722M For Project 7 Years Behind Schedule
democracynow.org
Juan Gonzalez says this is happening all around the country with cities and states converting to digital systems.
The consultants are being paid $400,000 a year. Nice. Because it is a capital expenditure no one knew what these people were being paid so you have to dig into the city records.
For what?
Basically a digital payroll and time-keeping system with features such as "biometric hand scanners to avoid city workers punching in for other workers" and digital timecards.
Anyone up for going after cities and governments who are doing this or looking to do this? It's taken 7 years in New York at a cost of almost $1 billion, I say we can do it for... oh, I don't know, 1% of that and in 1/7th the time?
There seems to be a huge opportunity for a website like ChallengePost to get local governments to post IT contracts online.
Hmm... sounds like an opportunity. Juan Gonzalez says this is happening all around the country with cities and states converting to digital systems. The consultants are being paid $400,000 a year. Nice. Because it is a capital expenditure no one knew what these people were being paid so you have to dig into the city records. For what? Basically a digital payroll and time-keeping system with features such as "biometri…
Hmm... sounds like an opportunity. Juan Gonzalez says this is happening all around the country with cities and states converting to digital systems. The consultants are being paid $400,000 a year. Nice. Because it is a capital expenditure no one knew what these people were being paid so you have to dig into the city records. For what? Basically a digital payroll and time-keeping system with features such as "biometri…
Hmm... sounds like an opportunity. Juan Gonzalez says this is happening all around the country with cities and states converting to digital systems. The consultants are being paid $400,000 a year. Nice. Because it is a capital expenditure no one knew what these people were being paid so you have to dig into the city records. For what? Basically a digital payroll and time-keeping system with features such as "biometri…
I used to put together proposals for a huge general contractor as a marketing assistant. The completed government proposals usually consisted of between 15 and 30 three inch ring binders of information. It would take me 20 minutes just to load it into FedEx via hand truck from my car. (This would be for something like a military barracks, I'm not talking about skyscrapers or stadiums. Not to mention that it wasn't uncommon to have several rounds of RFP's.) Contrast that with a civilian proposal that would be two or three binders. Software is not construction, but I'm willing to bet the process of bidding is similar.
In other words, it's a fat payday if you can stomach the process, but few can. This is also doubly sinister in that it's a process that is going to be particularly distasteful to just the sort of person that would make a great developer; one who holds efficiency and ingenuity on high, etc... Which is exactly how you end up with terrible DMV sites and CIA, FBI and DHSA databases that are unsearchable, and won't talk to each other.
Addenda: I'm not trying to put people off. I just want to shed some light on exactly how much pain is here: A LOT. Maybe the game-changer isn't someone getting the contracts and doing great, but someone rejiggering the bidding process?
Hmm... sounds like an opportunity. Juan Gonzalez says this is happening all around the country with cities and states converting to digital systems. The consultants are being paid $400,000 a year. Nice. Because it is a capital expenditure no one knew what these people were being paid so you have to dig into the city records. For what? Basically a digital payroll and time-keeping system with features such as "biometri…
Another point to consider is that you're going to be building something that needs to last for many-many years and can take on new interfaces over the coming years (e.g. iPhones, web, portable devices, etc). You need to build something that is going to be durable, grow, and be maintainable for years to come. Along this point, you'll need to import, manage, and parse old data.
Did you forget the training costs for city employees and the programmers that will maintain these systems? How about documentation?
I know you're being flip and trying to make a point that the city is being milked (and they are), but there's a reason for this. These contractors are doing a difficult, high stress job with lots of visibility. Their compensation, though high, is understandable -- as are their delays.
This is misleading. The figures in the article are based on the hourly rates charged by the contractor that employs these consultants, not their take home salaries.
This is noted only later in the article:
The actual amounts individual SAIC employees took home are most likely lower than their stated rates, since computer firms typically take a cut of each consultant's charges. Nonetheless, these are breathtaking numbers.
This too is misleading because it suggests that the hourly rate is comparable to the individuals' salaries except for a "cut". In reality, this "cut" is likely 50 percent or more. 60-70% would not be unusual.
This is typical of newspaper coverage of "scandalous" IT contractor pay. The project may indeed be a disaster, but those consultants are not making nearly the money that the article suggests.