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Source: Gary Fineout, Associated Press, May 12, 2012

Gov. Rick Scott's embattled chief of staff abruptly resigned from his job on Saturday following a series of news stories detailing his job performance and handling of contracts. Steve MacNamara said in his resignation letter that he would step down from his post July 1....The Associated Press recently reported that while working for the Senate, MacNamara helped steer a $360,000 no-bid consulting contract to a friend who now leads a task force rooting out state government waste. The Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times this week wrote a series of additional stories about other contracts and how MacNamara clashed with one agency head over a decision by MacNamara to allow the state's film commissioner to travel to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah....MacNamara's decision to resign also came just hours after he responded to a series of questions from AP regarding his involvement in negotiations between the state and a Tallahassee software company regarding a $20 million contract. The company was represented by a high-powered lobbying firm in the state capital....
Related:
- Steve MacNamara and the quiet, $5 million no-bid transparency contract
Source: Mary Ellen Klas, Miami Herald blog, May 8, 2012
- AP Exclusive: Waste watchdog got no-bid contract
Source: Gary Fineout, Associated Press, Miami Herald, May 4, 2012
- As MacNamara exerts control, critics say he's become state's 'shadow governor'
Source: Mary Ellen Klas, Miami Herald blog, May 8, 2012
- A defiant MacNamara defends his record, says he's not leaving -- yet
Source: Mary Ellen Klas, Miami Herald blog, May 9, 2012

Source: J. Nicholas Hoover, InformationWeek, April 20, 2012

Federal government cancels Oracle's services contract on the General Services Administration's IT Schedule 70. Feds spent $388 million on Oracle products and services through Schedule 70 in fiscal 2011....Some federal agencies will have to find a new place to look to buy Oracle services next month, as the General Services Administration said Thursday that it had canceled Oracle's contract on the popular GSA IT Schedule 70. The GSA said all blanket purchase agreements for Oracle services made under the contract would be terminated as well. The government is keeping tight-lipped about exactly what happened to cause the cancellation....The services covered under the contract include operations and maintenance, system development, system analysis, design, integration, data conversion, network management, consulting, and assorted miscellaneous IT services--basically, everything that an agency might need....
Related:
- GSA cancels one of Oracle's IT schedule contracts
Source: Jason Miller, Federal News Radio, April 20, 2012
- Six Months After Suit Between Them Settles, GSA Ends Contract with Oracle
Source: Jenna Greene, BLT: The Blog of LegalTimes, April 20, 2012
- GSA kills Oracle's IT services contract
Source: Matthew Weigelt, Washington Technology, April 19, 2012

Source: Government Technology, March 30, 2012

The California Department of Child Support Services has notified the public that storage devices containing the personal information of 800,000 persons has gone missing in the mail.

The state issued a press release Thursday, March 29, disclosing that California's Office of Technology Services notified the DCSS on March 12 that two contracted services -- IBM and Iron Mountain Inc. -- could not locate storage devices that were en route via FedEx from IBM's Colorado facility to California....
See also:
California officials: Department of Child Support Services data now missing
Source: Jon Ortiz, Sacramento Bee, March 30, 2012

Source: David Hubler, Washington Technology, March 21, 2012

Xerox announced on March 21 it is managing the claims processing system for California Medicaid. The program known as Medi-Cal is the nation's largest and serves 7.5 million people, according to the company statement.

The announced transfer of the Medicaid Management Information System, or MMIS, to Xerox is a critical milestone in the 10-year, $1.6 billion contract signed in 2010 by ACS, which was acquired by Xerox in February 2010 and now goes to market under the Xerox brand, the news release explained.... Xerox operates Medicaid systems for 11 other states, the District of Columbia and the Labor Department, annually processing more than 570 million Medicaid claims and $50 billion in payments.

Source: Washington Technology, February 23, 2012

Computer Sciences Corp. will help Maryland update its Medicaid management information system with a new computer system that will expedite the processing of tens of millions of dollars worth of Medicaid claims each month thanks to state approval of a new $297 million contract, according to news reports....Although the new computer system could save the state tens of millions of dollars, it could also result in about 100 state employees losing their jobs, the report noted.
See also:
CSC lands $297 million Medicaid contract
Source: Washington Business Journal, February 23, 2012

Source: Megan Rolland, NewsOK.com, March 4, 2012

Oklahoma is undergoing a massive consolidation of the technology departments housed in almost 130 different state agencies. Two years into the project and more than $40 million has been saved and 130 positions reduced.

Source: Gary D. Robertson, Associated Press, December 14, 2011

North Carolina Republican lawmakers grilled state Medicaid leaders Tuesday about delays in replacing the government health program's claims processing system, which has faced operational hurdles since the project first began almost eight years ago.

The system's launch is running nearly two years behind schedule. State auditors also estimate it will cost more than double the originally projected amount because of expanded contract expenses and the expense of keeping the current aging system running with its longtime vendor....

...The original contract, announced in late 2008 and awarded to Computer Sciences Corp., was estimated at $265 million....

...In 2004, the state awarded a $171 million contract to Affiliated Computer Services to replace the current system, but the contract was terminated in 2006 after delays and additional costs. The state had to pay $16 million for project costs and a legal settlement....

Source: Brian Heaton, Government Technology, November 15, 2011

Faced with rebuilding its Scheduling Project Management System (SPMS), INDOT elected to handle the task in-house, completing the effort in 13 months and saving upward of $6 million in the process.

The project began in 2009, as INDOT originally planned on having an outside vendor upgrade the SPMS. But after getting a quote of three years and $7.5 million from Info Tech -- the original system's vendor -- the department's IT officials believed that by adding more contract developers they could pull off the project more quickly and for a fraction of the cost.

Source: Scott Mobley, Record Searchlight, October 29, 2011

Privatization would not save Redding much money and could wind up costing more in the long run, a trio of private consultants said....

....Officials this spring hired the consultants to analyze whether private firms could operate the city's water and sewer treatment plants, manage its information technology and run its planning and building departments for less. Redding paid $85,800 total for the three studies....

...The council and a group of appointed residents in 2009 considered privatizing several general fund departments, including police and fire, which together take up 63 percent of the budget. The committee concluded there were few cost-saving opportunities from privatizing public safety or contracting those services to the county or state....

Source: John Sharp, Journal Star, October 14, 2011

...The cuts also are expected to bring structural changes to City Hall next year. Urich said he wants to propose merging the economic development, planning and growth management and inspections departments into one consolidated community development department. He also said information technology could be merged with Peoria County and that building inspections could be outsourced to the private sector...