Tough economy? I’ll take 773 new laptops for $1.8 million.
Obsolete before the box is open?
The Department of Labor & Industries can’t be an easy agency to manage and I don’t have anything other than appreciation for the complex work that their investigators must deliver to employers, employees, citizens and taxpayers. And I can’t, of course, judge what tools they need to perform their tasks. But I do strongly question the agency’s judgement in securing an exemption from the Governor’s spending limits for $1.8 million to purchase 773 brand new, fully loaded Dell computers with a boat load of software when those tools are clearly at odds with a long term technology strategy.
Simply, I would argue that the laptops are obsolete from day one in terms of being divorced from the agency’s long term strategic need to move away from old fashioned ‘client side’ solutions that require massive support and don’t necessarily meet user needs.
In non technology terms, that means the agency should clearly be considering building the technology on the back end, server side of the picture, instead of forcing all of their employees and investigators and other employees to carry around fully loaded laptops that break down frequently and don’t necessarily have the capability to meet their application needs. Each of the 773 computers needs its own expensive maintenance agreement, support system, upgrades and more. It’s a ton of work and this effectively guarantees a heavy burden for the IT support staff for another five years in the frozen model of yesterday.
Strategically I’d be willing to bet that an iPad, or other such ‘browser based device’ with the right ‘light’ back end applications could actually provide more long-term functionality and efficiency than a clunky laptop with all of the agency’s software running that will need a ton of burdensome support. And for less cost you could arguably purchase wireless connectivity so that your mobile workforce could secure access to the back end information while in the field. It might not work in every single corner of the state 100% of the time, but it would in a vast majority of areas at a considerable cost savings.
To their genuine and noble credit the L&I folks graciously acknowledged as much in a conference call with me recently, but they also said it was, in essence, simply too hard to change the ship’s course despite their long term desire to move in this technology direction. So why give in to yesterday’s approach?
It’s hard politically because we make it hard to question old models, systems, infrastructure, vendors and approaches. We are so attached to yesterday’s technology because, as the proverbial cliche says, no one ever gets fired for buying IBM. But in today’s world we need new thinking.
I mention this not only because the Information Services Board (ISB) doesn’t yet oversee or analyze ‘non risk’ projects such as this, for some strange reason, and so no one has vetted the idea other than the agency that stands to benefit from the purchase.
This is just one more reason we need an independent statewide CIO with accountability and authority to make more strategic investments in technology.
This is just one more reason we need to hold ISB more accountable for the management of our technology dollar. From a $268 million state data center to a $1.8 million purchase of laptops, I can’t help but wonder when we’re going to get serious–really serious–about holding ourselves accountable.
Let’s be clear: L&I has made a standard technology decision to buy regular laptops off the shelf with new software. Perhaps you wouldn’t really expect them to do anything other than that during normal times. But I have more faith in our public employees than that. The problem is that we as the state’s board of directors are not forcing agencies to engage in the much harder work of making systems changes to their internal business processes that would necessitate a robust look at their employees’ real needs.
We are, as is our state’s trend and history, often looking for a very expensive technology answer to what is in many ways a business process problem.
I am by no means interested in telling L&I that they are technically wrong or misguided even if I was certain of it, which I’m not. I can however respectfully suggest without reservation that their $1.8 million exemption request exhibits an extraordinary lack of creativity and innovation in the use of technology that should have been more boldly examined and debated inside and outside their agency.
The objection here is not that a legitimate agency has legitimate technology needs. My larger objection is that our institutional infrastructure too often doesn’t push back to question old assumptions.
We spend $1 billion a year on technology in our state with little enterprise wide management, oversight or coordination. We are making great strides thanks to legislative efforts and a growing interest at the executive level but this example of spending $1.8 million for a questionable approach at best is a symbolic representation of what is wrong with our state’s strategic direction and management in this area.
While I have a sucker punch uncomfortable feeling in the stomach about this questionable purchase, I can’t help but think it’s even more unsettling that we bought 773 computers with a massive amount of software that may not even be necessary and seem–on the surface at least–to have received literally and figuratively no discount whatsoever.
Your partner in service
Reuven.
So I just did the math. Doesn’t that come out to almost $2,330 per computer? Wow. Does L&I have a need for high-end gaming computers? Are they modeling nuclear explosions? How in the world do they buy that many computers at that price. I get that it probably includes Microsoft Office, but still. There’s no way it should come to that amount, especially considering how many they bought. I assume they could get some kind of break on price for buying bulk.
Let me know if I’m way off here, but doesn’t this purchase deserve some closer scrutiny?
Jack, I was just about to do the math myself. The fact that they are buying 773 laptops is actually fine for now. It’ll take more time than the laptops lifetime to transition to where you could do everything with a tablet anyways. But, that price per laptop is just brutal.
Keith – Don’t disagree with that. They may well have needed 773 new laptops. Probably not, but lets say they did. How do you spend $1.8 million? I mean, I’m not sure I could do that if I tried. I’d love to know more about what kind of laptops they are, and what’s on them that pushed the cost to $2330 per.
WOW! Amazed to hear L&I finally admit it is “simply too hard to change the ship’s course”. Whether it’s technology or claims management, it is just another reason to vote YES on Initiative 1082 to privatize the L&I workers compensation system.
Seattle Public Schools, while asking for more money from citizens to make up the cut in state funding, just decided to spend over a million dollars to provide a brand new, fully loaded Dell laptop to every student at Cleveland High School. That was last month. This month they decided to go to the application server technology referenced in this blog post. Both plans came out of the same IT department at the same time.
But this has your support.
Charlie,
Your comment is mean spirited and undeserved with regard to “but this has your support.” You have no basis from which to say this as it is the first I’ve heard of it. But can you at least acknowledge that I’m a state legislator, not a member of the school board, and I can’t oversee the Seattle Public School’s IT budget. I did happen to tell Sup. G-J today that I feel they need systems reform within IT in a way that is student and teacher centric and not Central Office oriented.
I’d appreciate if you’d make the comments a little less personal and stay focused on the policy issues (of which you have great insight).
Reuven.
I went to Dell’s website to see if I could pick a laptop with the most basic software and features to see either how cheap or how expensive they really are.
I made a slight assumption based on the blog that these laptops would be for people in the field, therefore they would need to have some sort of “toughness” factor. Cheap flimsy laptops out in the field, in the rain, out on construction sites, or even in a muddy field miles from anywhere would most likely get damaged easily, so let’s see how I did.
Since I could not buy something under the State Government feature, I chose “For Large Enterprise” since L&I has over 2,000 employees.
I then chose a Dell Precision laptop since it is billed as a “Workstation applications with laptop mobility” since again we may be talking about employees in the field on construction sites or something.
Next up, I chose “Dell Precision™ Mobile Workstations” and then next chose “Dell Precision M4500″ since it is billed for: Highly mobile workstation users, Creative professionals whose work demands mobility, Engineers requiring a balance of mobility and home-office use, and IT organizations that need powerful yet manageable workstations.
With no changes to the default choices, the price was $1,320.00. But that doesn’t include a few things.
A few things to note:
1. The price came with FreeOS, whatever the heck that is. Windows 7 Professional would add about $140 to the price.
2. The price did not include Microsoft Office 2007. Another $150 most likely.
3. No modem and I didn’t see an option for a mobile network card slot. Hmmm…..
4. No battery warranty. 2-year warranty would add another $100 to price.
5. 1-year Basic Limited service/support warranty included, but come on, you call that a warranty? Figure anywhere from $300 to $500 for a good all over 3-year warranty not just a Basic Limited warranty.
So add in the items above and the laptop price now jumps up to $2,010. Whoa! How quickly the price begins to make sense to the previous comments just to get a good workhorse laptop from Dell. Oh, I almost forgot! Gotta add Sales Tax, Shipping, Government Purchase Contract Fee, yada, yada, yada. So the price might as well be close to $2,500 per laptop.
Though I would agree that there are some business processes that probably could be improved, based on these facts about a laptop it appears the reason for the large price tag for these laptops may not be because L&I hasn’t figured out a way to streamline their processes to do things more cheaply, but because the equipment to do their jobs costs so much from the vendors they are buying from.
So how much should L&I pay for a tough, all-weather, mobile laptop that can handle the demands similar to any other piece of construction equipment in a tradesman’s toolbag?
Mobile technology may indeed by the wave of the future, but it does take time for state agencies to ramp up to make a major technology shift. I teach online courses at Shoreline Community College, where faculty have (old) desktop PC’s. Many students (although not as many as you might suppose), use laptop computers to access their online courses. Other students rely on the banks of PC’s in the open student computer lab in the basement of the college library. Because laptops are relatively expensive and studying in the library is not an option for every student, it’s quite possible that students will shift their technology usage to newer less expensive devices like iPads.
But the faculty are chained to their desktops, without the access to iPads that would let them experiment with iPad interfaces and applications in order to learn how to mount online courses effectively for those students who are soon likely to adopt these devices in preference to heavy expensive laptops.
Yet the college is not about to invest in iPads at $500 apiece for its 350 faculty members without first investigating the technology and whether it is actually useful for online instruction. Such investigations start small (very small) and take time.
Along with another Shoreline faculty member, I applied for and received a $5,000 Faculty Learning Community grant from the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges for the coming year. The money will be used to buy 5 iPads for testing by a group of about 15 faculty members who will investigate this mobile learning device, assess its usefulness for online college instruction, and disseminate the results of this development work to faculty, staff, and administrators at colleges statewide.
I can hear that you are impatient for the investigation and adoption of new technology to move much more quickly than this. Unless Apple is willing to supply faculty with iPads, though, small steps involving tiny investments are what state college faculty have to work with.
Amy, I had an iPad. I say had because I returned it. The wi-fi reception was poor. Took it to the Genius Bar and was told that Apple knew that, but didn’t have a fix. As far as use, it’s very good as a media consumption device. Watching video, reading books, playing games – it really is a nice device for that.
That said, I really didn’t find it very useful on the productivity side of things. Got a keyboard and stand, but it still wasn’t half as good as a laptop you could get for about the same price. And not sure it’s supposed to be a great device for productivity anyway. As I point out above, that’s not why I returned it. My issue was with connectivity.
Would be interested to hear how it works in a work environment where productivity is the key. Hope it works for you.
Thanks, Jack. We really don’t know what to expect. We may find that the iPad is a fantastic mobile learning device, or we may determine that it doesn’t really work for online learning. Our college uses the Blackboard learning management system for online courses, and there is a Blackboard app for the iPad. I don’t hold out much hope that the iPad will work for faculty, who will likelystill need the full power of a laptop to access the behind-the-scenes instructor interfaces of Blackboard such as the grade book, but I’m curious to see whether the student applications will interest student users.
Representative Carlyle, I will freely acknowledge that you are a state legislator and not a member of the Seattle School Board. I should not have presumed that you had any position on the millions that the District is spending on the new STEM high school – pro or con. I was wrong to do so.
So when you spoke to the Superintendent and told her that you thought that the District needed systems reform within their IT, was that as a private citizen rather than as a member of the state legislature?
If it is as a private citizen, then how did you get to talk with her when she doesn’t take meetings – or even talk – with other private citizens?
If it is as a state legislator, then, as you wrote, it’s not your job to oversee the Seattle Public School’s IT budget. So why were you talking to her about it?
Help me to understand your role when you write about public education issues and Seattle Public Schools issues in particular. Sometimes you write about decisions that are made in Olympia. Your role in those decisions is clear. Sometimes you write about decisions that are made in the John Stanford Center (such as scheduling school on the High Holy Days). Your role in these decisions is less clear. I’m sincerely confused.
Thanks for the question Charlie. Yes I met with MGJ as a legislator to discuss the 2011 legislative session, education funding, budget, etc. given that I’m on the Education Appropriations Committtee. When I comment on Seattle issues, it’s through the eyes as a parent, citizen, legislator and advocate from improved quality on all fronts. My comments on the district’s technology spending are driven by my experience that the approach to date has not been particularly impressive, in my view, and the Central Office has some real transparency problems when it comes to how tech dollars are spent.
My formal role in SPS issues is nothing other than that of a state legislator in a state where funding education is the paramount duty, so whatever is on the table is on the table. Given Washington’s unique struture (primary state funding), I think we need legislators to care about real deal issues on the ground…especially given that it’s really about close to 50% of our entire state budget. Hope that helps a little…your thoughts?
Your partner in service, Reuven.
gaming computers should have multiple cpu cores and a lot of memory to support those heavy graphics ‘:”