Questions on Budget Effect of Computer Dispute
Lawmakers tell both IBM and the Department of Information Resources to solve a contract dispute as soon as possible. The Department of Information Resources says IBM is falling short of goals in managing the state's data center and has put IBM on notice that they have 30 days to fix some issues or face losing the contract. State Representative John Otto says this will affect state agency budget requests that are due in a couple of months so this issue needs to be fixed. "Agencies are going to need to know what their requirements and costs are going to be." The state is looking into contingency plans in case the contract is cancelled while IBM is defending it's handling of the contract so far. The state however says IBM is far behind the goal of getting state agencies switched to the new IBM managed data center.
