Major Indiana court software project on hold
The $93M effort was supposed to be ready for testing late in 2004
Computerworld - Management, usability and performance issues have delayed the implementation of a $93 million software automation project for the Indiana state court system, leaving some of the state's individual courts unsure about how to proceed.
The project, whose prime contractor is software maker Computer Associates International Inc., involves a core case management system (CMS) from CA and a linked financials module. Launched in 2002, the overhaul was slated to be ready for user acceptance testing late last year, with parts of it up and running by now. The project is being overseen by the Indiana Supreme Court Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC),
Largely because of problems in the financial system that were discovered during testing, the JTAC project team delayed the implementation for further study. In addition, the state has suspended payments to CA, and seven members of the team have been laid off.
"The first release for a subset of statewide functionality was targeted to enter user acceptance testing in the final quarter of 2004," said Mary DePrez, new director of the case management system for the JTAC. "A 'go live' date was to be scheduled after the successful completion of user acceptance testing. We were fortunate enough to identify a few problems early, and we are working closely with all our partners to address them."
She said the state and CA are in a "concentrated re-evaluation" that, although "not planned for, is not entirely unexpected at this early stage of a project of this magnitude." During the next four to six months, the JTAC team will decide what, if any, additional requirements are needed. Then it can determine when the project will be completed, she said.
The largest challenges came from the financial module, Masterpiece, which clerks and court officials will use to process fines and perform other duties. Masterpiece is now part of ERP software vendor SSA Global Technologies Inc.'s portfolio. When first sold to JTAC, it was part of CA's business applications suite.
"Following the assessment of the application that had been delivered to JTAC from CA during the month of December, we had a collective gasp ... as to what we had and what we needed," said Mark Renner, the Marion County court administrator and a member of the governing board under the JTAC. Marion County was one of the initial testers of the system in December.
Although Masterpiece works well in the private sector, it's too sophisticated for clerks and other users in the court, Renner said.
A CA spokesman acknowledged that "there was



- Excel 2010 Cheat Sheet
- Register for this Computerworld Insider Cheat Sheet and gain access to hundreds of premium content articles, guides, product reviews and more.
- Forrester Total Economic Impact (TEI) Case Study - Oracle
- In this paper, Forrester Consulting examines the total economic impact and potential return on investment (ROI) realized by three Enterprise organizations as they...
- The Hidden Truth About Virtualizing Business-Critical Applications
- This IDG whitepaper highlights key findings based on the Quickpoll Survey conducted with more than 300 Enterprise and Commercial IT decision makers worldwide...
- Top 10 Myths About Virtualizing Business-Critical Applications
- Even though virtualization has brought positive change to enterprise IT over the last decade, some skepticism remains about how valuable virtualization can be...
- Enterprise Java Applications on VMware: Unix to Linux Migration Guide
- This guide focuses on key considerations for IT Architects who are in the process of migrating Java applications from UNIX to Linux as...
- Virtualizing Tier 1 Applications: A Critical Step on the Journey Toward the Private Cloud
- This IDC white paper explains how much of the Enterprise IT community is at a crossroads in extending their journey to the private... All Applications White Papers
- Live Webcast
Banish Poor Application Performance: Eliminate Business Disruptions, Increase End User Productivity - End User Experience, 30-Min Webinar
Wed. Feb. 22nd ~ 11 AM ET
Are you ready to gain the proactive ability to rapidly respond... - Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
- Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
- Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
- Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
- Virtualize Business-Critical Applications with Confidence
- Virtualizing business-critical applications has become a key focus for organizations as they move along their virtualization journey. With the launch of VMware vSphere®...
- Discover the Benefits of Virtualization for Federal Applications
- Want to say goodbye to missed SLAs? VMware can help you virtualize mission-critical applications such as Oracle, MS Exchange and SharePoint to achieve...
- Reduce Application Lifecycle Management Costs with VMware ThinApp
- Traditional desktop application deployment and management is a time-consuming and costly endeavor for IT. From development to deployment, including help desk support, the... All Applications Webcasts