VSEA, NEA rip state's use of high-priced consultant
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By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau - Published: November 4, 2009
MONTPELIER – Two of the state's largest unions criticized the Douglas Administration Tuesday for inking a high-dollar contract with a Connecticut consulting firm at a time when fiscal woes have led to the recent layoffs of at least 25 state employees.
The Vermont Department of Information and Innovation will pay Technology Partners International more than $300,000 this year to analyze the state's information-technology systems. David Tucker, interim commission of the department, which oversees the government's technology systems, says the contract will provide needed insights and recommendations for improvement.
"We decided in the spring what we needed to do was to engage an outside consultant to come in and really do an analysis of how we're delivering these services," Tucker said. "They'll gather some data, use data they've collected in other places … and come back with series of recommendations of things the state can consider to improve how we deliver IT services."
Tucker said TPI, which has performed similar work for other states, as well as municipalities and private-sector organizations, was selected from a pool of eight applicants that bid for the contract. An objective set of experienced eyes, Tucker said, will offer innovative solutions to pressing IT problems.
Labor groups however chastised the move, saying the state can ill-afford to enlist the services of expensive contractors as it looks to absorb dwindling revenues that have led to the elimination of hundreds of state positions in the last few months.
"I think it's pretty hard for state employees to stomach spending all that money on an out-of-state for-profit company when at same time we're about to lay off (state employees)," said Jes Kraus, head of the Vermont State Employees Association, which represents most of the state workforce. "I guess I'd question of the wisdom of this decision, and wonder why we couldn't do this in-house, with frontline state employees, who could identify the same savings a Connecticut company would do, and maybe do a better job, given they already know about how things work here much better than a company from Connecticut."
Darren Allen, communications director for the Vermont-NEA, voiced similar concerns.
"As the state's largest union, we question the decision to spend taxpayer money to hire an out-of-state firm when the administration is laying off frontline employees," Allen said. "Particularly in an area where we already have a department whose purpose and charter is to perform the same work this out-of-state consultant is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide."
Secretary of Administration Neale Lunderville said the consultants offer an expertise and perspective that the state cannot get internally. He noted that the Legislature also has seen the value in consultants, as evidenced by the six-figure contract it signed recently with a Minnesota firm to find cost-savings in state government.
"We're interested in getting an outside consultant for the same reason the Legislature hired outside consultants – to review things, to get a fresh perspective, and to get new ideas and expanded expertise that we may not have internally," Lunderville said.
Tucker said TPI will focus on IT infrastructure like servers and data centers.
"Most of the stuff at Agency of Human Services, for example, relies on a mainframe system that frankly has gotten old and is written in older languages," Tucker said. "What we're trying to do is get an independent assessment of how best to move things forward in the service-delivery area."
Lunderville said the state stands to save money and improve service by updating its computer systems, an effort he said has been under way since Gov. James Douglas took office in 2002.
"We want to know how we can use technology to produce better outcomes and save money for taxpayers," Lunderville said. "We've been pulling for years to get the state's IT system into the 2000s, and now we also want to look ahead. We want to find out, where is state going to be in 2015 and 2020 and beyond? And then make sure we're building IT systems for the future."
Allen said he's worried the consultants' report could be a precursor for the outsourcing of state jobs. On its Web site, TPI touts itself as "the industry leader in successful outsourcing" and says it is "particularly strong at negotiating and implementing outsourcing agreements."
Lunderville said it was premature to speculate on the recommendations in the consultants' analysis.
"We're not going to prejudge the outcome of the assessment," Lunderville said. "We've asked them to do this analysis and make recommendations and options, and those could run the gamut, maybe even to bring some functions inside. We just don't know yet."
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