Audit: State computer system at risk in Montana but better than it used to be.

The state’s $14 million computer system, in a basement room across the street from the Capitol, is vulnerable to earthquakes, floods and inadequate security, a new state audit shows.

The review, conducted by the Legislative Audit Division, said the agency in charge of the computer system does not have an organized way of knowing what kind of computer data are potentially at risk and what it would cost to safeguard it.

Dick Clark, the state’s top computer official, said he agreed with the report, and outlined a series of aggressive changes he hopes to have in place by the end of the October.

By JENNIFER McKEE
Gazette State Bureau

Full Story: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/06/21/news/state/70-state-computers.txt

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Montana Suffers Computer Outage
June 22, 2006 By Wayne Hanson
An article in yesterday’s Great Falls Tribune said the state of Montana has suffered two statewide computer crashes in a month. A hardware failure in May caused a 24-hour shutdown said the Tribune and on Monday a fire alarm triggered halon gas which sent dust into the computer systems and froze several fiber-optic cables. Emergency systems protected critical functions, and systems were restored by Tuesday. A spokesperson from the Department of Administration said that system upgrades, backup sites and a new building were high on the list of priorities.

http://www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=99967

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State computer system up and running again

By GWEN FLORIO
Tribune Capitol Bureau

HELENA — The state’s computer system was up and running again Tuesday after a fire alarm crashed it a day earlier. But the second statewide computer crash within a month left officials more determined than ever to upgrade the system and its surroundings.

"Every Montanan can be affected by what happens in this building. It’s humbling," said Sheryl Olson, deputy director of the state Department of Administration.

Olson said the most recent crash is sure to renew calls both for a system upgrade and a new building to house the system, as well as backup sites around the state in case the main system is damaged.

"In the next legislative session, it’s going to be one of the governor’s top priorities," she said.

Lest Montana’s problems with its state computer system sound extreme, the state actually has seen its system’s performance improve. According to the annual "State and Federal E-Government in the United States" report for 2005, Montana’s computer system was ranked 26th nationwide. That’s an improvement over the previous year, when the state’s system ranked 33rd, according to the report by Darrell M. West, of Brown University’s Taubman Center for Public Policy. West wrote "Digital Government: Technology and Public Sector Performance."

Montana scored 41.5 out of 100 points on a scale that ranked states for things like online services, accessibility, privacy and security policies and foreign language translations.

The top-ranked state, Utah, scored 62.1 points, while the worst-performing state, Wyoming, scored 28.4 points.

Full Story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060621/NEWS01/606210318/1002