As reputations go, the DMV doesn’t have a good one. Every driver at some stage has to interact with this behemoth of an organization. Many who enter its door leave frustrated, and even those who have had queries answered satisfactorily, bemoan the long, uncomfortable waiting times.
Customer satisfaction was at an all-time low, but the state of California and Washington Department of Motor Vehicles wanted to change that image, and streamline the arduous process for its customers.
A quick study revealed that the antiquated computerized system was dragging the whole system down. It was so slow and outdated that it was a major challenge for the network to match a driver to details that were on file the car they owned.
Modernizing the computer system was their solution to alleviate the congested computer network. They wanted a program that would efficiently catalog all the drivers’ licenses as well as digitalize all the 38 million vehicle registrations in the state.
A five-year plan was put in motion in 1987, and a contract was awarded to Tandem Computers at a cost of $28 million, strangely without any other tenders being considered.
Still, the company worked diligently throughout the preceding four years, installing new hardware and software in conjunction with Ernst & Young, as well as working alongside DMV officials.
Obstacles were thrown their way, such as the incompatibility of the old programming system with the latest technological advances, but these were overcome with their expertise as well as additional funds to offset these unforeseen delays and expenditures.
A few months later, keen to see how the actual project was progressing, an audit was undertaken by the state legislature. While they were there, they intended to conduct a test on the system to see how it would perform in a real-world situation. What they uncovered was so unbelievable as to be almost surreal.
The results of the test revealed, much to their disbelief and shock, that the brand new, up-to-date computers that were supposed to speed up and streamline the entire DMV digital network, were actually slower than the ones they replaced.
Disbelief reverberated throughout the State Legislators office, floored that there had been no oversight to uncover the inadequate system from the beginning. Fingers were pointed at the DMV’s inconsistent management style, but at the same time, the question was asked if the project itself could somehow be salvaged.
Upon closer inspection by analysts, the conclusion was drawn that the only way to complete the overhaul was for a further injection of $125 million to be made available. Astonished, even at the suggestion, the committee promptly pulled the plug.
Ultimately, the disastrous project took 5 years in the making, made zero improvements, completely wasted $44 million of taxpayer’s money, and proved to be absolutely worthless, unworkable, and totally useless.