We already know that implementation of the Department of Motor Vehicle's $35 million computer upgrade known as Project Genesis was a disaster.

Southern Nevadans won't soon forget the six- and seven-hour waits at motor vehicle offices in September and October of 1999, as an inadequately trained staff struggled to operate the bug-riddled software.

Now, a review of the Genesis Project commissioned by the state's Department of Information Technology reveals that the system, 18 months after it was installed, is still "significantly slower" than the one it replaced and will require extensive work to reach the "break-even point" with the old system. The computer system obviously is critical to the functioning of the DMV, in as much as it stores all the licensing and registration data.

Perhaps most alarming is the recommendation of the consultant, Henderson-based Analysts International Corp., that the Motor Vehicle Department "freeze the current Genesis application ... and redesign the application one business process at a time."

The Genesis Project is truly the disaster that just keeps on giving.

"I've never been able to defend DMV's management of this project," said Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, who is familiar with the recent report.

Truth be told, there is no defense for the comedy of incompetencies the agency visited on the taxpayers of Nevada.

There are too many gaffes to mention all of them, so I'll include only the lowlights.

The report questions the accuracy of the agency's Q-matic time measurement system, calling into question the declining wait times the department has recently touted to show things are steadily improving.

Customers can sometimes wait in line for two hours at a Motor Vehicle office before they get a number and Q-matic begins to track the length of their visit, the report found.

The report also documents how the agency studies the needs of its customers.

The agency's entire body of customer research for the project included the following: a survey conducted by a University of Nevada, Las Vegas marketing class in 1992; two small agency focus groups, the results of which "cannot be located"; and a customer satisfaction survey so flawed it was considered "meaningless."

The report then follows with this sad observation: "The term customer was not fully understood." That is, it was unclear if the system was designed to meet the needs of DMV employees or the motoring public.

They may not have understood what a customer is, but officials realized the system they were preparing to unleash on an unsuspecting public had problems.

The report relates that as the deadline loomed to switch over to the new computer system, agency officials knew their Genesis Project had a "significant number of bugs."

They also knew it wasn't complete enough to "allow consistent training."

Trainers were forced to describe the system or show pictures of it to frustrated employees, many of whom had never before operated a personal computer. Because developers continued to make alterations, employees found few similarities between the system they were trained on and the one they fumbled around with when the system launched on Sept. 7, 1999, as an angry public looked on.

As the deadline drew closer, a debate began within the department over whether or not to delay the changeover until the system and the employees were better prepared.

That debate continued until the weekend before the system was installed.

So why did they go ahead with it despite so many indications it would be a disaster?

One reason is that a status report warning the agency to wait wasn't released until "several weeks" after the system had been installed.

I swear, I'm not making that up.

Plus, pushing back implementation would have forced the agency to request more funds from the Legislature.

Officials were hesitant to ask for more money. They feared criticism for exceeding their budget and that doing so would risk cancellation of the whole program.

If only we could have been so lucky.

Las Vegas Review-Journal

-- Anonymous, October 06, 2001

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-- Anonymous, October 06, 2001