D.C. Upgrade Pays OffD.C. Upgrade Pays Off

The Washington, D.C., government is past the half-way point of a multiyear, $71.5 million overhaul of its back-office IT system used by 24,000 employees in 61 agencies. When completed in mid-2005, the system is expected to save the agencies $61 million a year in operating costs.

The massive project includes installing E-procurement apps from Ariba; budgeting and planning apps from Hyperion Solutions; and PeopleSoft apps for payroll, time and attendance, human resources, and benefits and pension administration. The system already has processed $260 million in procurement orders and is expected to handle over $1 billion in orders this fiscal year.

"I never knew how complicated it is to run a city," says Sandy Lazar, key systems director in charge of the Administrative Systems Modernization Program. The apps are being installed in two data centers and linked to the district's relatively new mainframe general-ledger system using software from SeeBeyond Technology Corp.