The Colorado Department of Revenue is heading back to the drawing board after a consultant found widespread mismanagement in the state’s handling of a new computer system for motor-vehicle titles.
The report by the North Highland Co. found flaws from start to finish in the Colorado State Titling and Registration System, which officials unplugged in April, just seven months after it was launched.
“This project has been going on for a long time and there’s plenty of blame to go around,” said Roxy Huber, executive director of the Colorado Department of Revenue. “What we’re trying to do is figure out where we go from here.”
North Highland, an Atlanta-based consultant, reported that multiple failures led to the disastrous debut of the system, which has cost about $10 million so far and been in development for at least seven years.
The consultant found a long list of problems:
The most knowledgeable users did not actively participate in redesigning the system;
County officials – the people who primarily use the system – were insufficiently involved and represented;
The project was poorly structured, with “adversarial” relationships and “ineffective” management;
The Department of Revenue was hampered by high turnover, inconsistent leadership and a lack of accountability.
Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Gov. Bill Ritter, who took office in January, referred specific questions about CSTARS to Huber.
“We’re determining what actions need to be taken,” Dreyer said. “Over the next few months we will have a better handle on all the problems facing the state’s major computer systems and from that will flow a corrective-action plan.”
The Department of Revenue will now consider whether to scrap or save CSTARS.
Some of the state’s investment – high-speed communications lines and computers in county offices – is not lost, Huber said.
Between now and January, the state will evaluate how state and county employees use the system. That will cost an estimated $600,000.
Then, Huber said, the state will determine whether it can rewrite the system, which was developed by Avanade Inc., a Seattle-based company that is 98 percent owned by Accenture Ltd. and Microsoft Corp.
If it can be fixed, it could take 18 months and an unknown amount of money to relaunch it.
If a new vendor is needed, a new system could take up to two years.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-954-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
