A transition to a single e-mail infrastructure is underway, with 26,200 of 63,500 accounts having been migrated. The new e-mail system rides on the state network rather than the Internet and is screened for viruses and spam. The help desk has been centralized, and more online user self-help sites are available.

Even so, state agencies pan many of the services. The report says 44% of agencies find the disaster recovery and backup services are inadequate. Network services were ranked poor by 41% of agencies.

The help desk was rated poor by 48% of agencies with complaints including calls being routed to technicians with the wrong expertise and with complaints being assigned lower priority to trigger longer resolution times.

In a letter responding to the interim report, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and general manager of the firm’s Civil Systems Division Tom Shelman says the project is the first of its kind and that no other project on this scale exists. “Virginia is breaking new ground and should be proud of that fact in spite of the challenges we all acknowledge exist. Other states will follow the lead and draw on the Virginia experience.”

The work to be done includes 59 projects over 72 agencies at more than 2,000 sites and encompasses replacing PCs, servers, mainframes, e-mail, network, security, help desk and telecom. “Projects are interdependent and delays with one project can have cascading effects on other projects,” the report says.