Nov 18, 2008 : Oregon Data Center Manager Quits

📅 November 18, 2008 - According to reports in The Oregonion on Monday, Mark Reyer, the administrator of a $64 million state data center, has quietly resigned for undisclosed reasons.


Michelle Cole reports that state officials have remained silent about his departure and the only explanations that have been given is that his resignation was for "personal reasons." Reyer resigned on November 7.

Julie Bozzi, the facility's deputy administrator, has taken over as administrator in the interim.

Reyer was overseeing a state consolidation project that apparently drew attention last summer after a state audit found problems with the facility.

Some of these issues included launching the project prior to hiring an administrator and building the facility without detailed plans for what would go inside, including a lack of inventory of the computer needs for the various agencies.

The project was intended to save money and consolidate the state government's computer networks, an effort that other states have been in the midst implementing as well. However, not all large-scale projects roll out as smoothly as anticipated.

Earlier this month, the Texas government ordered IBM to resolve key service issues regarding a state data center in the next month or it would terminate its $863 million contract with the tech giant.

In October, Governor Rick Perry stopped the transfer of state data to IBM's IT systems until the company implemented a plan to fix the problems, which was expected to be completed by November 17.

The state also fined IBM almost $902,000 for data lost through failed back-up attempts.

So far, IBM has been paid $175 million under the deal.

An IBM spokesman said the company has been working to resolve the issues, assuring that the "state's data center infrastructure is more stable and secure now" and that the company plans to work with the Department of Information Resources "to continue to improve the system to better serve the state's citizens."

In 2005, the state hired IBM in a seven-year outsourcing contract to consolidate and manage the data of various government agencies. Currently, 27 agencies are being managed by IBM or transitioning to the company's control.