However, a source close to EDS has told ComputerWire that the number of PCs going down at the DWP on Monday afternoon was lower than reports have suggested, with between 30,000 and 35,000 PCs affected. A spokesperson for the DWP said it was erring on the side of caution, putting the actual number affected at 40,000 desktops, from a total at the DWP of 130,000.
Newspaper reports have suggested that the problem was far more severe, however, with as many as 80,000 PCs affected by the failure, or up to two-thirds of DWP desktops, which would rank the crisis as one of the worst computer failures in UK government history.
The problems left DWP employees unable to log on to their desktops, and unable to access the benefits system, the internet and the intranet. This meant staff had to perform duties such as sending messages by fax, and hand writing checks so people could receive their benefits. Consequently, it has caused a backlog of unprocessed claims.
EDS apparently put an ‘A-list’ team on the job to solve the problem, and the majority of issues were resolved by Thursday. A spokesperson for Microsoft told ComputerWire that the IT problems were now resolved, and while a spokesperson for the DWP echoed this, she said that there remain a few minor residual issues relating to the email system, which are being fixed to bring the DWP back to normal processes.
The IT problem apparently arose during a routine system upgrade during last weekend, in which an incompatible system was downloaded onto the network. Work and pensions secretary Alan Johnson has now launched an inquiry into the work of EDS and Microsoft over their role in maintaining the DWP desktop system.
The source at EDS attempted to address some of the fall-out, assuring ComputerWire that despite press rumors, it is not now at loggerheads with Microsoft over apportioning blame for the crisis.
EDS has a number of IT services contracts with the DWP and its various divisions, including outsourcing contracts with the Employment Service in 1998, and with the Department of Social Security for the Child Support Agency. Contracts awarded to EDS under these arrangements have a total value of GBP4.5 billion, which represents 85% of DWP business. Over 40% of this comprises ongoing operational and service delivery functions.
But the GBP450 million IT services contract for the Child Support Agency (CSA) has become another fiasco. Last week saw the resignation of CSA CEO Doug Smith who told the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee that although the EDS IT project had not been a failure, he was seriously disappointed with the IT systems over the past 18 months, and said they have proved problematic and unstable.
Problems with the CSA system have meant that only 13% of the 478,000 parents who applied for support from the CSA since the introduction of the new computer system 18 months ago have received any money. The DWP is now holding back GBP1 million worth of payments every month from EDS.
Last December, EDS suffered another high-profile embarrassment with the UK government. The company was badly criticized for its role in the Inland Revenue IT contract, when it was blamed by MPs in the House of Commons for failures that resulted in thousands of UK households failing to receive money when the system went live in April 2003. EDS was then ousted from the contract at the time of renewal in December 2003, and replaced by Capgemini in a $5 billion deal.
This latest debacle could prove to be the nail in the coffin for EDS with the UK government. Having been humiliated now in three of its highest profile government accounts, its perception with the public at large will be in tatters, and it would be almost impossible for the government to justify hiring it again.
