Fiscal Fridays: Shining the Light on Luma (11/29/24, video 6:01 includes transcript)
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a category of business software that automates business processes and is supposed to provide insights and internal controls.
Niklas Kleinworth summarizes Idaho’s big government ERP software project overhaul to replace an outdated system that was no longer being maintained with a new one, called Luma
Unfortunately, Luma has been a major financial burden for taxpayers. It is now hundreds of million dollars over budget and will not yield the savings originally promised. From $14.5 million in lost funds to increased staffing costs, Luma's implementation has been a disaster from start to finish.
Kleinworth discusses the lessons learned and what needs to be done to prevent future mistakes.
Video includes additional references.
ED NOTE
Unfortunately, over-promise, over-budget and under-delivery is par for the course with virtually any large software project, especially one paid for with other people’s (i.e., taxpayer) money.
Kleinworth points out that we're stuck with this project: We cannot go back to the old one and it would be even more expensive -- and possibly just as unsuccessful -- to build another new one. Since we’re stuck with this project, where’s the incentive to fix these issues?
As Fred Birnbaum stated in his article (linked below):
"The taxpayers of Idaho are really the ones left holding the bag when it comes to big projects, programs, and initiatives that fail to meet the stated objectives. They ultimately bear the cost of these failures, not the folks at the Capitol. Luma needs an overhaul, and fast, before the taxpayers are hurt anymore."Related:
Idaho Freedom Foundation 2024 Pork Report: idahofreedom.org/24pork
Luma: Unpacking Another Failing System. By Fred Birnbaum (11/27/24): idahofreedom.org/luma-u…
Luma Project Homepage:
