The launch of a sweeping new system for Vermont government contracting stumbled earlier this month when state IT staff discovered “security-related issues” and other bugs during its rollout, internal emails reviewed by VTDigger indicate.
The botched debut means state employees are left managing day-to-day operations using a contingency plan. The staff team implementing VTBuys has urged workers across departments to hold off on non-urgent invoices, stop working with new suppliers if possible, and delay new contracts, according to the emails. The stopgap protocols require documenting a variety of processes that will need to be re-input once the new system rolls out.
VTBuys is a joint project of the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services — which houses the state’s Office of Purchasing and Contracting — and the Vermont Agency of Digital Services, which takes a leadership role on state IT projects.
The new digital platform is intended to modernize the way Vermont state government works with vendors, creating a single streamlined interface for bids, contracts and payments. The system “will be a single-stop shop for businesses to register as suppliers, submit all paperwork, sign up for bid notifications, and complete all of their transactions with the state,” as described by the department on its website
In an interview, Wanda Minoli, commissioner of the Department of Buildings and General Services, called the initiative “a radical change in how we pay bills and do contracts.”
She described this month’s hiccups as routine.
“You’ll have that with every project,” Minoli said. “This is a good thing, not a bad thing.”
The massive redesign of how the state works with vendors began in 2019. The state inked a $6.4 million contract with multinational company KPMG for the project, with an additional “software solution service” contract valued at $595,000 per year, Minoli said.
The Agency of Digital Services maintains a public-facing dashboard with details about state IT initiatives. The interface had listed the VTBuys implementation cost at about $17.2 million. But when VTDigger inquired, an agency spokesperson said the implementation cost was actually half that, and the dashboard has since been changed. The project is listed as 17 months behind an “initial completion date.”
The House Committee on Energy and Digital Services crafted a law this year requiring more detailed information on ongoing projects moving forward.
Early on, the VTBuys project hit a number of delays as BGS responded to emergencies, first related to the Covid-19 pandemic and then the 2023 flooding, which damaged 22 state buildings in Montpelier. Repairs to those buildings have been a top priority for Buildings and General Services, according to Minoli.
As the combined Building and General Services and Agency of Digital Services team got closer to launch this year, they set a July 1 target. The idea was that by coinciding with the new fiscal year, the change would be less disruptive, Minoli said.
But the day of the rollout, the implementation team discovered immediate problems.
“Due to a technical issue, the VTBuys rolling ‘go live’ will not begin today,” the team wrote to state employees on July 1. “We will share the revised timeline for our rolling launch as soon as possible.”
More than two weeks later, the timeline still isn’t clear. Minoli declined to share when the new system might go live.
On July 11, the project team conveyed additional issues about the launch to employees across state government.
“After careful consideration of the ongoing challenges with the deployment and delays in achieving a successful go-live of the VTBuys system, the State executive leadership has made the decision to discontinue all efforts related to the production deployment of the system,” wrote Stacy Gibson-Grandfield, director of the Agency of Digital Service’s enterprise project management office.
The new goal was restoring the previous financial management system called VISION.
“State IT staff are now directed to focus on reverting functionality back to VISION without delay,” the email said. “Restoring VISION to its normal function is our top priority, ensuring that business offices can operate seamlessly … to avoid any financial impacts.”
On July 14, state IT leaders said security issues had been resolved, but bugs remained. Minoli said Wednesday that seven out of 12 bugs identified had been fixed.
Despite the rocky start, Minoli remains optimistic about VTBuys. She said once the system is operational, vendors will no longer have to re-input the same information over and over, and disparate processes will be consolidated into one platform.
“It is going to change how we can do business,” the commissioner said.
