The Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) earlier this year moved a second wave of boards and bureaus — eight more in all — onto the BreEZe IT system for applicant tracking, licensing, renewals, enforcement and other functions.
But on the heels of that Jan. 19 go-live, it appears the fate of an additional 19 boards and bureaus under the department's oversight that haven't yet moved onto BreEZe appears in flux, or at least uncertain.
DCA director Awet Kidane said Wednesday the Wave 2 release was smoother than Wave 1, thanks to some lessons learned. But there are still risks, such as staffing and maintenance capacity, he said.
DCA will use the Department of Technology's Project Approval Lifecycle process to do a cost-benefit analyze to determine if BrEZe is a cost effective solution for the Wave 3 boards, Kidane said.
A background paper from the Senate Office of Research reports that the remaining 19 boards operate some of the state's most complicated licensing systems — together about 160 license types — so there are no assurances it makes sense to move them onto BreEZe, even though they could collectively spend as much as $11 million from their own budgets for the implementation of BreEZe.
The Department of Consumer Affairs says it will need to bring in additional IT staff to work on further customization for these "Wave 3" boards, while at the same time dealing with a backlog of 600 unresolved issues from the original 10 "Wave 1" boards, and probably hundreds more issues that crop up for the Wave 2 boards.
"DCA reports that there have been severe staff recruitment challenges that have limited BreEZe support, including the departure of the Business Project Manager," the background paper says.
More staff also will be needed to do a cost-benefit analysis for moving the Wave 3 boards onto BreEZe, DCA told the Office of Senate Research.
"Further, the DCA is working with some of these programs to provide workaround systems in the interim as a means of addressing current needs that their IT systems are not able to provide, potentially creating a series of new systems that may not even be compatible with BreEZe," the background paper said.
Some of DCA's boards and bureaus testified at a legislative Sunset Review hearing at the State Capitol on Wednesday. Some boards shared their experiences with BreEZe.
Accuracy of the licensing and enforcement reports generated within BreEZe has been an issue, testified Glenn Mitchell, executive officer of the state's Physician Assistant Board, but the quality and usability of the reports is improving and he credited DCA with helping small boards like his understand how BreEZE works.
The department is struggling to come up with common language when building reports, Mitchell said.
"I think part of the problem with the BreEZe system is that every board had a different definition of what an open case was, or what an initial license meant, and that created issues when you're putting together reports — what exactly do you mean by the end of that case?"
The budget and scope for BreEZe has changed significantly during the past two years. In January 2015 the Department of Consumer Affairs agreed to a revamped contract with Accenture that adjusted the total project cost to $95 million, while excluding the Wave 3 boards from the planned migration. The project initially had a $28 million budget. A February 2015 audit faulted the BreEZe project’s upfront assumptions, cost overruns and change management.
The Wave 3 boards and bureaus are:
Board of Accountancy
Acupuncture Board
Architects Board
Athletic Commission
Bureau of Automotive Repair
Cemetery & Funeral Bureau
Board of Chiropractic Examiners
Contractors State License Board
Court Reporters Board
Bureau of Electronic, Appliance Repair, Home Furnishing and Thermal Insulation
Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind
Landscape Architects Technical Committee
Pharmacy Board
Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education
Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists
Professional Fiduciaries Bureau
Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensers Boared
Structural Pest Control Board
Telephone Medical Advice Services Bureau
This story was updated with comments from DCA Director Awet Kidane.
