How Minn. is trying to get out of the DMV software mess

Not good.

Morale has taken a serious hit within the ranks of MNIT, the state's information technology department struggling to fix MNLARS. The $93 million computer system was supposed to improve how license plates and vehicle titles are handled — but instead has been plagued by problems since its launch over the summer. That's according to an employee brought in from the outside to help fix the program.

In November, Gov. Mark Dayton tapped Dana Bailey to, among other tasks, improve communications between IT workers and those on the front lines of the MNLARS troubles, including workers at license centers and car dealerships across the state. Since her assignment, Bailey has driven some 1,600 miles in her car as she has criss-crossed the state, meeting with, by her estimate, between 75 and 125 such people to hear their concerns and prioritize from a laundry list of shortcomings ranging from "what needs to be fixed to what would be nice to have."

As an outsider, Bailey, former St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's chief of staff and a former Dayton adviser, said it was quickly apparent to her that those working on MNLARS well outside the view of the public were devoted to fixing a system that no one foresaw would cause so much trouble . Numerous officials have acknowledged the system never have been launched when it was.

But the spotlight on the troubles has taken a toll, she said. Deputy registrars range from "frustrated to angry" at the delays the system has caused, while the state's IT employees have felt it from several fronts.

"I can tell you right now, especially after that last Senate hearing, morale is low, and understandably, when somebody calls for the firing of anyone that's ever touched the system," Bailey said Thursday, Jan. 18, in an interview with the Pioneer Press. "It's really unfortunate because they work so hard to fix the system. Mistakes were made and nobody's denying that. But everybody who's there right now is focused on fixing the system."

Bailey was referring to the remarks of Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson, who on Jan. 4 suggested dismantling the entire IT department and then added this:

"I for one am going to be extremely reluctant to provide further funding until the people who have been working on this thing for over these years are no longer employed by the state of Minnesota. And I mean that from the commissioners and the project managers and anybody else whose names I don't know.".

When will it be fixed?

Newman, who chairs the Senate Committee on Transportation Finance and Policy, is among a number of legislators from both parties frustrated not only at the MNLARS horror stories and numerous failings, but also at the lack of a clear answer from MNIT on when the problems will be fixed and what it will cost.

IT officials have promised an answer before the end of the month.

Top priorities: Edit function and backlog

Bailey wouldn't provide any hints as to what those answers will be, but she did say certain problems have risen to the top, with a consensus of MNLARS users classifying them as must-fix.

One is an "edit function." Currently, the software, which was initially designed by Hewlett Packard before being taken over by the state years ago, doesn't always allow information to be changed. For example, if you realize the name of a vehicle owner was misspelled several steps previously, there's no way to go back and change it. You have to scrap the whole multi-step transaction and start over.

That's a major contributor to long lines as antsy vehicle owners try to take care of legally required tasks during the workday.

"That's ridiculous," Bailey said, noting that online shopping sites routinely allow shoppers to change information as they make, or have second thoughts about, purchases.

Another obvious priority is slogging through the backlog of work that folks have already paid for but has yet to be processed, particularly for vehicle titles.

As of the close of business Wednesday, there were 269,531 titles in the backlog, according to the Department of Public Safety's Driver and Vehicle Services division, aka "the DMV," which oversees vehicle registrations and titles in the state.

That's a big backlog — the system typically processes between 6,000 and 10,000 titles daily — but it's down significantly from Dec. 1, when 379,591 titles were in the queue.

MNLARSmess.com

Meanwhile, the delays continue for everyday Minnesotans and businesses unable to sell or finance their vehicles because they can't obtain their proper paperwork or find themselves ticketed for expired tabs that they've properly paid to renew.

Republican lawmakers on Thursday launched a revamped website — MNLARSmess.com — set up to receive such complaints, which they have used to illustrate the predicaments people have found themselves in.

"Frustrated with MNLARS?" the slick site welcomes, inviting the public to share a "bad experience."

MNLARS has potential

While MNLARS today might be a program living in infamy, Bailey said it's become clear to many using the system that "when it functions, it functions," she said.

"The bones of the system are good," she said. "It could be a good system."

Since Nov. 2, she noted, the system hasn't crashed, as it often did during the summer.

However, when asked whether she sensed widespread agreement that MNLARS was superior to the 30-year-old main-frame system it has replaced, she said no.

"I don't think they're ready to say that it's better than the old legacy system. Not yet."

The St. Paul Pioneer Press is a media partner with Forum News Service