Did you know the SFPD didn't even have email until last year? (One wonders how Newsom and Gascón traded grooming tips.) This and other facts about the city's aging IT infrastructure come to light in today's Examiner report on the Department of Technology's goal to "consolidate the hodgepodge of IT systems" that are duplicating costs. Apparently the city's data center supporting important systems like payroll, your supervisor's email address and fingerprint data is housed in an "inadequate facility that is prone to power failures and tampering" at 1 Market Street. Surely Chris Daly has someone rooting around in there looking through Bevan Dufty's email right now?
Anyhow, the Board's Budget and Finance committee will vote on Wednesday to decide whether the data center should be moved to a pricier facility on Paul Street. The hope is that the cost of the more expensive lease will be deferred by lowering operating costs and unnecessary equipment, but no one seems to have a clear picture yet on exactly how much money stands to be saved by the move. Meaning, the vote will probably end in someone calling for a study of some sort.
