Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning July 2006 » Compuware Appeals Loss of Detroit Schools Work « Previous Next »
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 329
Registered: 11-2005
Posted From: 67.107.47.65
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 8:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20060801/M ETRO01/608010408&SearchID=7325 2430786694
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Bvos
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Username: Bvos

Post Number: 1756
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 134.215.223.211
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 9:13 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Even if the bidding process was flawed somewhat, what's more flawed is Compuware's service. It was horrible and the board made the right decision in not signing a new contract with them.
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Ed_golick
Member
Username: Ed_golick

Post Number: 365
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.246.55.51
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 9:16 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Good riddance to Compuware! The computer techs that they sent to the schools didn't know what they were doing, if they showed up at all. Most of the schools didn't have reliable internet service. Compuware took over the audio visual department and made schools pay a rental fee for equipment that the board previously owned. The four new tech services companies hired by the board certainly can't do any worse.
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K_solomon
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Username: K_solomon

Post Number: 10
Registered: 07-2006
Posted From: 199.178.223.4
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 9:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Compuware claims the bidding was flawed but gives no support for the accusation. Typical.

Message to Compuware: You overbid. You lost. Get over it.
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1953
Member
Username: 1953

Post Number: 922
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 209.104.146.146
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 9:28 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Do any of the posters here have positions which they might share to lend credibility to their accusations regarding Compuware?
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Danny
Member
Username: Danny

Post Number: 4700
Registered: 02-2004
Posted From: 141.217.174.230
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 9:31 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Peter Karmanos! Do something.
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Bvos
Member
Username: Bvos

Post Number: 1759
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 134.215.223.211
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 9:38 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I was a former Program Manager as a contractor with DPS in the Human Resources dept. It took about 2 weeks for a work ticket to get resolved for me, but that was only because I worked for executive directors who raised hell when I wasn't able to get work done due to phone or computer problems.

Most teachers and principals I talked to said that internet service would go out on a regular basis in their school and most schools have gone several weeks in a row without internet at some point during the school year.

While most classrooms have relatively new computers, most of them don't work due to relatively simple problems that require a computer tech to fix. All schools have submitted multiple work tickets to get them fixed, but their lack of clout means nothing gets done. Compuware also refused to do simple lock-downs (I'm speaking of locking down the operations of the computer in this instance, not physically locking it to something) on the computers to prevent kids from screwing with computers and then requiring repeat service calls.

I, and any other DPS staff or teacher, can go on and on with stories of simple and big things that never got done by Compuware with DPS.
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Darwinism
Member
Username: Darwinism

Post Number: 545
Registered: 06-2005
Posted From: 71.148.7.12
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 10:16 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sounds like Compuware goofed up on this one. More than $6M above other bidders and more than $4M above their current contract ? Is it just greed or something else ?
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Detroitteacher
Member
Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 305
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 152.163.100.8
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 10:56 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

As a teacher in DPS, I can speak from experience. We rarely had computer internet service up and running (district-wide). It took weeks to get tech support in to fix problems internally. Only three classrooms in my building have internet access (in a high school!). We only had computers in the library and media center and one other lab (and those computers were so old that one could not use them for anything other than word processing). Our computers are antiquated.

Payroll issues were rampant. The system rarely worked correctly and it was due to computer problems.

At the high school level, if we are to teach research writing, we need the internet (the libraries in the schools are poor at best). We need reliable working computers and internet service. A wireless hub would be great for teachers are willing to bring in their computers for their classroom. My laptop is wireless ready and I'd love to have it for virtual tours, quick reference lookups, etc. We were told a wireless hub wasn't feasible. We weren't told why.

That is my experience with DPS and the computer issues.
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Livernoisyard
Member
Username: Livernoisyard

Post Number: 1196
Registered: 10-2004
Posted From: 69.242.223.42
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 11:47 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Last month, the school board dumped Compuware as its tech services provider and said it will pay four minority-owned companies, three of them Detroit based, approximately $11.6 million annually for the next five years: Universal Sales, GVC Networks, VisionIT and Management Systems Consultants."


Devil's advocate here:

Was this decision based on $$$ savings, better expectations, or was it racially motivated, with the typical underlying cronyism being also a factor at DPS?

Now, we'll see whether the new contractors will do any better with DPS than Compuware. Or, will they simply pass the buck over the next five years? I suspect the latter, and the bitching will go on. At least, a few bucks were saved, maybe...

(Message edited by LivernoisYard on August 01, 2006)
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East_detroit
Member
Username: East_detroit

Post Number: 665
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 69.212.169.194
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 5:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I didnt know that Compuware had hardware guys and PC jockeys.

Werent they in charge of operations? Like servers, handling email that people didnt even have before? Or did they also have people assigned to restage WIndows workstations when they inevitably had problems?
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Detroitteacher
Member
Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 307
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 205.188.116.137
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 5:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My DPS email never has worked. I don't know how many times I've talked to them (tech support)about it. I don't know anyone in the district besides admin who actually has funtioning email from DPS.

I'm not sure who did what, but Compuware was "in charge" of the computers and internet. I'm sure we had internal people but they didn't know what they were doing either. Nothing worked right and that is the jist of it all.
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Zulu_warrior
Member
Username: Zulu_warrior

Post Number: 2958
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 152.163.100.8
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 8:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

http://www.visioninfotech.com/ about_visionit/David.html

The owner of Vision IT.....congrats!
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Jt1
Member
Username: Jt1

Post Number: 7638
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 66.2.148.228
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 9:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Good questions LY - I also think it would be fair to list all vendors. Maybe it was just these and CW and the news is making an issue out of a non-issue,maybe not but your question is valid but needs more info to support it or not.
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Bvos
Member
Username: Bvos

Post Number: 1768
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 70.141.182.153
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 9:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Compuware handled the DPS' IT needs from top to bottom. If you called or emailed the help desk, they were supposed to respond. If you needed a new PC, they brought it out. They handled the intranet and internet website (about the only thing they did well). They set up email accounts, increased the size of your email account, installed network cable, etc.

They also handled the phones and voice mail as well. Did a pretty shitty job of that too.
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Detroitteacher
Member
Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 308
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 152.163.100.8
Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 9:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

HEHEHE, everytime you called someone from DPS the mailbox was full. The phones in our building rarely work. Call the Principal's direct line and someone from Dowtown answers (ok, so you got a message saying the mailbox was full for someone else). When we left for the summer the phones were again on the fritz and we had no working phone line in the building. I think we had phone service for about a month this school year. And they wonder why we didn't call students' parents....HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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Morena
Member
Username: Morena

Post Number: 463
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 216.45.2.138
Posted on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 - 9:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Compuware provided IT services based on equipment that the District already owned/purchased prior to their arrival.

Bvos and others inside the District should know and understand that. If I bitched everytime I called HR to speak to an ED and my call was NEVER returned, should I blame Bvos or the ED? This is a relevant analogy to the IT problems facing the District.

The District email system and website is flawed and has been for more than a decade. I guess everyone will blame Compuware for that too. One fact is that the servers the District has cannot handle the amount of users on the system, which leads to problems.

There are memos on the DPS website dated 2001, academic data that are years behind, school websites that provide NO helpful information, and so on and so on ... I guess we can blame Compuware for that too.

How come no blames Roland Moore? How come Coleman does not Moore accountable?

I would like to know how many "employees" each of the (4) minority companies has ready to go out and serve the District, from school to school. I bet they will focus all their attention on servicing central offices instead of schools anyway. I also bet they will contract out IT services to other outfits because they don't have the internal capacity to perform.

At the end of the day, I can come up with several concerns but there is always one prevailing fact and that is: The students of DPS are continuing to be shortchanged.

REFORM DPS NOW!
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Ed_golick
Member
Username: Ed_golick

Post Number: 368
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.246.55.51
Posted on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 - 10:13 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Compuware didn't handle the phone system. About a year ago DPS switched from SBC Ameritech to some cut-rate phone company. In my building the phones were out about 50% of the time. I recently spoke with their repair person who told me that his company was switching over to a fiber optic system, and that the board's old phone lines were unable to handle their high tech equipment. Total bullshit! You get what you pay for.
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Detroitteacher
Member
Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 310
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 64.12.116.204
Posted on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 - 10:19 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't know what company did what, I just know it doesn't work.
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Livedog2
Member
Username: Livedog2

Post Number: 837
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 24.223.133.177
Posted on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 - 10:50 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What follows is the contact information for the Detroit Chief of Police including her email address:


ELLA M. BULLY-CUMMINGS, ESQ.
DETROIT POLICE DEPARTMENT
1300 Beaubien
Detroit, MI 48226
or email Office of the Chief
dpdcp@dpdhq.ci.detroit.mi.us


This is a photo of “that” Detroit Chief of Police.

chief

Try cutting her email address and pasting it into an email and sending it to her and see what happens.

Livedog2
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Swingline
Member
Username: Swingline

Post Number: 546
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 172.148.72.165
Posted on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 - 12:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The owners of GVC Networks, one of the new suppliers, have connections to the ill-fated technology contracts awarded by DPS to the now-bankrupt Clover Technologies/GlobalView Technologies firm a few years ago. The work was never completed and led to some of the current problems. GVC is merely an operating entity for a few telecommunications executives. It will now have to quickly find and employ the managers and technicians necessary to perform under the awarded contract.
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_sj_
Member
Username: _sj_

Post Number: 1450
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 69.220.230.150
Posted on Thursday, August 03, 2006 - 4:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

Sounds like Compuware goofed up on this one. More than $6M above other bidders and more than $4M above their current contract ? Is it just greed or something else ?




Included wiring for all the schools and hiring an additional 13 employees.
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Thecarl
Member
Username: Thecarl

Post Number: 897
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 69.14.30.175
Posted on Thursday, August 03, 2006 - 7:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

The owners of GVC Networks, one of the new suppliers, have connections to the ill-fated technology contracts awarded by DPS to the now-bankrupt Clover Technologies/GlobalView Technologies firm a few years ago. The work was never completed and led to some of the current problems. GVC is merely an operating entity for a few telecommunications executives. It will now have to quickly find and employ the managers and technicians necessary to perform under the awarded contract.




i figured this thing was tied to hiram jackson and/or the erstwhile globalview group. i worked at clover, and hit the eject button right before globalview made the acquisition, only to see them come in with a faux-management team that was assigned top salaries, and gobbled up the assets until the place became a write-off. (gee, does that sound like kwame and city council?)

this deal does reek of honor among thieves.
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Thecarl
Member
Username: Thecarl

Post Number: 898
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 69.14.30.175
Posted on Thursday, August 03, 2006 - 7:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

p.s. watch how long it takes this group to renegotiate the contract!!! ever hear of low-balling?
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East_detroit
Member
Username: East_detroit

Post Number: 671
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 69.212.169.194
Posted on Thursday, August 03, 2006 - 9:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

An incompetent vendor was picked because they low-balled and didnt offer the staffing and service (as noted by sj) that Compuware did... and Compuware wasnt allowed to adjust their bid to match the lower staffing of said incompetent vendor....

Why was this vendor chosen, exactly? Bidding only makes sense if its for the exact same service.... not just who bid the lowest.

(Message edited by east detroit on August 03, 2006)
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East_detroit
Member
Username: East_detroit

Post Number: 672
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 69.212.169.194
Posted on Thursday, August 03, 2006 - 9:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

By the way, Mr Karmanos said that he cares about Detroit and actually lives here while one of the top DPS execs has a permanent residence on the East Coast.

Who did he mean?
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Bvos
Member
Username: Bvos

Post Number: 1782
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 70.228.57.79
Posted on Thursday, August 03, 2006 - 9:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here's the article East Detroit (should we call you Eastpointe?) is refering to. Apparently Pete blew a gasket:

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20060803/SCHOO LS/608030385
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_sj_
Member
Username: _sj_

Post Number: 1451
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 69.220.230.150
Posted on Friday, August 04, 2006 - 9:58 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Pete blowing a gasket is not a new thing, he is known for these types of episodes.
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Detroitteacher
Member
Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 376
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 64.12.116.204
Posted on Tuesday, August 08, 2006 - 10:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here is the District's response on July 31. 2006(too lengthy to cut and paste).

http://www.detroitk12.org/news /showNews.php?id=1547
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Detroitteacher
Member
Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 377
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 64.12.116.204
Posted on Tuesday, August 08, 2006 - 10:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here is the District's response on July 31. 2006(too lengthy to cut and paste).

http://www.detroitk12.org/news /showNews.php?id=1547

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