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Police and prosecutors rely on the bureau for information on whether a motorist's license is suspended.

By KEVIN WACK January 21, 2008

By August 2009, when it's scheduled to be completed, an overhaul of the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles' computer system will have taken 10 years and cost at least $18.3 million.

The project -- over budget and more than six years behind its original schedule -- has become a lesson in the dangers of embarking on a major computer overhaul without the proper planning and expertise.

Though state officials say they've made it through the roughest patch, the bureau's long-running computer woes have affected prosecutors, citizens and police, who rely on the bureau for information such as whether a driver has a suspended license.

"I think it was just a case of complete novices ordering this computer system," said Terrence McKenney, a former state lawmaker from Cumberland who's been critical of the project.

In 1999, the BMV set out to overhaul its obsolete computer system, which holds a massive amount of information, including data on about 1 million Maine driver's licenses.

At the time, the state did not have an Office of Information Technology, so officials within the bureau took responsibility for defining the project's scope. But as state lawmakers later discovered, the bureau did not have the technical expertise necessary to do the job.

Nonetheless, a private contractor, Keane Inc., was hired in June 2001, and the project was initially supposed to be finished by December 2002.

Soon, problems with Keane's work were discovered, the completion date was pushed back, and the company was fired.

In January 2004, the BMV began taking responsibility for completing the project in-house.

There were more bumps in the road in 2005, when the bureau unveiled the part of its new computer system that deals with licenses. The problems led to unusually long lines at BMV branches.

Since that time, motor-vehicle officials say the situation has improved.

"I believe that our customers are substantially happier," said Donna Grant, deputy secretary of state for information services, "and our wait times are substantially lower."

Joe O'Connor, an assistant district attorney in Oxford County who complained publicly about the BMV's computer problems in 2006, also said the situation has improved.

"I was pretty critical of them before, and I am equally praiseworthy of them now," he said.

Staff Writer Kevin Wack can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

kwack@pressherald.com