Pennsylvania Set to Unveil Data Center

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has completed the consolidation of its data warehousing operations in less than two years. Gov. Tom Ridge is set to announce the project's completion at a June 7 national technology conference in Philadelphia.

The consolidation brings greater operational efficiencies and more reliability to state data processing activities that were previously divided among 17 separate centers, said the governor's office.

The new center, known as the Pennsylvania Data Powerhouse and located in Harrisburg, is managed by a team of 10 companies led by Unisys Corp. of Blue Bell, Pa.

Unisys won a seven-year, $527 million contract in August 1999 to manage the data center consolidation.

The new center houses mainframe and midrange computers used by participating state agencies to process data for providing public services such as driver's license renewals, property tax and rent rebates for seniors, unemployment compensation claims and other e-government initiatives.

Among the benefits of a consolidated data center to participating state agencies are around-the-clock staffing, fewer tape errors, better technology, and reliable emergency backup power, said state officials.

State agencies supported by the center are the departments of public welfare, revenue, aging, corrections, labor and industry, health, transportation and education, as well as the civil service commission, state police, the public school employee's retirement system, the public utilities commission, game commission and liquor control board.

The Data Powerhouse rivals anything in the private sector from the standpoint of processing power and "is validation that large-scale public-sector outsourcing can work," said Bob Evans, president, Unisys Global Outsourcing.