Government It Crash Plans Found Wanting
The Age
Tuesday November 26, 1996
MORE than two-thirds of government organisations have no recovery plan for an IT disaster, a new report from the Bureau of Statistics has found.
Of those that do, according to the report, only one in 10 have a "hot site" plan with ready-to-run alternative systems to prevent downtime.
The study of government information technology also reveals that some departments of both state and federal governments can not provide accurate data on their IT use, equipment and spending. The study covered the 93-94 financial year.
According to the bureau, in 1993-94:
Total government spending on information technology and telecommunications was $2.265 billion for the year, with $1.922 billion in expenses (including equipment not capitalised) and $343 million in spending on hardware.
Federal government organisations had an average one IT professional to every 22 employees, while the state average was about one to 51.
There were more workstations than computer-using workers in government: the overall ratio was about 1.1 stations to a user.
An average of $7800 in running costs was spent for each computer user.
An average 72 per cent of government employees were computer users.
Smaller organisations spent less on operating costs per user.
Wages and salaries made up about a third of all IT and telecommunications spending.
$614 million of government IT and telecommunications spending went to outside bodies. The federal goverment spent $283.5 million on outsourcing, compared to $331.2 million by the states.
A similar study of corporate IT use is due out early next year; the bureau expects its figures to be more reliable than the government version, a spokesman says.
© 1996 The Age