10 ms·
Two years of support for $176,800? What a bargain! As long as this old system gets the job done it seems like an extremely cheap way to go.
by mikeash 8y ago
Two years of support for $176,800? What a bargain! As long as this old system gets the job done it seems like an extremely cheap way to go.
- linkmotif 8y agoSeriously. This is an epic installation: > Officers tap into its databases to track criminal investigations, check arrest data, log ballistic test results and identify “troubled officers,” along with various other uses. There are millions of records and roughly 150 databases built into the system, each designed to address different unit and personnel needs. I also enjoy how baltimoresun.com totally defeats uBlock Origin and brings my computer to its knees. http://archive.is/QZ3q9 http://archive.is/QZ3q9
- ekovarski 8y ago... but then the next paragraph paints a different pictuere, """ It found that the “siloed nature” of the Lotus Notes databases made it difficult for officers to match, verify or search for information. It also found that various systems may contain conflicting information about the same case, or may not reflect the most complete information. Downloading or querying data is made “difficult, if not impossible” because it isn’t inputted in a standard way across databases. """ The contract was awarded to the initial company that built out the holistic platform in 1996 so you've got to wonder how much it has cost them over the last 22yrs.
- MrEfficiency 8y agoThis kind of legacy stuff makes my stomach turn.
- megaman22 8y agoCalling this a "system" or "platform" is probably being very generous. It sounds like a very loosely related glom of Domino databases that grew up organically, probably with a little custom UI sprinkled on top. Notes can be infamous for that kind of thing, worse than Excel even, since it is more powerful...
- ekovarski 8y agoMost definitely - the systems apparently "talk to each other" throughout the day whatever that may mean in their case.
- scarface74 8y agoI once worked for a company where the software that ran thier back end was written in Powerbuilder by contractors in 1999. The two developers who were there had been there for 20 years supporting the system and writing stored procedures.
- cptskippy 8y agoYou might want to double check your setup. I disabled Pi.Hole and reloaded the site with just uBlock Origin running. I did this a couple times with cleared cache, it pulls 22-24 requests and loads in ~1.9s.
- Splognosticus 8y ago> I also enjoy how baltimoresun.com totally defeats uBlock Origin and brings my computer to its knees. Try blocking sdad.guru. I checked and it's one I've blocked myself, and Google says they're an adblocker-circumvention service.
- rwmj 8y agoIn Lotus Notes (yes I had the misfortune to use it) "database" is really something more like a "structured file". It's quite a lot different from a SQL database, and 150 of them is not a lot. The system I worked on had 10000s (although admittedly it had a very peculiar design even for Notes).
- bcoates 8y agoSome of the less reputable and saltier ad networks intermittently run a malware service that does a DoS on clients running blockers. 'uBlock Origin Extra' is a standalone tool by the same guy that works for me against it.
- bontaq 8y agoExactly, I don't see the problem? That's cheap. I'm sure when they switch off of lotus notes it'll cost several million.
- wmf 8y agoThe problem is that Baltimore PD apparently thinks custom enterprise IT is something you should be able to buy at the Apple store. They're going to be in for a really rude awakening one day. Maybe we can send 18F over there to do some pro bono work.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- stcredzero 8y ago18F?
- yurishimo 8y agoI think they are talking about this: https://18f.gsa.gov/ https://18f.gsa.gov/ I believe they are the team that turned around the Obamacare website in record time after it was on track to crash and burn.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- toomuchtodo 8y agoBoth 18F and USDS (US Digital Service).
- pc86 8y agoIt's not pro bono if your salary is taxpayer-paid.
- tvanantwerp 8y agoI think 18F only really works at the Federal levels (please correct me if I'm mistaken). But there might be some Code for American fellowship people who could be embedded with the city.
- Justsignedup 8y agoBargain? That's practically highway robbery (taking from the developer that is)! A developer making shitty modern react apps can make 180k a year with a bit of effort. And I have no idea how many lotus maintainers there are left in the world. Definitely not that many.
- linkmotif 8y agoNot many new ones being minted, but plenty existing ones I am sure :).
- FLUX-YOU 8y ago>A developer making shitty modern react apps can make 180k a year with a bit of effort. Living in an area with million dollar homes and 3k rents, sure.
- pkaye 8y agoUnless you bought your house 10+ years ago for a third the price. So one can make shitty modern react apps for $180k a year with a $300k home you nearly paid off.
- frockington 8y agoIf I could go back in time 10+ years I'd be putting all my money in bitcoin and Netflix
- oreo82 8y agoWhy netflix?
- copperx 8y agoIf only $36,000 of those 180k are going to rent, that's not a bad deal.
- pc86 8y ago
- adventured 8y agoIt's actually not bad, given the way spending usually goes in government in the US. Roughly the cost of one decent engineer's salary in Baltimore (for that two years). I might have expected closer to $500,000 for two years instead.
- DKnoll 8y agoI was expecting way more. That's less than the salary I would expect them to pay a sysadmin over 2 years.
- commandlinefan 8y agoI was thinking that was low for _one_ year when you consider that it's a contract position, so the consultant is on the hook for self-employment taxes and health insurance and such.
- DKnoll 8y agoYou're on the hook for income tax where I live regardless of whether you're contract or employee. I'm a contractor so my only additional cost is really health insurance (much cheaper in Canada since the basics are covered by the government, like $150/m for a good plan) and Quickbooks.
- froindt 8y agoYou are in the US as well. We have FICA (social security, medicaid, Medicare) of which half is paid by the employer and half employee. If you hear "self employment tax", that's typically referring to the fact that you're paying both sides (15.3% over 7.65%). There are a few more nuances, but that's the gist of it.
- DKnoll 8y agoThanks. The state (or most states) tacks some on as well, right? If I was not self-employed my employer/client and I would be paying into Employment Insurance and Canadian Pension plan as well, but I'm able to skip that as I own more than 20% (don't recall the exact percent they require for exemption) of the corp I work for. There is also 13% sales tax but I stack that on top of my hourly. I can claw back some of the sales tax by claiming the tax I paid on business expenses.
- 8y ago
- simonw 8y ago"There are millions of records and roughly 150 databases built into the system, each designed to address different unit and personnel needs." - yeah, good luck replacing that for less than $90,000 a year.
- tootie 8y agoI'm sure when an article like this runs, their IT department is getting bombarded by cold calls from vendors offering to upgrade them.
- MrEfficiency 8y agoWhile the headline seems like a lot of money, it makes me realize how thin the margins are becoming on these tech services. Full stack is still safe right?
- tootie 8y agoWhilst $176k of IT services wouldn't get you far, it would likely be enough to buy user seats on a SaaS product. Not to mention this software probably sucks and there is a big opportunity cost with detectives wasting time on using dated software. If you spend $2M on software that saves you $3M in payroll on overtime because your detectives are wasting hours per week on case management, then $176k isn't a bargain anymore.
- taude 8y agoI worked on a project where we were trying to modernize it with a fancy web UX. All the old timer users (people working at the insurance company for 20+ years) were used to working with the old version that was mainframe-based where they'd be opening flat files, and entering data, etc. they were really efficient at it. They knew all the keyboard shortcuts, etc. These weren't educated people, but by rote learned their jobs, well. They hated the new web-based, fancy UX that was built for them. So, I could see how the old-school accountants couple probably be pretty efficient at Lotus....
- trhway 8y agoi wonder whether some of those vendors (may be some one who already has hands deep in that city IT pockets) gave the tip to the reporter and thus it is a "submarine" of an article to force the police department to upgrade and to provide PR cover for it.
- mrpippy 8y agoAgreed, this doesn't seem overly expensive by any means. But worth noting this is just one developer's cost. Doesn't including licensing/support costs for Domino/Notes itself, hardware to run it on, sysadmins for the servers. (And I don't know what platform they're using, but it does run on all of IBM's OSes: AIX, i5 (i.e. OS/400), and z/OS. Wouldn't be surprised...)
- nodesocket 8y agoThat developer way undersold themself. They should have asked for a minimum of $200,000 a year. That's a huge system. I am sure they are bound to get lots of late night emails and fires to put out. Kudos to Baltimore police for good business. The system works, and to upgrade or replace it would cost millions.
- raverbashing 8y agoNotes and "gets the job done" on the same phrase don't go together
- emmelaich 8y ago$176k is some tiny percentage of what they'd have to pay IBM for the same thing.
- ww520 8y agoYeah, that's very cheap for keeping the light turned on a vital system running the police department of a big city.