Data center consolidation

'When new computer technology made it possible to consolidate our
two data processing centers into one facility, we seized the opportunity to
boost efficiency and save tax dollars," says State Comptroller Louis L.
Goldstein.

The installation of the ES9000 Model 740 mainframe at the Annapolis
Data Center in 1991 permitted the consolidation while providing capacity to
implement the
technological
breakthroughs in
tax administration,
accounting and
imaging of tax
returns described
throughout this
report.

Designed to
handle more than
ten times the data
of previous
hardware, the
new computer
allowed a
dramatic
streamlining
of staff functions,
including the
elimination of 83
positions.

Maryland State Comptroller Louis L Goldstein surveys the
Operations Section of the Annapolis Data Center, which serves
most agencies of state government and supports technological
advances in tax administration and financial management.

Despite the momentous change, service was not affected. The
consolidation also resulted in an annual savings of $5 million in hardware,
software, rent, personnel and other costs.

The Annapolis Data Center serves the data processing needs of most
state agencies, the circuit courts and the citizens who depend on them.
Nearly 1,400,000 data transactions are handled at the center every day,
through more than 16,000 on-line terminals in state agencies in every part of
Maryland.