Those staffers' recent resignations prompted a scramble by county, city and Traverse City Light & Power officials who fear that system — AS/400 — could crash and leave departments unable to take bills, run receipts or look up records.
TCL&P Executive Director Tim Arends said there's effectively no one left with AS/400 experience.
"So, we feel extremely vulnerable," he said.
Grand Traverse County IT staff provide services within county government, as well as for Traverse City and Traverse City Light & Power. Officials from all three entities met this week to craft backup plan in case there's a problem with the AS/400 infrastructure.
Arends also proposed that TCL&P staff take over IT services for the city — a proposal to which city officials haven't responded.
County Administrator Tom Menzel acknowledged other officials are "sensitive" about the issue, but he said current IT staff should be able to handle problems. He said the larger issue is that the county became reliant on an computer system first developed in the 1980s.
"It shows me a lack of critical investment in infrastructure in the organization that’s kept it years behind," he said.
It's a problem that threatens to spill over into city government and TCL&P, thanks to recent turmoil within the county. A spate of experienced county employees tendered resignations or transferred to other departments amid controversial benefit cuts and organizational changes.
Longtime county IT Director Don Sheehan and Mike Reed, an IT programmer, both resigned after a critical IT audit. Both Sheehan and Reed helped oversee the AS/400 system. They couldn't be reached for comment.
County Clerk Bonnie Scheele said AS/400 programs are used extensively in her vital records office. She said there are backup copies her staff can pull by hand or else hand type if the system crashes. But clerk's staff won't be able to make receipts, she said.
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"Almost all departments use AS/400," she said. "When it comes down, it kind of comes to a standstill."
Arends similarly said TCL&P staff rely on those programs to send bills, receive payments and help with customers' calls. He fears a crash would leave his staff unable to do their jobs.
"The customer service reps won’t be able to look at their accounts to answer their questions," he said.
County officials contracted a Toledo, Ohio, technology firm to help with AS/400 following Sheehan's and Reed's departures. Traverse City Manager Marty Colburn said the meeting this week covered a backup plan in case the system crashed "on site."
He called that a "1 percent" chance.
"The county does have some staff that are qualified in their specific areas, but this is meant to be a redundancy," he said.
Arends said TCL&P officials will contract Sheehan and Reed to handle AS/400 issues. He said they'll also help draft a transition plan for moving the city's IT services from the county to TCL&P.
"Whether that occurs or doesn’t occur, we need a plan in place," he said.
Menzel said that decision, if made, would be "counterproductive." He said county officials are searching for a new IT director, but won't rush into that decision.
Officials also need to look into a "major infrastructure investment," he said.
"We definitely, definitely need to get out of this AS/400 system that is 25 years old," he said.
©2016 The Record-Eagle (Traverse City, Mich.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
