| PublicationDate: 7/18/96 Summary: EDExpress Software Problems Author: PSS - Program Systems Service Dear Colleague: There has been much concern expressed about the EDExpress software problems we are experiencing this year. Since assuming the responsibility for the Program Systems Division in February of this year, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Student Financial Assistance Elizabeth Hicks has directed the PSS staff and our contractors to identify and fix these problems. We have already provided schools with versions of the 1996-97 software resolving most of the issues that we have identified. In August, we will release version 2.4, which fixes the balance of the problems that have been noted. Therefore, I am confident that we will have adequately addressed the problems that have caused so many difficulties at our institutions. I should also note that the systems problems are not Direct Loan problems, per se. We have found problems in other EDExpress applications and our fixes address all of these. There are no excuses for these software glitches, and we will not attempt to offer any. However, there is a history which may help to put this current situation in perspective. For 1996-97, we committed ourselves to make a number of major structural changes in EDExpress, not the least of which was the conversion from a DOS environment to Windows. This change was made in response to requests by schools to provide a faster, bigger, more user-friendly system. In addition to moving from DOS to Windows, we also made many other changes to the software. In most years, we determine our systems requirements no later than June. Last year, we continued to accept requirements and modify the system design as late as October. In retrospect, we should have stopped that process much earlier; however, in our desire to be as responsive as possible to our institutional customers, we continued to accept changes far into the development process. Compounding this situation was the fact that we experienced delays in awarding the new contract, slowing the process even more. As a result of moving to Windows, incorporating very late new requirements in the 1996-97 software, and the lateness of the contract award date, our entire development and testing timeframe became very tight. While EDExpress can often be compared to any software product produced in the commercial sector, there is one major difference. We are tied to a drop-dead time frame. We have to release software to schools early enough in the financial aid cycle to allow them to make students awards in the early Spring each year. A commercial software firm has the option of delaying release until the software product is completely ready and undergoes a thorough and comprehensive Beta test. We do not have that prerogative. From a schools perspective, these problems were exacerbated by the fact that all continuing schools had to undertake a multiple-step conversion process to get ready to operate 1996-97 in the Windows environment. In anticipation of that, our contractor established a Conversion Swat Team specifically to provide technical assistance to schools as they go through the conversion process. Our technical assistance is multi-faceted, depending on the situation at each school. We provide technical assistance by telephone as well as on-site at the school. In addition, for those schools having particularly difficult problems, we have had them send their data base to our contractor who converted the files themselves and sent the converted data bases back to the schools to install. In every instance when we have learned about a school having problems because of software glitches, my staff have either personally contacted the school to find out the nature of the problem or directed senior contractor staff to contact the school. We work with the institution to identify and resolve the problem and assist them in implementing a work-around, which provides a temporary means of operating the system, or provide other technical assistance to resolve the problem. There are associated factors that have resulted in some of the software problems schools are having this year. For example, some schools have right-sizing problems--they are not using a system appropriate for the work that they need to do. The school mentioned at a recent Congressional hearing is one of those. This school is attempting to process 90,000 records through a PC-based system that is not an appropriate platform to handle that much volume. The result is a very slow operation that aborts part way through. The problem here is not the software but the way it is being used. We provide technical assistance to these schools to maximize the efficiency of their system through implementation of proper hardware and software solutions and system configurations. Other schools blame the software when the lack of in-house technical capability is the real problem. A few other schools have not developed the procedures and processes necessary to manage their technical operations and suffer failures as a result. These institutional problems also concern the Deputy Assistant Secretary and she has directed us to do a better job of ensuring that schools have all the information and advice necessary before they begin operating so that they can be assured of success. We are all committed to undertake a detailed review of exactly what transpired this year so that we do not repeat the same mistakes. The first step in that process has already been taken when we closed the 1997-98 requirements stage in June. This means that we will not consider any further changes to the software than those which were identified and accepted by that time. We are also identifying specific areas where improved training for schools will improve their overall operations. While this is just our initial effort, we will continue to examine virtually every aspect of this problem and make the changes necessary to ensure that our systems implementation efforts meet the highest standards in the future. Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we work through this difficult time. Sincerely, Jeanne Saunders, Director Application and Pell Processing Systems Division Diane Voigt, Chair Direct Loan Task Force |