COMPUTER EQUIPMENT AND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY Mr. Fazio. We are not skeptics, but we do need to have it in concrete, any data that supports and justifies further investments in computer equipment. Mr. GIBBONS. It is not to say that we will stop investing in electronic information technology, because we know that the field is still changing very rapidly, but our thrust in the year ahead is not to buy more word processors but rather to see what we can do by way of networking these to share common data bases, have different people operating on the same text, for instance. Every measure I make of this is really two-fold. One is how much does it help our efficiency of operation? The second is, how well does it help make a working environment at OTA, such that the best people will come there, despite being able to get higher salaries outside government and will work extra hours because they find it exciting in an agency where the equipment is provided for them to do their work? Our capitalization per employee is still a remarkably low number, as compared to industry and the private sector. Mr. FAZIO. Could you recite those for the record now? Mr. FAZIO. Is it much lower? Have you done some quantitative analysis? Mr. GIBBONS. Yes, sir, it is one measure about how well we are capturing the ideas that operate in the private sector. Mr. FAZIO. Who did you compare yourself with in the private sector? Mr. GIBBONS. Particularly to the service sector people who are also processing information. FISCAL YEAR 1986 ADP ACQUISITION PLANS Mr. FAZIO. What are you planning to acquire with funds in fiscal year 1986 for this area? Mr. GIBBONS. The list I have before me, Mr. Chairman, I am not sure whether you have it in this form or not, but we are going to be purchasing some leased equipment that has become very attractive to us, because it has been leased in the past on lease-purchase arrangements. For example, 11 NBI work stations which we have been leasing for several years, we hope to purchase. We will upgrade the memory and the keyboard of a NBI printer. We will tie the computers together so one can operate with more than one person on the same data information. We would like to purchase some composition equipment to enable us to move more quickly as well as less costly from the disks that are located in a personal computer, for example, straight to a galley or page proof for a publication. We want to purchase some leased equipment, the System 64 processor, which is the central brain and large memory store which you can access from many work stations. We want to get some adaptor cards for our IBM personal computers, so once you buy these adaptor cards and fit them into the PCs, that enables you to go ahead with the networking. We have some printer replacements. The state of the art in printing is advancing with enormous rapidity, especially to smaller size, lower noise, and higher quality printers. We want to purchase six NBI PC work stations that, again, means purchasing equipment that has been leased, and is now available at an attractive cost to us. One has a payback of perhaps two years on these kinds of purchases, which is a very good return on the Federal investment. There are a few additional items that have to do with the networking process that we would like to obtain. Many of these things could be deferred, no question about it, but it means we defer the opportunity to increase our productivity. LEASED VERSUS PURCHASED COMPUTER EQUIPMENT Mr. FAZIO. How long do you expect to retain some of this equipment? The question of whether you lease or purchase is often the time involved. Mr. GIBBONS. It is tricky, because, well- Mr. FAZIO. Technological changes. Mr. GIBBONS. If anyone knows how to forecast technological change, we ought to. If the market changes sufficiently fast, you should be willing just to throw out your calculator. Some calculators, like my watch, are made so that you can't even replace the battery because it is just not worth it. Mr. FAZIO. Should have leased it. Mr. GIBBONS. It only cost me $17.50. Mr. FAZIO. You have an answer for everything. Mr. GIBBONS. It is a matter of tricky timing. When we try to convert from leases to purchases, we figure we don't know how long the equipment will last us, but if it pays off in two years, and we are going to use it for substantially more than two years, that clearly says we ought to purchase it. Mr. FAZIO. Lease two years, learn the equipment, see how it functions, and then make a decision as to how much longer you need it, and therefore, whether it is cost-efficient to buy. Mr. GIBBONS. That is one consideration. And the other half is, we prefer to lease equipment when the state of the technology is changing rapidly. If technology changes fast enough, we will cancel that lease, return the equipment and go on to the next version. APPLICATION OF OTA'S EXPERIENCE TO OTHERS Mr. FAZIO. Does anybody consult with you in this regard? The things you are learning may be applicable to other entities in the Legislative Branch. Do we have common policies in this area? Mr. GIBBONS. We consult particularly with the House and Senate information people and with our sister agencies. One of our nine analysis programs is in computers and information technology, and we use their resources and advisors. We have also been talking with staff of the Committee on House Administation about our ex periences and their interest in applying our experiences within the House. There is an invisible college of people who communicate about these things and we are a part of that college. Mr. FAZIO. Well, that is good to hear. I am not certain everybody is completing all their course work. I am frankly concerned that there is some inconsistency. I am not saying there is one approach that is clearly the only one, but I do think that we could look at this area of Legislative Branch expenditure. I would like you to be in touch with Ed about this informal college and how it functions, and we want to look at HIS and what kind of advice they get and give. Mr. GIBBONS. We would be happy to do that. We will consult with Mr. Lombard about this. INTERAGENCY SHARING OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Mr. Chairman, there are items that we are all going to have to think about in the next couple of years, the cost of software, royalty and licensing and purchases of software, which have become an important feature in thinking about the information technology costs. Mr. FAZIO. We are being asked to provide more people, by the way, for that function in the Library of Congress, because they have more applications to copyright microchips and software which are now protected under the law. Mr. GIBBONS. We have to face in our own agency, for example, the question of, well, if your neighbor has bought a software program to use at OTA, should you go buy another set of it from the supplier, or should you just make a copy of his disk? It is tempting to do the latter, but we insist we ought to be legal and so, we have instituted a way of saying we have to make some royalty arrangement with the supplier. Mr. FAZIO. It would be efficient for HIS to purchase this for the Legislative Branch and all the agencies that they serve. Mr. GIBBONS. We would be delighted to be tapped into that. Mr. FAZIO. Discuss that with Mr. Lombard. We don't want to cheat nor do we want to be cheated. Anyway, I have some additional questions that I will submit to be answered for the record. [The questions and response follow:] QUESTIONS FOR RECORD Question. How many more [PC's] do you plan to acquire with the fiscal year 1986 funds? At what cost? In which object classes are they included? Response. In fiscal year 1986 OTA plans to purchase the following, all of which will be from object class 31.40, ADP Hardware Purchased. 11 NBI 4000 work stations (purchase of leased equipment). Upgrade memory, keyboard, and NBI printer NBI local area network hardware ... Publishing composition equipment... ......... $22,000 10,000 34,000 9,000 1 NBI system 64 processor (purchase of leased equipment). ......................... 25,000 50,000 10,000 Printer replacements..... 30,000 6 NBI 2000 PC work stations (purchase of leased equipment) Upgrades of existing equipment... Translator, extra wiring, and interfaces for Broad Band Networking 1986 total...... 4,000 20,000 236,000 Question. The fiscal year 1986 budget shows an increase of $38 thousand for ADP purchases, and $20 thousand for replacement equipment. How many more work stations do you plan to purchase in 1986 over the number purchased in 1985? Response. As reflected in the previous question, we plan to purchase 11 NBI 4000 work stations and 6 NBI 2000 PC work stations, all 17 of which were previously leased. Question. Update the cost and sharing summaries on pages 453-456 of the hear ings. Response. 314 10 Current plans call for turning back selected equipment on lease and not to acquire some equipment previously planned for lease in order to reallocate a portion of these resources for assessment contracts. 11 Purchase of 14 NBI laser printer fonts. 12 Purchase of 11 leased NBI 4000's. 13 Purchase of 1 leased NBI system 64. 14 Purchase of 14 NBI 2000 PC's; 31 NBI 3000 stand alone word processors traded in for NBI 2000's. 15 Purchase of 6 NBI leased 2000's. 16 Purchase of 3 Compaq IBM compatible PC's. 17 Purchase of 11 PC/AT's. Question. Would you say that, at a minimum, staff productivity has increased in value at least equal to the cost of this equipment? Response. Staff productivity has increased in value greater than the cost of this equipment. Virtually everything we send to Congress is now produced on IBM and NBI. Quantity. A greater number of special responses to Congressional requests for information is now possible, and the time required for response, once staff are available, has shortened. Using on-going and completed work as a base, OTA professional staff can quickly and efficiently prepare responses and analyses tailored to the specific needs of the Congressional requester. In most instances, no support staff is required. Quality. The quality of work improved principally because drafts of work can go through many more reviews and redrafts without the usual cost burden of retyping whole manuscripts or changing entire tables when only minor changes are made. This also allows us to use more outside reviewers. Also, because we now can go directly from the PC to automatically prepared galley proofs, we can do editing from finished copy, which results in improved presentation and clarity. Timeliness. Each professional is capable of producing finished manuscripts without typing assistance. This, combined with the ability to quickly edit or modify existing text already in the PC memory shortens the time to produce assessment materials and particularly in responding to Congressional inquiries. Timesharing. OTA has discontinued its timesharing services which, until FY 1984, were costing $333,000 per year. The majority of the analytical work previously done on large, expensive, outside computers is now performed on PC's in-house. Analytical. The primary use of personal computers at OTA is word processing. Other uses that also enhance the productivity of our professionals are growing rapidly; predominant among these at the present is the use of spreadsheets. Approximately 60 percent of the personal computer users are versed in and make significant use of spreadsheets for numerical analysis and presentation. In addition, specialized software for statistical analysis is allowing more advanced analysis of data to be done on the personal computers. This not only replaces analysis on mainframe computers out of house, but also encourages the use of more quantitative analysis for our studies. Graphics software is allowing the easy reduction of data into charts and graphs for better communication of trends and results. Electronic communication with contractors, both sending and receiving, is expediting management of contracts as well as integration of the contractor products into OTA reports. Data base management, information retrieval, project management, time scheduling, and terminal emulation are other areas in which the personal computers at OTA are being used. More special analyses can be performed by taking portions of data bases and performing limited analyses on them. This was prohibitive when only larger computers were available. Administrative. On the administrative side of OTA, personal computers are being used to enhance the budgeting and related finance activities. Progress is being made toward a system which will reduce the paper flow associated with budget formulation, presentation, expenditure, and control. Personnel data are now being maintained on a personal computer, as are inventory tracking and control, and cost allocation of materials. Next year we hope to complete the integration of the IBM PC's into a local area network (NBI PC's are currently clustered). Networking allows electronic mail/messaging, access to common data bases, access to common documents as well as a centralized software library, easier transmittal of reports to the publications office, and better access to the high speed laser printers. Staff Mix. In 1982, our professional to support staff mix was 76% analytical to 24% administrative; today it is 81% analytical to 19% administrative. |