Idaho watchdog office preparing report on effectiveness of state’s troubled Luma business system

Clark Corbin, Idaho Capital Sun

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) – Idaho’s independent Office of Performance Evaluations is taking an all-hands-on-deck attack to its study of nan implementation and effectiveness of Luma, nan monolithic caller authorities business strategy that is tied to each authorities agencies and authorities employees.

In February, nan Idaho Legislature’s Joint Legislative Oversight Committee authorized nan Office of Performance Evaluations to undertake study of Luma, from nan first conception of nan programme to its existent implementation.

Launched successful July 2023, Luma is simply a cloud-based business strategy that centralizes each of nan state’s budget, procurement, payroll, quality resources and financial guidance systems for each authorities agencies. Luma replaced a brace of aged authorities business systems that authorities officials person said outlived their useful life and were susceptible to information threats, nan Idaho Capital Sun antecedently reported.

But since its rollout much than a twelvemonth ago, a bid of information introduction and method errors person again and again been attributed to Luma. For example, a nonprofit agency said it wasn’t paid by nan authorities for months, authorities officials were incapable to nutrient charismatic comparative gross reports and nan authorities treasurer was incapable to administer liking payments to authorities agencies for respective months, nan Sun antecedently reported. In addition, nan Idaho Freedom Foundation first reported that nan authorities double-paid much than $32 cardinal successful duplicated Idaho Department of Health and Welfare transactions.

OPE to look astatine creation, training for Idaho’s Luma business system

Ryan Langrill, interim head of nan Office of Performance Evaluations, said his agency was directed to make nan Luma study its apical priority.

“So we person taken an all-hand-on-deck attack to nan study,” Langrill said Friday during a gathering of nan Joint Legislative Oversight Committee.

For its study of Luma, nan Office of Performance Evaluations will look astatine aggregate factors, Langrill said. The agency will look astatine nan Idaho State Controller’s Office’s determination making successful creating and implementing Luma, including training. The agency will besides study really Luma is helping aliases hurting authorities agencies’ expertise to transportation retired their missions and connection guidance.

Officials person conducted much than 60 interviews, conducted surveys, reviewed contracts and spoken pinch manufacture experts successful different states for nan study, Langrill said.

The study is expected to beryllium released successful October. The forthcoming study will beryllium abstracted from a Legislative Services Office audit of Luma that was released successful June, which recovered nan strategy lacked a scope of accusation exertion controls for information validation and security.

“Our extremity is to place what went good and what didn’t and to connection recommendations for early ample standard IT projects,” Langrill said.