Update: May 20th, 9:45 a.m.
The Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget has fixed the computer outage problem.
The 131 Secretary of State branch offices across the state are now back to normal, and can process all transactions.
Update: May 19th, 4:00 p.m.
The Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) has sent out the following release:
DTMB has fixed the broken fiber link, but technicians continue the work to remove corrupted files that have impacted the applications that are housed on the mainframe. While there is still no estimated time for when the rest oration will be completed, it is unlikely that business functions at branch offices will be restored during today's business hours.
"We will continue to work around the clock to get the problem fixed and restore business operations," said David Behen, CIO for the State of Michigan and DTMB. "I had hoped for better news this afternoon. I have been on site with our team of professionals working to solve the problem and I can assure you that all the right resources are assigned to get this fixed as quickly as possible."
While no time estimate is available for restoration, DTMB is optimistic that business functions can resume as normal on Friday morning. DTMB will provide another update on Friday morning with the results of the restoration work that will occur throughout the night.
Update: May 19th, 1:05 p.m.
More departments have been impacted by the computer issues. The Corrections, Treasury, Community Health and Services join the offices suffering because of a state-wide glitch.
The Secretary of State will waive late fees for customers who couldn't get service due to the computer problems. "We will do everything we can to assist our customers, Michigan SOS Spokesman Randall Thompson stated in a press release. "We have also alerted law enforcement authorities that customers have been unable to review tabs and driver's licenses."
The department handles about 80,000 transactions a day, and say it could take some time to get everything back in order. The Secretary of State may extend office hours throughout the week if the computer system is not fixed soon.
Secretary of State branches across Michigan are down, due to a computer glitch.
The Associated Press reports the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget is working to fix the errors that happened on a mainframe computer. That computer supports the branch offices. It appears the problem is a broken fiber link.
While the offices remain open during the issue, most business transactions will not be processed until the computers are back up and running.
Crews are not sure how long it will take to fix this error.
Do you think the Secretary of State should come up with an alternative way to conduct business in case a computer glitch like this happens again? If so, what types of alternatives would you suggest?
