GSIS to restart IT system, replacing IBM with HP, Oracle

A government-led pension fund manager will be restarting its IT system from scratch with a new infrastructure based on Oracle database and HP hardware. This was announced by Jonathan Pineda, the newly-hired information security officer of the Government Service Insurance System’s (GSIS). The announcement comes at the height of the agency’s dispute with IBM, which GSIS is accusing of supplying them with defective database software. IBM and its local subsidiary, IBM Philippines, continues to insist that it does not have any contract with GSIS. Both parties have swapped multi-million charges in court because of the disagreement. The cases would proceed even if it is currently setting up a new IT system, GSIS said. Pineda did not say the cost of the new Oracle-HP system. The GSIS spent about P40 million for IBM’s system composed of DB2 software and AIX servers. “We’ll have to dispose of the IBM database and hardware because they will no longer have any use once the new system goes live," said Pineda, a young IT executive whose previous stints were mostly in the financial sector. The new system is expected to be up and running by January next year. “We want to minimize disruptions in our transactions so we’re looking at a good window, perhaps during the Christmas break, to complete the project," he said. However, Pineda said they would still use SAP applications for its new tech infrastructure. He admitted that the GSIS recently signed a contract with SAP Philippines to “make sure" that the pension agency will have a service agreement in the long term. Pineda said a new IT system is urgently needed since the current infrastructure still continues to malfunction as shown by a recent page error that occurred Monday. This is the reason why the processing of emergency loans for GSIS members is being done manually, he said. Although Pineda said his post, as well as his unit, was recently formed, he is essentially replacing Ed Ocampo, a former IT executive who oversaw the rollout of IBM system but was later fired by the GSIS. Pineda said his task will mainly entail managing the security aspects of the agency’s IT system. He said he will work in coordination with the GSIS’s top tech execs – chief technology officer Henry Aguda and chief information officer Helen Macasaet. The pension firm also denied that it does not have enough funds to lend to its members. Out of the 130,000 loan applications, 103,000 have already been approved amounting to P2 billion, it said. Officials said they have allotted a total P5 billion for the emergency loans, which means that they still have P3 billion left to lend. - GMANews.TV