There were also questions about the operating system.

Apparently, at the time of Paradyne’s bid, the PIOS system was under development as well and hadn’t been tested on a prototype of the proposed system. Even a functioning hardware system will not operate correctly without the correct operating system. No software has ever worked correctly the fi rst time, but rather requires extensive debugging to make it operate properly with a new system. Signifi cantly, the DEC system with the P8400 label that was actually tested by SSA was not running with the proposed PIOS system.

Some of the blame for this fi asco can also be laid at the feet of the SSA. There were six bidders for this contract. Each of the bidders was to have an on-site visit from SSA inspectors to determine whether it was capable of doing the work that it included in its bid. Paradyne’s capabilities were not assessed using an on-site visit. Moreover, Paradyne was judged based on its ability to manufacture modems, which was then its main business. Apparently, its ability to produce complete computer systems wasn’t assessed. As part of its attempt to gain this contract, Paradyne hired a former SSA offi cial who, while still working for SSA, had participated in preparing the RFP and had helped with setting up the team that would evaluate the bids. Paradyne had notifi ed SSA of the hiring of this person, and SSA decided that there were no ethical problems with this. However, when the Paradyne machine failed the initial acceptance test, this Paradyne offi cial was directly involved in nego- tiating the relaxed standards with his former boss at SSA.

This situation was resolved when the Paradyne computers were fi nally brought to the point of functioning as required. However, as a result of these problems, there were many investigations by government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the General Accounting Office, the House of Representatives’ Government Operations Committee, the Health and Human Services Department (of which SSA is part), and the Justice Department.