The Chicago Sun-Times recently carried a report on the difficulties that DataPhase is experiencing in fulfilling its contact for the installation of an automated circulation system at the Chicago Public Library and its 90 branches. According to the report the installation, supposed to have been operational by September 1981, is still not performing to specifications. The article detailed a number of deadline expirations and project enhancements which entailed cost increased. A second piece in the same newspaper speculated on the likelihood of Chicago Public Library imposing the contractual penalty for system non-performance.
Over the past months LSN has heard repeated comments on the systems failure to perform. While DataPhase is maintaining a low profile on the problem, some industry observers attribute the difficulty to the linking of multiple Tandem CPUs. Apparently the physical linkage of the machines was accomplished, but the multi-CPU configuration, until recently, refused to accept bulk loading of bibliographic tapes on site. The first such tape loading was not achieved until mid-April. Additional tape loads of OCLC and B&T tapes are scheduled. If these are successful, attention will then focus on improving response time from branches.
DataPhase is not the only turnkey vendor to have experienced difficulty in expanding its system into a multi-processor configuration. CL Systems Inc. encountered problems in its first attempt to link DEC processors. It found that the DEC software specifically designed to perform this function absorbed too many resources in implementing and monitoring the linkage. CLSI met the problem by developing its own hardware/software solution to facilitate the linkage.
