The Select Committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom has published a first report "Improving the Delivery of Government IT Projects".
A Standish Group research paper on Information Technology project failures identifies
The Standish Group research "shows a staggering 31.1% of projects will be canceled before they ever get completed. Further results indicate 52.7% of projects will cost 189% of their original estimates. The cost of these failures and overruns are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The lost opportunity costs are not measurable, but could easily be in the trillions of dollars."
The CHAOS report's Summary section "Bridge to Success" states:
"Research at The Standish Group also indicates that smaller time frames, with delivery of software components early and often, will increase the success rate. Shorter time frames result in an iterative process of design, prototype, develop, test, and deploy small elements. This process is known as "growing" software, as opposed to the old concept of "developing" software. Growing software engages the user earlier, each component has an owner or a small set of owners, and expectations are realistically set. In addition, each software component has a clear and precise statement and set of objectives. Software components and small projects tend to be less complex. Making the projects simpler is a worthwhile endeavor because complexity causes only confusion and increased cost."
The Foreword of the 1997 Report Auditor General to the Canadian House of Commons declares:
"Ongoing change has become a permanent feature of the federal government as it continues to seek more efficient, economical and effective ways of delivering programs and services to Canadians. The effects of recent downsizing and budget cuts are still being felt, even a public servants engage in re-engineering and redesigning the way they must work in the future to be able to adjust to the new realities. .... The Report stresses the need for senior managers to know and state more clearly what they expect their programs and activities to achieve, and to measure and report in more concrete terms the results they attribute to those efforts. Knowing where resources have had the desired effect - and where they have not - will enable decision makers to continue successful activities or make the necessary adjustments to provide Canadian taxpayers with the best value for money"
The Report of the Canadian Auditor General to the House of Commons for April and October 1997. Also included are reports from 1994-1996 and the Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.
On October 22, 1997 the Canadian Federal Government announced termination of the contract to automate the Canadian income security system After spending $ 365 million,with a current overrun of $80 million, the Canadian Federal Government ended the contract for one of its largest computer projects rather than risk further delays and cost overruns. The Project know as the Income Security Program Redesign is a massive project, aimed at automating Canada's income security system was a victim of so many changes that it couldn't meet its 1998 completion target and would have cost millions more to complete.
The Federal Government finds itself in a bind. While depending on information technology to handle the workload of a shrinking bureaucracy, technology projects are being derailed by the radical changes in government that are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
The state of the Income Security Program Redesign Project has been the particular focus of the Canadian Auditor General for October 1995 Report Chapter 12 Systems under Development: Managing the Risks and the November 1996 Report Chapter 24 Systems under Development- Getting Results.
[Canadian Auditor General Website]
This report by the UK Construction Task Force looks at the scope for improving quality and efficiency in the UK Construction Industry. The Report perceives the UK construction industry as being stuck in some sort of time warp, unaffected by the forward march of other UK industries. Sir John Egan headed up the Construction Task Force and delivered a highly provocative report.
One startling quote..
"Contracts can add significantly to the cost of a project and often add no value for the client. If the relationship between a contractor and employer is soundly based and the parties recognize their mutual inter-dependence, then formal contract documents should gradually become obsolete"
The Report calls for fundamental re-engineering of the UK Construction industry. It challenges the basis of some of the UK Construction industries practices such as over reliance on competitive tendering, complex contracts, the fragmentation of the design and construction process, failure to develop standard products and solutions for everyday situations.
The UK Department of Environment, Transport and Regions has set up a programme of demonstration projects to identify lessons learned and place them in the public domain.
The year 200 trasition was a unique event that posed a significant challeng to the traditional work of the Canadian Federal Government. The Year 2000 bug initially thought to be only a technology problem was quickly seen to have broad implications to the work of the Federal Government and for every level of Canadian Business.
The Chief Information Officer of the Canadian Government has prepared a comprehensive "lessons learned " report. Called the "Year 2000 Post Implementation Assessment - Final Report" highlights the issues, process and organizational factors that had to be managed in the successful conduct of a multi departmental program that:
"encouraged the development of a broad, horizontal approach to management that involved all levels of governance and left a lasting legacy in the operation of government"
The Executive Summary states... The Year 2000 experience provides a pattern for how large government initiatives should be tackled in the future. That is...
A copy of this significant program report (17 pages) is online from the Canadian Federal Government Treasury Board's Web Site. The Content of the Report includes the following:
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