Another Government Failure

[david63]

Just been reading this https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48221637.

I would have thought that the whole system could have been provided for £3.1bn never mind going over budget by that amount!

It is time that these major Government technology projects were managed properly from the outset, to me it looks as if the various contractors involved are "taking us for a ride" - there is no way that such behaviour would be tolerated in the private sector.

[Manoverboard]

It is often the case that the ' agreed ' specs are changed by the user departments midway through the contract … result being considerable additional costs.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Government failure? Now there's a rarity.

Surprised it even makes news today.

Be cheaper on webspace, airtime and paper if the media reported government successes instead!

[david63]

It is often the case that the ' agreed ' specs are changed by the user departments midway through the contract … result being considerable additional costs.

But, as in most other businesses, you only change the spec if it is cost justified and approved.

[Manoverboard]

It is often the case that the ' agreed ' specs are changed by the user departments midway through the contract … result being considerable additional costs.

But, as in most other businesses, you only change the spec if it is cost justified and approved.

What I witnessed happening ( albeit some years ago ) with Public sector contracts was that when the end product was ' unwrapped ' by the Software Developer / Provider some of the end user Departments would identify shortcomings within the system they were expected to be using going forward. Problem being that these end users hadn't been inclined to commit or get overly involved at the design stage … it's somebody else's problem of course.

[Quizzical Bob]

What I witnessed happening ( albeit some years ago ) with Public sector contracts was that when the end product was ' unwrapped ' by the Software Developer / Provider some of the end user Departments would identify shortcomings within the system they were expected to be using going forward. Problem being that these end users hadn't been inclined to commit or get overly involved at the design stage … it's somebody else's problem of course.

The problem with all softare projects is defining the specification. There is too much "we can sort that out at the implementation stage"