February 28, 2008

Another Failed Project

Price Tag $21Million!
Another Failed Project
A $21 million project to integrate off-the-shelf products into a business solution runs into trouble. This is the infamous "virtual fence" effort being funded by the US government to create a high-tech fence along the US/Mexico border. The project is late by about 3 years and its viability is being questioned. Here are the top three issues with this project as articulated by Richard Santa - director of homeland security and justice issues for the Government Accountability Office.
  1. Poor user requirements!
  2. Inadequate testing before rollout and
  3. Aggressive timelines that were unachievable.

After years of developing software, availability of good project management tools & techniques and a litany of lessons learned - we still fail at the same fundamental issues. Amazing!

Click here to listen to the full NPR interview with Richard Santa.


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