Reply to: Failed IT systems

[OwlHoot]

Only one that seems to be 'relatively' ok is HMRC......no surprise there. ..

I think the Land Registry is also pretty clued up.

(No surprise that the Government plans to privatise them )

[fool]

Chinese whispers.

Could go into many specifics but ultimately there's too many layers between the people buying the system, the people using the system and the people building the system.

That and there's a ridiculous lack of respect and worth placed on knowledge. Nobody respects anyone elses opinion, both within the "useful layers" and outside of them.

It's not that I'm saying that the other layers are all entirely useless, it's just they've inserted themselves as a middle layer as opposed to a useful side function.

Ultimately this is the large consultancies business model, which is where big business spends its money, so what we gonna do?

[DimPrawn]

Are IT guys incapable of delivering systems that work?

No, but contract IT guys are capable of making sure delivery is always after the next renewal.

[tazdevil]

It's all about the money and in the end no one cares about the deliverable just that something gets delivered and they make the maximum profit. Clients play safe by buying in a top consultancy and the top consultancy maximises its revenue by bringing in outsourced project teams and selling oodles of unnecessary consultancy. No one sits down and designs the system or takes care with doing the foundations right. There's no reason for IT projects to cost billions or even millions, they cost that much because of the charms of the snake oil salesman.

[SimonMac]

Seems to be consistent failure and inadequacy of IT systems (mainly government programs - health, immigration, borders etc).

With all due respect - WTF does this keep happening?

Are IT guys incapable of delivering systems that work?

Best wishes, PG

Any system can fail, just the government ones always end up in the papers when they do

[MyUserName]

Suity is the answer.

FTFY

[original PM]

The rush to deliver something so an exec can get bonus and then fook off with no interest in the long term future of the company.

An inability to accept that unless you actually speak to the user you will end up with a system designed by execs to deliver what execs think they want that is unusable in the real world.

Basic stupidity of people in influential positions.

Protecting your position because you do not like change

Cutting costs without really understanding the impact of cutting costs

Thinking that if things do not go well 'everyone will work a bit harder and longer for free to fix it' except me of course.

An inability to recognise that 25 years of doing accounts does not mean you have the skills, education, knowledge or experience to understand the intricacies of a large IT project.

I could go on but....

[TwoWolves]

But then every human activity has a high rate of failure.

This is worth remembering. Marriage success has slumped to 50%, families squabble, God can seem cruel.

Life is full of disappointment, best to learn to live with it.

[WTFH]

Project managers who need to be managed by the project team
Using resources that lack the relevant experience, but they are chosen either because of who they work for (D&T, etc) or because they are cheap
Making project decisions based on business managers that do not understand how their business actually operates.
Using generic people to do specific jobs i.e. get the business users to draw up test plans, get the business users to carry out the proper testing, get the business users to sign off on their own testing.

[Darren_Test]

I've just been warned of no more renewals on this gig. The project was actually going well and I had high-hopes of
Most problems come from:

Poor specification or design.
Poor technical skills (looking for the cheapest/outsourcing).
Management infighting.

...and not giving voice to most important heroes of any Project - Test team!!

[glebe digital]

GP systems are normally pretty reasonable (EMIS and In Practice), and the NHS doesn't have too much to do with them. It funds them and accredits them, but the GP practices essentially own the relationship with the vendor. IIRC the exception is TPP, which is a GP / community shared system, which the NHS has its fingers all over and it has a pretty bad reputation.

EMIS is actually one of the many problems, the local I.T guy 'fiddled with it' and not it's totally fubar apparently. The trouble is, I don't think the GP practice really understands that direct/vendor relationship, and thus is attempting to palm it off to the local health board, and no sense of urgency anywhere by all accounts. Wifey says also the TPP is always dropping out, so more often that not one can't access the records......another local I.T success story!

[tomtomagain]

Seems to be consistent failure and inadequacy of IT systems (mainly government programs - health, immigration, borders etc).

With all due respect - WTF does this keep happening?

Are IT guys incapable of delivering systems that work?

Best wishes, PG

Not at all. The majority of projects don't fail* .... although a significant minority don't deliver the full intended benefits.

You hear about Government failures because they have to be transparent. At least to some degree.

I know of several £50m+ failures in the private sector ( no, I wasn't on them ) ... but they would never make the news because no one is interested and the companies involved certainly are not interested in sharing their mess-ups in public.

IT failures are rarely due to the technology anyway ( Although the TSB debacle might be ). A lot of the difficulties are in the organisations (in)ability to change. I'm sure we've all been in those situations where it appears that although Project X is apparently a priority large sections of the organisation seem to be actively fighting against it.

In short. Change is hard. And IT projects are all about making changes.


* Failure: Just remember:

Most advertising campaigns don't work.
Most books aren't worth reading and don't make any money.
Most songs aren't worth listening too and don't make any money.
Most films aren't worth seeing and don't make any money.
Most restaurants close within 12 months and don't make any money.
Most great new products disappear without a trace and don't make any money.
Most buildings are designed but never built.
Most government policies don't do what they were supposed to.
Most wars are not "over by Christmas"
Most economists don't predict bubbles.
Most art is tulip.

IT projects fail. But then every human activity has a high rate of failure.

[Old Greg]

Only one that seems to be 'relatively' ok is HMRC......no surprise there.

Local Dr's surgery I.T always on the blink, wife works there & every day re-directing people to different clinics for their appointments. Local NHS I.T staff say it's the SW contract Co's fault, the SW Co say it's the local I.T.....I suspect the SW Co 'firefighters' don't really understand the SW (probably built by small team of contractors, since gone) and the local NHS I.T staff are certainly underskilled.....minimum wage tech jobs and barely skilled to do more than Install Windows or a new printer.....both of which tasks seem to go wrong too....absolute shambles.

Better stay healthy for time being, and make sure I have enough dough to go private.

GP systems are normally pretty reasonable (EMIS and In Practice), and the NHS doesn't have too much to do with them. It funds them and accredits them, but the GP practices essentially own the relationship with the vendor. IIRC the exception is TPP, which is a GP / community shared system, which the NHS has its fingers all over and it has a pretty bad reputation.

[glebe digital]

Only one that seems to be 'relatively' ok is HMRC......no surprise there.

Local Dr's surgery I.T always on the blink, wife works there & every day re-directing people to different clinics for their appointments. Local NHS I.T staff say it's the SW contract Co's fault, the SW Co say it's the local I.T.....I suspect the SW Co 'firefighters' don't really understand the SW (probably built by small team of contractors, since gone) and the local NHS I.T staff are certainly underskilled.....minimum wage tech jobs and barely skilled to do more than Install Windows or a new printer.....both of which tasks seem to go wrong too....absolute shambles.

Better stay healthy for time being, and make sure I have enough dough to go private.

[scooterscot]

careful, - the Bundesnachrichtendienst could be monitoring your posts

Ich denke nicht