it's biggest project failures - and what we can learn from them

Eldad MonetaReading Course on Software Development

Jake Widman, IT’s biggest project failures –and what we can learn from them. Computerworld, Oct 2008.

Linda Geppert, Lost radio contact leaves pilots on their own. IEEE Spectrum, Nov 2004.

IBM 7030 – a.k.a StrechCompany’s first transistorized super computerDelivered in 1961Half-million instructions per second.Fastest computer in the world ‘till 1964.

30-40 times fasterPrice dropped from $13.5M to $7.8M

Only 9 were ever builtStrech shaped computer development:

PipeliningMemory protectionMemory interleaving

“Don’t throw away the baby out with the bathwater.”

Joint venture of Knight-Ridder newspapers and AT&T.In-home information-retrieval service“McDonald’s of videotex” vs up market consumer.Terminal cost 900$

20,000 subscribersCost: 50$ Million

“Sometimes you can be so far ahead of the curve that you fall right off the edge.”

License Application Mitigation Project (LAMP)Automate the state's vehicle registration and license renewal processes16$ Million over 5 years.

“When a project is obviously doomed to failure, get out sooner rather than later.”

4th largest distributor of pharmaceuticals in the U.S worth $5 BillionSAP system and a warehouse automation system.

35$ Million project.unrealistically aggressive time line

Implementation in 18 monthsThreatened warehouse employees

Processing 10,000 orders a night compared with 420,000 orders with the old mainframe.1996: FoxMeyer filled for bankruptcy.

Sold for 80$ Million.

“No one plans to fail, but even so, make sure your operation can survive the failure of a project. “

Microsoft window 95 came outSystem 8 – Copland: In house OSFeature Creep

Project managers pushed for their products to be incorporated into System 8

A single developer release in late 1996Purchase of NeXT

Supplied the technology that became OS X

“Project creep is a killer. Keep your project's goals focused.“

British supermarket giantAutomated fulfillment system in one of its distribution centerInstalled in 2003: Horrible bar-code reading errors.2005: Company claims the system operates as intended.

2007: Entire project is scrapedIT costs: 150£ million (=$265,335,000)

“A square peg in a round hole won't fit any better as time goes on.”

FBI Virtual Case FileCensus Bureau's handheld units

Automating case management and forms processing

Congress approved $379.8 million for the Information Technology Upgrade Project.

2001: Projected changed to developing an entirely new system2002: another $123.2 million for the project.

April 2005, SAIC delivered 700,000 lines of codeBug-ridden and uselessFBI scrap the entire VCF project.

Audit concluded:Short develop time: 22 MonthProblematic rollout plans: a “flash cutover”Poorly defined system requirements

Sentinel, 2012: off-the-shelf, Web-based software

$600M for 500,000 handheld devices to automate the 2010 census.Cost has more then doubledUse is going to be reduced2007 rehearsal:

Devices frozeFailed to retrieve mapping coordinatesSame identification numbers

Mitre Corp: “… the risks are so large… that we recommend immediate development of contingency plans to revert to paper operations.”

Linda Geppert, Lost radio contact leaves pilots on their own. IEEE Spectrum, Nov 2004.

14 September, 2004 5pm Pacific daylight time:Air traffic controllers lost voice contact with 400 airplanes they were tracking over the southwestern United States

VSCS- Voice Switching and Control System (Haris Corp.)FAA laid the blame on human error

No one rebooted the system after 30 days

VSCU- VSCS Control Subsystem Upgrade (Installed 2003)Uses a timer as a pulse to send out periodic queries to the VSCS.232 timer pulse ≈ 50 days

FAA continued operating the system with a known problemOnly one backup system