I read Michael Krigsman’s blogs from time to time. This one was rather interesting. The project was supposed to create a single database allowing UK prison authorities to track and manage offenders while they are in custody and following their release. After a three-year delay and doubling of costs, authorities abandoned the critical, single database concept.
The project to provide an IT system to support a new way of working with offenders was to be introduced by January 2008, and had an approved lifetime cost of £234 million to 2020. By July 2007, £155 million had been spent on the project, it was two years behind schedule, and estimated lifetime project costs had risen to £690 million.
In January 2008, the National Offender Management Service began work on a rescoped program with an estimated lifetime cost of £513 million and a delivery date of March 2011.
He discusses the failure of this project and links to some good sites, including the Project Failure doc.
I am writing another entry on this. I will link it back when I post it.