Why do IT projects like the UK's scandal-hit Post Office Horizon end in disaster?
- Reference: 1705135206
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/01/13/kettle_post_office_horizon/
- Source link:
It's left the public, media, and politicians openly asking: How does such a project go off the rails so hard, why is the computer's supplier Fujitsu still winning massive government IT contracts, and what can be done to avoid this level of fiasco in future.
To answer those ourselves, we caught up with Reg vulture Lindsay Clark, who this week wrote [1]a must-read piece on the public sector's addiction to the likes of Fujitsu plus further coverage of Horizon: Post Office ex-CEO Paula Vennells [2]returning her CBE, and UK PM Rishi Sunak [3]promising swifter justice.
[4]
You can replay our chat below – or listen via your favorite podcast distributor: [5]RSS and MP3 , [6]Apple , [7]Amazon , [8]Spotify , or [9]Google .
On today's 17-ish-minute episode we have, as shown in the thumbnail, your regular host Iain Thomson, and top right, Lindsay Clark, and below him, Chris Williams.
This episode was produced and edited by Nicole Hemsoth Prickett. You can find previous Kettles [10]right here . ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/11/fujitsu_public_procurement/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/10/post_office_boss_returns_cbe/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/08/sunak_promises_faster_justice_for/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZaJtVS7vvyePyvsHIMUMbgAAAdY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://feeds.simplecast.com/Vnvf8Fkd
[6] https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-register-kettle/id1713589041
[7] https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/fe62a659-3451-496b-b064-f30744c2ad65/the-register-kettle
[8] https://open.spotify.com/show/3SkH00VOX02KYNaAbYzajj
[9] https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9WbnZmOEZrZA?ep=14
[10] https://www.theregister.com/Tag/kettle
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Building software is hard...
...and Governments aren't any better at it than anyone else. The advantage of private companies is that there is a vague hope that one make of car/phone/airplane isn't a total disaster. Not guaranteed there either, of course.
Re: Building software is hard...
It occurs to me that building software per-se is not hard - we really do know how to do this stuff, and there are companies that excel at it.
What is hard is building anything (train tracks, nuclear power stations, ERP systems) where the project spans multiple years and has multiple, changing owners and stakeholders.
The longer a project goes on, and the more it has to accommodate tweaks and changes and budget shifts and new ideas, the more likely it is to fail. Perhaps one reason large infrastructure projects in China are finished at lower cost and significantly faster is that a project mandated by the CCP *does not change* once it has been decided upon.
No feature creep. No changed specifications. No late discovery. No new management with a "better way to do it". No revised budget.
And in particular, no client who believes that because they are a subject expert in their activity, they are also a subject expert in implementing a software system to manage it.
Meeting overly complicated legislation and serving the entire community
A tad harder than selling widgets online.
Not excusing anyone, government specifications are a minefield.
Maybe UKians should start sending back their tax returns ?
Just saying they don't trust them after Fujitsus proven incompetence.
Same for all the other government agencies that use Fujitsu.