Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
City of New York - USA
Project : CityTime
Project type : Employee time recording
Date : Dec 2010 Cost :$540M over original budget
Synopsis :
City's new time recording system for employees goes 10 times over budget and is delivered 6 month late. The 10 year project was originally estimated at $63M but ended up costing in excess of $600m. Although the system...
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Why projects fail
Virtual Border
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Dept. Homeland Security - USA
Project: Secure Border Initiative Network
Project type : Virtual border control system
Date : Oct 2010 Cost :$1B
Synopsis :
The Department of Homeland Security refuses to renew a contract for the construction of a virtual border control system. Aimed at controlling the flow of drugs and weapons, the system was designed to levera...
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Queensland Health
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Queensland Health - Government of Queensland - Australia
Project type : Payroll (ERP)
Project name : Shared Services Initiative - LATTICE replacement
Date : Jun 2010 Cost : $64.5M AUD direct cost + $1.2B AUD for 8 years of subsequent operations.
Synopsis :
In an effort to save costs, the Queensland Government initiated a "shared services" program in 2003. Th...
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National Offender Management Service
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
National Offender Management Service - UK
Project type : Integrated offender management system
Project name : C-NOMIS
Date : Mar 2009 Cost :$375M
Synopsis :
Efforts to integrate prison and probation systems from different local authorities into one national system fail. Despite a two year delay and life-cycle costs that have risen from $375M to $1.1B the UK...
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American LaFrance
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
American LaFrance – USA
Project : ERP (counting, purchasing, inventory, production, payroll and finance services)
Date : Jun 2007
Cost :$Undisclosed, but ALF blames Chapter-11 bankruptcy on the failure of the project
Synopsis :
ALF (the world's largest builder of customized fire fighting trucks and equipment) files for chapter-11 bankruptcy following a botch...
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Microsoft
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Microsoft - USA
Project type : Mobile phone (Kin)
Date : Jun 2010 Cost :Unconfirmed reports of $1B USD
Synopsis :
Microsoft's "Kin" phones (Kin one and Kin two) are withdrawn from the market after just two months. The phones were designed for the younger market and those who are heavy users of social networking sites. Despite the the price being cut in half...
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Department of Primary Industries – Australia
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Dept. of Primary Industries - Governement of Victoria - Australia
Project type : Smart meters
Date : Jan 2010 Cost :$2.25B AUD
Synopsis :
Costs to deploy smart electrical meters to all households and small businesses in Victoria, Australia balloon from $800M to $2.25B. A review by the Auditor-General questioned whether the project could now deliver any value...
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Sydney Water
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Sydney Water- Australia
Project type : Customer Management System
Date : Dec 2009 Cost : $70M AUD
Synopsis :
Project to modernize and consolidate Sydney Water's Customer Management Systems runs into trouble. Project is delayed by 18 months and exceeds its original budget by more than 100%. Overruns and delays mean that the project's return on investment is ...
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MI5 – MI6
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
MI5 - MI6 - UK
Project type : Intelligence sharing system
Project name : Scope
Date : Mar 2009 Cost : reported to be tens of millions of pounds
Synopsis :
System designed to share intelligence between separate groups in the UK intelligence gathering community is cancelled due to "technical concerns". The Cabinet Secretary reported "… we know that the way t...
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Why Projects Fail – Blog
The following blog is a companion site to the Project Management and Project Leadership classes offered by Canada's University of British Columbia (UBC), Sauder School of Business - Continuing Business Studies. The materials on this site are provided in an effort share knowledge and help organizations develop their Project Management capacity.
lang: en_US
"We tend to seek easy, single-factor explanations of success. For most important things, however, success requires avoiding the many...
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