Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
West Jet - Canada
Project type : New passenger Reservations System
Date : Jan 2007 Cost : $34M USD
Updated: 2 Dec 2009
Synopsis :
Efforts to implement a new customized reservations system cancelled amid delays and quality concerns.
Update 2 Dec 2009 - Following the cancellation of the original project in 2007, Westjet moved their reservations systems to t...
More
Canadian Payments Association
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Canadian Payments Association – Canada
Project : Truncation and Electronic Cheque Presentment (TECP)|
Date : Jan 2009
Cost : $undisclosed, but web search indicates project to have been a $300M initiative
Synopsis :
The TCEP system was a system designed to simplify the clearing of checks by scanning and transmitting check data between banks rather than transf...
More
London Stock Exchange – TradElect
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
London Stock Exchange – UK
Project : TradElect
Date : Sep 2009 Cost :$68M
Synopsis :
After four years of development, but just two years of use the London Stock Exchange's flagship trading platform (TradElect) is to be decommissioned and replaced. Lending credence to allegations that recent outages at the exchange were caused by the TradElect, the announcemen...
More
Marine One
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
US Navy
Project name : Marine One
Date : Jun 2009 Cost :$13B
Synopsis :
To allow for rapid and safe transport of the President and other VIP's, the US Government maintains a fleet of VIP transport helicopters. The current fleet of Sea King and Blackhawk helicopters was first deployed in the 1970's. Following the 9/11 attacks, the US Government decided tha...
More
Air Canada
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Air Canada
Date : Aug 2009 Cost :$67M
Synopsis :
Following more than 3 years of development effort, Air Canada suspends its efforts to implement a next-generation air reservation and departure control system. Citing capital cost issues the airline announces a $67M write down related to the development. Originally planned to start deployment in 2007, the implem...
More
Foundation for Student life (Oslo) – Laundry system
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
The foundation for student life (Oslo) – Norway
Date : May 2009 Cost :$14M + some dirty laundry
Synopsis :
As part of a move to SAP the Oslo based Foundation for Student Life elected to tie the laundry facilities in the student village into their accounting systems. Integrating the laundry machines into the accounting systems meant that students had to pay fo...
More
City of Vancouver – Olympic Village
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
City of Vancouver – Canada
Date : Jan 2009 Cost :$250M cost overrun
Synopsis :
While we don't often touch on construction projects in this database, a construction project is still a form of technology project. The following example nicely illustrates what happens when financial risks are ignored.
Having won the right to host the 2010 Winter Olympics in 20...
More
Veterans Affiars – USA
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Veterans Affairs - USA
Project : Replacement Scheduling Application (RSA)
Date : Aug 2009 Cost :$41M
Synopsis :
After seven years of development the Veterans Affairs (VA) Replacement Scheduling Application (RSA) is scrapped. As a component of the larger HealtheVet system, the Replacement Scheduling Application was to allow veterans to request and view medical...
More
Project Management Heresy
I’ve just finished reading a book about the Apollo missions that put man on the moon (Apollo by Charles Murray and Catherine Cox). The Apollo project was initiated by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 when he announced to the US Congress his believe that the United States “should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him back safely to the earth". In July 1969 that goal was achieved when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed...
More
Befuddle, Bewilder and Baffle
In the Project Management world, it’s a refrain that is repeated in almost every training program offered around the world; communicate, communicate, communicate. Despite the fact that students of Project Management are told that as much as 80% of a Project Manager’s time is spent communicating, in most Project Management training courses, as little as 5% of the time is dedicated to the topic of communications. Even then, most courses simply expose students to some basics ideas (such as the send...
More