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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West Jet – Canada

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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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