by CKR
Just a quick I-told-you-so before I head out for the day.
From today's Washington Post:
Mr. Fine's report notes serious management weaknesses early in the project: The bureau lacked "specific design requirements for each of the project components," for example. And since November 2001, the bureau has had five chief information officers and "10 individuals serving as project managers for various aspects of Trilogy."
From WhirledView, 19 January:
Let me speculate on the FBI’s problem, on the basis of projects I’ve seen.The FBI decided that it needed a database different from any on the market. This database needed to be particularly secure, to have several levels of access, and to be searchable in special ways, like using graphics for photos or fingerprints. A committee was convened to develop a set of requirements, but the committee didn’t include people who would use or manage the database. After several months of meetings that strained everyone’s patience, the committee came up with a requirements document.
The contractors who bid were those who were accustomed to dealing with the contracting officers and vice versa, probably not Microsoft or Oracle or Google. SAIC won the contract. The database requirements then changed as the people who would be using and managing the database got wind of them and hollered that they wouldn’t work. Frequently they were right. Everybody’s frustration rose as SAIC was unable to deliver a product. Shouting broke out and contracting officers changed, sometimes because of organizational changes and sometimes because they were removed.