You Get What You Ask For
I note that my previous article, "The Merging of the Customs and Inland Revenue", seems to have been rather prophetic; with regard to the inability of politicians to manage IT projects.
An article in Wednesday's Times notes that owing to the slipshod vetting of tenders; the UK tax payer has been landed with a cost over run of £150M, relating to a contract with an IT agency that vets people working with children and the vulnerable.
It seems that the number of people using this service was massively underestimated. A classic mistake often made when defining the usage requirements of new IT systems.
The politicians thought that they were being clever in contracting with the company that offered the lowest bid.
However, that bid was based on low usage figures which were in fact wrong. The actual figures, which were much higher, have resulted in a significantly higher variable running cost.
Be careful when vetting tenders, you get what you ask for!
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