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IT's biggest project failures - and what we can learn from them

IT's biggest project failures - and what we can learn from them. Eldad Moneta Reading Course on Software Development. Overview. Jake Widman, IT’s biggest project failures – and what we can learn from them . Computerworld , Oct 2008.

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IT's biggest project failures - and what we can learn from them

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  1. IT's biggest project failures - and what we can learn from them Eldad Moneta Reading Course on Software Development

  2. Overview • Jake Widman, IT’s biggest project failures –and what we can learn from them. Computerworld, Oct 2008. • Linda Geppert, Lost radio contact leaves pilots on their own. IEEE Spectrum,Nov 2004.

  3. IBM’s Strech Project1956 • IBM 7030 – a.k.a Strech • Company’s first transistorized super computer • Delivered in 1961 • Half-million instructions per second. • Fastest computer in the world ‘till 1964. • 30-40 times faster • Price dropped from $13.5M to $7.8M

  4. IBM’s Strech Project1956 • Only 9 were ever built • Strech shaped computer development: • Pipelining • Memory protection • Memory interleaving

  5. IBM’s Strech ProjectLesson learned • “Don’t throw away the baby out with the bathwater.”

  6. Knight-Ridder's Viewtron service1983 • Joint venture of Knight-Ridder newspapers and AT&T. • In-home information-retrieval service • “McDonald’s of videotex” vs up market consumer. • Terminal cost 900$

  7. Knight-Ridder's Viewtron serviceBottom line • 20,000 subscribers • Cost: 50$ Million

  8. Knight-Ridder's Viewtron serviceLesson learned • “Sometimes you can be so far ahead of the curve that you fall right off the edge.”

  9. DMV project –Washington1990 • License Application Mitigation Project (LAMP) • Automate the state's vehicle registration and license renewal processes • 16$ Million over 5 years.

  10. DMV project – Washington

  11. DMV project – WashingtonLesson learned • “When a project is obviously doomed to failure, get out sooner rather than later.”

  12. FoxMeyer ERP program1993 • 4th largest distributor of pharmaceuticals in the U.S worth $5 Billion • SAP system and a warehouse automation system. • 35$ Million project. • unrealistically aggressive time line • Implementation in 18 months • Threatened warehouse employees

  13. FoxMeyer ERP programConclusion • Processing 10,000 orders a night compared with 420,000 orders with the old mainframe. • 1996: FoxMeyer filled for bankruptcy. • Sold for 80$ Million.

  14. FoxMeyer ERP programLesson learned • “No one plans to fail, but even so, make sure your operation can survive the failure of a project. “

  15. Apple's Copland operating system1994 • Microsoft window 95 came out • System 8 – Copland: In house OS • Feature Creep • Project managers pushed for their products to be incorporated into System 8

  16. Apple's Copland operating systemBottom line • A single developer release in late 1996 • Purchase of NeXT • Supplied the technology that became OS X

  17. Apple's Copland operating systemLesson learned • “Project creep is a killer. Keep your project's goals focused.“

  18. Sainsbury's warehouse automation2003 • British supermarket giant • Automated fulfillment system in one of its distribution center • Installed in 2003: Horrible bar-code reading errors. • 2005: Company claims the system operates as intended.

  19. Sainsbury's warehouse automation2003 • 2007: Entire project is scraped • IT costs: 150£ million (=$265,335,000)

  20. Sainsbury's warehouse automationLesson learned • “A square peg in a round hole won't fit any better as time goes on.”

  21. Two current projects in danger • FBI Virtual Case File • Census Bureau's handheld units

  22. FBI Virtual Case File2000 • Automating case management and forms processing • Congress approved $379.8 million for the Information Technology Upgrade Project. • 2001: Projected changed to developing an entirely new system • 2002: another $123.2 million for the project.

  23. FBI Virtual Case File2000 • April 2005, SAIC delivered 700,000 lines of code • Bug-ridden and useless • FBI scrap the entire VCF project. • Audit concluded: • Short develop time: 22 Month • Problematic rollout plans: a “flash cutover” • Poorly defined system requirements • Sentinel, 2012: off-the-shelf, Web-based software

  24. Census Bureau's handheld units2006 • $600M for 500,000 handheld devices to automate the 2010 census. • Cost has more then doubled • Use is going to be reduced • 2007 rehearsal: • Devices froze • Failed to retrieve mapping coordinates • Same identification numbers

  25. Census Bureau's handheld unitsBottom line • Mitre Corp: “… the risks are so large… that we recommend immediate development of contingency plans to revert to paper operations.”

  26. Article #2 • Linda Geppert, Lost radio contact leaves pilots on their own. IEEE Spectrum,Nov 2004.

  27. Los Angeles air control system2004 • 14 September, 2004 5pm Pacific daylight time: • Air traffic controllers lost voice contact with 400 airplanes they were tracking over the southwestern United States • VSCS- Voice Switching and Control System (Haris Corp.) • FAA laid the blame on human error • No one rebooted the system after 30 days

  28. Los Angeles air control systemHuman error? 232

  29. Los Angeles air control systemBackground • VSCU- VSCS Control Subsystem Upgrade (Installed 2003) • Uses a timer as a pulse to send out periodic queries to the VSCS. • 232 timer pulse ≈ 50 days

  30. Los Angeles air control systemFailures • FAA continued operating the system with a known problem • Only one backup system

  31. Questions?

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