5 (subjective) reasons why government IT projects can cost 10 times more than they should

An interesting story on government IT popped up earlier today on the UK enterprise IT magazine Computing’s website. The article quotes Andy de Vale, co-founder of the Agile Delivery Network (ADN), saying that UK taxpayers are paying up to 10 times more than is necessary for government IT projects. Interestingly enough, the article doesn’t really say what the reasons for this staggering status quo are – apart from hinting at working with large conglomerates vs. SMEs (“De Vale hopes the ADN will prompt the government to use SMEs on more IT projects, as it reduces the risk of dealing with one small organisation.”). Nice plug, btw.

Well, I think I can have a go (maybe slightly controversial, but what the hell) at running a quick supplement to Computing’s article. My five big reasons why government IT project cost more than they should and – more often than not – end up in disappointment are (in no particular order):

Analysis paralysis
Anyone who’s ever been involved in a public sector project knows that any action has to be preceded with countless reports, evaluations, papers, studies, recommendation documents, etc. All this is, obviously, done in the interest of transparency – which is fair enough, but they do take time and cost money.

Politics – with a capital “P”
Where else should we look for it than in the government, right? It is not that difficult to find some of these politically motivated project, just look through a few back issues of Private Eye. No finger-pointing here, by the way.

Decision by committee
Culture of empowerment seems to be a chronic disease of the private sector. In the public sector, you’re meant to be doing things properly – be inclusive, over-communicate, make all stakeholders around you happy, and make sure you don’t take those important decisions on your own. Or else, if things go pear-shaped, someone might find out, God forbid. Making 20 (am I being too optimistic here?) people agree on an issue takes time, and those external suppliers waiting for your decision don’t come cheap.

Consultants, consultants..
This, on the other hand, is a chronic disease of the public sector – especially today, when the money runs low and there’s a freeze on hiring budgets. There’s an easy (albeit expensive) way round it – hire full-time consultants to supplement your workforce – and, bloat your project costs big time.

You can’t win with election
Oh, the charms of working in an environment with a deadline (election) that’s completely independent of your IT department plans! It really doesn’t help if your project is scheduled to last more than whatever time is left before the next one – as you’re bound to end up with, at best, an endless list of costly tweaks and alterations in the project scope, usually half-way through its lifetime.

There – anyone to take up the gauntlet with an alternative list?