FBI computer over haul failure

I just finished reading Gartner report G00151721, a research to find top reasons for IT project success and failures. I also completed reading two separate articles about the FBI's project to create a new document and information management database. My initial reaction is I am shocked by the price tag of this system. The first attempt cost around $170 millions, and the second attempt cost $305 millions. Both attempts fail. The second shocker is the fact that the FBI is still relying heavily on a paper based system which is completely unacceptable from a technology perspective since information elsewhere (Facebook, Twitter, Google) are so readily available with the help of modern IT technologies. After I overcame the shocking moments, my next thought was "so why did both project fail?".

Of course funding is not an issue given the number above, then what were the reasons? Based on the information provided in the articles, I concluded the first factor for project failure is the lack of IT technical expertise from FBI side given the fact that they were a paper based culture. The FBI need not to be an expert in building complex IT system, however since they are the business owner of the project, they need to have adequate level of knowledge in order to ensure project success. The second factor that jumped out at me for the project's failure is the length of the project. It was stated that they were planning a four years project. No IT project should have this long of a timeline. If it is a complex system or set of systems, it needs to be broken down into smaller phases to facilitate effective planning, requirement gathering, progress tracking, and system evaluation. A four years long IT project is simply too large to be managed effectively.

Not to my surprise, the above factors led to the FBI project failure caused by ineffective project management process, not well defined business requirement, and poor planning, which correspond directly to the majority of Gartner report’s top reasons for IT project failures.