3.1 M Dollar Balls Up - What If…

I recently saw this news article on February 14th 2012 in the www.theage.com.au (http://www.theage.com.au/it-pro/government-it/ballsup-31m-parliament-house-website-a-year-late-20120214-1t374.html)

I could not help but think of the pain both the software developers and the project managers were going through. I too, have had jobs that have blown out in cost and budget and I have learnt a lot, sometimes the hard way, but at least not in such a public spotlight. So, I will not use this post to slag off any parties involved but instead to analyse what happened and what could have been done – a sort of “What If” scenario.

The first thing I noticed were stated reasons behind why the project failed;

So let’s do a “What if” on these main items. It is highly possible that some of these ‘what if’s’ were addressed, but let’s look at them anyway just in case.

1. Botched IT Upgrade deployed in December.

What if we duplicated the current site onto a Pilot Server replicating the server specifications as close as possible? We could then attempt an upgrade in a controlled manner without the worry of taking down the live site. We would then expose this server to rigorous testing before we launched the site.

What if we took a backup of the complete server and attempted a restore on this pilot server to ensure if something did go wrong we would be able to roll back very fast.

2. Attacks on the website by the loose-knit collective Anonymous

What if we were to ensure that all patches are made to the server on a proactive basis (regularly), rather than on a reactive basis? Would we benefit from the latest Operating System?

What if we ensured we had the latest version of the CMS installed and used one that has a high end of support and regular hotfixes?

What if we attempted to hack our own site or used a security consultant to attempt this for us?

3. Regression testing issues

What if we documented our testing plan and had it scrutinised by a consultant to ensure all aspects are covered?

What if we outsourced the testing and ensured that all components of the system were tested at a unit and system level?

What if we tested and tested again?

4. Scope Creep!

By far one of the easiest ways to lose control of a project and to get a less than satisfactory outcome.

What if a lot more time was spent on planning before the project started?

What if a bit more time was spent on artwork or working prototypes?

What if we said no to the extra components and changes?

What if all the new unknowns were packaged as Phase 2?

What if a methodology was used with strict team structure?

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Summary

Plan, Prepare and execute your project using controlled methodology. For more information on the Konsult’s Methodology visit here http://konsult.com.au/SharePoint-Customisation-Methodology.aspx