Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

Blog: Project Management Nightmare -- Records from the Bush Administration

Page:

When US presidents leave office, they leave behind pounds and pounds of paper and bytes and bytes of electronic records -- all sorts of data reflecting the activities, and inactivity, of their leadership of this great nation of ours.

What happens to all that stuff, which is the property of the American people? Presidential libraries get copies of some material. But most of it goes to the US National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, a federal agency that keeps government documents.

(I say "most of it" because some material somehow gets lost. The most recent high-profile example being how the Bush Administration can't account for missing-yet-crucial e-mail related to the leaked identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Lost e-mail just happens, doesn't it. Darndest thing.)

Anyway, NARA safeguards and preserves government records in the name of safeguarding and preserving democracy itself, as the agency says on its Web site. And we're all supposed to be able to search and access these records. What's really curling my liver is the big mess in which NARA finds itself as it tries to put in an electronic records archive system, or ERA, to manage all those important government documents and data. The plan was to have that big ERA in place in time to receive Bush's records when the man hands over the keys to the White House in January 2009.

Classic project management problems now plague ERA. And the problems will, of course, cost millions dollars, according to a May 14 report from the US Government Accountability Office.

NARA has been working since 2001 on ERA. Seven years and it isn't done yet. The first phase isn't even done yet and when it is, it'll be US$8 million to US$12 million over budget, GAO says. Just that phase.

Among the aggravating details, NARA and Lockheed Martin, the contractor NARA hired, decided to build most of the system from scratch. They have their reasons, but you gotta know that doing so stacks the odds against you at the start. Then Lockheed originally provided programmers without the necessary experience, the GAO says, causing project delays. Lockheed had to replace them with more experienced programmers.

The glacial pace of progress -- and you may surmise I use the word "progress" quite generously -- makes me want to pull my hair out:

  • 2001 to 2003: Two years to go from developing records management policies to issuing a request for proposal to design the ERA.

  • December 2003 to August 2004: Another eight months to award contracts to two vendors to design the system.

  • August 2004 to September 2005: Another year to choose one of the two to build it; Lockheed got a contract that runs from 2006 to 2012 valued at, the GAO says, US$317 million.

    Page:

    • Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

    More about: Lockheed Martin, MSN, Plan B
    References show all

    Comments

    Post new comment

    The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
    Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
    Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
    Related Whitepapers
    Latest Stories
    Community Comments
    Latest Blog Posts
    Whitepapers
    • Eight threats your antivirus won’t stop - Why you need endpoint security
      News headlines are a constant reminder that malware attacks and data loss are on the rise. High-profile incidents that make big news might seem out of the ordinary. Yet businesses of every size face similar risks in the everyday acts of using digital technology and the Internet for legitimate purposes. This paper outlines eight common threats that traditional antivirus alone won’t stop, and explains how to protect your organisation using endpoint security.
      Learn more »
    • Cost Effective Security and Compliance with Oracle Database 11g Release 2
      Information ranging from trade secrets to privacy related information has become the target of sophisticated attacks from both sides of the firewall. Protecting data now requires a strategy that enables both preventive and detective controls. Read on.
      Learn more »
    • Unified & Collaborative Communications
      The demands on day-to-day business activities are changing all the time with the wide variety of communications media now available being a major contributing factor. They also serve to cut response times, thereby speeding up processes. With employees often working across many different sites being able to control their availability, enables new opportunities for working more efficiently.
      Learn more »
    All whitepapers
    rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.
    Recent comments

    HP and IDG news, product videos and resources