RE: [Sheflug] Failed IT Project

["David Bottrill" <nospam [at] ntlworld.com>]

Guys,

I am an infrastructure project manager / consultant working for EDS on the
Rolls-Royce account in Derby, I can't comment of the Gouvernment accounts,
but we do try our hardest to do the best job we can for RR. However if the
gouvernment accounts are as beauracratic as RR is then I can understand the
reason for some projects failing. I am constantly faced with the old guard
RR beauracracy, which mixed with EDS's own, causes great difficulties. The
biggest drawback I find is the constant distrust RR have for EDS, we are
genuinely not out to rip-off RR, but we are constantly asked to re-view our
quotations (reduce costs) which inveviatbly costs more labour than what we
managed to shave off the original costings. At RR we do nto work on fixed
price contacts, so the hours we work are the hours RR are charged, as for
the hardware / software costs, RR pay a fixed percentage over our cost
prices which we are obliged to share with them.

Since EDS took over the number of IT staff have been considerably reduced,
and a vast ammount of new infrastructure has been installed, large SAP
projects are gradually reducing reliance on MainFrame systems that often
never worked properly, this has allowed significant reduction in the time to
manufacture and repair Aero engines.

EDS don't always get it right, the clash of two cultures causes major
ripples that reverberate around for many years, but they do gradually
diminsh albeit not quick enough.

RR originally signed a 10 year contract with EDS, after 4 1/2 years they
have signed for another 12 1/2 years, so on the whole we must be doing a
good job, time will tell!!

David Bottrill


>
> >
> > Hmmm, EDS. I think I see the problem here. Have they ever delivered on
> > time/budget?
> >
>
> The gov't favorite outsourcer :) Though just look at the history
> of public
> service IT projects ... Pathway (scrapped; ICL), Passport system
> (problematic; Siemens), Inland Revenue (problematic; EDS),  NATS (delayed
> still; don't know).
>
> Whenever a public service IT project fails, the trade press (Computing;
> Computer Weekly) keeps analysing it time and time again. Seems
> gov't still
> hasn't learnt how to manage and supervise an IT project successfully.
>

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