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Hundreds of millions of pounds have been wasted on plans to digitise the criminal justice system due to the mismanagement of a key programme that has so far delivered little value to the taxpayer, according to multiple insiders.
The Common Platform Programme (CPP) was supposed to be complete by March 2019. However, a spokeswoman from HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) said the programme will not be complete until 2020 at a revised cost of £270m.
The project began in 2014 with the intention of creating a unified platform across the criminal justice system to allow the Crown Prosecution Service and courts to more effectively manage cases. Programme director Loveday Ryder had described the project as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to modernise the criminal justice system.
But The Register understands that over the last 30 months, a series of independent and internal reviews have documented the programme's failings, with all the key milestones having been missed.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 04 2017, @11:02AM (1 child)
Hint to the bosses: "but, agile!" is *not* a catch-all excuse for spectacularly botching the controlling job you were supposed to be doing (or to oversee). Just the same as adding "with a computer" does not make an "invention" any more novel.
If you squander millions of ... whatever currency, it really doesn't matter ... over the course of years, and *then* blame it on agile methods, it just serves to show that you do not have the slightest clue of neither agile nor non-agile project management.
Next time, you better switch roles with your coffee-making assistant. Things will probably turn out for the better. Except for the coffee.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 04 2017, @04:21PM
Sounds like somebody was duped by buzzword-itus. Agile can work under the right circumstances, but merely "doing agile" by itself is no guarantee of anything. Ultimately big IT projects have to be well-managed and well-coordinated. No fancy-dancy methodology will compensate for screwing those up.
Find managers with a track record of success with similar projects and let them use whatever methodology they are familiar with; don't shove a new approach down their throats or you risk breaking something that didn't need fixing. There are times and places for "experimental" projects, but make sure everyone knows such is the case if in that mode.