(2006-08-21) Fbi Software Project Failure

The FBI's Virtual Case File project cost hundreds of millions of dollars but was scrapped before it could be made functional. Sounds like egg on the faces of the FBI and vendor SAIC. The company told Congress last year that it tried to warn the FBI that its "trial and error" approach to the project would not work, but it said it may not have been forceful enough with the bureau. Whoever is at fault, five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and more than $600 million later, agents still rely largely on the paper reports and file cabinets used since federal agents began chasing gangsters in the 1920s... In the months after the (World Trade Center) terrorist attacks, overhauling the case-management system became one of the bureau's top priorities. Deadlines were moved up, requirements grew, and costs ballooned. Another Big Project Project Failure.