The government's best practice monitoring process for major IT programmes has improved success rates, concluded a National Audit Office (NAO) report published last week. The Gateway review process run by Whitehall buying agency the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) involves independent teams monitoring the government's IT projects at key points in their development. At each 'gateway' projects are given a red, amber or green light. Recommendations accompanying red lights need to be acted upon immediately for the project to avoid failure. Amber lights must be acted upon before the next Gateway review.
Since the process was established in February 2001 there have been 440 reviews on 254 projects.
And between June 2002 and March 2004 half of the projects assessed were given an amber light, 28 per cent a red light and 22 per cent a green light.
The same problems are cropping up over and over again, says the NAO Improving IT Procurement report.
'The creation of a process of regular project reviews is becoming part of the culture of delivering major IT-enabled projects and in many cases has been adopted by departments,' says the report.
'However the concerns raised in Gateway reviews have remained broadly the same since their introduction, and unless there is growing evidence that these weaknesses are being addressed their recurrence will reduce confidence in the ability of OGC and departments to bring about a step change in the performance of projects,' it says.
Whitehall needs to ensure that lessons are being learned rather than simply relying on potential problems being picked up by the policing service provided by the Gateway teams.
'There is clear evidence that departments lack appropriate Programme and Project Management skills and experience and this present a major risk to successful delivery,' says the NAO.
The high proportion of red and amber lights highlights the scale of the problem government technology has been facing, says Richard Allan, Liberal Democrat IT spokesman and member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
'If we are looking for an explanation of why so many government IT projects have gone wrong then this is the first reliable indication we've had of just how many of them are poorly put together,' he said.
'In a sense it is encouraging because it shows the Gateway teams are doing their job right because clearly not giving green lights for nothing.
'These figures say only 1 in 5 of the teams putting projects together is able to do it to required standard, and 4 out of 5 are not, which is very worrying,' said Allan.
Ian Watmore, former head of Accenture UK, became the first head of egovernment - dubbed a chief information officer for Whitehall - in September. One of Watmore's roles is to head the government IT profession.
Watmore's job will be to help departments develop internal IT management skills, reducing the number of red lights and increasing the number of greens, says Allan.
'There is still a structural problem in Whitehall about developing the profession and sharing expertise - too often people simple work their way through one department so if they do make mistakes they tend to be repeated elsewhere,' he said.
Progress is being made, but there is still some way to go, says Nick Kalisperas, director of public sector for supplier trade body Intellect.
'Fundamental to success is the ability to engage with suppliers and discuss with them rationally and calmly what is the best solution to their particular need. There is a dearth of this at the moment but to get people skilled up does take time,' he said.
The NAO's finding will be considered in a PAC hearing later this month. Ian Watmore's office said it would be unappropriate for him to comment in advance of the committee meeting, which will hear evidence from OGC chief executive John Oughton.
What is a Gateway Review?
The Gateway Review process was established in February 2001 to apply best practice to government IT projects. Independent teams put together by OGC assess programmes at key stages in their delivery, grading projects red, amber or green according to their progress.
There are six 'gates':
Gateway 0 - Strategic assessment
Gateway 1 - Business justification
Gateway 2 - Procurement strategy
Gateway 3 - Investment decision
Gateway 4 - Readiness for service
Gateway 5 - Benefits evaluation
Red: To achieve success the project team should take action immediately
Amber: The project should go forward with actions on recommendations to be carried out before the next Gateway Review of the project
Green: The project is on target to succeed but may benefit from the uptake of recommendations
Autor: Sarah Arnott
Quelle: Vnunet, 10.11.2004
