FBI cancels LIMS contract with JusticeTrax – Here we go again…
FBI cancels LIMS contract with JusticeTrax – Here we go again…
by Ephraim Gadsby
Is the FBI jinxed or what? It seems like only yesterday that I wrote a blog concerning the FBI’s failures on another large IT project. Granted 2 points do not make a trend but something is really wrong here.
When a LIMS project fails, everyone loves to blame the vendor; its the easy choice. The customer likes to blame the vendor. The competitors love it, because they get to show how if only the customer had chosen them, things would be different and then they get to use the misfortunes of their competitor to defeat that competitor in future bids.
Is there anyone interested in the real truth? Who benefits from the real truth? Who loses by exposing the real truth? I will only say that both parties are to blame and that is the truth as I see it, for what it is worth.
Frankly, I have sympathy for both the FBI and JusticeTrax. Both parties must endure this failure and very little good can come from it. I am sure that other government agencies and other LIMS vendors are saying: “but by the grace of God, go I”. If they take any joy in this misfortune, then they deserve all the fortunes of the FBI and JusticeTrax.
Not a first for the FBI:
I wrote a blog over a year ago about another large, failed IT project at the FBI. It appears that they are committed to repeating history.
This latest failed project is closely akin to the previous IT project failure. You can read more about the failed LIMS project here and the failed Case Management project here.
How could the FBI avert failure:
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Kill the bureaucracy
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Work more closely with the Vendor
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Make your project team do their jobs and stop passing the buck
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Take responsibility for your own success and don’t place that success in a vendor’s hands.
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Don’t kill the project, replace your project team with more competency.
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I will leave the rest of the advice to the readers to post to this blog.
It is clear to anyone who has purchased a LIMS that the customer is the largest factor in a project’s success or failure. In a contract the size of the FBI LIMS project, the vendor practically becomes an employee of the FBI. You cannot blame employees for the employer’s failures. The buck stops with the management. There is absolutely no doubt who was managing the FBI projects and it was not the vendor.
What of JusticeTrax?
Well for such a small LIMS company, this sort of project failure could spell the practical end of their business since Forensics is essentially their sole focus. It is much like the Value Jet Crash a number of years ago that caused the creation of the now, highly successful airline called “AirTran”. JusticeTrax can and should recover from this misfortune by learning from their mistakes. You know what they say, “What does not kill you, makes you stronger”.
I am sure that JusticeTrax has a number of great references and satisfied customers and very successful LIMS implementations. The FBI on the other hand has a jaded past when it comes to IT projects. These are some more facts that I hope future, would be customers, of JusticeTrax will consider.
Some say the customer is always right… That just isn’t true. There is no one who is always right. I truly wish the best for both the FBI and JusticeTrax and hope that some how both parties can find some good from this failure.
