Tony Collins's IT Projects Blog

Francis Maude is likely to be the man who's responsible for reforming Government IT if the Conservatives win the next general election. He's now Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office.

When he kindly agreed to my requests for an interview he knew he'd be asked about a paper on Government IT reform that the Conservatives had published in December 2009.

For me the big unanswered questions were: would the Tories would commit unequivocally to implement change? Or would they merely express an intention to implement change and, if they won power, quietly drop their plans in the face of opposition from Sir Humphrey?

The interview with Maude went as expected though: he was articulate and personable; and he committed the Conservatives to nothing.

If anything he affirmed the wisdom of political columnist George Will who said that the most important four words in politics are "up to a point".

Continue reading " Tories are slippery on committing to Government IT reform" »

The Liberal Democrats have proposed cuts to the National Programme for IT (NPfIT), the Care Records Service in particular, according to Publicservice.co.uk

"The policy document, published by the party's shadow health spokesman Norman Lamb, has proposed scrapping the Care Records Service (CRS), reducing the scope of the troubled Choose and Book scheme and shutting down Connecting for Health (CfH) - the organisation overseeing the NPfIT's implementation. Its proposals in general all point towards removing central control over IT systems."

Comment:

It's too easy to believe that, unless Labour is returned at the coming election, NHS Connecting for Health and parts of the NPfIT are doomed. What is left of the NPfIT will probably survive, at least because of the difficulties in unravelling CfH's pursuits. 

Links:

Lib-dems to take the axe to the NPfIT - Publicservice.co.uk
Ipad and the NPfIT - In the eye of the storm
Dell Perot - technology can deliver NHS savings - PublicTechnology.net
Which IT contracts are at risk? -  Contractor UK
Microsoft sells its first Amalga Unified Intelligence System 2009 to UK - to Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust "We are now much better positioned to leverage the solutions available through NPfIT," says Trust Finance Director.

Continue reading "Scrap NHS CfH and the NPfIT Care Records Service say Lib-Dems" »

A High Court judge, Sir Vivian Ramsey, this afternoon ordered HP to pay BSkyB interim damages of £200m within 14 days.

No decision has been taken yet on the final amount of damages.

The payment order comes after a judgment last month which found that EDS, before it was acquired by HP, misrepresented its capabilities when bidding for, and selling, a CRM system to BSkyB.

Sir Vivian had questioned the honesty of EDS's main witness in the court case, Joe Galloway.

The judge said that Galloway had been the  "mastermind for EDS' Response to the ITT [invitation to tender] which was presented to Sky on 1 June 2000 and was closely involved in all subsequent developments".

Continue reading "HP must pay £200m interim damages to BSkyB over failed CRM" »

A judge in the £709m legal case between BSkyB and EDS, which is now owned by HP, has said of Joe Galloway, the "main" witness for EDS:
 
"Having observed him over the period he gave his evidence and heard his answers to questions put in cross-examination and by me, which have been shown to be dishonest, I also consider that this reflects upon his propensity to be dishonest whenever he sees it in his interest, in his business dealings.

"Whilst, of course, this does not prove that Joe Galloway made dishonest representations, it is a significant factor which I have to take into account in assessing whether he was dishonest in his dealings with Sky."

EDS dismissed Galloway as soon as it discovered he lied in court, according to a 468-page judgment in the case, which was released this week.

In his witness statement Galloway had stated: "I hold an MBA from Concordia College, St Johns (1995 to 1996)."

The judge, Sir Vivian Ramsey, said:

"However, on being asked questions about that degree Joe Galloway gave evidence
to the court over a prolonged period which EDS fully accept, as they have to, was
completely false.

"This led to the termination of his employment by EDSC [Electronic Data Systems Corporation] and to EDS having to accept that their main witness had lied in giving his evidence.

"He was also the person who, as Managing Director of the relevant part of EDS,
directed and was fully involved in EDS' Response to the ITT [invitation to tender] and in the various matters which are alleged by Sky to give rise to the misrepresentations in this case."

Continue reading "EDS main witness in BSkyB case had a "propensity to be dishonest" - judge" »

Below is a summary of the case of BSkyB versus EDS. Below that are excerpts from the 468-page judgment in the case.

**

A judge in a £709m legal case over a failed CRM system says that if EDS had not made misrepresentations to Sky, then Sky would have engaged another company, PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

The finding is in a 468-page judgment which was emailed to interested parties last night. The judgment comes at the end of a five year court battle in which BSkyB sued EDS for £709m.

EDS - now owned by HP - had argued that its liability under the contract was capped at £30m. But a judge has found in favour of BSkyB's claim that misrepresentation by EDS removed the cap on EDS liability, leaving EDS with potentially much higher damages to pay.

At a new hearing in February the judge Sir Vivian Ramsey will hear arguments by both sides on the size of damages. As well as fraudulent misrepresentation, the judge found that EDS was in breach of contract.

Herbert Smith, BSkyB's lawyers, say that EDS will be liable to pay at least £200m in damages. But EDS says that the judge dismissed the majority of allegations made by BSkyB.

HP said: "While we accept that the contract was problematic, HP strongly maintains EDS did nothing to deceive BSkyB."

HP is seeking permission to appeal. Its lawyers believe that a finding that there had been misrepresentation by one of EDS's witnesses - there were 27 from its side who gave evidence  - is not evidence of a culture of deceit within the company. It does not accept there was fraud at any level of the company.

EDS had about 60 people in the bid process, including senior staff and representatives of consortium partners. The company rejects any suggestion that one individual had the influence to render the entire process fraudulent.

EDS had argued during the case that BSkyB was vague about what it wanted and that it kept changing requirements.  

In his judgment, Sir Vivian Ramsey said there had been "deceit" by EDS through an employee who "dishonestly made those representations knowing them not to be true".

Continue reading "EDS "misrepresention" in BSkyB case - some comments by judge" »

The introduction of new Pay As You Earn computer systems at HM Revenue and Customs means that many people are being sent, and will be sent in coming weeks, incorrect tax codes, according to the Chartered Institute of Taxation. 

When mistakes happen, it appears that taxpayers will usually pay more tax than they should, unless they spot the error and contact HMRC. 

The Institute says that HMRC is issuing around 25 million tax coding notices this year, double the number issued last year, and "a significant proportion of these are wrong".

Continue reading "HMRC benefits as new PAYE system issues wrong tax codes" »

Unwittingly, the writer of a job advert for an NPfIT Electronic Patient Record Project Manager has touched a raw Labour Party nerve.

The advert promises that the post holder will be able to work on "both NPfIT and operational ICT". Which suggests that the £12.7bn NPfIT is anything but operational.

The advert.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, Lewis PR asked the Ministry of Defence how many incidents there have been of confidential information or records being leaked via social media sites and the internet in the last 18 months.

The MoD said 16. It was more slippery when Lewis PR asked what disciplinary actions had been taken against employees for misuse of social media, and how many have been disciplined.

This was the MoD's reply:

"Service personnel are dealt with under Warnings and Sanctions or Service Law. The number of Service personnel who have been disciplined in the last 18 months is 10 (this figure has been rounded).

"Civilian personnel in the Ministry of Defence could receive informal or formal disciplinary action. The level of detail you requested, disciplinary action for the misuse of social media, is not held centrally.

"The Freedom of Information Act does not require us to change any system or process used by the Ministry of Defence or the Armed Forces to fully respond to requests for information, therefore we are unable to meet this part of your request."

When asked whether its computer networks have been compromised as a result of staff using social media, the MoD again decided, in answering, that there's safety in vagueness

Continue reading "MoD admits 16 security breaches were via social media sites" »

Germany has shelved the introduction of the country's e-health card system, which has so far cost £1.5bn, according to the British Medical Journal.

The journal says the decision to put the electronic health card system on hold was taken by Germany's Health Minister Philipp Rösler.

The aim of the scheme had been to give every citizen an electronic card which held their health data, medical history, prescriptions, and insurance status.

The project was due to have launched in January 2006 but is running at least three years behind schedule. The £1.5bn cost so has been met by health insurance companies and the German government.

Continue reading "Germany shelves £1.5bn e-health card scheme" »

Josh Ellis, the CIO at the Serious Fraud Office, is a breath of fresh air.

He doesn't believe in mega projects, and would rather take on the risks of a sizeable programme than pay a premium to transfer risk to a systems integrator.

In an exclusive interview with Computer Weekly, Ellis explained that he is senior responsible owner for a case management system that is due to be delivered by the end of this year.
 
"If I get it wrong they can fire me. I have no problem with that. I have come from a pedigree where you are only as good as your last project, or last job. I have a firm belief I can make this work."

It's rare for any CIO in government to declare themselves personally and publicly accountable for the success or failure of IT-based projects and programme.

Josh Ellis became the Serious Fraud Office's first CIO in May last year. He spoke to me in the wake of media reports that his organisation has written off £1.2m on a failed IT project.

Continue reading "A model public sector CIO? Josh Ellis at the Serious Fraud Office" »