[LINK] golden noose, not handshake

[Rick Welykochy]

Jan Whitaker wrote:

>> Golden noose tied to cards
>> <http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21291812%5E15306,00.html>http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21291812%5E15306,00.html 
[SNIP]

> Meanwhile, Australian Privacy Foundation spokesman David Vaile said 
> there was a risk that any contracts negotiated prior to the passage of 
> all three proposed access card bills would be negated if they were 
> inconsistent with the final legislation.
> 
> "If I was a tenderer, I would be seeking advice on this risk," he said. 
> "Key design decisions, apparently being made prior to executive or legal 
> authorisation, also raise project management and governance concerns.
> 
> "Major IT project disasters are typically traceable to such failures, so 
> this should set alarm bells ringing."

It certainly sets my alarm bells off at full tilt. I just looked at
a tender for a library system today, and the specifications for the contract
were iron clad and very clear. All sixty-odd pages of it. With a few days work
we will be able to determine how much it will cost us and how must to tender
for.

Without iron clad specifications as well a clauses to protect oneself
from the "moving target" presented by so many customers (since iron-clad specs.
seem to "rust" over time), it would be insane and suicidal to sign an agreement
to pay risk money and accept responsibility for a tendered contract going off
the rails.

"... raise project management and governance concerns."

Indeed! I would be wary of working on any project run with what is
an apparent railroading of politically motivated butt-covering clauses.
And these are *our* tax dollars at work. Shikes!

cheers
rickw



-- 
_________________________________
Rick Welykochy || Praxis Services

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it
is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
      -- Arthur Schopenhauer