[LINK] ABS Tries to Blame IBM for 2016 Census Problems

[David Lochrin]

On 2016-09-27 17:26 Narelle  wrote:

> Without yet reading the submissions, surely whether or not an entity can blame its contractor all depends on the terms of the contract in place.

It certainly does, and it wasn't clear to me just who was contracted to do what for whom.  For example, what was the relationship between the ABS, IBM, & DSD?  The report states:

"The ABS engaged external companies to undertake a range of testing of Census preparations, including:
o  Revolution IT to undertake load and performance testing of both ABS developed and contracted ICT solutions;
o  UXC Saltbush to undertake penetration testing and source code review of elements of both ABS developed and contracted ICT solutions; and
o  Vision Australia to undertake accessibility testing of Census solutions for visually-impaired persons."

The ABS may be great statisticians but project managing the design & implementation of an online census is a serious IT&C job.  I can easily imagine that some critical aspects of the technical integration may have fallen between the cracks because of confused responsibilities, but I suppose we'll never know.

David L.