Mismanaging a Technology Project: Case of ABC Inc

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1. What factors prompted the State Health Services Department to apply technology to a perceived problem?
Probably the biggest issue in the State Health Departments desire to user technology has to do with the concept of automation. The overall scope dealt primarily with "automation of manual tasks" for which we typically look to technology to accomplish. In addition when they put the concept out for bid, there were no other options presented that were not technology and IT related. In addition, client-server technology is a logical answer for such issues, although no persons involved truly understood the massiveness of an implementation like this. We have been taught repeatedly that technology is best suited to conducting repetitive tasks, with speed and efficiency. You can see how this client - server technology was thought to be the answer.

The decentralized nature of the State Health Department units made this project appear to be a perfect fit for a client - server application. While this fits the template, the bureaucratic nature of the organization was not taken into account and ultimately had a significant effect on the overall outcome of the project.

The fact that the State Health Department did not internally have the expertise or talent to put this project together internally also lead the organization to throw technology at the original problem. If this project was begun and managed internally by IT professionals who were more astute to the actual needs and operations, the outcome would likely have been much different as the actual product and approach may have been significantly different. This lack of internal Information Technology expertise may have also lead to the failure of the project on some level as there was no person internal to the organization who was able to adequately monitor the project.

2. How did the department go about seeking a technology solution?
Like many governmental organizations, the State Health Department has a requirement to handle outsourcing bids in a very well details manner. This is exactly what the State Health Department did in this case. They wrote a ...