Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ukma!rutgers!bellcore!dduck!duncan
From: duncan@dduck.ctt.bellcore.com (Scott Duncan)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: US Federal Software Projects - request for reference
Message-ID: <16051@bellcore.bellcore.com>
Date: 11 May 89 12:24:21 GMT
References: <4021@newton.praxis.co.uk>
Sender: news@bellcore.bellcore.com
Reply-To: duncan@ctt.bellcore.com (Scott Duncan)
Lines: 21

In article <4021@newton.praxis.co.uk> tv@praxis.co.uk (Tony Voss) writes:

[Asking about a source for the following figures about government projects
surveyed by the GAO.]

>47%   $3.2M    delivered but were never used
>29%   $2.0M    were paid for but never delivered
>19%   $1.3M    had to be abandoned or reworked
>3%    $0.2M    were used after change
><2%   $0.1M    were used as delivered

The source I was given -- recently at the Emprirical Studies of Programmers
Workshop in Austin just prior to SIGCHI -- was ACM's SIGSOFT Notes (Oct. '85).
But it was pointed out that these projects were ones already considered to be
in trouble (for what reasons I do not know).  I have not yet read the article
to know what detail it provides, however.

Speaking only for myself, of course, I am...
Scott P. Duncan (duncan@ctt.bellcore.com OR ...!bellcore!ctt!duncan)
                (Bellcore, 444 Hoes Lane  RRC 1H-210, Piscataway, NJ  08854)
                (201-699-3910 (w)   201-463-3683 (h))