Communicating about IT projects: the UK Child Support Agency CS2 System 2008-11.1

In September 2000 the UK Child Support Agency awarded at £427 million contract to Electronic Data Systems to provide a new IT system, to be ready for use in April 2002. The new system, called CS2, went live in March 2003 after a year’s delay, and within weeks staff began experiencing significant problems with access and response time. A substantial amount of additional work was undertaken to repair the defects, and a new business case was prepared and by June 2005, CS2 was more stable, but none of its original performance targets had been met. It was unlikely that the full functionality originally planned for the new system would ever be available.

This vignette case looks at an IT project that looked sound in its initial design, but which received many negative audit reports and experience several governance failures. It can be used to discuss policy skills and project management.