Given the apparent pleasure with which some people criticise government's record with IT projects, it's easy to imagine a few smirks over the weekend's report of doubts over the schedule for implementing the universal credit programme at the Department for Work and Pensions. IT industry association Intellect has reportedly investigated the prospects and come up with some serious reservations due to the number of interfaces needed, especially those for receiving information from HM Revenue and Customs.
There's no reason for anyone to take pleasure in this - those in charge are going at this project with the best of motives and if it hits problems it does none of us any good - but it's not a big suprise that the timeframe is being questioned. It's a big, complex project that breaks new ground and demands the extensive integration of information between two major departments, and the introduction date of 2013 was always a tough target.
The government did not help with the initial assertions, in the 21st Century Welfare paper and then from DWP minister Iain Duncan Smith to parliament's work and pensions committee, that everything could be built on existing capabilities and it would not amount to a major IT project. The latter part was unrealistic; it was always going to be a big programme, even if it didn't involve a major procurement. It's hard to believe that the officials charged with doing the job saw it in the same way, but those early statements will have encouraged sceptics to be hyper-critical.
While the universal credit is the big prize at stake, the government will also be thinking of the implications for agile project management, its chosen methodology for the programme and about which it has been very enthusiastic, suggesting it could be the secret to doing a lot better with its IT projects.
There are question marks over agile; critics have claimed it works well on a small scale but can fall short on major projects, and that the emphasis on responding to feedback could lead to a drift from the original intent. Against this, it could make a department more flexible in responding to the policy changes that often knock major projects off track. Its use for the universal credit programme will be a major test, and it comes off successfully it will be a major boost.
If not - and none of us should be hoping for this - it could leave Whitehall mired in the same old problems that have brought too many of its IT projects to grief.
This article is published by Guardian Professional. For weekly updates of news, debate and best practice on public sector IT, join the Government Computing Network here.
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