The FBI's Implementation of LIMS

An interesting read I came across while doing research for a client: The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Implementation of the Laboratory Information Management System, Audit Report 06-33, June 2006 (PDF, HTML).

While at first glance it would seem like yet another government agency FUBAR, I have seen the same happen only too often on corporate side of the street. I believe the US has a lot to be thankful for the freedom of information act.

I also think that the report is a little to harsh on the FBI. While a most of the the budget for implementation was lost, expenditure did not consume any of the support and maintenance budget, which is almost 75% of the total budget allocated to the project. Furthermore, while the auditors perceive only the hardware cost as recoverable (servers, printers and scanners), I think more might be recoverable. The security and functionality audits done during the project might be a valuable asset for the next project, providing for a better RFQ and specification document. While I cannot gauge the exact sums of money this is worth, it could reduce the costs for COTS systems.

One point I found interesting, and which I thought was not highlighted enough, is the impact of individuals on the project. This is not a matter for finger pointing, but rather understanding that individuals, withing the context of the job description, make judgement calls. Theses calls may be right or wrong, and may (or actually should) be medigated by reviewers, but these calls must be viewed within the context of human reasoning, and room for error must be granted. I believe it is also important to realise, that no matter how much checks and balances are provided, individuals count.