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Lessons From a Decade of IT Failures (ieee.org)
New submitter mixed_signal writes: IEEE Spectrum has an online set of articles, or "lessons," on why big IT projects have failed, including analysis of the impacts of failed systems and the life cycles of failed projects. From the summary: "To commemorate the last decade's worth of failures, we organized and analyzed the data we've collected. We cannot claim—nor can anyone, really—to have a definitive, comprehensive database of debacles. Instead, from the incidents we have chronicled, we handpicked the most interesting and illustrative examples of big IT systems and projects gone awry and created the five interactives featured here. Each reveals different emerging patterns and lessons. Dive in to see what we've found. One big takeaway: While it's impossible to say whether IT failures are more frequent now than in the past, it does seem that the aggregate consequences are worse."
While I suspect that you're a tad sarcastic here,...
I agree with you that Impy the Impious Imp was speaking sarcastically. It reminds me of the four types of spending Milton Friedman classified, and the value of its results. I'm working from memory here, so please forgive me my mistakes. Type 1 spending is where you spend your own money on yourself. This type of spending has the greatest results because you take care to spend as little as possible, and to purchase the things you want most. Type 2 spending is where you spend someone else's money on yourself. This has worse results than type 1 spending because, while you still take care to purchase what you want most, you are more likely to try to spend the entire amount. Type 3 spending is where you spend your money on someone else. In type 3 spending you try to conserve funds, but rather than getting someone what they most want, you get them what you think they should want. Type 4 spending is where you spend someone else's money on someone else. In type 4 spending you neither try to conserve money nor purchase what's most needed or wanted. I interpret Impy to be saying that all government spending is type 4 spending.
~Loyal
I aim to misbehave.
Actually, you're the biggest idiot here. The OP was referring to HB1 pencils. Only the old I.T. guys knows what those are and how to use them.