national outsourcing tribulation for public sector software projects and remedial actions (a case...

8/7/2019 National Outsourcing Tribulation for Public Sector Software Projects and Remedial Actions (a Case Study of Pakistan)

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1 Table of Contents

1 TABLE OF CONTENTS..............................................................................III

2 ABSTRACT PAKISTAN AS A NATION AND ITS PRIVATE AND PUBLIC

INSTITUTIONS IN PARTICULAR ARE MOVING TOWARDS ACHIEVEMENT OFAUTOMATION USING INDUSTRY RECOGNIZED TOOLS AND PROCESSES.

HOWEVER THE ROAD TO AN IT AWARE NATION IS NOT SMOOTH AND MAYHURDLES ARE BLOCKING THE PATH TO ACHIEVING FULLY AUTOMATED

SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES. THE BARRIERS ARE ESPECIALLY HINDERINGTHE PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS WHERE THE OLD SCHOOL THINKING,

HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURES OF BUREAUCRACY AND WIDE SPREADCORRUPTION ARE JUST A FEW OF THE TRIBULATIONS EFFECTING THEIR

FUTURE GROWTH AS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CAPABLEORGANIZATIONS. THIS PAPER ANALYZES THE IMPORTANT ISSUES

AFFECTING THE PUBLIC SECTOR SOFTWARE PROJECTS OUTSOURCED TO

MOSTLY PAKISTANI SOFTWARE COMPANIES, THEIR NEGATIVE IMPACTSAFFECTING THE SUCCESSFUL CULMINATION OF THESE PROJECTS IN TERMS

OF IN-TIME, IN-BUDGET AND CORRECT SCOPE COMPLETION AND FINALLYREMEDIAL MEASURES TO OVERCOME THESE ISSUES. ..............................VIII

3 OBJECTIVES THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF CARRYING OUT THIS RESEARCH

ARE TO CORRECTLY GATHER AND ANALYZE ALL THE IMPORTANT ISSUESAFFECTING PUBLIC SECTOR SOFTWARE PROJECTS OUTSOURCED TO

SOFTWARE COMPANIES BY PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS AND SUGGESTTHE CORRECTIVE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES. .........................................VIII

ALTHOUGH EXPERTS LIKE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE LLC [1] ANSWER THISQUESTION DIFFERENTLY, HOWEVER COMPARING THE RESULTS BY EXPERT

JUDGMENT AND PEER REVIEWS IDENTIFIED TOTALLY DIFFERENT ISSUES,WITH VERY FEW IDENTICAL POINTS. HOWEVER CERTAIN ASPECTS WERE

FOUND IDENTICAL TO STILL RECENT RESEARCH BY HAYAT, F.ALI, S.EHSANETC[2] LIKE NEED FOR CORRECT REQUIREMENT ELICITATION. ..............VIII

4 HYPOTHESIS PAKISTANI PUBLIC SECTOR SOFTWARE ORGANIZATIONSOUTSOURCE THEIR PROJECTS TO SOFTWARE COMPANIES WHICH ARE

ALWAYS FACING PROBLEMS IN TERMS OF TRIPLE CONSTRAINTS OF COSTTIME AND SCOPE BECAUSE OF MULTIPLE ISSUES AFFECTING THE PUBLIC

SECTORS ORGANIZATIONS. THESE ISSUES INCLUDE LACK OF IT CULTURE,RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IN GENERAL, BUREAUCRACY AND RED TAPE

AFFECTING THE WHOLE PROCESS, INCORRECT REQUIREMENT ELICITATION,LACK OF VISION IN REAPING TRUE AUTOMATION BENEFITS AND FINALLY

WIDE SPREAD CORRUPTION. ..................................................................VIII

5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN ORDER TO GATHER INFORMATION OF THIS

NATURE A DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH INVOLVING PEER REVIEWS ANDDELPHI METHOD INVOLVING EXPERT JUDGMENT HAS BEEN USED TO

GATHER INFORMATION REGARDING THE PROBLEMS INDICATED IN THEHYPOTHESIS. ...........................................................................................VIII

6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS THE IMPORTANT RESEARCH QUESTIONS ARE ASFOLLOWS: WHAT ARE THE MAIN TRIBULATIONS AFFECTING OUTSOURCED

PUBLIC SECTOR SOFTWARE PROJECTS AND HOW THESE ISSUES CAN BERESOLVED? THE ANSWER TO THIS SINGLE QUESTION LEADS US TO

FURTHER QUESTIONS LIKE PRIMARILY WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS, WHAT IS

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THE MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM SPECIFICALLY, WHY THESE PROBLEMSARE THERE AND WHAT IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THESE PROBLEMS, ALSO

HOW THESE PROBLEMS ARE AFFECTING THE PAKISTAN’S GROWTH INPUBLIC SECTOR IT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT. ALSO MOST

IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ANSWER IS THE METHODOLOGY USING WHICHTHE SITUATION CAN BE IMPROVED, THEREBY SUGGESTING THE REMEDIAL

MEASURES. .................................................................................................IX

7 DATA ANALYSIS THE STUDY HAS BEEN DIVIDED INTO TWO MAJOR

STRATA’S OF PAKISTAN’S PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS, NAMELYDEFENSE BASED PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR PROJECTS

AND CIVIL PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS. BOTH THE TYPES HAVEDISTINCT AND TOTALLY SEPARATE ISSUES AFFECTING THE SUCCESS OF

OUTSOURCED IT PROJECTS. CONSEQUENTLY THE REMEDIAL MEASURES FOR BOTH ARE SEPARATE KEEPING IN VIEW THE WIDE DIFFERENCES IN

CULTURE, WORK METHODOLOGY AND RESULTING MEANS OF DEALINGWITH IT PROJECTS. BOTH THE ORGANIZATION TYPES WILL BE DISCUSSED

SEPARATELY ALONG WITH MAJOR TRIBULATIONS AFFECTING EACH

ORGANIZATION TYPE..................................................................................IX

7.1 DEFENSE BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND IT PROJECTS TRIBULATIONS THE MAJOR TRIBULATIONS AFFECTING THE DEFENSE BASED ORGANIZATIONS LIKE ARMY, NAVY AND AIR FORCE AND DIFFERENT OTHER RESEARCH AND

PROJECT BASED ORGANIZATIONS ARE DESCRIBED IN THE ORDER OF SEVERITY ARE AS SHOWN IN FIGURE 1.....IX

7.2 CIVIL PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS AND IT PROJECT TRIBULATIONS COMPARATIVELY THE MAJOR

ISSUES HOGGING THE CIVIL PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATION’ S IT PROJECTS ARE MUCH DIFFERENT AS SHOWN IN

FIGURE 2........................................................................................................X

8 LIMITATIONS MAIN LIMITATIONS ENCOUNTERED WERE OF EXACT DATACOLLECTIONS. WHILE EXECUTIVES AND PROJECT MANAGERS WERE READY

TO GENERALLY DISCUSS THE DETAILS OF ISSUES ENCOUNTERED INOVERALL IT PROJECTS, NO ONE IN DEFENSE BASED ORGANIZATIONS WAS

WILLING TO DISCLOSE EXACT DETAILS OF INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS. WHILEIT CAN BE UNDERSTOOD IN BROAD TERMS OF SECURITY AND SECRECY

RELATED WITH SUCH PROJECTS, IT DIDN’T HELP IN GATHERINGWHOLESOME, SPECIFIC DATA REGARDING EACH AND EVERY PROJECT. IN

CASE OF PUBLIC SECTOR CIVIL PROJECTS, THE PROBLEM WAS LESS IN

TERMS OF SECRECY AND MORE IN TERMS OF VISIBILITY OF DATA. ITSEEMED THAT MOST OF THE SMALL ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF WAS HARDLY

AWARE OF THE BIG PICTURE IN TERMS OF IT. AN ACCESS TO HIGHER HIERARCHY WAS MADE DIFFICULT DUE TO RED TAPE PROCEDURES AND

BUREAUCRATIC CULTURE PREVALENT IN PAKISTAN IN GENERAL...............XI

9 THE TRIBULATIONS THE IMPORTANT TRIBULATIONS WILL BEDISCUSSED ONE BY ONE REGARDLESS OF ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH CIVIL

OR DEFENSE BASED ORGANIZATIONS. HERE NO PARTICULAR ORDER WILLBE FOLLOWED AS EACH INDIVIDUAL PROJECT IS NOT ONLY PLAGUED BY A

SINGLE BUT IN MANY A CASES MOST OF THE ABOVE MENTIONEDTRIBULATIONS. ..........................................................................................XI

9.1 CORRUPTION IN ALMOST ALL OF THE CIVIL BASED IT PROJECTS, IT WAS CITED AS THE CAUSE OF FAILURE OF MOST OF THE PROJECTS. STARTING FROM BIDDING PROCESS TO THE PROJECT AWARD, INITIATION,

PROCUREMENTS AND ALMOST ALL OF THE PROJECT LIFE CYCLE PHASES, THE PROGRESS IS HAMPERED BY THIS SINGLE ISSUE. STARTING FROM THE SMALLEST BASIC IT HARDWARE PROCUREMENT PROJECTS TO BIG PUBLIC

SECTOR ORGANIZATION LEVEL AUTOMATION PROJECTS, CORRUPTION PLAYS ITS ROLE. AS A RESULT, LOWEST QUALITY HARDWARE IS PROCURED AT THE EXUBERANT PRICES. A LITTLE SCRATCH AT THE SURFACE REVELS 2ND

iv



HAND REFURBISHED HARDWARE BEING SOLD AS NEW ONE WITH LITTLE OR NO SUPPORT AVAILABLE. THE BIG TIME AUTOMATION PROJECTS REDUCE THE EFFICIENCY OF OTHERWISE SMOOTHLY RUNNING ORGANIZATIONS WHERE THE

MAGIC TALISMAN OF IT WAS BROUGHT TO IMPROVE THE TIME, REDUCE COST AND IMPROVE CUSTOMER

SATISFACTIONS. TAKING THE EXAMPLES OF PIA’ S TICKETING SOLUTION WHICH ENSURE TRANSPARENCY IN SALES,

AND THUS EXPECTED INCREASE IN REVENUE, THE CORRUPTION IN PROCEDURES RESULTS IN ALMOST ALWAYS

RESERVATION OF SPECIAL SEATS FOR PIA STAFF, MINISTERIAL QUOTAS AND WHAT NOT. AS A RESULT THE

OTHERWISE TRANSPARENT SOLUTION CANNOT ENSURE TRANSPARENCY IN THE SINGLE REVENUE GENERATION AVENUE THROUGH USE OF IT. ................................................................................XII

THE TALE OF WAPDA’ S COMPUTERIZED BILLING IS QUIET OLDER THAN THE NEWER GENERATION OF IT

PROJECTS, HOWEVER THE WIDESPREAD CORRUPTIONS AND RESULTING INEFFICIENCY ALSO LEADS TO OVER

BILLING, SIMPLY WRONG AND EVEN LATE BILLING IN SO MANY CASES. THE PAKISTAN’ S NEVER FAILING MAIL DEPARTMENT’ S AUTOMATIONS STOREY IS ALSO FILLED WITH TALES OF WIDESPREAD CORRUPTION RESULTING IN

MANY SACKS AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS. HOWEVER ALL THIS AND MORE MAKES ONE WONDER WHETHER THE ITPROJECTS ARE NOT YET ANOTHER SOURCE OF REVENUE FOR THE PROJECTS MAFIA, WITH AN EXCUSE OF SIMPLY

DISAPPEARING AFTER THE PROJECTS FAIL MISERABLY. IT WAS NEVER EASIER TO DELIVER THE PRODUCT, EARN MONEY AND THEN LEAVE THE ARENA WITHOUT A SINGLE GLANCE BACK. THE WHOLE COMPANIES IN PAKISTAN ARE

CREATED, STARTED AND THEN DISAPPEAR WITHOUT A TRACE BASED ON IT PROJECTS GIVEN BY THE PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS. ......................................................................................XII

9.1.1 Solution The solution to this most important is the most tricky one, as better

education, mostly believed to cure a nation of corruption often cannot do so.The example of Bangladesh is with us, where more than 90% literacy rate hasnot changed one of the highest corruption rates in the world as well. Thus it can

be safely summarized that higher education cannot simply make a culture and anation better one, rather it has to do with core values given by the respective

religious or cultural background. Of course the better educational standardsmake the process a simpler one as understanding of good and bad is easy to

communicate. ........................................................................................xiii 9.2 THE RED TAPE THE RED TAPE CULTURE PREVALENT IN ALL PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATION WHETHER IN

DEFENSE BASED OR PURELY CIVIL ORGANIZATIONS LEADS TO ALMOST ALWAYS LATE PROJECTS. THIS LEADS TO

HIGHER COSTS AND ALSO CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION, FOR WHICH THE ORGANIZATION ITSELF IS MOSTLY

RESPONSIBLE. THE PROCEDURES CAN BE SO FRUSTRATING THAT SMALL TO MEDIUM SCALE COMPANIES CAN SIMPLY

LEAVE PUBLIC SECTOR PROJECTS AND RUN AWAY IN HOPE OF EARNING THE SAME REVENUES WITH MUCH LESS EFFORT FROM PRIVATE SECTOR VENTURES. EVEN IN PROJECTS WHERE THE TOP MANAGEMENT IS NOT CORRUPT

AND WILLING TO IMPLEMENT A PARTICULAR SOLUTION, THE RED TAPE ENSURES THAT PROJECTS ARE ALWAYS LATE

AND MORE COSTLY THAN EXPECTED. THIS CAN EVEN HOG DEFENSE BASED IT PROJECTS, WHERE THIS PARTICULAR

ISSUE IS RANKED NO 4. OVER SCRUTINY OF SIMPLE PROCEDURES RESULTS IN LATE PROJECT PROCUREMENTS AND

LATE PAYMENTS, WHICH DETER SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE PROJECTS BEING UNDERTAKEN BY SIMILAR SCALE

ORGANIZATIONS. .............................................................................................XIII

9.2.1 The Solution The solution to above mentioned problem is based on theinherent weaknesses prevalent in our culture as a whole. Till the time an overall

shift is attitude is brought in Public based organizations, the red tape culture isnot going away any time soon. However the solution is simple and quires

paradigm shift. Recent conversion of public sector organizations has brought amajor attitude shift in employees’ attitudes as well as major policy changes.

PTCL is one of the recent examples, where the lethargic attitude of policy makers as well as employees was magically changed to better productivity and

reduction of red tape. .............................................................................xiii 9.3 COMMANDER’ S WILL IN SOFTWARE’ S INDUSTRY’ S LANGUAGE, IT CAN BE TRANSLATED AS THE POLITICAL

SUPPORT AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. HOWEVER IN ANY AND ALL DEFENSE BASED ORGANIZATIONS’ IT PROJECT, IT HAS BEEN CITED AS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT CAUSE OF FAILURE. ALMOST ALL PROJECTS MET FAILURE

BECAUSE THE POLICIES CHANGED AS SOON AS THE LEADERSHIP CHANGED OVER THE LIFE TIME OF LARGE SCALE PROJECTS. THE NEW LEADERSHIP DID NOT APPROVE THE PREVIOUS ONE’ S PROJECTS, WHICH ULTIMATELY

RESULTED IN SIMPLE ABANDONMENT OF PROJECT IN A SHORT TIME OR CANCELLATION OF CONTRACT ENTIRELY. IN

v



ALL (IF ANY) SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS, THE PROJECT WAS STARTED AND COMPLETED IN THE TIME PERIOD OF A SINGLE PERSON SPONSORING THE PROJECT FROM THE TOP DOWN LEVEL. IN DEFENSE ORGANIZATION’ S LANGUAGE,

THIS PHENOMENON IS CALLED THE COMMANDER’ S WILL, MEANING THAT THE DESIRED SOLUTION (READ ORDER)

IS TO BE IMPLEMENTED AT ALL COSTS. ........................................................................XIV

9.3.1 The Solution The solution to above mentioned problem is only possible oncethe personality oriented culture is replaced with Policy oriented culture. Also

termed as Continuation of Policies or Top down change, the issue will keep onfailing the IT projects backed by defense organizations, till the time moremethodical, policy oriented culture is not adopted in these organizations. As the

leadership of all these institution is an outcome of Pakistan’s Culture, hence the

same needs to be changed at national level first. As is all comes under very long term solutions resulting in mature Political and Cultural values, hence no change

to this culture and its resulting problems is foreseeable in near future. .........xiv 9.4 RESISTANCE TO CHANGE WHILE THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE MAY BE MOVING TOWARDS AUTOMATION AND

COMPUTERIZATION IN GENERAL, THE AGE OLD INSTITUTIONS ARE UNABLE AND UNWILLING TO ACCEPT THE CHANGES AND EACH AND EVERY PROJECT IS CONSIDERED MAJOR CHALLENGE WHICH NEEDS TO BE FAILED, SIMPLY

TO GET RID OF EXTRA BURDEN AND WORK INVOLVED. IN CIVIL DEPARTMENTS, THE FIGHT IS TILL DEATH OF PROJECT, AS SENIOR ORGANIZATION’ S DECISION CAN BE MET BY COMPLETELY COLD SHOULDERED RESPONSE OF

JUNIOR STAFF AND MANAGEMENT. IN AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT OF PAKISTAN, THE DECISION TO IMPLEMENT

SATELLITE IMAGING FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WAS MET WITH FULL OPPOSITION, AS IT COULD RESULT IS THOUSAND OF LOST JOBS OF CROP REPORTERS, WHICH ARE OTHERWISE A COMPLETE WASTE OF NATIONAL TAX PAYER’ S MONEY. THE SAME RESISTANCE IS PREVALENT IN DEFENSE BASED ORGANIZATIONS, HOWEVER DUE TO

AUTHORITARIAN NATURE OF HIERARCHY; THE COMPLETED PROJECTS ARE A COMPULSION FOR THE JUNIOR MANAGEMENT AND END USERS................................................................................. XIV

9.4.1 The Solution The solution to this particular problem lies in making the IT culture more prevalent. By bringing IT in any organization’s daily work in a

manner which starts giving its benefits to the end users early, is it possible tomake the end users realize its benefits. The process is easier to implement in

Defense organizations, while in purely civil setups, it is difficult to implement,the reason being that in a defense organization, once any solution is

implemented, and its core benefits are immediately visible, the end user’s

acceptance is achieved more rapidly. Unfortunately, the same cannot beensured in a more liberal setup. ...............................................................xiv

9.5 LACK OF VISION THIS SIMPLE YET DECISIVE ISSUE IS BEHIND MOST OF THE IT WOES OF PAKISTAN’ S

PUBLIC SECTOR IT PROJECTS FAILURES. WHILE IN THE START MOST OF THE PROJECTS REQUIRED TO BE STARTED

ARE NEVER UNDERTAKEN, IN THE LONGER RUN, THE POLITICAL SUPPORT REQUIRED IS NEVER GIVEN DUE TO LACK

OF VISION OF ITS BENEFITS. IN BOTH CIVIL AND DEFENSE BASED ORGANIZATION’ S THE RESOURCES TO

IMPLEMENT A SOLUTION IS NEVER AN ISSUE, HOWEVER OFTEN IT IS THE LACK OF VISION TO SELECT A SOLUTION

AND GET IT IMPLEMENTED IN ITS TRUE FORM THAT REALLY IS. THE ISSUE IS MOSTLY TO DO WITH TOP LEVEL LEADERSHIP WHICH STICKS TO ITS OLD SCHOOL METHODS AND IS UNABLE TO ACCEPT CHANGE IN ANY FORM. DUE

TO LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF PREVALENT TREND IN MODERN IT TECHNOLOGY, THE POSSIBLE CHANGES ARE NEVER IN TIME. ONLY TECHNOLOGICAL LATE PROJECTS ARE UNDERTAKEN WHICH HAVE NO POLITICAL SUPPORT OF

TECHNICALLY IGNORANT MANAGERS AND TOP HIERARCHY. HENCE LACK OF VISION RESULTS IN MOSTLY TECHNICALLY OBSOLETE PROJECTS, WHICH ARE ALSO NOT COMPLETED IN TIME. ................................XV

9.5.1 The Solution The solution to this lies in making the top hierarchy well awareof the prevalent technology shifts and attitudes by making them aware of the

latest contemporary developments. This is only possible if the eyes of Topmanagement are opened to the benefits of technology in general and then given

enough free will to get any solution implemented in detail. Being a top downapproach to success, it is only possible once the right combination of

management and staff is in charge of a particular organization. The solution isnot an easy one and more a matter of long term planning then a mere matter of

luck to be successful................................................................................xv

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9.6 INCORRECT REQUIREMENT ELICITATION THIS COMPLICATED PROBLEM HAS ITS ROOT CAUSE IN MANY PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED ISSUES IN GENERAL. DUE TO GENERAL LACK OF IT CULTURE AND LACK OF VISION, THE

PROCESS OF EXACT REQUIREMENT ELICITATION IS NEVER FRUITFUL, RESULTING IN MORE AND LATER REQUIREMENT

SPECIFICATIONS AND MANY REQUIREMENT CHANGES AT LATER STAGES OF PROJECT LIFE CYCLE. THIS RESULTS IN

LATE SCHEDULES AND COMPLETE REQUIREMENT CHANGES AS WELL. ALL IN ALL, WRONG REQUIREMENT

ELICITATION RESULTS IN LATER, COSTLY AND SIMPLY WRONG SOLUTION BEING IMPLEMENTED IN PUBLIC SECTOR

ORGANIZATIONS, WHICH LAD TO END USER DISSATISFACTION AND ULTIMATELY REJECTION OF A PARTICULAR SOLUTION. AT PRESENT THE HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS BEING IMPLEMENTED THROUGHOUT PAKISTAN ARMY, HOWEVER CHANCES OF ITS SUCCESS RE SLIM, AS END USER’ S REQUIREMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN CATERED

FOR. THIS IS LIKELY TO RESULT IN GENERAL REJECTION OF SOLUTION..........................................XV

9.6.1 The Solution The solution is in better implementation of IT culture gradually over a longer period of time. By making IT a part and parcel of daily life, the

end user can be made to think of his daily professional needs in terms of Specific IT tools and requirements. Only then it is possible to give correct

requirement elicitation which ultimately results in simply wrong, delayed and more costly projects being delivered. ........................................................xv

10 CONCLUSION BRINGING ABOUT THE IT REVOLUTION IS NO SMALL

TASK, AS IT HAS BEEN EQUALED TO THE THIRD WAVE OF CHANGE BY SUCH

AUTHORS AS ALVIN TOFFLER MORE THAN TWO DECADES AGO. PAKISTAN, ADEVELOPING NATION IS ON THE VERGE OF CHANGE, AND WE WHO HAVENOT YET EMBRACED THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN ITS FULL SENSE ARE

READY TO ADAPT TO THE TECHNOLOGICAL ONE WITH EASE. THE INTERNET

HERE IS CHEAPEST IN THE WORLD, WITH CUTTING EDGE COMMUNICATIONNETWORKS, HENCE THE GROUND WORK HAS BEEN DONE, AND THE NATION

IS READY TO EMBRACE THE WAVES OF CHANGE. AS IT IS CITED BY ANUMBER OF MANAGERS AND ALSO N A RECENT STUDY, IN PAKISTAN, THE

MERE ACHIEVEMENT TO FULLY IMPLEMENT AN IT PROJECT IS ITSELF AHUGE SUCCESS [3], REGARDLESS OF SMALL OR EVEN MEDIUM SIZED

SETBACKS IN TERMS OF COST OR SCHEDULE. PRESENTLY, THE CONDITIONOF OUR NATION CAN BE COMPARED TO A SOCIETY IN ITS EMBRYONIC

STAGE, AS COMPARED TO FULLY FUNCTIONAL AUTOMATED SYSTEMS IN

ADVANCED COUNTRIES. HERE THE COMPLETION OF A SUCCESSFUL PROJECTAT ANY COST IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A FEW SETBACKS FACED IN ANYSPECIFIC AREA. ........................................................................................XVI

HAVING SAID THAT, THE IMPORTANCE OF ON TIME, LOW COSTSOLUTIONS EXACT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF CUSTOMERS CANNOT BE

UNDER ESTIMATED. ONLY BY SETTING THE BAR HIGH, WE CAN REACH TOTHE MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE LEVEL. THE EXAMPLES OF IT INDUSTRIES 50

TIMES LARGER THAN OURS ARE IN FRONT OF US IN SHAPE OF INDIA, AND

MANY SUCCESSFUL STARTUPS LIKE BANGLADESH AND SRI LANKA [4].ONLY BY AIMING AT EXCELLENCE IN IT, WE CAN HOPE TO COMPETE AND

SUCCEED IN THIS FIELD, WHICH NOW LEADS TO SUBSEQUENT SUCCESS IN

ALL OTHER SPHERES OF LIFE. ..................................................................XVI

11 REFERENCES........................................................................................XVI

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2 Abstract Pakistan as a nation and its private and public institutions in particular

are moving towards achievement of automation using industry recognized tools and

processes. However the road to an IT aware nation is not smooth and may hurdles

are blocking the path to achieving fully automated systems and processes. The

barriers are especially hindering the public sector organizations where the old schoolthinking, hierarchical structures of bureaucracy and wide spread corruption are just a

few of the tribulations effecting their future growth as information technologycapable organizations. This paper analyzes the important issues affecting the public

sector software projects outsourced to mostly Pakistani software companies, their

negative impacts affecting the successful culmination of these projects in terms of in-time, in-budget and correct scope completion and finally remedial measures to

overcome these issues.

3 Objectives The main objectives of carrying out this research are to correctly

gather and analyze all the important issues affecting public sector software projects

outsourced to software companies by public sector organizations and suggest thecorrective and remedial measures.

Although experts like Public knowledge LLC [1] answer this question differently,

however comparing the results by Expert judgment and peer reviews identified

totally different issues, with very few identical points. However certain aspects werefound identical to still recent research by Hayat, F.Ali, S.Ehsan etc[2] like need for

correct requirement elicitation.

4 Hypothesis Pakistani Public sector software organizations outsource their

projects to software companies which are always facing problems in terms of triple

constraints of cost time and scope because of multiple issues affecting the publicsectors organizations. These issues include lack of IT culture, resistance to change in

general, bureaucracy and red tape affecting the whole process, incorrect requirement

elicitation, lack of vision in reaping true automation benefits and finally wide spreadcorruption.

5 Research Methodology In order to gather information of this nature a

descriptive research involving peer reviews and Delphi method involving expert

judgment has been used to gather information regarding the problems indicated inthe hypothesis.

viii



6 Research Questions The important research questions are as follows:

What are the main tribulations affecting outsourced public sector software projectsand how these issues can be resolved? The answer to this single question leads us to

further questions like primarily what are the problems, what is the most important

problem specifically, why these problems are there and what is the root cause of

these problems, also how these problems are affecting the Pakistan’s growth inPublic Sector IT infrastructure development. Also most important question to answer

is the methodology using which the situation can be improved, thereby suggesting

the remedial measures.

7 Data Analysis The study has been divided into two major strata’s of

Pakistan’s Public Sector organizations, namely Defense based Public Sector

organizations and their projects and Civil Public Sector organizations. Both the types

have distinct and totally separate issues affecting the success of outsourced IT projects. Consequently the remedial measures for both are separate keeping in view

the wide differences in culture, work methodology and resulting means of dealing

with IT projects. Both the organization types will be discussed separately along withmajor tribulations affecting each organization type.

7.1 Defense Based Organizations and IT Projects Tribulations The major

tribulations affecting the Defense based organizations like Army, Navy and Air force and different other research and project based organizations are described in

the order of severity are as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 - Analysis of Army's major failed projects over past 8 years.

ix



Figure 2 - Selected Remedial measures In order of Priority

7.2 Civil Public Sector Organizations and IT Project TribulationsComparatively the major issues hogging the Civil Public Sector organization’s IT

projects are much different as shown in figure 2.

Figure 3- Analysis of Government of Sindh's major failed projects over past 5 years.

x



Figure 4 - Selected Remedial measures In order of Priority

8 Limitations Main limitations encountered were of exact data collections.

While executives and project managers were ready to generally discuss the details of issues encountered in overall IT projects, no one in defense based organizations was

willing to disclose exact details of individual projects. While it can be understood in

broad terms of security and secrecy related with such projects, it didn’t help ingathering wholesome, specific data regarding each and every project. In case of

public sector civil projects, the problem was less in terms of secrecy and more interms of visibility of data. It seemed that most of the small administrative staff washardly aware of the big picture in terms of IT. An access to higher hierarchy was

made difficult due to red tape procedures and bureaucratic culture prevalent in

Pakistan in general.

9 The Tribulations The important tribulations will be discussed one by one

regardless of its relationship with civil or defense based organizations. Here no

particular order will be followed as each individual project is not only plagued by a

single but in many a cases most of the above mentioned tribulations.

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9.1 Corruption In almost all of the civil based IT projects, it was cited as the cause

of failure of most of the projects. Starting from bidding process to the project

award, initiation, procurements and almost all of the project life cycle phases, the progress is hampered by this single issue. Starting from the smallest basic IT

hardware procurement projects to big Public Sector Organization level automation

projects, corruption plays its role. As a result, lowest quality hardware is procuredat the exuberant prices. A little scratch at the surface revels 2 nd hand refurbished

hardware being sold as new one with little or no support available. The big time

automation projects reduce the efficiency of otherwise smoothly runningorganizations where the magic Talisman of IT was brought to improve the time,

reduce cost and improve customer satisfactions. Taking the examples of PIA’s

ticketing solution which ensure transparency in sales, and thus expected increase in

revenue, the corruption in procedures results in almost always reservation of specialseats for PIA staff, ministerial quotas and what not. As a result the otherwise

transparent solution cannot ensure transparency in the single revenue generation

avenue through use of IT.

The tale of Wapda’s computerized billing is quiet older than the newer generation

of IT projects, however the widespread corruptions and resulting inefficiency alsoleads to over billing, simply wrong and even late billing in so many cases. The

Pakistan’s never failing Mail department’s automations storey is also filled with

tales of widespread corruption resulting in many sacks at the highest levels.However all this and more makes one wonder whether the IT projects are not yet

another source of revenue for the Projects Mafia, with an excuse of simply

disappearing after the projects fail miserably. It was never easier to deliver the

product, earn money and then leave the arena without a single glance back. Thewhole companies in Pakistan are created, started and then disappear without a trace

based on IT projects given by the public sector organizations.

Opposed to civil public sector organizations, the admittance to corruption at any

and all levels of defense based organizations is almost nonexistent. However a

closer look reveals that while the classic approach to corrupt practices may becloser to zero due to inherent checks and balances prevalent is such organizations,

the decision to award a project is almost always based on the sole decision of a

single commander. Due to extremely close culture and authoritarian nature of

command, such decisions are never challenged. This can result in wrong selectionof companies due to technical limitations and late/costlier projects.

xii



9.1.1 Solution The solution to this most important is the most tricky one, as better

education, mostly believed to cure a nation of corruption often cannot do so. The

example of Bangladesh is with us, where more than 90% literacy rate has notchanged one of the highest corruption rates in the world as well. Thus it can be

safely summarized that higher education cannot simply make a culture and a

nation better one, rather it has to do with core values given by the respectivereligious or cultural background. Of course the better educational standards make

the process a simpler one as understanding of good and bad is easy to

communicate.

9.2 The Red Tape The red tape culture prevalent in all Public Sector organization

whether in Defense based or purely civil organizations leads to almost always late

projects. This leads to higher costs and also customer dissatisfaction, for which theorganization itself is mostly responsible. The procedures can be so frustrating that

small to medium scale companies can simply leave public sector projects and run

away in hope of earning the same revenues with much less effort from private

sector ventures. Even in projects where the top management is not corrupt andwilling to implement a particular solution, the red tape ensures that projects are

always late and more costly than expected. This can even hog defense based IT projects, where this particular issue is ranked no 4. Over scrutiny of simple

procedures results in late project procurements and late payments, which deter

small and medium scale projects being undertaken by similar scale organizations.

9.2.1 The Solution The solution to above mentioned problem is based on the

inherent weaknesses prevalent in our culture as a whole. Till the time an overallshift is attitude is brought in Public based organizations, the red tape culture is not

going away any time soon. However the solution is simple and quires paradigm

shift. Recent conversion of public sector organizations has brought a major attitude shift in employees’ attitudes as well as major policy changes. PTCL is

one of the recent examples, where the lethargic attitude of policy makers as well

as employees was magically changed to better productivity and reduction of redtape.

xiii



9.3 Commander’s Will In software’s Industry’s language, it can be translated as

the political support at the highest level. However in any and all defense based

organizations’ IT project, it has been cited as the single most important cause of failure. Almost all projects met failure because the policies changed as soon as the

leadership changed over the life time of large scale projects. The new leadership

did not approve the previous one’s projects, which ultimately resulted in simpleabandonment of project in a short time or cancellation of contract entirely. In all (if

any) successful projects, the project was started and completed in the time period of

a single person sponsoring the project from the top down level. In defenseorganization’s language, this phenomenon is called the Commander’s Will,

meaning that the desired solution (read order) is to be implemented at all costs.

9.3.1 The Solution The solution to above mentioned problem is only possible once

the personality oriented culture is replaced with Policy oriented culture. Also

termed as Continuation of Policies or Top down change, the issue will keep onfailing the IT projects backed by defense organizations, till the time more

methodical, policy oriented culture is not adopted in these organizations. As theleadership of all these institution is an outcome of Pakistan’s Culture, hence thesame needs to be changed at national level first. As is all comes under very long

term solutions resulting in mature Political and Cultural values, hence no change

to this culture and its resulting problems is foreseeable in near future.

9.4 Resistance to Change While the country as a whole may be moving towards

automation and computerization in general, the age old institutions are unable andunwilling to accept the changes and each and every project is considered major

challenge which needs to be failed, simply to get rid of extra burden and work

involved. In civil departments, the fight is till death of project, as senior

organization’s decision can be met by completely cold shouldered response of junior staff and management. In Agriculture department of Pakistan, the decision to

implement Satellite Imaging for Statistical Analysis was met with full opposition,as it could result is thousand of lost jobs of Crop Reporters, which are otherwise a

complete waste of national tax payer’s money. The same resistance is prevalent in

defense based organizations, however due to authoritarian nature of hierarchy; the

completed projects are a compulsion for the junior management and end users.

9.4.1 The Solution The solution to this particular problem lies in making the IT

culture more prevalent. By bringing IT in any organization’s daily work in a

manner which starts giving its benefits to the end users early, is it possible to

make the end users realize its benefits. The process is easier to implement inDefense organizations, while in purely civil setups, it is difficult to implement, the

reason being that in a defense organization, once any solution is implemented, and

its core benefits are immediately visible, the end user’s acceptance is achievedmore rapidly. Unfortunately, the same cannot be ensured in a more liberal setup.

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9.5 Lack of Vision This simple yet decisive issue is behind most of the IT woes of

Pakistan’s public sector IT projects failures. While in the start most of the projects

required to be started are never undertaken, in the longer run, the political supportrequired is never given due to lack of vision of its benefits. In both Civil and

defense based organization’s the resources to implement a solution is never an

issue, however often it is the lack of vision to select a solution and get itimplemented in its true form that really is. The issue is mostly to do with top level

leadership which sticks to its old school methods and is unable to accept change in

any form. Due to lack of understanding of prevalent trend in modern IT technology,the possible changes are never in time. Only technological late projects are

undertaken which have no political support of technically ignorant managers and

top hierarchy. Hence lack of vision results in mostly technically obsolete projects,

which are also not completed in time.

9.5.1 The Solution The solution to this lies in making the top hierarchy well aware

of the prevalent technology shifts and attitudes by making them aware of the

latest contemporary developments. This is only possible if the eyes of Topmanagement are opened to the benefits of technology in general and then givenenough free will to get any solution implemented in detail. Being a top down

approach to success, it is only possible once the right combination of management

and staff is in charge of a particular organization. The solution is not an easy oneand more a matter of long term planning then a mere matter of luck to be

successful.

9.6 Incorrect Requirement Elicitation This complicated problem has its root

cause in many previously mentioned issues in general. Due to general lack of IT

culture and lack of vision, the process of exact requirement elicitation is never

fruitful, resulting in more and later requirement specifications and manyrequirement changes at later stages of project life cycle. This results in late

schedules and complete requirement changes as well. All in all, wrong requirementelicitation results in later, costly and simply wrong solution being implemented in

Public sector organizations, which lad to end user dissatisfaction and ultimately

rejection of a particular solution. At present the Hospital Management System is

being implemented throughout Pakistan Army, however chances of its success reslim, as End User’s requirements have not been catered for. This is likely to result

in general rejection of solution.

9.6.1 The Solution The solution is in better implementation of IT culture gradually

over a longer period of time. By making IT a part and parcel of daily life, the enduser can be made to think of his daily professional needs in terms of Specific IT

tools and requirements. Only then it is possible to give correct requirement

elicitation which ultimately results in simply wrong, delayed and more costly projects being delivered.

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10 Conclusion Bringing about the IT revolution is no small task, as it has been

equaled to the third wave of change by such authors as Alvin Toffler more than twodecades ago. Pakistan, a developing nation is on the verge of change, and we who

have not yet embraced the Industrial revolution in its full sense are ready to adapt to

the technological one with ease. The Internet here is cheapest in the world, with

cutting edge communication networks, hence the ground work has been done, andthe nation is ready to embrace the waves of Change. As it is cited by a number of

managers and also n a recent study, in Pakistan, the mere achievement to fully

implement an IT project is itself a huge success [3], regardless of small or evenmedium sized setbacks in terms of cost or schedule. Presently, the condition of our

nation can be compared to a society in its embryonic stage, as compared to fully

functional automated systems in advanced countries. Here the completion of asuccessful project at any cost is more important than a few setbacks faced in any

specific area.

Having said that, the importance of on time, low cost solutions exact to the

requirements of customers cannot be under estimated. Only by setting the bar high,we can reach to the minimum acceptable level. The examples of IT industries 50times larger than ours are in front of us in shape of India, and many successful

startups like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka [4]. Only by aiming at excellence in IT, we

can hope to compete and succeed in this field, which now leads to subsequentsuccess in all other spheres of life.

11 References[1]http://www.pubknow.com/2010/02/why-do-public-sector-software-development-

projects-fail-part-2/ - ,2010[2] Hayat, F. Ali, S. Ehsan, N. Akhtar, A. Bashir, M.A. Mirza, E.

Requirement elicitation barriers to software industry of Pakistan (impact

of cultural and soft issues). Management of Innovation and

Technology (ICMIT), 2010 IEEE International Conference.

[3] http://giswatch.org/sites/default/files/GISW_Pakistan.pdf - 2007

[4] http://www.pubknow.com/ - Does being late on a project matter? -

2010

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