Who killed the virtual case file? [case management software]

This paper discusses how the FBI´s $170 million Virtual Case File (VCF) IT project became one of the most highly publicized software failure in history. According to a report by the US Department of Justice´s inspector general, VCF´s failure may be attributed to several factors including poorly defined and slowly evolving design requirements, overly ambitious schedules, and the lack of a plan to guide hardware purchases, network deployments and software development for the bureau. The paper also includes interviews with people directly involved with the VCF to gain a better picture of an enterprise IT project that fell into the most basic traps of software development, from poor planning to bad communication.