National Outsourcing Tribulation for

Public Sector Software Projects and

Remedial Actions (A Case Study of
Pakistan)
10 Jan 2011

By:
Ghulam Subhani
(Software Project
Management)
F-10-151
subhaniminhas@gmail.com
0321-8523164

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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 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 SCHOOL THINKING,
HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURES OF BUREAUCRACY AND WIDE SPREAD
CORRUPTION ARE JUST A FEW OF THE TRIBULATIONS EFFECTING THEIR
FUTURE GROWTH AS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CAPABLE
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. ..............................VIII
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
THE CORRECTIVE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES. .........................................VIII
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 WERE
FOUND IDENTICAL TO STILL RECENT RESEARCH BY HAYAT, F.ALI, S.EHSAN
ETC[2] LIKE NEED FOR CORRECT REQUIREMENT ELICITATION. ..............VIII
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 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 AND
DELPHI METHOD INVOLVING EXPERT JUDGMENT HAS BEEN USED TO
GATHER INFORMATION REGARDING THE PROBLEMS INDICATED IN THE
HYPOTHESIS. ...........................................................................................VIII
6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS THE IMPORTANT RESEARCH QUESTIONS ARE AS
FOLLOWS: WHAT ARE THE MAIN TRIBULATIONS AFFECTING OUTSOURCED
PUBLIC SECTOR SOFTWARE PROJECTS AND 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

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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 IN
PUBLIC 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. .................................................................................................IX
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 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 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 IN GATHERING
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 IN TERMS OF VISIBILITY OF DATA. IT
SEEMED 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 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. ..........................................................................................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

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 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 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. 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 has
not 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 a
nation better one, rather it has to do with core values given by the respective
religious 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. ........................................................................................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 the
inherent 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 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 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

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 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 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 on
failing the IT projects backed by defense organizations, till the time more
methodical, 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 to
make 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 be
ensured 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 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 Top
management 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 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 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, 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, AND THE 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 EVEN MEDIUM 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 A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT
AT ANY COST IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A FEW SETBACKS FACED IN ANY
SPECIFIC AREA. ........................................................................................XVI
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 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 school
thinking, hierarchical structures of bureaucracy and wide spread corruption are just a
few of the tribulations effecting their future growth as information technology
capable 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 the
corrective 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 were
found 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 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.

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 in
the hypothesis.

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6 Research Questions The important research questions are as follows:
What are the main tribulations affecting outsourced public sector software projects
and 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 in
Public 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 with
major 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.

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Figure 2 - Selected Remedial measures In order of Priority
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.

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

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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 in
gathering 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 in
terms of visibility of data. It seemed 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.

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 procured
at the exuberant prices. A little scratch at the surface revels 2nd 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.

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 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. The
whole 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 be
closer 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 selection
of 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 not
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 a
nation better one, rather it has to do with core values given by the respective
religious 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 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.

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 overall
shift 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 red
tape.

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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 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.

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 on
failing the IT projects backed by defense organizations, till the time more
methodical, 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.

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.

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 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 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 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.

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 Top
management 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 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 one
and 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 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.

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.

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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 two
decades 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, and
the 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 even
medium 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 a
successful 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 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.

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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