The report’s recommendations needed to be implemented, permanent senior management was needed to replace those in acting roles, the IT system needed an upgrade worth $117 million over four years and the entire process needed to be taken apart and looked at “from top to bottom”.

That snippet is from today’s Dominion Post, commenting on the need for a major overhaul of New Zealand’s Immigration Service. I’ve already heard much about the shambolic state of this government agency, so the need for a root and branch renewal is not surprising.  What caught my eye was the size of the proposed IT upgrade.

I know that government IT projects suffer from very bureaucratic (and often ineffective) environments: unengaged and unempowered users, long-winded decision-making, overly complex legislative and procedural requirements, etc, etc..  Even if that isn’t always so, government IT will still usually be more expensive than commercial IT.  Unique requirements (well, nationally idiosyncratic, anyway) tend to demand bespoke solutions, or at least customised implementations of standard case management and workflow systems.  Allowing for that, $117 million still seems way too much.  After all, this organisation only does a few core tasks:

• receive applications, process them, and issue visas for tourists, students, temporary workers, and permanent residents.
• weed out dodgy applicants (at least that’s the theory).
• provide information on the process to potential applicants and employers.

Let’s look at the IT investment per process worker (a useful metric for process/people-centric operations). Assuming that the NZIS still employs approximately 750 people (the last number I could find) and that 2 out of 3 staff are engaged in the process (as distinct from support functions and executive staff), that’s $234k per person.  That is ridiculously high. What complex business process does this organisation operate that requires such a high IT investment? If I was the Minister of Immigration or the Minister of Finance, I’d be demanding alternative proposals for the business process and supporting systems.

Curiously, that $117 million is a very specific precise number, given that “the entire process needed to be taken apart and looked at ‘from top to bottom’.”   I’m smelling the pungent scent of of desperation - let’s throw lots of money at a big IT project to give the appearance of decisive action.   More cynically, it buys 4 years of plausible excuses while the project is underway, and in 4 years time, everyone senior will have moved onto pastures new.   Sadly, you’ll find similar stories in every government in every country.