Causal factors behind the failed firecontrol project: A large-scale system-of-systems

FiReControl was a large-scale system-of-systems that commenced in 2004 and was expected to be complete by October 2009. In 2007, the Department for Communities and Local Government (the Department) contracted a prime Supplier to design, develop and install the complex computer system underpinning the project. However, the project was subject to a number of problems and delays and costs escalated over its lifetime. In December 2010 the Department cancelled the project after concluding that it could not be delivered to an acceptable timeframe and quality. At the point cancellation, the Department estimated it had spent £245 million on the project and calculated that completion would take the total cost of the project to £860 million, more than five times the original estimate of £120 million.