11 July 2008
An IT system introduced by the Ministry of Defence to consolidate hundreds of computer systems into a single, secure infrastructure has brought important benefits, the public spending watchdog has found.
A National Audit Office report on the defence information infrastructure programme, published on July 4, found 'a sound rationale and convincing business case' behind the project. It is likely to cost £7.1bn in total. However, there have been implementation difficulties and vital elements are now running late.
In planning for the system, a lot of work was undertaken on understanding and mitigating risk, the report says. The new system has improved user support and reliability, while the MoD has, to a large extent, protected its financial position. Forecast costs since 2005 have increased by 3%.
NAO head Tim Burr said: 'It was always going to be a demanding task for the MoD to replace its diverse information technology with a single, high-quality system. The MoD started with a clear vision of what it wanted to achieve and acted to address known risks.'
He said the programme had run into difficulties and 'concerted action' would be needed to increase the rollout of new computer terminals and software.
Public Accounts Committee chair Edward Leigh urged the MoD to 'pull out all the stops' to install the system quickly.
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