The Causes of the Failure of the Myki Project
Essay by Miguel Gil • September 17, 2018 • Case Study • 2,141 Words (9 Pages) • 8,730 Views
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Executive summary
- Introduction and background information
Purpose
Project
- Analysis of the issues
- Management issues
Change management
Scope management
Project management
Quality management
Time management
Human resource management
Business case
- Retrospective improvements
Strategic Assessment
Options Analysis
Business Case
Project Tendering
Solution Implementation
Post-implementation
- Value for money
- Conclusions
- References
- Appendices
1. Summary
2. Key Performance Indicators
3. Project ranking
4. Project satisfaction
Executive summary
This report provides an analysis of the causes of the failure of the Myki project, implemented by Public Transport Victoria and funded by the Government of Victoria. The project sought to modernize the payment system and unify it into a card. With 55% budget overrun and total delays of approximately 7 years, it has the worst image of all the factors evaluated according to the users of the transport network. This analysis reveals all the factors that failed and made it a nefarious project due to its poor change and the project management. It also sets out a series of recommendations that would have improved the quality if they had been carried out.
Introduction and background information
Purpose
The aim of this report is to highlight and evaluate the failures committed during the development and implementation of the project described below (see Appendix 1). The essay aims to analyse factors such as the prior need for this project and the mistakes made in the project and change management.
Project
Myki is the contactless cards payment system used by Public Transport of Victoria for its trains, trams and buses. The project was undertaken by the Victorian government beginning with a budget of $ 1 billion and was elaborated by the company Kamco. This system was intended to replace the previously used known as Metcard.
The purpose of this project was to improve the previous payment system and unify the various forms of payment in one that would replace the need to carry more than one card offering a better user experience increasing their degree of satisfaction.
After many difficulties during the course of the project, it ended with cost overruns of approximately $ 550 million (+ 55% over budget) compared to the initial cost of the project. (Sansom, 2015)
The delays were even more significant since the project beginning in May 2005 had an initial date of completion set for March 2007. It started running partially and was evolving by phases until it became fully operational as it was defined around 2014. However, work continued on it, trying to achieve greater acceptance by customers. It has not been achieved yet, as shown by the statistics offered by the company.
Analysis of the issues
The main problems during the implementation and monitoring of the system relate to its performance and reliability.
- It is not clearly known how it works. The ignorance generates an uncertainty when touching-on and off, causing delays at each stop as the machines are located at the entrances.
- Top-up points are limited and sometimes fail, making this process too complex. There is an online top-up option, but it is not immediate as it does not recharge until 90 minutes, making it not useful at all. (Public Transport Development Authority operating as Public Transport Victoria, 2017)
- All students do not have a concession. In some cases, they do not pay, resulting in fines that their parents have to face, many times people without resources to do so. (Su Robertson (Victoria University), 2016)
- There is no one day or weekend rate. In a city with such a high level of tourism it is difficult to understand that a ticket focused on visitors is not created.
- Card readers are slow which causes also many delays. (Hosking, 2014)
Once you suffer any of these problems, it is difficult to change the image of the product and this increase as you suffer more than one of these errors or it happens more frequently. (see Appendix 4)
Management issues
The project shows the following shortcomings that weakened it and prevented reaching the expectations generated in the clients. The main problems of this project are related to the change management and project management.
Change management
Stakeholder engagement. Part of the poor result obtained has to do with not having sufficiently engaged all stakeholders since the beginning of the project. The lack of communication and not making users to participate in its initial phase runs the risk that they do not feel it as their project but as something imposed and reject it. The change in the previous mentality was fundamental to achieve the commitment.
Scope management
Overestimation of the scope. This project originally intended that users could even make small purchases with their Myki as it could be a newspaper. The initial ambition would have been restricted with more realistic and better-defined objectives. The scope should have been delimited considering the existing restrictions and justifying the need of the project with limited assumptions.
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