ARCHIVED - Management of Large Public IT Projects - Canada

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2.4 Government of Canada Year 2000 Project

Objective

The Canadian government has been investing heavily in building computerized systems to support program and service delivery since the early sixties. Because most systems developed prior to the mid 1990's were designed to use two digits only to identify the year, there was a danger of some government systems failing in the new millennium if they were not corrected or replaced. In addition to fixing the systems problems, many government departments required new contingency plans, testing facilities, and training.

Dimensions

Estimated Year 2000 expenditures in the Canadian government, as of April 2000, were $1.9 billion. This consisted of:

• $1.5 billion for Year 2000 remediation and testing of IT systems;
• $300 million for contingency planning; and
• $100 million for other specifically funded initiatives. These included monitoring the private sector and other governments, setting up and running the central project office, establishing resource centres for embedded and building systems, contingency planning on a national scale, and communications with Canadians.

The scope of the Year 2000 project included:

• 43 Government-Wide Mission Critical (GWMC) functions, delivered by 23 departments;
• over 10,000 people dedicated to fixing the problem;
• 100 million lines of code, with more than 1,000 external IT interfaces;
• an estimated 100,000 embedded systems;
• 6,000 buildings across the country;
• contingency plans in 147 institutions.

Results

The government protected its service delivery capability through the transition period. Departments and agencies ended up with better information about their systems than they had ever had previously, and IT infrastructures were strengthened. Many organizations prepared comprehensive contingency plans for the first time. The partnerships that developed between the central agencies and departments were very effective.

Timeframe

Although some departments had started Year 2000 activities, up until the end of 1997 the Canadian government had taken only very limited steps in an integrated fashion, to tackle the threat to its IT investments. However during 1998 decisive action was taken to set up a management environment to deal with the issues in a coordinated manner. Almost all government-wide mission critical (GWMC) systems were remediated and tested by the end of July 1999, and all departmental mission critical systems well before December 1999, leading to a successful transition into Year 2000. Most departments closed down their Year 2000 projects by March 2000. Treasury Board Secretariat has maintained a small Post-Year 2000 Office, to provide information on the Year 2000 experience and to leverage lessons learned in current government IT projects.

Organization

The Prime Minister of Canada designated four departments to take the lead in preparing for Year 2000. These were National Defence, Foreign Affairs, Industry, and Treasury Board Secretariat. Senior committees at the ministerial and deputy ministerial levels were set up to direct the effort nationally.

The Treasury Board Secretariat established a Year 2000 Project Office to monitor and report on departmental progress, and to coordinate the resolution of horizontal issues affecting all departments. This included the early identification of Government-Wide Mission Critical (GWMC) functions (those essential to the health, safety, security and economic well-being of Canadians).

Departments were responsible for doing the work to maintain the integrity of their own programs, including the GWMC functions they delivered. They defined their budgets, made the critical business decisions, acquired the resources, managed their projects, and delivered the results. Departments established formal Year 2000 Project Management Offices with clear, department-wide roles, responsibilities and authorities.

Project management

The Year 2000 challenge provided an opportunity for government departments to reinforce, and in some cases to re-establish, a project planning function integrating IT planning into departmental program planning. Departments and agencies set up special Year 2000 project management offices (PMOs). Most PMOs had responsibility for all aspects of Year 2000 remediation and preparation, including contingency planning. In most cases separate budgets were established. In some departments the Year 2000 project office was part of the systems organization, but in a significant number of cases it was independent, reporting directly at a high level, and emphasizing that this was a business issue, not solely a systems matter.

Departmental Year 2000 project offices had the difficult task of cutting across organizational and regional boundaries to obtain the necessary action. Only the strong support of senior management, and the fixed Year 2000 deadline, allowed them to do this successfully.

As resources and time were both limited, departments adopted a risk management approach, paying attention to their mission-critical systems, and their most vulnerable technologies, first. For the 23 departments delivering GWMC functions, these were the top priority, followed by department-wide mission critical (DWMC) systems.

Departments that did not have the organizational capacity to perform the work took action to bring in the specialized skills. All departments made use of contract staff. They were able to utilize fast-track procurement mechanisms put in place by government purchasing authorities to expedite the work.

A focus on business continuity required Year 2000 project teams to extend their views beyond IT and address the broader issues of logistical support for program delivery, including supply chains, utility supplies, building and other embedded systems, and contingency planning. Some departments developed comprehensive contingency plans for the first time during the run-up to Year 2000.

Central Year 2000 project reporting was orchestrated by the Treasury Board Secretariat Year 2000 Project Office; this ensured timely monitoring and reporting of results. Departments were also encouraged to conduct independent reviews of their Year 2000 programs, and all the GWMC departments carried out at least one independent review or audit related to the Year 2000 project. Furthermore, most departments put in place an ongoing review program that continued until the Year 2000 project was complete.

To prepare for the transition, most departments instituted a freeze on all except essential system changes during the latter part of 1999. After the transition, all departments went through a formal project close-down phase, which often included an assessment of lessons learned.

Critical Success Factors

With respect to the specific success of the Year 2000 initiative, the factors that were seen as most critical in determining this outcome were:

• The declaration of Year 2000 as a government imperative established it as a clear priority for government departments;
• Establishing Deputy Minister accountability ensured management commitment at the most senior levels, and provided the context and requirements for the creation of a governance structure (e.g. committees and working groups) with roles and responsibilities that would deliver the results;
• The adoption of a risk focus reinforced the first two items and provided a mechanism for determining mission critical business functions, a context for decision making and issues management, and the framework for the development of a robust set of business continuity plans;
• The results of these three items enabled the initiative to proceed and provided for the funding, disciplined use of project management, the creation of partnerships, and many other support elements;
• Performance management, through very visible reporting mechanisms and monitoring at senior levels within departments and across government, was an essential tool for ensuring progress was achieved and in establishing credibility for government-wide initiatives;
• The control loop in this chain of events was provided by the public visibility that was accorded to Year 2000 through the extensive communications and formalised monitoring and reporting that was introduced;
• The influence and efforts of individual people over the life of the project significantly influenced the direction and outcome of the initiative; and
• The establishment of Project Management Offices provided effective oversight and management.

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