個案總覽

The chief of the Waterloo Regional Police Service was again faced with a crisis in the ongoing development of the CIMS project. It was early 2005 and he found himself again debating the future of this increasingly time-consuming and expensive project. Complicating matters now, however, was the fact that several of his partner organizations in CIMS wanted to go live with those portions of the software which had been delivered from the vendor. These organizations had been struggling with antiquated systems, and wanted to push forward with implementing the new system, despite the continuing presence of system problems. What should he do? Should he encourage those regions to wait and rethink the project or was it best to continue moving forward with those elements.

The chief of the Waterloo Regional Police Services (WRPS) found himself preparing for an important board meeting to discuss the fate of the CIMS project. Earlier that year he had recommended that the contract with ITG be canceled and negotiations toward this end were proceeding. Now the chief was faced with the task of recommending an alternative vendor and approach for completing this important project. WRPS needed to install a suitable computer-automated dispatch and record management system - key CIMS components - prior to December 31, 2005 as 2006 was the federally mandated deadline for implementing this functionality within police agencies. The chief knew that WRPS resources would be heavily tasked to meet the December 31, 2005 deadline, even if a vendor was chosen as soon as possible. The chief was well aware that a decision needed to be made regarding the best vendor to manage the next phase of the CIMS project as quickly as possible to allow WRPS and the vendor project team time to implement the required solution. The chief believed that the first step was to select the best vendor and then present the recommended solution to the board.

It had been four years since the chief of the Waterloo Regional Police Services (WRPS) met with the board to discuss critical next steps regarding vendor management for the Common Information Management System (CIMS) project. CIMS was an information systems project originally involving the WRPS and seven other police organizations. Since then, considerably more resources had been invested into the CIMS project by all stakeholders involved. The relationship with the current vendor, ITG, was growing less productive and the chief knew it was time to reassess the project to determine the best next steps toward successful project implementation. It was September 2005 and the chief found himself preparing for an important board meeting to discuss the fate of the CIMS project.