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Subject:Re: 22 page manual for $400,000 From:Beth Agnew <bagnew -at- INSYSTEMS -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 5 Jun 1998 08:53:49 -0400
Dang! I could have done it for half that!
Seriously, though, having worked on just such bloated government contracts,
I found that process is prized over efficiency. I once lost a sizable
contract because I told the contracting officer that we could do a better
job of the CBT he wanted by using a non-proprietary tool with half the
staff, and we could bring it in for a third of the allocated budget. I got
the bum's rush out the door, a too-polite letter of refusal, and he never
again returned any of my phone calls. I learned my lesson: either don't do
government work, or play their game. Oh yeah, that CBT contract went over
budget, too.
--Beth
> Jim Beatty, Sun Legislature Bureau Vancouver Sun
> VICTORIA -- The B.C.
> government blew $400,000 on a
> photo radar manual that is so
> elementary it tells users an
> image of the sky indicates the
> camera is pointed too high, the
> Opposition Liberals said
> Monday.
Beth Agnew
Senior Technical Writer, InSystems Technologies Inc.
65 Allstate Parkway, Suite 100 Tel: (905) 513-1400 ext. 280
Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 9X1 Fax: (905) 513-1419 mailto:bagnew -at- insystems -dot- com Visit us at: http://www.insystems.com
