When we read about a big IT problem, like...
The first impulse is to use this information to support some or other position, like here's an example of estimate driven bad management. Without the logical conclusion of finding the actual Root Cause of the problem, as shown in the IDA report. Other examples usually start with bogus Standish data. Take a look on page iv below to see the real root cause, and see if Not Estimating would have been able to address the issues with ECSS? Not likley.
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So we're back to the same place we always seem to come to. Domain and knowledge of the domain, before conjecturing any solution to any problem and the conjectured solution that occurs outside the domain of experience.
For those not able to read the details here's a summary from the final section.
The notion of some that "estimates" are the root cause of the problems and that making decision in the absence of Estimates is the solution to the problem based on un-informed opinion.
So down load the report, read it in it's entirety, then assess other opinions in the light of actually reading the Root Cause Analysis, then drawing conclusions from the actual data and its analysis by the professionals tasked by the sponsors of the RCA who are accountable for looking after the money and the measurable outcomes.
And then the quote that says it all...
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan
