IBM runs away from New Zealand police force

A multimillion dollar project to upgrade systems used by the New Zealand police force has seemingly ended in disarray - IBM this week walked away from the project, while the country's government is threatening to sue the computing giant for breaking the terms of the contract.

The overhaul of the police's Wanganui system - to create the Integrated National Computerised Information System, or INCIS - was announced in 1994, but the project has now been halted an estimated NZ$52m (£17m) over-budget and three years late.

INCIS is based on IBM mainframe (ES9000), server, PC and notebook technology. When conceived, it was expected to reduce overall policing costs and allow staff to access police, court and legal records from virtually anywhere.

However, IBM has withdrawn from the project after completing just one of the three planned implementation phases.

The New Zealand government said it will either force IBM to complete the project - a process which may prove difficult because dozens of key staff have already moved on - or take the company to court.

IBM was unavailable to comment on the situation. However, observers have pointed to a 1998 Andersen Consulting report which said the police should have insisted on a more flexible contract. The police, on the other hand, have said they were advised by KPMG to stick with the arrangement.

Commenting on the souring of such relationships, Stratos Sarissamlis, Meta Group senior programme director (Europe), said: "There is almost always some blame to be taken on both sides. Clients, especially in the public domain, all too often look at services as things to be bought, like products - but they're not always delivered like products."