New York’s ‘Excelsior Pass’ App to Cost at Least $27M
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
The original cost of the app was about 2.5mm. This has now increased to 4.7mm because of bug fixes, but also because the app was expanded to also include other types of information that allows it to be accepted by airlines, for example.
So the cost is 4.7mm for the existing working version of the app, which is nearly double the original stated cost but also includes additional features not in the original contract.
The state has additionally authorized another 7mm for the app to be potentially expanded to be used by other states as well.
So they basically got the original app within budget, expanded features which made it slightly more expensive, and are adding a 3rd phase which will add some more costs. All those costs add up to about 11-12mm.
Beyond that the state has authorized 27mm as a total budget which should allow them to add features/expand the app to handle new situations (for example, if changes need to be made for the new booster shots) quickly without having to first scramble for the money.
IOW, this actually looks like a surprisingly successful software contracting situation.
This is not the greatest analogy, but I think it gets at how hard it is to design a proper software contract.
So it’s hard to say how much of the additional 2.2mm was due to bugs (if any) and how much was due to the added scope.