But at the end of Sentinel's Phase I, 18 months from now, FBI employees will have a Web portal for access to their creaky old Automated Case Support system, plus some improved case- summary and indexing features. Later phases will layer on workflow, indexing and paperless case management. But even if the next three phases never happen, users will have gotten something for their money.

All this represents a very smart approach, especially because the FBI has two problems to solve. One is delivering Sentinel. The other is restoring its credibility when it comes to big IT projects. With $170 million already down the tubes, the bureau can't afford another botched effort.

Unfortunately, at a casual glance, it looks like Sentinel is already in trouble. The contract was supposed to be awarded last November, then in December. It finally went to Lockheed Martin last week.

That's a nearly six-month schedule slip already. So much for project management cred, right?

Now look closer. It turns out that the original schedule didn't leave enough time between the request for proposals and the bids. Bidders raised technical questions. The bid evaluation team needed more data from bidders. Some elements of the project that were originally planned to be done before bidding ended, including the system security plan, depended on technical details of the bids. The project plan had to be reshuffled.