>That's why I believe the situation is very instructive from project manager's point of view. Least of all I would like to be inside the cauldron.
>
>I heard about a government project with final price tag on it times of its initial estimate.
>
>There was half-joke opinion that the money finally spent for the software development would solve the problem by itself without any development.

Anatoliy,

Wouldn't surprise me if the cost and schedule and requirements came from the vendor's non-technical end. The same thing often happens with in-house projects and the technical people are never consulted about the realities of things.