Times are tough so we can’t be completely screwed to the wall these days, only partially. Traditionally in Ireland we go over budget by multiples, but I don’t think IBM would get away with that with this one.

However, going over budget by less an 100% in Ireland would probably result in IBM being bullied in the playground, so I’m betting on 100% over budget, plus or minus 10%. What’s your estimate?

ENN: IBM is to develop and implement an infrastructure for an Integrated Ticketing System ITS across all public transport in the greater Dublin area. The tech heavyweight was chosen by the Railway Procurement Agency RPA to develop and roll out an e-payment system to enable commuters to use a single pre-paid smart card for travel on all buses, trains, trams and coaches in the city. The integrated IBM back-office system will provide ticket and smart card management, central reconciliation and settlement services to all public transport providers. The system is part of Ireland’s “Transport 21” project. Work on the project will begin immediately and a phased deployment of the system will start in late 2009. Financial details of the contract were not revealed.