--- title: "About SwissFini.sh" description: "Where Swiss precision meets the Peter Principle" --- ## The Swiss Finish: When Perfectionism Meets Its Peter In financial regulation, "Swiss Finish" refers to Switzerland's tendency to add extra requirements on top of EU standards—because apparently, Brussels isn't bureaucratic enough. In technology, we've discovered an even more fascinating phenomenon: **the Swiss IT Finish**—where projects don't just fail, they fail with characteristic Swiss thoroughness, precision, and eye-watering budgets. This site documents what happens when the [Peter Principle](https://web.archive.org/web/20241201000000*/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle) ("In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence") meets Swiss institutional culture. The result? IT projects that don't merely exceed budgets—they transcend them. Systems that aren't just delayed—they achieve temporal permanence. Software that isn't merely abandoned—it's elevated to the status of cautionary tale. --- ## The Hall of Swiss IT Excellence ### Federal Government: INSIEME (2001–2012) **Cost:** CHF 116 million (written off) **Duration:** 12 years **Outcome:** Corruption charges, suspended officials, zero usable software The crown jewel of Swiss federal IT disasters. The Federal Tax Administration spent over a decade and CHF 116 million trying to modernize their systems. The result? Violations of procurement law, corruption, bribery charges against the IT chief, and then-Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf pulling the plug. The project achieved the rare distinction of having its director simultaneously serve as client, sponsor, and project manager—a conflict of interest so elegant it could only be Swiss. **Sources:** - [NZZ: Insieme – IT-Debakel im Bundeshaus](https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/insieme-das-it-debakel-im-bundeshaus-ld.1693578) ([archive.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20220729033312/https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/insieme-das-it-debakel-im-bundeshaus-ld.1693578) | [archive.is](https://archive.ph/20220729112428/https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/insieme-das-it-debakel-im-bundeshaus-ld.1693578)) - [Heise: IT-Großprojekt der Schweizer Finanzverwaltung gescheitert](https://www.heise.de/news/IT-Grossprojekt-der-Schweizer-Finanzverwaltung-gescheitert-1714061.html) ([archive.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20231025013240/https://www.heise.de/news/IT-Grossprojekt-der-Schweizer-Finanzverwaltung-gescheitert-1714061.html)) - [SWI: Four indicted in federal IT corruption case](https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/bribery-and-misconduct_four-indicted-in-federal-it-corruption-case/45267664) --- ### Canton Zürich: Juris X (2016–2024) **Cost:** CHF 15.6 million (for Juris X alone; CHF 36.5 million for the replacement) **Duration:** 16 years across multiple attempts **Outcome:** Justice system still runs on 30+ year old software The Zürich Justizdirektion's quest to replace their ancient case management software has become a multi-generational saga. After the first attempt exploded from CHF 8 million to CHF 24 million before being cancelled in 2016, the successor project "Juris X" was awarded for CHF 15.6 million—double the original quote. When contractor Abraxas finally admitted they couldn't deliver, parliamentary oversight called it a "Scheitern mit Ansage" (failure foretold). The canton now pays CHF 4.8 million annually just to keep the 30-year-old system running. **Sources:** - [NZZ: IT-Flop in Zürich](https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/it-flop-in-zuerich-wenn-behoerden-digitalisieren-geht-es-zu-oft-schief-ld.1772142) ([archive.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20231230011015/https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/it-flop-in-zuerich-wenn-behoerden-digitalisieren-geht-es-zu-oft-schief-ld.1772142) | [archive.is](https://archive.ph/20231228163615/https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/it-flop-in-zuerich-wenn-behoerden-digitalisieren-geht-es-zu-oft-schief-ld.1772142)) - [Inside-IT: Scheitern mit Ansage](https://www.inside-it.ch/scheitern-mit-ansage-heftige-kritik-aus-der-politik-fuer-zuercher-it-projekt-juris-x-20240308) ([archive.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20240327071646/https://www.inside-it.ch/scheitern-mit-ansage-heftige-kritik-aus-der-politik-fuer-zuercher-it-projekt-juris-x-20240308)) - [Tages-Anzeiger: Debakel für Zürcher Justizdirektion](https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/debakel-fuer-zuercher-justizdirektion-it-projekt-gescheitert-ueber-30-jahre-alte-software-wird-nicht-erneuert-884320881718) --- ### Federal Parliament: Soprano (2018–2020) **Cost:** CHF 7.9 million (plus CHF 1.77 million court-ordered compensation) **Duration:** 2 years **Outcome:** Cancelled, lawsuits, nothing delivered An information system to help parliamentarians track media and publications. Awarded in 2018, abandoned in 2020, litigated thereafter. The Bern Superior Court ordered the federal government to pay CHF 1.77 million in compensation to the contractor—for a system that was never completed. **Source:** - [NZZ: Gescheitertes IT-Projekt kostet den Bund 18 Millionen Franken](https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/nun-erwischt-es-auch-das-parlament-gescheitertes-it-projekt-kostet-den-bund-18-millionen-franken-ld.1720016) --- ### SECO Corruption Scandal (2014) **Cost:** CHF 99 million in IT contracts **Bribes:** CHF 1.7 million **Outcome:** Criminal prosecution A SECO employee awarded CHF 99 million in IT contracts without public bidding, while accepting CHF 1.7 million in bribes including cash, event sponsorships, and football tickets. The scandal was uncovered by investigative journalists at Tages-Anzeiger and Der Bund—not by any internal controls. **Source:** - [SWI: Swiss public sector scandal reaches court room](https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/swiss-public-sector-scandal-reaches-court-room/46835944) --- ### Swiss E-Voting (2019) **Cost:** Undisclosed millions across multiple cantons **Duration:** Years of pilot programs **Outcome:** Security researchers found "significant" flaws; system cancelled When Swiss Post's e-voting system was subjected to public security testing in 2019, researchers from the University of Melbourne found a cryptographic flaw that could allow undetectable vote manipulation. The federal government cancelled the "third way" of voting, and Swiss Post scrapped the entire system. Nine cantons that had been offering e-voting had to stop. A citizens' initiative was launched to ban online voting for at least five years. **Sources:** - [SWI: These are the arguments that sank e-voting in Switzerland](https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/e-voting_these-are-the-arguments-that-sank-e-voting-in-switzerland/45136608) ([Archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20190802132328/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/e-voting_these-are-the-arguments-that-sank-e-voting-in-switzerland/45136608)) - [Wikipedia: Electronic voting in Switzerland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voting_in_Switzerland) --- ### FIS Heer / Army Command System **Cost:** CHF 700 million approved **Duration:** Ongoing **Outcome:** "Functions with limitations" Parliament approved CHF 700 million in 2006/07 for a military command information system. By 2011, the Armaments Commission confirmed irregularities in procurement. The command database reportedly still only functions "with limitations"—Swiss military precision at its finest. --- ### Private Sector: Credit Suisse Legacy IT **Applications:** 3,000 **Integration cost:** USD 13–14 billion **Outcome:** UBS keeping only 10% of Credit Suisse's systems When UBS absorbed Credit Suisse in 2023, they inherited what one former technology MD described as a system where "pretty much every department built and maintained its own risk systems." UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti admitted the technology "keeps him awake at night." The bank is decommissioning 90% of Credit Suisse's 3,000 applications. **Sources:** - [eFinancialCareers: UBS is fretting about Credit Suisse IT systems](https://www.efinancialcareers.com/news/ubs-is-fretting-about-credit-suisse-it-systems-and-credit-suisse-technology-m-ds-have-quit) - [CTOL: UBS Tackles Massive Credit Suisse IT Migration](https://www.ctol.digital/news/ubs-credit-suisse-it-migration-swiss-phase-billions-at-stake/) --- ### Swisscom Emergency Number Outage (2024) **Duration:** 8 hours **Timing:** During flood warnings **Cause:** "A software update led to a malfunction that triggered a domino effect" Switzerland's emergency numbers (112, 117, 118, 144) were unreachable for eight hours during severe weather. CEO Urs Schaeppi apologized: "The failure shook me a lot. That is absolutely not what we expect from ourselves." **Source:** - [SWI: Swisscom boss says sorry for network failure](https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/swisscom-boss-says-sorry-for-network-failure/46784822) --- ## The Pattern A 2019 academic analysis of 15 large IT projects in the Swiss Federal Administration found an **accumulated loss of one billion US dollars**, concluding that "project failure was primarily caused by poor project governance capabilities." Common themes: - **Silo mentality:** Each department builds its own systems, uncoordinated - **Conflicts of interest:** Project managers who are also clients and sponsors - **Regulatory gold-plating:** Adding Swiss requirements on top of standard solutions - **Nobody truly responsible:** In confusing organizational charts, accountability evaporates - **Warnings ignored:** "Scheitern mit Ansage" appears repeatedly in postmortems As NZZ put it: "Too complex, too big, too high ambitions." --- ## Why This Site Exists SwissFini.sh exists because Swiss tech nationalism deserves scrutiny. When institutions claim technological superiority while their actual track record tells a different story, someone should document the gap between rhetoric and reality. We apply the same skepticism to SCION that should have been applied to INSIEME, Juris X, and the e-voting system. Being Swiss-made doesn't make something good. Being heavily funded doesn't make something viable. And being from ETH Zürich doesn't make something immune to the Peter Principle. --- *All facts may be satirical. All satire may be factual.*