CNN reports:

A $170 million computer overhaul intended to give FBI agents and analysts an instantaneous and paperless way to manage criminal and terrorism cases is headed back to the drawing board, probably at a much steeper cost to taxpayers.

The FBI is hoping to salvage some parts of the project, known as Virtual Case File.

But officials acknowledged Thursday that it is possible the entire system, designed by Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego, is so inadequate and outdated that a new one will have to be built from scratch...

The official said its capabilities were only about 10 percent of what was sought...

Some of the necessary software is probably now commercially available, which was not the case when the project began...

Virtual Case File was supposed to provide a way for FBI agents, analysts and other personnel around the world to share information about all types of investigations, including terrorism cases, without using paper or resorting to time-consuming scanning of documents...

Reasons for the problems include weak management of the project contract, numerous hurdles in figuring out how to share often-secret information with other agencies and the difficulty of making such major changes without requiring the FBI to suspend operations, at least for short periods.

The FBI will make a final decision on the Virtual Case File provided by SAIC after a limited test of the system in the New Orleans FBI office and completion of a $2 million independent evaluation by computer experts at Aerospace Corp., whose primary government customer is NASA.