The Scottish Government should have acted sooner to address a gap in IT skills in the public sector, according to a report.
Audit Scotland found that government bodies struggle to recruit specialist staff to run information and communication technology (ICT) projects.
Organisations such as the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and Police Scotland find it difficult to compete with private-sector salaries on offer, auditors said.
In 2012 they identified a lack of skills and experience as a key factor in the failure of three ICT projects run by the Registers of Scotland, COPFS and Disclosure Scotland.
The latest report reviewed progress against the recommendations made three years ago and concluded that Scottish Government measures to address the concerns lacked clarity and "have not been fully effective".
In 2013/14, the Scottish public sector spent £739 million on suppliers of ICT services, of which at least £153 million was central government spend.
Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon said the report was "worrying."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We welcome that Audit Scotland's report recognises a substantial proportion of their recommendations have already been implemented and that further work is under way."
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