Last week we had a discussion at our local PMI chapter on key reasons why large IT projects fails, especially projects that require 12 months to complete or more, and cost in excess of $5M. We invited CIO’s from a few Telecom and Retail Companies for this particular discussion.
Dilbert on why IT projects fail
2. Projects often start in good faith and quickly progress until a major disconnect occurs. The major disconnect might be a change in business priorities, inability to show incremental progress, few changes in executive sponsorship or immature organizational capabilities.
3. In some cases, project boards and executives failed to resolve conflicts. Most of the time, executives approach the conflict in a highhanded manner without having to address the root of the cause. People agree to align, yet do so without ever actually aligning. One Canadian study has actually stated, “Bad communications between parties are the cause of IT project failures in 57% of the cases we have studied.”
4. Management does not want to make decisions on a large project. Rather than accept authority and responsibility, they would rather get consensus and agreement. This can reduce the impact of failure to any specific manager. Nobody is fired for screwing up; however, this kind of consensus will always produce a sub-standard design. Having shared authority for large decisions is bad. You end up with results that are not designed, but voted upon.
5. Large projects have a massive scope, partly because of integrating several systems. Here, project managers do not deliver on just one product, but deliver the entire system that talks to this new product(s). Any change in suit to BAU can cause scope creep in the main product. This triggers cost overrun and can influence quality.
6. Most of the time there was no designated Enterprise Architect or they are part of the IT team managed by the CIO, leading to improper planning, inadequate budgeting for performance, security testing & end user training.
7. Frequent status review by senior executives often takes too much time, including the preparation of status reports and presentations, rather than actual work. Remember a project might be technically successful but that does not mean it meets stakeholders need.
Everyone in the enterprise is responsible for a large part, not just IT. The failure of larger IT projects is a business failure that is the shared responsibility of the entire senior leadership team. Seldom do projects fail due to technical challenges, but mainly due to personnel issues.
Now that’s enough discussion on IT Project Management Failure, so here is a list of the Top 10 Best Practices or Making A Successful IT project.
Reference on IT project management failure:
About the Author: Arindam has spent 23 years of his career managing large and complex IT transformation projects. He is a telecommunications engineer & PRINCE2 practitioner. Arindam has hands on working experience with ITIL, COBIT & TOGAF. He has completed more than 50 projects total, worth more than $150M USD around the globe.
Here are some interesting statistics on IT project failure
- Only 40% of projects are completed on schedule, budget and meet quality goals.
- Between 65 and 80% of IT projects fail to meet their objectives, also running significantly late and/or cost far more than initially planned.
Everyone on our panel has agreed these are the top 7 reasons why large IT projects fail
1. During project initiation, the program’s management office or
corporate office, signed an agreement with the suppliers without
detailed technical scope. Neither end users, nor the subject matter
experts were consulted, or there was inadequate attention paid to their
recommendations.
Dilbert on why IT projects fail
2. Projects often start in good faith and quickly progress until a major disconnect occurs. The major disconnect might be a change in business priorities, inability to show incremental progress, few changes in executive sponsorship or immature organizational capabilities.
3. In some cases, project boards and executives failed to resolve conflicts. Most of the time, executives approach the conflict in a highhanded manner without having to address the root of the cause. People agree to align, yet do so without ever actually aligning. One Canadian study has actually stated, “Bad communications between parties are the cause of IT project failures in 57% of the cases we have studied.”
4. Management does not want to make decisions on a large project. Rather than accept authority and responsibility, they would rather get consensus and agreement. This can reduce the impact of failure to any specific manager. Nobody is fired for screwing up; however, this kind of consensus will always produce a sub-standard design. Having shared authority for large decisions is bad. You end up with results that are not designed, but voted upon.
5. Large projects have a massive scope, partly because of integrating several systems. Here, project managers do not deliver on just one product, but deliver the entire system that talks to this new product(s). Any change in suit to BAU can cause scope creep in the main product. This triggers cost overrun and can influence quality.
6. Most of the time there was no designated Enterprise Architect or they are part of the IT team managed by the CIO, leading to improper planning, inadequate budgeting for performance, security testing & end user training.
7. Frequent status review by senior executives often takes too much time, including the preparation of status reports and presentations, rather than actual work. Remember a project might be technically successful but that does not mean it meets stakeholders need.
Everyone in the enterprise is responsible for a large part, not just IT. The failure of larger IT projects is a business failure that is the shared responsibility of the entire senior leadership team. Seldom do projects fail due to technical challenges, but mainly due to personnel issues.
Here is a great video on top 10 reason why project fails
Now that’s enough discussion on IT Project Management Failure, so here is a list of the Top 10 Best Practices or Making A Successful IT project.
Reference on IT project management failure:
About the Author: Arindam has spent 23 years of his career managing large and complex IT transformation projects. He is a telecommunications engineer & PRINCE2 practitioner. Arindam has hands on working experience with ITIL, COBIT & TOGAF. He has completed more than 50 projects total, worth more than $150M USD around the globe.
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