The Top Seven Reasons Why IT Projects Fail
By Uri Galimidi
Issue #5,
November 2009
Why do many Information Technology (IT) projects fail to deliver on time and within budget? This newsletter outlines
the top seven problems encountered by many IT projects, and recommends ways to overcome these problems. Even though the article
is focused on IT projects, the problems and recommendations apply to most types of projects. The newsletter is addressed primarily
to the project manager, but could be of value to anyone involved in the project. The article may seem more like a “consulting
article” then a “coaching article”, but if you read well between the lines, you will discover that it contains
many coaching attributes.
1.
Inadequate planning.
Experts say that we should spend at least 10% of the total project budget on planning. Yet planning
is a tedious and detail-ridden activity, which we often prefer to skip and “jump straight into the action”. It
is highly recommended that you obtain top management’s approval to dedicate a month or two to a Strategy and Planning
Phase, notwithstanding the delay and expense associated with such a phase. Additionally, if you advertise this project approach,
you will also broadcast to the organization that this project will be well structured and tightly controlled.
2. Lack of understanding of user requirements.
Often we fail to understand what our users really want. We tend to design feature-rich systems
to demonstrate our technical wizardry, whereas our users really want simple yet functional systems. It is important that you
obtain a full endorsement of the system’s Functional Design from your key users, before starting with the development
effort. Conducting a detailed “walk-through” the system functionality with your users is a good approach to ensure
that your design meets with their approval.
3. Insufficient top management commitment and involvement.
This is not easy to achieve. Even though top management may have approved
the project, they often have many other conflicting priorities. Often the project manager lacks the access and influence to
engage top management at a level that will ensure the project’s success. Achieving top management’s commitment
to fulfill their role, before you undertake the project management responsibility may require some boldness, but it is critical
to the project’s success.
4. Lack of emphasis on Change Management.
Change Management involves
(among other things) developing detailed strategies to overcome the resistance to change that we are bound to encounter from
certain users. Identifying the “users of influence” and their position vis-à-vis the forthcoming change
is a crucial first step. Finding ways to engage your key users in defining the “change agenda”, rather than fighting
it is a constructive approach to overcoming their resistance.
5. Insufficient experienced resources.
Every project presents challenges that have never been encountered before by the project team,
even if the team is very experienced. In most cases our project team members have many essential qualifications, but have
never participated in a project of the size and complexity we are about to embark upon. It is important that you identify
the “soft areas” of skills and experience, and that you supplement your team with expert resources, even if you
have to recruit them externally.
6. Poor quality software, hardware, and infrastructure.
Often the quality of the software to be implemented and the capabilities
of the hardware and infrastructure are not assessed in detail before starting the project. In many cases we discover well
into the project that the software has many “bugs” and the hardware and infrastructure are not capable of supporting
the new system. To avert these problems, it is a good idea to engage independent experts (from within the
company or outside) to conduct such assessments, before committing to a long and expensive project.
7.
Inadequate methodology, project
management, and governance.
Amid the excitement of implementing
a new system, the more mundane issues of methodology and governance are often neglected. Again, it is a good idea to engage
an independent expert (from within the company or outside) to assess your methodology, project management practices, and governance
procedures, especially in large and complex projects.
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Armed
with these recommendations you are bound to significantly increase the probability of your project’s success. Good luck.
