Why Do IT Projects Fail? by Austin Umezurike, Ph.

According to a study conducted by the Standish group in 2009, only 32 % of all Information Technology (IT) projects were successful. They were delivered on time, on budget and with required features and function. 44% were challenged with being late, over budget and with fewer features. 24% failed and were cancelled prior to completion or delivered without being used. This chaos report was considered intriguing given the available pool of project managers in the United States. So, why did most of the projects (68%) not meet their contractual obligation by being late, over budget or outright failure?

IT projects fail due to a catalog of reasons which include the following: Improper requirements gathering: The project requirements should be appropriately documented through meetings, focus groups, reports and interviews. Scope Creep: More often than not, the project scope does not usually cover the entire spectrum of work to be implemented. This leads to progressive elaboration with associated adjustment of work scope and request for additional features not previously included. Change Management Control Board: Absence of change control board makes it possible for unnecessary changes and additions to be accepted in an ongoing project without full assessment of potential impacts. Inadequate risk management plan: Absence of risk planning, qualitative and quantitative risk assessment processes make it difficult to be proactive about potential risks. Risk response plans should be put in place to mitigate risk impact. Lack of management support: If top management does not support a major project by providing required financial and human resources, the project is bound to fail. Triple Constraints: Inability to balance the triple constraints of cost, schedule and budget in order to insure project quality. If there is a change in one of the tripods of the triple constraints, the other two would be affected.

Improper use of forecasting techniques such as EVM: Project managers should correctly utilize forecast techniques such as earned value management (EVM) to enable them determine whether project is behind or ahead of schedule and on budget. Communication: There should be effective communication between project teams and stakeholders. Communication channels, levels, frequency and methods should be determined during planning. Project Management methodology: Correct choice of project management methodology to fit project goals should be adopted. Examples include: Software development lifecycle (SDLC), Waterfall, Scrum, Agile or Extreme Programming (XP) depending on client need. Project Management Skill: Projects should be led by trained project managers who understand project management techniques, strategy, knowledge areas and process groups in line with project management institutes standards and requirement.

Considerations for the above measures during project planning and implementation would radically improve project outcome and success rate Reference:
Standish Group, (2009). Chaos Report. Retrieved September 1, 2013 from http://www1.standishgroup.com/newsroom/chaos_2009.php

Dr. Austin Umezurike is an information technology projects director with Global High Technology Consulting.

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