How Come My IT Project Failed? Why? Why — WHY?
Why does it seem so many IT projects fail to deliver what was desired?
The most recent Standish CHAOS report** indicates an amazing downturn in the last 10 years in the capability of IT projects to deliver results that meet requirements.
“This year’s [Standish Report] results represent the highest failure rate in over a decade,” says Jim Crear, Standish Group’s CIO.
What are the contributing factors to IT failure? (I’d like to hear your opinions!) Mine are these:
1) Poor top management understanding and commitment to the change.
TOP management must be able to articulate and justify the changes — the small changes, the big changes, the CULTURE changes, the positions lost, the job roles altered. And when I say TOP management, I mean C-level and Board level managers.
2) Top managers are failing to communicate with Architects.
Architects, and other designers of IT change, speak a funny language, so communicating with them has historically been left up to middle managers.
But look — this is WAR. Businesses need HELP. So clear the decks and bring those architects and business change designers onto the decks and into the War Room to speak to top level managers.
3) IT is invisible.
Remember designers that IT, by its very nature, is an invisible product except by its interfaces — it’s screens and reports. It’s not like we can “see” it like a house or a shopping centre.
That’s why architects need to find a way to make their “building plans” visible.
4) We have failed to connect IT “building plans” with corporate strategies.
How would it be if King Tut had asked for a “much, much bigger pyramid” and lots and lots more gold? His architects would have gone back to the drawing board and returned to him with an estimate for the costs for the things he was asking for.
The same is true for IT. The architects, the architect’s plans, and the Pharoah — all need to go in the same direction. They all need to make their changes whilst hovering together, elbow-to-elbow, over the very same plans. They both need to understand and commit to the consequences of each change. Otherwise, pyramids may not be built to spec and heads may roll.
So make those plans visible, y’all — and connect them all up to the strategy.
Your ruling monarchs will then get their gold and their pyramids, even the invisible ones. No heads will roll. Life — and business — will be good.
**The most recent Standish Report is discussed at:
http://www1.standishgroup.com/newsroom/chaos_2009.php
