
2007-12-17
With IT projects
consistently running late and over budget, it's time to look at what technology
leaders and project managers could do to step up their performances.
Mumbai, IndiaTechnology
projects bare a striking similarity to home renovations. Both are surrounded by
wildly high hopes at the start and often end up causing financial and emotional
heartache. There are some new numbers to back up the unfortunate reality that
many projects simply don't deliver as expected. 49 percent of organizations
have suffered from budget overruns on IT projects and 62 percent have
experienced schedule delays, according to a new report by Tata
Consultancy Services (TCS), an IT consulting firm based in Mumbai, India.
The study, which
surveyed 800 organizations in theUnited States, Europe and Asia, also found
that 47 percent of respondents have experienced higher-than-expected
maintenance costs and 41 percent said IT projects failed to deliver the expected
business value and
ROI.
In short, IT
projects are a chronic disappointment.
It's hardly news
that technology projects are rarely on time and within budget, but the question
remains: what more can be done? We thought it was worth taking a look at why
projects are so likely to fall behind and where IT leaders and project managers
could improve their performance—and therefore the likelihood of successfully
completing a project with minimal cost and schedule delays.
Baseline created
the list below with the help of Kent Crawford, CEO of PM Solutions, a
project-management consulting firm based in Havertown. PA,
Bob Laliberte, an analyst with Milford, Mass.-based Enterprise
Strategy Research


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