IT Projects: Expert Witness, CIO, In-House Counsel & Litigation Forum

8 Ways To Save Your Next Project

How does everyone out there feel about taking a "start the project and see what you're up against" approach for IT projects?  And perhaps the comparison of a project to a turkey is an unconscious commentary on the rate of failed projects.

Has anyone out there ever referred to a failed IT project as a "turkey"  (not to be confused with "turnkey"). Any thoughts?      Marlene (Turkeys added for emphasis)

:http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Projects-Enterprise-Planning/8-Ways-To-Save-Your-Next-Project/1/
By Elizabeth Bennett 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

New IT Project Failure Metrics: Is Standish Wrong?

Posted by Michael Krigsman - December 7th, 2007

http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?p=513&tag

How many of you out there have quoted the Standish Group's Chaos Report for lo these many years?  Right! What importance might this new report hold, and does this information fall into the category of the experts being right - at one time - but the times they are a'changing? (Just tossing in a reference for all you music lovers out there).  Let us know what your take is on this new outlook and  information.   Marlene Palmer, WSRcg LLC, Consultant

The Standish Group’s Chaos Report describes two-thirds of IT projects as being “challenged.” Now, three academics have published a report suggesting these numbers are flawed, and that only one-third of IT projects actually fail. If this new report is accurate, it represents a significant departure from common perceptions of IT project risk and failure. The research was conducted by Chris Sauer, Andrew Gemino, and Blaize Horner Reich who described their results in an article titled, The impact of size and volatility on IT project performance.

EXECUTIVE CONCLUSIONS

The following table outlines management recommendations made by the authors on the basis of their research: