Problems with IT Projects - Series

Okay, so a few days ago I mentioned that I was going to start writing a series of posts about the problem with IT projects. I've been trying to work out how to structure this series, and I've decided that I am probably just best off starting and working it out as I go along.

Is there really a problem?

I have been involved in a number of IT projects in the last ten years, whether as a project manager, business representative or a user within the organisation. Being an information manager, I am sometimes even asked to provide specialist advice on some of them. I also have friends in the IT industry and have spoken with many peers about projects in their organisations. From my experience and their experience I would have to say that there is a real problem with IT projects.

The general situation in the organisations I have worked in, and those of my friends and peers is that there is a high degree of cynicism about IT projects. The assumption is that IT projects will not deliver on time, that they will inevitably cost more than the proposal and probably the worst one, that they won't deliver what they promise.

Sadly though, my experience of the IT areas that are responsible for delivering these projects is that they don't seem aware of the reputation they have - either that or they have just accepted it and moved on.

An absolute classic example of the fact that IT projects are broken was on the news tonight - Aurora's massive blowout. The billing system that was supposed to cost $15 million to implement is now likely to cost $65 million. No I did not misquote this situation - that's a predicted a $50,000,000 overspend (not it isn't implemented yet!), more than four times what it was expected to cost!

Apparently they did not realise how complex this project would be. Someone needs to be sacked over this one - seriously! Who wrote the business case? Who did the scoping study? How did they select the product? What was the trigger to update the billing system in the first place if they had no comprehension of how involved the integration would be? How did it get this far without someone calling a stop to it? Where is the possible ROI on this?

I could go on with the questions, but the fact of the matter is that this is not an isolated incident. There would be hundreds, if not thousands of IT projects around the world that I could have used as an example here.

So since I've established that point next post will be the trigger for a new IT system - what is acceptable and what is not.