Common Reasons for IT Projects Failure - Coursework Example

COMMON REASONS OF IT PROJECT FAILURE Student’s name Institution’s Affiliation Course +Code Professor’s name Date Introduction IT projects are initiated with the aim of providing solutions to organizations, and governments. However, recent research indicates that many of these projects culminate with failure, right from their start. According to Joseph Gulla of IBM, over twenty-five percent of IT projects fail outright while a further twenty to twenty-five fail to give the return on their investment (ROI) (Gulla 2012). Again, IBM discloses that close to fifty percent of these projects will require a rework of the material. The projects, both public and private, cost millions and sometimes billions of dollars and any failure spells doom and catastrophe to the stakeholders. The need for IT projects in the twenty-first century cannot be overemphasized and, when a promising project leads to massive failure, IT experts get worried (Chomal & Saini 2014). It is in this backdrop that the essay discusses common reasons for IT project failures, and strategies that can help avoid such problems. The paper uses two examples of published IT projects that failed and some of the strategies used to get them back on track. Common Reasons for IT Projects Failure According to Gulla (2012), one of the main reasons for IT project failure is poor project planning and direction. Gulla (2012), states that project planning is essential to the success of an IT project, and includes elements like rules, methods, tools, and the management. These components must be supported by a software tool. Poor planning occurs in IT projects when managers are not given the opportunity to plan due to time pressure. In such cases, many see planning as a waste of time. While most IT projects are planned these days, the planning in many of these cases is not enough. The outcomes of poor planning include insufficient business support, reduced estimates, and poor scope control. Some of the projects that could have succeeded failed due to planning that led to an overshoot in their budgets and deadlines (Chomal & Saini 2014). A perfect example of a project that failed due to poor planning was the British Airways Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in March 2008. When the terminal was opened, it spelled a disaster because over twenty-eight thousand bags were lost and cancellation of thousands of flights could not be avoided. Problems, emanating from IT systems continued for over a week, and many of the executives from the airline resigned because of the IT project failure (Davies, Dodgson & Gann 2016). The system failed since it could not handle all the passengers going through it. Imperatively, the airline suspended baggage check-in at the terminal for a month to rectify the system. Inadequate and ineffective communication is another reason for the failure of IT projects. It is the responsibility of the project manager to interact with members of the team to give them updates on the status of the project, especially by focusing on its timelines, deliverables, and cost-containment. Communication is vital since everyone involved in the project has different expectations. Sufficient communication on the project, especially status reports, allow stakeholders to assess the progress of a project and see if there is a need for adjustment in its different aspects, for instance, its scope. For example, team members should not be surprised that a project’s deadline has changed. Lack of status report may lead to poor decisions that may impact on the quality of an IT project. Another cause of IT project failure denotes to project management failures or ineffective management approaches. The management failures may include delays that may alter a project’s schedule, a reworking of projects, late submission of a project, and unauthorised and unexpected alterations of a project. Imperatively, project managers and all players must ensure that a project is delivered as planned with a clear insight on its management (Davies et al. 2016). Fourthly, projects fail due to change of objectives during a project’s implementation. This occurs when the manager fails to consider a project’s scope creep and feature creep. The changes lead to new deadlines, additional costs, and unexpected resigning of an entire project. Additionally, IT projects fail due to unclear goals and objectives. According to Glaser (2004), unclear project goals arise due to the effective gathering of requirements in the initial stages of a project. For instance, when an organization states that it intends to implement a computerised customer management system aimed at improving quality and efficiency, it does not outline how such a system will achieve its goals. In addition, the project does not define customer care improvement and may leave the definition to project’s participants. Therefore, such cases make the goals of a project hugely unclear and thus affecting its scope and schedule. Further, IT projects fail because of unrealistic resource or time estimations. For instance, when creating the work breakdown structure, many assume that time on a task is the same as the project’s duration (Kerzner 2014). The time outlined for a task is the period the work takes to be completed with no interruptions, while the duration is the time that the task will take and includes breaks. Therefore, using task time to approximate a project schedule is a common mistake that project managers have. Again, Grossman (2003) divulges that linear approximation leads to unexpected project delays. Consequently, because of these common reasons for project failures, it is incumbent of the project managers to find solutions through the adoption of strategies aimed to address the intricacies. Strategies to Avoid IT Project Failures According to IBM, the effective involvement and participation of the executive management is one of the strategies that a project manager can undertake to avoid project failures. Their contribution and involvement is critical to the establishment of a project’s priorities (Gulla 2012). Therefore, IT project managers must involve the executive through status meetings aimed at monitoring the progress of a project, especially consultations that require a green light to progress to the next level (Kerzner 2014). The involvement of the management and their support is critical achieving a project’s overall goals and objectives within the set timelines. Secondly, effective management is critical as it allows the manager to understand the objectives, goals, and risks involved in a project. Further, a manager can coordinate efforts between various departments, for instance, finance and technology departments so as to measure the project’s performance (Gulla 2012). Again, effective project management involves the implementation of change process through estimation and approval steps. Managers can also use a risk-management assessment tool to understand and identify risks that should be addressed during and after the project. Also, sufficient communication is essential in avoiding IT project failures. Frequent contact with clients and business users, status reports, and the involvement of all stakeholders like hardware and software vendors are critical in reducing and eliminating communication breakdowns that may affect IT projects. Effective communication is an undertaking that a project manager can achieve through organized meetings with clear agenda, action plans, and even information emails to all team members (Chomal & Saini 2014). Therefore, effective communication based on the use of necessary skills is critical to the success of an IT project. Another strategy to avoid project failures is aligning constituents of a project and relevant stakeholders’ expectations. It is imperative for a project manager to build confidence and trust among the different constituents of a project, and the stakeholders for successful delivery of the work. The alignment is particularly important if these groups come from different organisations with varied motivations, measurements, and expectations. Greater alignment among the diverse groups can be achieved through specific target initiatives aimed at effective communication. For instance, in the early stages of an IT project, it is essential to have face-to-face gatherings with critical team members and the stakeholders (Gulla 2012). Such meetings, if planned and executed well, lead to long-term and fruitful relationships during the implementation of a project. The last strategy, and perhaps one of the most important is effective project planning. Good project planning and direction improves a project success rate. The manager and the team members must identify significant processes, rules, and tools to ensure that a project is planned well. They must guarantee that they put the right people in the right task, with clearly defined assignments, goals, and responsibilities. Examples of IT project failures Denver International Airport Baggage System failure The newly developed system at the Denver airport was meant to ease baggage movement in one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. The failures in the system resulted in a 30% increase in the budget cost and 18-months delay in the opening the airport. The system designed and built by BEA Automated Systems was aimed at enhancing efficiency at the airport; decrease times spent, and improve baggage handling that would reduce turnaround time (Harden, 2015). However, the system failed because of change in strategy by the management, poor communication between the manager, BEA system, and the airport management, and the failure by BEA System to understand the scope, schedule, and cost of the project. For example, airlines were excluded from discussions between the airport management and the project manager yet they were important stakeholders. Again design failures between the structures of the project and airport infrastructure led to massive failures. Imperatively, the project failed, with many airlines refusing to use the baggage system because it chewed passenger bags. Instead of an integrated baggage system, the airport ended up using just one line in place of the three that BEA Automated Systems (Harden 2015). One reason that partly explains the failure was the contractor’s underestimation of the risks involved in the massive project, especially its scope. Link-Victoria Police IT Project Failure According to Renal LeMay, the Victorian government lost close to $ 1.4 billion over budget in IT projects that were either late or failed (Lemay, 2011). One of such projects is the Link-Victoria Police IT project that was initiated in 2005 and aimed at replacing the thirteen-year-old system in crime recording and personal information in the police’s database (Gole & Shinsky, 2013). However, by 2011, the project had not been completed due to serious failings that arose from poor planning, poor project scope management, and the department’s failure to appoint a single and experienced project manager. The branch assigned the project management responsibilities to two people; a situation that led to massive failures because of non-alignment of the goals, objectives, and expectation between the two managers and their team members. By the time of its suspension, the project’s cost had increased by over $125 million. Conclusion It follows that the failure and success of IT projects lie with the expertise of the project manager, and following processes that lead to the delivery of quality outcomes. Through the two case studies, IT projects failures can be disastrous and result to massive impacts, especially on cost and delays. Imperatively, project managers have a duty to ensure that they follow all the steps outlined to minimize these failures. References Chomal, V.S. and Saini, J.R. (2014), Cataloguing most severe causes that lead software Projects to fail. International Journal on Recent and Innovation Trends in Computing and Communication, pp.1143-1147. Davies, A, Dodgson, M and Gann, D.( 2016), Dynamic capabilities in complex projects: the Case of London Heathrow Terminal 5, Project Management Journal, 47(2), pp.26-46. Glaser, J. (2004), Management’s role in IT project failures Healthcare Financial Management, Np. Gole, T and Shinsky, G. (2013), “Learning from failed ICT Projects,” Lexology. Accessed On March 24, 2017, from Grossman, I. (2003). “Why so many IT project fail, and how to find success.” Financial Executive, 19(3), p28. Gulla, J. (2012), “Seven Reasons IT Projects Fall,” IBM Systems. Accessed on March 24, 2017, from< http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/power/Systems-Management/Workload-Management/project_pitfalls/?page=1> Harden, M, (2015), “DIA20: The high-tech airport baggage system that failed to launch,” Denver Business Journal. Accessed on March 24, 2017, from Kerzner, H (2014), Project Recovery: Case Studies and Techniques for Overcoming Project Failure, John Wiley & Sons. LeMay, R, (2011). “Vic Government It In Flames: $1.4 billion over budget, all Projects late or failed,” Accessed on March 24, 2017, from Read More