Comments on: 62 percent of IT projects fail. Why?

Why do IT projects fail, and is there anything we can do about it?

[mm0]

These surveys turn up every year or so, and they are always the same. When I got my software engineering degree we reviewed IT project stats from the early 1980's with exactly the same data, +/-10%

The SE literature covers pretty well why this is the case, but few people in IT read it, and few managers in either IT or the business have the stomach for putting the engineering discipline and process in place that would address the primary contributing factors. The one area the SE folks fall short on is that they focus on development, without taking into account the conflicting resource problems of maintenance and new development that tend to sap IT projects.

Still, reading a little Fred Brooks and Barry Boehm wouldn't hurt most managers in IT.

[justinbmeyer]

I think you misstated the 62 percent. In CIO it reads:

62 percent of organizations experienced IT projects that failed to meet their schedules.

I don't think that means 62 percent of projects fail. Only that 62 percent of organizations have had projects that didn't meet their schedules.

[preciouskeepsake]

Perhaps you need to read the first part over; here it is: "CIO.com cites a Dynamic Markets survey of 800 IT managers, reporting that 62 percent of IT projects fail to meet their schedules. Other data:

* 49 percent suffered budget overruns
* 47 percent had higher-than-expected maintenance costs, and
* 41 percent failed to deliver the expected business value and ROI"

[AlfioSauri]

I will go back to the basics in communication and state what business objective drives the technological solution. Without such basic understanding, we cannot assess properly the owners or CEO's expectations.