When IT fails?

During IT Dev Projects

During IT Production

Operations

Project Sponsors or Senior Managers CANCEL IT

development projects because:

Budget / Time Overrun

Poor Quality

Safety / Security Concerns

Business Case no longer prevails

Senior Managers CANCEL IT

production services because of stakeholders’

satisfactions of:

Escalating Service costs

Poor service quality eg reliability, time to deliver

Safety / Security Concerns

Business case no longer prevails

Key Causes of IT Project failures1. Lack of Strategic Alignment between Business & IT (CORRESPONDENCE FAILURE)

No or weak upfront business case with no clear program logic and related KPI measures justifying the project

Business case may exist but business conditions have changed, invalidating business case while project is underway

2. Project scope creep (PROCESS FAILURE) – development scope of requirements increased beyond what was originally planned requiring more $, resources & time blowing out planned budget, resource availability and deadlines

3. Poor communications among stakeholders (INTERACTION FAILURE) what is planned does not deliver what is expected due to misinterpretations and/or no communications

Why Projects fail** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a4ZxOAQifE

3 Models for Identifying IT Failures

Factor Based ModelsIdentifying a checklist of conditions that cause IT

project & production failures

These condition based or risk factors can be classified by:

• Cultural, managerial & technical categories (Feghali & Zbib, 2007)

• Leadership, communications, skills and resources, budget and project management categories (Oz & Sosik, 2000)

• Project management, top management, technology, organisational, complexity size and process categories (Al-Ahmad, 2009)

• etc

Stakeholder Analysis ModelsIdentifying power brokers that cause IT project & production

failures

Power plays between stakeholders can, especially

during decision making, can also result in IT cancellations

3D Sphere ModelsIdentifying organisational

drivers that cause IT project & production failures

Dimensional modelling of organisational Risk factors that can contribute to IT failures – classified by

• 4 Managerial Risk Factors• 7 Cultural Risk Factor• 18 Technical Risk factors

IT Failures – Risk Management Practice Models

Risks – Causes of IT Failures

Issues – Problems when

risks eventuate

IT Project or Production

Cancellation = Failure

Literature Comparison of Software Project RisksSchmidt, Lyytinen, Keil & Cule OZ & Sosik Fairley & Whillshire

Lack of top management commitment to project

Poorly communicated goals/deliverables

Excessive schedule pressure

Failure to gain user commitment

Lack of Corporate Leadership Changing Needs

Lack of User involvement Poor project management Lack of documented & maintained project plan

Lack of required knowledge/skills

Budget & schedule deviations Excessive & secondary innovations

Lack of frozen requirements Requirement / scope creep

Changing scope/objectives Lack of scientific methods

Introduction of new technology

Ignoring the Obvious

Failure to manage user expectations

Unethical behaviours

Insufficient / inappropriate staffing

Conflict between user departments

(Tesch, Kloppenborg & Frolick, 2007)

Top 10 Risks in IT System Replacement ProjectsRisk Mitigation Tips

Ineffective user involvement

Involve users in project planning, change mgt & training; foster frequent communications; choose small team of decision makers who knows the users well; have clear roles, responsibilities & expectations

Ineffective executive support

Clearly define the sponsor role at the beginning of the project; decision making rules

Scope Creep Evaluate and redefine RFP requirements to eliminate ambiguous, incorrect, inconsistent, and/or unverifiable language; don’t get blog down into deep technical details

Schedule flaws Use agile iterative methods and factor 20% contingency

Staff Turnover Establish process standards; rotate duties, embrace communications and team work

Unrealistic Expectations Promote a culture that embraces continuous improvement and evolution. Don’t oversell your capabilities.

Ineffective project management

Get experienced people

Specification breakdown “Reduce complexity by focusing on outcomes. Avoid over-specification and the lure of being ‘perfect’. Provide mechanisms for continuous improvement and evolution.”

Technology and Uncertainty

Reduce concurrent project streams; defer integration of peripheral systems eg KM; focus on delivery required outcomes not bells and whistles

Excessive Direction (micro management)

Develop trust within team to delegate work and share decision making; use KPI measures as work appraisal measures.

(Komperud, 2012)

Organising Risks via PMBOK – Process GroupsProject

Initiation Planning

Project Planning

Execution Controlling Closing

Project Integration Mgt

Project Scope Mgt

Project Time Mgt

Project Cost mgt

Project Quality Mgt

Project HR Mgt

Project Comms Mgt

Project Procurement Mgt

Project Risks Mgt

Fact

ored

Ris

ks M

gt in

thes

e Ar

eas

Covers other Risks(details see http://www.softexpert.com/regulation-pmbok.php)

NOW we are intoCollaborative Projects Across Multiple Sites

Project risks and issues are high

Project Management is Complex

Requires :• Common project language across sites• Shareable project information across sites• Coordinated workflow management across sites• More complex project risks management

new international external risks – political, economic, social, technology and environmental differences

cross cultural communication and management factors

Communication Strategies in Collaborative projects (2.26m)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f60dheI4ARg

Case study – application of stakeholder analysis

Identify stakeholders

Evaluation their Coalition

What do they want in the IT projects?

Map out interests