Top Causes of IT Project Failure

Neimat (2005) outlines Federal Bureau of Investigations Virtual Case File projects findings on the major reasons for IT project failure as:

• Poor planning
• Unclear goals and objectives
• Changing objectives during the project
• Having unrealistic time or resource estimates
• Lack of executive support or user involvement
• Failure to communicate as a team
• Inappropriate skills

The reasons are all a part of project management. Causes of project failure are usually rooted in the project management process. The most common reason for projects failing to meet their objectives or scope is due to the sponsor of the project lacking the necessary experience to convey what they really require out of the project. Unfortunately, no one specific step in the project process can be blamed for its imminent failure. I believe the most important step that can be taken to prevent against IT project failure is continual oversight throughout the entire project to make sure goals and deadlines are being met on schedule.

From the list above, Leffingwell (2010) narrows down the root causes of project failure to three; Lack of user input, incomplete specification requirements, and changing specification requirements. Lack of user input is probably the largest cause of project failure because if you don’t know what exactly you are trying to accomplish, you probably arent going to hit the nail on the head. You are essentially taking a shot in the dark at an IT project if you arent 100% sure that you know what the end user wishes to gain from the creation of it.

Incomplete requirements and specifications is the second leading cause of project failure (Leffingwell, 2010). It makes sense because, just as lack of user input leads to falure, not having all of the information necessary to complete the project adequately would also lead to failure. Its very similar to lack of input because the input that you receive is incomplete or only partially what would be required of someone in order to create a successful IT project.

Changing requirements and specifications harms many aspects of the project. A manager may think that everything is set to finish on target and would be completely thrown off the critical path with changes to project. A clearly defined objective or goal needs to be determined in the beginning so that the project can go smoothly. The two most common types of changes to IT projects are known as scope and feature creep. Scope creep refers to a change in user expectations or requirements that is unexpected or uncontrollable. “Feature creep refers to uncontrolled addition of features to a system with a wrong assumption that one small feature will add nothing to cost or schedule” (Neimat, 2005).

References

Leffingwell, D. (2010). Managing Software Requirements. Boston: Addison-Wesley.

Neimat, A. (2005, October 24). The PROJECT PERFECT White Paper Collection. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from Why IT Projects Fail: http://www.projectperfect.com.au/downloads/Info/info_it_projects_fail.pdf