What To Do When Your IT Project Is Late, Over Budget, and Looks Like It’s Never Going To Work by Frank Schmidt © 2003 http://www.GeniusOne.comHere’s a scary statistic. According to four prominent research firms, only around 20% of all IT projects are finished in a timely manner. By “timely”
researchers mean without loss of quality or being over budget. They go on to say average project runs approximately 200 percent late, roughly 200 percent over budget, and contains only 2/3 of original functionality. Failure is norm in IT industry. But why? And more importantly, how do we fix it?
There must be a way to dissect problem, and create a solution to diagnosis of “doomed failure.” Trust me, there is!
Top 7 Problems and Their Solutions
Let’s take a look at top 7 reasons IT projects are late or over budget. Then I’ll show you some proven solutions taken straight from trenches.
1. Not Enough Time
Whether it’s a misunderstanding of complexity of computer system designs or some other reason, many times little time is devoted to gathering necessary data. Because this is one of first steps in process, when adequate time isn’t given to data collection, everything else suffers.
Likewise, enough time is rarely allotted to creating a good design. While planning stage may not offer excitement that development does, it is equally, if not more, important. Lack of planning in design phase almost always leads to ongoing changes during development phase. When this happens, budget dollars and man-hours are eaten away.
SOLUTION: Give it more time. This vital step must be given due consideration. Adjust your schedule as needed, and you’ll find rest of process goes much smoother. Yes, you have to make it to market before your competition. But if you make it to market and your product is filled with bugs, what do you get? A pile of returns and complaints, and a bad reputation.
2. Open Lines of Communication
It sounds like a cliché, but communication is absolutely vital to success of any project. The communication between development team and users, and also communication inside development team must be crystal clear. Does everyone understand you? Do they know exactly what’s expected of them or have you assumed they know? Do they communicate well with each other? With users? With other departments?
SOLUTION: Identify communication breakdowns now. These can only lead to confusion and complications down road. Never assume that everyone understands. Take just a little extra time to create an environment that is destined to produce a product on time and under budget.
