There are a few simple reasons why IT projects big and small tend to crash and burn or end up being implemented, and fail to deliver to expectations.
Requirements aren’t clear or even in place
I know this one’s simple but I have in the past embarked on a reasonable size public sector project for which the sole initial requirement was to refresh the existing equipment to make use of new services. The new services weren’t actually defined at the point of order, so were added as the project went along. Far from ideal but there happened to be a third party involved which leads me on to the next point.
Management consultants get involved
Not always a bad thing but if the basic business requirements aren’t defined before engagement then a project or initiative will end up with a growing community of consultants who sit between the client and their suppliers. I’ve come across a couple of occasions where I’ve been working with consultants on an agreed set of project parameters that were in fact different to those agreed between the consultants and the client. It did make the project meetings very interesting for a time but didn’t help the end client to achieve their results. Professional services companies by their very nature will do all they can to sell in additional people and services which will make any project more complex and ramp up the number of in-flight changes. There is a space for Professional Services companies to fill gaps in the client side organisation but these need to be scoped in some detail before engagement. It’s always a perceived safer option as well to go for a big player but there’s usually better value from using niche specialists who have the relevant systems or business experience.
The ‘Man from Del Monte’ culture within suppliers
When JFK committed the US to going to the moon he had quite a bit of money to throw at the problem and awful lot of resources. I don’t know of any IT company that has a lot of cash or experts on hand so why do they commit their businesses to delivering a system that they have little chance of building, delivering or supporting?
The simple answer is that for large projects the decision is taken at a strategic level without the understanding of the true cost of delivery or the impact of supporting that service on the business once implemented. This is where IT seems to differ from other specialist areas. If a tender went out to build a tunnel between say the Wales and Southern Ireland the first pass would be a feasibility study which would go into a great deal of detail about the rock strata, tunnel locations & support infrastructure. If the experts agreed that it could be technically done within a notional budget figure it would move to the next stage. Of course if it isn’t feasible this is fed back and the project shelved. In the IT world it appears that if the experts highlight that something isn’t feasible then the sales teams and senior management override them and press ahead. I have had numerous uncomfortable discussions over the years with clients and legal teams where a supplier has over promised and under delivered.
Suppliers tendency to say Yes can be driven by short term incentive plans, nothing more or nothing less. Most management and sales teams are remunerated when the contract is put in place and very rarely on the on-going performance of that deal. If a deal of £3m is sold but the actual cost of delivery over that term is the same then it’s not profitable business. Often deals are taken on this basis to bring in other contracts, which can be strategically beneficial but then compensation should only really be paid when those new contracts are signed, sealed and delivered.
Everyone is an expert
My personal feeling is that IT experts are looked on as being less important than technicians within other disciplines. This is probably due to the fact that most people can now drive a computer without a second thought, so assume that creating a Database for 30 million records is as simple as popping a DVD in the drive and downloading some software. If it’s not that easy how difficult can it be? It’s a slightly strange situation as we all drive cars but not many of us can now fix them and even less design and build one from scratch but we assume that this can be the case for IT.
These are the main reasons for me at least as to why I have seen large IT projects fail over the last twenty five years or so and I am sure there are a whole lot more. The biggest issue by far though is the real amount of taxpayers money that is being wasted day in day out on Public Sector IT projects and the seeming lack of informed people that are making the contractual and procurement decisions. Is there a better way of providing more effective governance of Public Sector IT spend?
Tags: Accountability, IT Projects, Public Sector
