Big IT Projects fail all the time
How to Run an IT Project
A practical look at why IT projects go wrong and what you can to do avoid it
You know something is a thing when it has a “List of …” page on Wikipedia.
So, of course, there is a list of failed and over-budget custom software projects. Ah! The Big IT Project. You can already smell the money; purchase orders being raised, PowerPoints being produced, gantt charts everywhere, outsourcing companies straightening their collective ties and preparing their packs and claims.
Here’s what happens: an executive spots a fiddly problem in the organisation and brings it up in a meeting (there is probably catering at this meeting). Another C-titled person says she has a similar problem. Then some wag decides they need to run a transformation programme to fix it. So they add a big box onto a PowerPoint or a line on a tracker called “Big IT Project” and dump all those annoying problems into there. “We need a name for this project,” someone pipes up. This is the conversation they enjoy the most, and probably the pinnacle of engagement. “Barracuda?” someone suggests.
