“Why is it so many IT/Technology Projects fail” … I read these same questions in 1988, 1998, 2008, and now even in 2018.
According to a Forbes study in 2016:
“25 percent of technology projects fail outright; 20 to 25 percent don’t show any return on investment; and as much as 50 percent need massive reworking by the time they’re finished”Being in transformation, I am often brought in to help re-steer/right the ship that is heading in the wrong direction – or already failed. I’ve also come into struggling organizations or companies trying to undertake a big change – and the first thing they look at is the “new technologies” they need.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked with technologies from early C/Fortran/PC’s, through global enterprise architectures, up to AI solutions today – I can tell you “the technology” is never “the solution” – it’s only part of the solution and it can only truly add value if it’s done as part of an integrated business solution and also. Applied incorrectly, it can make the wrong answers just run faster.
I’m surprised at how often I walk into a new environments and find organizations repeating the same issues:
- Thinking “Technology is Going to Save the Day”
- Not defining the business objectives, issues, and opportunities
- Not defining the framework and guidelines on what the “big picture” should look like
- Not taking the time to understand where they are today.
- Not understanding their current team’s capabilities and skill sets.
- Not defining business and functional requirements before starting to build
- Not including testing and testing plans
- Not including implementation, training and support
- Not considering the end to end processes
I am going to share several techniques and approaches coming from Business Strategy, Business Architecture, Engineering, IT Management, and basic common sense that have contributed to avoiding the pitfalls so many organizations fall into and have provided the foundations of my success in multiple business environments utilizing multiple generations of technologies. I also will layout the benefits and importance of leadership teaching these concepts as base foundations – setting teams up for success.