Why IT Projects Fail

If you're reading this entry and for some magical means all the projects you have been part of have succeeded, then you might want to skip to the next entry. If you're still reading, then just like me, you have been on projects that failed miserably. Needless to say, I have always learned something new from failed projects. The question is, “What makes IT projects unbearably susceptible to failure?”

I read an article by one Dr. Paul Dorsey and he discussed the “Top 10 Reasons Why Systems Projects Fail” and thought I'll share his thoughts with fellow IT managers and those who work on IT projects.

1. Don’t use a specific methodology because coding is all that is really important.

2. Create the project plan by working backwards from a drop-dead system completion date.

3. Don’t bother with a data model. Just build whatever tables you need.

4. Use a Technical Lead that has never built a similar system. Hiring such talent is too expensive.

5. Hire forty developers to make the coding go faster.

6. Build the system in Java, even though most of the development team still thinks that Java is coffee and you have no intention of ever deploying to the Web.

7. Three months before the system goes live, assign one junior developer to handle the data migration.

8. Skip the testing phase because the project is way behind schedule.

9. Change the system to support critical new requirements discovered during final development.

10. Buy a commercial, off-the-shelf package and customize it … a lot.

You may read the full text of the paper at: http://www.dulcian.com/papers/Top%2010%20Reasons%20Why%20Systems%20Projects%20Fail.htm