Why an IT Transformation Project Can Be the Lifeline Your Organization Needs

Proper project management begins with a dedicated leader and team - giving the job to an employee with daily duties to perform already will not ensure the project receives the attention it requires. This project leader must also have a team of knowledgeable members with the right amount of time to focus on the project as well. 

This team will ensure success by communicating clearly, with clear responsibilities, timelines, and back-up plans (risk management) to successfully execute the project. 

Understanding why projects fail is a sort of Risk Management 101. You can control what you can control, but you can plan to mitigate project dead-ends by understanding common reasons why projects fail. Know that with a large-scale IT implementation it is difficult to plan for all eventualities. The problem is that even the best-prepared projects run into hurdles along the way, and when unforeseen problems arise or important milestones are missed, it can be tempting to throw in the towel and consider the entire project a failure.

One of the most obvious reasons why projects fail is poor planning from the outset. Managers who fail to expand the project and apply risk management principles such as advance planning, quality assurance and safety assurance are courting ruin. 

Another reason why projects fail is no follow-through. This relates to the aforementioned designation of an already full-time employee given the extra duty to lead a project with other full-time employees on the team - none of which having the time or attention to properly perform their roles on the team and see the project through to successful completion. 

One way to guarantee the failure of a project is to start without a clear project goal. Saying you want to, "increase revenue" isn't as specific as saying you want to, "increase sales of a specific product or service by doing this or that." Having a specific, realistic goal in mind will allow you to work backwards from it to piece together the solution. 

Stakeholder visibility and reporting is also an important aspect in project success. Creating a clear understanding of the expectations of the people involved - executives, business and IT management, vendors, partners and end users - will help prevent your project from failing.

Also, making a goal measurable is very important. If you fall short of a goal, but have achieved enough to see a measurable benefit, then you know you are at least on the right track and may be able to achieve the original goal in due time.

Keeping the project inline with the original vision of your business is also important. If your business initially has an unclear business objective, then the project is most likely doomed from the start. Even if the project plan is in place, there are several reasons why your project may not match your business objectives. Projects can stall in the final phases because the results do not meet business requirements or organizations are unable to adapt to the changing business environment. Even if the results are in line with business needs and requirements, failures can still occur, resulting in the organization not realizing the desired benefits of the project. 

If you have ever worked in IT, you have probably heard or experienced horror stories related to complex software implementations ranging from daily headaches to business losses. Some IT problems are a quick easy fix, and others are far from it. 

Thanks to technology there are new solutions to preventing a project's failure. Project management software can help you avoid project errors by keeping goals in focus, assist with resource planning, provide transparency, and facilitate communication. A good project management platform helps you get away from the question of why projects fail and concentrates on the successful implementation of your project. 

Change is difficult, and complex IT implementation projects such as ERP installation can be challenging. But it does not mean that these projects are doomed to failure. Understanding the pitfalls of project management is the first step in successfully executing your new IT project. 

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