IT directors will have to promote themselves more to the board if
they are to avoid the IT project setbacks of the past that have
been widely promoted in the media.
Analyst group AMR Research conducted group interviews at the
recently held IT Directors Forum and found that IT directors widely
admitted that having "IT" in their job title made them unpopular
within their firms because of the negativity which now surrounds IT
as a corporate function.
AMR's research also asked participants why IT projects failed and
how IT projects could be more easily justified to the board. AMR
research director Nigel Montgomery said: "Because of bad publicity
the IT function has suffered over the last three or four years. IT
directors have not necessarily become ostracised, but they have
become separated from the business function of the company."
IT directors told AMR that there were various tactics that could be
deployed to sway the board on future IT expenditure. These included
forming special steering committees involving senior management
from other departments that could take IT proposals to the board.
In addition, as the role of an IT director should now be seen as a
facilitator for business change involving others, the use of third
parties to bring these various interests closer together was seen
as a useful tool when seeking board permission.
On the question of why projects fail in the first place, IT
directors told AMR there were a raft of different reasons, but to
help avoid problems, IT directors should take note of the following
points:
- Define the parameters of project success at the start.
- The IT department should not position itself, or be regarded,
as a separate function to the business.
- Project success and/or failure is often due to "people" issues
rather than a technology - business focused project management is
therefore required.
- Senior executive backing is a key component for success.
- User involvement helps show benefits rather than features,
aiding support and adoption.
- The exact nature of the project methodology itself is less
important than the need to have one.
- Some trade-off decisions are necessary, including deadlines
versus quality.
- Achieving short deadlines and quick wins requires crisis
management, but provides increased credibility and
support.
Montgomery said: "IT directors should learn from the mistakes that
have been made in the past, and make it a priority to make sure
their role is seen as an important business thing and not seen as a
boxes in the corner thing."