The management of UK IT projects is improving and is
better than previously thought, according to exclusive research
commissioned by Computer Weekly.
The Computer Weekly Project/ Programme Management Survey was
carried out by Chris Sauer and Christine Cuthbertson of Oxford
University's Templeton College and was sponsored by change
management consultancy the French Thornton Partnership.
The survey of 1,500 IT project managers across the UK in all
industry sectors found that just 16% of IT projects hit their
targets on budget, schedule and scope.
However, many more only narrowly missed their targets. Sauer said,
"We found that 55% of projects come within 5% of their schedule,
within 5% of scope and 4% of budget."
Evidence of the success of IT projects will be welcomed in IT
departments across the UK as company boards demand new IT projects
deliver a rapid return on investment.
Steady improvements in the performance of IT projects could save
the economy billions of pounds, said Sauer.
"If project cost can be reduced by a quarter across industry and
government, and £100bn is invested in IT, it would save the economy
£25bn a year," he added.
The performance of UK IT projects in the survey showed a marked
improvement when compared with IT projects surveyed by the Standish
Group in 1995.
The influential Standish report found that the average variance
for a project meeting a schedule was 102%, for meeting a budget it
was 75%, and for scope it was 67%. More projects were abandoned in
1995 (31%) compared with the 9% found by Computer Weekly's
research.
"The performance of IT projects in this survey is the best set
of numbers I have ever seen," said Sauer. "The projects meet
objectives more consistently and miss targets by less."
The most likely reason for the improvements was the trend for
organisations to break IT projects up into smaller parts, making
them easier to manage, said Sauer.
Another reason was better management of projects by IT
professionals.
Hitting targets? The state of UK IT project management
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