Does CHAOS indicate an improvement in project governance?

I note that the Standish Group has released the results of its latest CHAOS report (http://www.standishgroup.com/newsroom/chaos_2009.php ). The Boston, Mass.-based IT project management research and consulting firm surveyed 400 organizations and found a decrease in IT project success rates and an increase in IT project failure rates since it last released its findings in 2006. Specifically, 32 percent of IT projects were considered successful, having been completed on time, on budget and with the required features and functions. Nearly one-in-four (24 percent) of IT projects were considered failures, having been cancelled before they were completed, or having been delivered but never used. The rest (44 percent) were considered challenged in that they were finished late, over budget, or with fewer than the required features and functions. Although I have yet to have sight of the detailed report there were two immediate observations that occurred to me. Firstly I have an issue with the success criteria. To me it seems as if the Standish definition of success is being based primarily (and perhaps solely?) on the delivery of a satisfactory technical solution rather than on the delivery of quantifiable benefits and value over time resulting in value creation. If successful solution delivery is the prime criteria, and if value delivery has been ignored, then the probability is that the reported 32% success rate is itself a significant over-estimate of the reality. My second immediate observation is that the increase in project cancellations may perhaps at last signal an improvement in governance. Challenged projects may have been identified and cancelled at an earlier stage than has previously been the case and consequently further waste and value destruction has been avoided. This would indeed be good governance and not, at least in itself, a sign of poor management or poor investment selection. It is probable that the current recession may have also contributed to the greater number of cancellations but initial reactions to surveys such as this, which tend to veer towards the negative, may actually indicate that in some respects things may be improving.