It’s remarkable how often IT projects get out of control. Various studies show that more than 34% of all IT projects in the private sector fail in terms of costs, deadlines or acceptance of the final results. Especially projects regarding the implementation of documentation and management software are doomed to fail according to these surveys.
Thus it’s true, that more than 30% of IT projects in the private sector cause higher costs than planned. And as the additional costs lay between 10% and 20%, we’re not talking about a few more pennies to spend.
“Not using a thoughtful project plan based on pre-defined steps is an efficient way to waste money and time.”
Nevertheless it’s very fascinating to watch IT projects evolve and repeatedly notice the same common mistakes. Project managers often have to deal with unrealistic deadlines, but the real alarming fact is that nobody even tries to explain senior management that unrealistic deadlines only lead to even bigger problems. Additionally, deficient planning based on incorrect forecasts or insufficient communication between all parties involved leads to misunderstandings and a higher amount of work that will need to be done. This often results in tiny faults at the beginning of a project being withheld or hushed up – but they often appear later in the project as one of the huge problems that are critical for the project’s success. And even if you did your best to deal with all these challenges, subsequent problems appear through unknown dependencies and conflicts with other simultaneously running projects. You can be assured something is always going on.
To be honest, no matter what triggers all these problems, the additional financial and human resources must not be disregarded. Bottom line, the problem in IT projects is that standardized implementation methods and approaches simply do not apply. Whether the time schedule or budget can be complied with is completely a matter of luck. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Standardized methods are the key to success
Against the widespread opinion “because it’s standardized, it won’t fit my needs” a thoughtful project plan based on pre-defined steps can take you to the next level because you know that you will have to take care of certain issues before an error actually occurs. At least it can be advised to use standardized methods to conduct the crucial areas of preliminary examination, scheduling, resource allocation and communication with stakeholders.
Based on over 20 years of expertise in consulting, FNT recently developed, among other things, the approach “Fast-Track-to-Value”. It helps to describe clearly defined objectives and supports general decisions by using best practices. For example if you want to launch a new documentation and management software in your company, such as FNT Command, the methodology helps you to get an overview of all parallel processes and their interdependencies. It helps to detect which information has to be considered first and who plays a key role for the project’s success. The standardized approach helps to consider the entire context – before, during and after your project. This approach supplements other project management methods by what, when and why certain things have to be done, to create a common understanding of the projects’ goals – and in turn, ensure its success.
The approach is also decoded in the new product range: FNT ValuePack. These are standardized services which combine the method with further consulting and implementation by the experts at FNT. Thanks to the standardization, complete transparency in terms of time, cost and expected high-quality results can be delivered anytime. Experienced project managers help to ensure the right outcome and the acceptance of the system by providing training and sharing expertise through review workshops.
