Assessing IT Project Success: Perception vs. Reality (Category Management)

This article Published in September in ACM Queue, it explores the changing understanding of IT success. Previously, this topic was actively pedaled by the guys from the Standish Group, even in the 1994 a year telling inThe CHAOS ReportThe fact that most IT projects fail. They considered success from the point of view of not just the project, but project management, or rather getting into the project triangle: timing, budget and scope.

The project is completed on time and on budget, with all features and functions as initially specified. But the authors of the new study thought about what other objective indicators besides these metrics, which can be used to assess the success of the project. They selected the following additional metrics:

• Level of global success achieved Level of compliance with the scope, time, and cost
• Level of vendor (supplier) satisfaction
• Level of client satisfaction
• Deliverables impact
• Achievement of benefits verified in the project.

For the study, surveys were used with the participation of experienced IT project managers from various industries and regions. Respondents were asked to rate one recently completed project using a detailed questionnaire that included both subjective assessments and objective criteria. The answers were supposed to be Lykert scaleThe whole thing was filled out. 200 polls. It was necessary to choose a project that ended more than six months ago - this allowed to answer additional questions about the project. Use of the project results by the client at the post-project stage. Hiring a client to support or service the project. Concluding new contracts with the same contractor.

• Recommendations of the client of this contractor to others.

The main conclusions of the study were that, contrary to popular belief about frequent failures of IT projects. (According to Chaos Reports by Standish) Most IT projects achieve a high level of success. In particular, 90,16Percentage of projects surveyed received above-average ratings on the global success scale 61,66% reached the top two levels. By the extended criteria described above, the results of the projects also show a high share of success. Interestingly, a positive correlation was found between the global success of the project and factors such as customer satisfaction. (ρ = 0.714)Benefits to the client (ρ = 0.751) and satisfaction of the contractor (ρ = 0.653). This highlights the importance of a results-oriented customer as a key indicator of success.

In future studies, the authors recommend starting to take into account the views of various stakeholders. (For example, end users and sponsors) To get a more complete picture. The authors recommend that project management practitioners evaluate not only project performance indicators, but also long-term results, such as customer satisfaction and business benefits. This approach will enable organizations to better understand and improve their project management practices. I interpret this as a product approach, because often the result of a project is a new product or a change in an existing one, and the long-term result of the project is the success of that product:)

In total, this study gives a more comprehensive view of the success of IT projects, compared to the demagoguery from the Standish Group. And this research shows that many IT projects achieve significant success when comprehensively assessed, challenging outdated notions of widespread failure in the field. The study emphasizes the need to develop an assessment framework to take into account the diversity of modern IT projects:)

#Management #Processes #Leadership #Project #Product