Information Technology (IT) projects have a reputation for being unpredictable. They risk frequent budget overruns, schedule slips, and performance shortfalls. At IPA, we strive to find order in such a variable, inconsistent marketplace. In contrast to other more mature industries, such as the commodity chemical and petroleum refining industries, projects in the IT arena suffer considerably poorer outcomes on average. In fact, based on IPA's analyses, IT projects fare only slightly better than government-led environmental remediation projects. At IPA, we have found that, when key outcomes are considered collectively, less than one IT project in 20 achieves all of its objectives.

IT organizations face huge challenges from increasing business requirements and rapid technological change. At the same time, these organizations are confronting increased financial scrutiny, decisions about outsourcing, and high personnel turnover in a highly dynamic market. It is critical that the IT project delivery systems are effective and that IT projects are managed successfully.

IPA'S APPROACH TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

In 1996, IPA, in collaboration with a group of sponsoring companies, initiated research about the performance and drivers of performance of IT projects. The research was patterned from IPA's successful investigation of the process industries, which was to build a database of quantitative project information and then search for links between project characteristics known before execution and project outcomes.

IPA's research into IT projects yielded significant results. First, a database of exclusively IT projects, the IT Project Evaluation System® (ITPES) Database, was constructed. Then, from this database, statistically significant links between key project drivers and project outcomes were identified. In short, after controlling for technical characteristics, the performance of IT projects can be predicted (and benchmarked) based on the rigor with which key practices are applied. The power of IPA's methodology has been used widely in other industries and can now be applied to IT projects.

For more information, contact Jason Dunn (+1 703-726-5364).