News: CFO Magazine
Parsippany, New Jersey, November 17, 2003:

Parsippany, New Jersey, November 10, 2003: An article by Joseph J. Zucchero, Executive Vice President of The Casey Group, was recently published in The Business Journal of Tampa Bay. The article discusses how to recognize an IT project that is in jeopardy. The article may be viewed on the The Business Journal of Tampa Bay's website or below.

Recognizing You've got an IT Problem is First Step
Information technology projects have a way of getting out of control. One of my clients calls it the "two times factor."
IT projects tend to cost two times the money and take two times the amount of time to get completed. And the end result is usually half the scope of the original proposed project.

According to a recent survey conducted by The Standish Group, 51 percent of IT projects are challenged and 15 percent outright fail.

Fortunately, you don't have to be a technology guru to determine if your IT project is out of control. You just need to know how to recognize the top five signs that you have a runaway IT project.

The first two signs, which are missed deadlines and people who keep coming back for more money, are obvious.

When these occur, you already know you have a runaway project.

With a missed deadline, ask yourself, what does missing this deadline mean? Is this an anomaly or a trend?

The same is true if too much money is being spent.

Your project manager should have assigned a dollar value to each of the project's deliverables. If the actual dollars spent on a deliverable start exceeding your budget, this should raise that anomaly or trend flag.

There are some legitimate reasons for spending more time and money than you originally allocated. For example, the project's requirements and scope may have changed.

However, if your team practices rigorous project change control you should not be surprised because your schedule or budget "overage" was already approved.

The next two signs are actually things you should have had in place before the IT project started. If you did not have these in place first, your project was probably doomed before it got started.

The first is the project charter, also called the statement of work. Ask to see it.

When I meet with clients with a runaway IT project, the first thing I ask to see is the charter. This defining document of an IT project indicates things such as how the deliverables are defined and who has acceptance authority.

It should be agreed on before the project begins.

If there isn't a project charter, it is a sign that you probably have or will have a runaway project.

Second, you should ask to see the project plan. If there is a project plan, find out when was the last time it was updated.

A plan should be managed on a weekly basis. If you get handed a plan that's been gathering dust on a bookshelf, or there is no plan, you probably have or will have a runaway project.

Without a project charter or project plan, you will not be able to hold anyone accountable for your runaway project.

Finally, the last sign that you have a runaway project is people not knowing what tasks they are working on.

People should be doing work according to the project plan. Simply start asking them, what are you working on?

I once realized that a client had a runaway project when the project manager, programmers and business analysts could not show me which tasks in the project plan they were working on. When people are not working on tasks in the project plan, it is a sign that the project is not being managed properly.

You don't have to wait until your IT project is 30 percent over budget and months overdue before realizing there is a problem. By recognizing the top five signs of a runaway IT project, you'll be able to put the brakes on the project before it crashes.

Joseph J. Zucchero is executive vice president and director of the Project Turnaround Practice at The Casey Group in Tampa. He can be reached at (813) 282-6977.
About The Casey Group The Casey Group, founded in 1989, is a full-service IT consulting firm that provides enterprise integration and support, enterprise performance management, and enterprise IT governance. The company has a proven track record of delivering bottom line business value to its clients that achieve exceptional ROI. The Casey Group is reliable, practical and flexible, providing highly personalized service with proven results.