(Jedox topped 12 categories in this year’s BARC Planning Survey. Our new 12-part blog series tells you why “Business Benefits”, “Ease of Use” or “Implementation support” should be on your check list when choosing business software. 6th category: Project Success)
Key Reasons why IT Projects Fail
“I have not failed,” Thomas Edison famously said. “I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Today he would find plenty of company in many organizations implementing IT projects. If one scans the literature and business press, it may be possible to find 10,000 reasons attached to failed IT projects; but a number of suspects appear more frequently than others.
An article in Information Week says enterprises can track large IT project failures to several key reasons:
- Poor or ambiguous sponsorship
- Confusing or changing requirements
- Inadequate skills or resources
- Poor design or inappropriate use of new technology
Complexity Leads to Failure
A recent Gartner study by Susan Moore makes a simple, powerful assertion: complexity leads to failure:
Gartner studied more than 50 projects that are on the public record as having experienced complete failure, have been seriously compromised, or have overrun their IT budgets significantly. The analysis showed that the organization’s refusal to address complexity in the business process is the main reason. Complex projects with unrealistic goals, unproven teams, and almost no accountability at all levels of the management and governance structure means no one is responsible for failure.
Over-Optimism: Too Big a Solution Right from the Start
The Australian version of CIO agrees about complexity, but adds another interesting failure factor: over-optimism. The article contends that over-optimism results in unrealistic schedules, and we have a feeling it also contributes to oversized projects. Too many businesses want too big a solution right from the start.
A more sensible approach to technology implementation, espoused by futurist Jim Carroll at the recent Automotive Manufacturing Summit sponsored by Siemens, is “Think big. Start small. Scale fast.” Through a measured “walk before you run” approach, Jedox provides coaching and self-service that facilitates customers implementing IT initiatives that succeed on time and on budget. A good example is how Jedox worked with Salesforce to provide enhanced reporting for better understanding of client behavior at Zimmer, a worldwide leader in musculoskeletal healthcare. You can see the details here.
What Users Are Saying about Project Success
For those involved in business software selection, among the most important resources are the independent assessments done by the Business Application Research Center (BARC). BARC just released its 2016 Planning Survey, the world’s largest survey of planning software users.
Among those using development-oriented planning solutions (i.e., solutions that allow customers to implement totally individual planning requirements), Jedox ranked number one in terms of project success, scoring higher than the peer group average (9.1 vs. 5.4) in that sector and higher than their nearest competitor (9.1 vs. 6.3). Here is BARC’s viewpoint on Jedox’s top-ranking performance in this category:
“Jedox software usually requires little effort to install and short implementation cycles. Projects are frequently completed on time and on budget so customers are generally satisfied with their implementations. This leads to a top ranking in the “development-oriented planning solutions” peer group […]”
(Source: BARC THE Planning Survey 16)
Think big. Start small. Scale fast.
“We met all our deadlines, completely rebuilding many models along the way. Following implementation, we used Jedox for our first sales planning session – a huge success for our team.” – Michael Bailey, Senior Manager Controlling, Sanofi
To see a comprehensive list of Jedox customers, including a number of use cases that provide the details of successful projects, you can go to our client list. To download the complete summary of Jedox in the BARC study at no cost, you can go here.
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