Lars Mieritz in his article “Gartner Survey Shows Why Projects Fail” uses research which classifies IT project as being small, medium or large. Review the failure rates for each classification and suggest reasons why each fail.
Lars Mieritz classified It projects as being small, medium or large depending on the projects budget:Small project= budget of less than $350,000,medium project = budget between $350,000-$1 million and a large Project = budget above $1 million.
A survey was carried out in 2012 and consisted of 150 companies over 5 countries the results of which are on the graph below coupled with the main reasons why the projects have failed.
The survey showed almost a 50% increase in the failure of Large projects in comparison to smaller projects, but why ?
Larger projects are harder to control especially if they are implemented over a longer period of time they can lose the run of themselves due to a variety of reasons.
Poor risk management: Not appropriately evaluating financial risks and how to lessen possible impact.
Inexperience: Inexperienced team members.
Lack of leadership and communication: key figureheads are required to become a point of contact between all levels of management involved in the project aiming to ensure a smooth flow of information between all departments to avoid miscommunication which can ultimately add to the cost of the project.
These are however just a few key reasons why Large Projects fail. A suitable example of a failed large project is London 2012 Olympic project which came in at over £9 billion pounds , three times higher than it was expected.
(Symonds,2011)
Medium/Midsize projects face problems in terms of functionality issues in terms of actually completing the desired task with 24% of medium projects failing due to these issues.
A poorly designed project scope : Not planning , determining and documenting a specific list of desirable outcomes or goals will almost certainly lead to project failure as there is no predetermined path of success.
Inaccurate estimates: For project with a limited budget the mistake of an inaccurate estimate would completely shatter and hopes of project failure as going over budget may not be an option.
(Symonds, 2011)
Small Projects have been proven to be the most successful and manageable and as according to Gartner “many small brooks make a great river”. That is not to say that all small projects will be successful this is not the case.
A small project may be forced to strictly adhere to a small budget without much room for leeway.
Lack of experience: smaller companies with smaller projects may lack the experience required to properly carry out and complete the project, due to budget constraints it may not be possible to hire the experience required.
Lack of detail: Due to shorter project lengths and smaller budgets some key assumptions may be overlooked as time constraints may not allow for in depth analysis of required details.
(Symonds, 2011)
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