Loughborough University

IT project success - The computing holy grail

�All success is rooted in either luck or failure. If you begin with luck, you learn nothing but arrogance. However if you begin with failure and learn to evaluate it, you also learn to succeed. Failure begets knowledge. Out of knowledge you gain wisdom, and it is through wisdom that you can truly become successful�2
Introduction

Software development projects failing are an affliction that has been associated with IT since software development began� why? Research has suggested that only 16.2% of projects undertaken are successful with 31% of projects being cancelled2. The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons why IT projects fail and why others succeed. Through appropriate comparison and analysis of the projects collected through my primary research it is possible to identify key steps to minimise the risk of failure on IT projects.
Through researching failure, information can be presented to IT professionals which can be interpreted to become knowledge. Through developing this knowledge into wisdom we can become truly successful with our IT projects.

In completing a year in industry in 2005 I have been exposed to the challenging nature of IT projects. Projects were surrounded by a large element of uncertainty and when projects failed, little was done in order to establish the causes for this. It became evident that this area required increased research in order to establish what can be done to minimise the risk of future failure. This is the motivation for undertaking this study.