IT projects fail because best practice not applied

‘The Challenge of Complex IT Projects’ says that despite many examples of good practice, there is still a lack of professionalism in software engineering that could even be dangerous in safety-critical systems. The report warns that Britain is failing to produce software engineers and managers with the IT and project management skills to commission and execute complex IT projects.

“The UK public sector alone has spent an estimated £12.4 billion on software in the last year and the overall UK spend on IT is projected to be a monumental £22.6 billion,” said Basil Butler, chairman of the working group that produced the report. "We looked at a range of studies showing that only around 16% of IT projects can be considered truly successful."

One of the reports main conclusions is that “A striking proportion of project difficulties stem from people in both the supplier and customer organisations failing to implement best known practice… For instance, the importance of risk management is poorly understood and the significance of systems architecture is not appreciated.”

The report also says that project management skills are often not adequately understood or appreciated; “The importance of project management is not well understood and usually under-rated and senior managers are often ill-qualified to handle issues relating to complex IT projects.” 

Although the report identifies no major difference in the levels of success of public and private sector IT projects, it notes that the public sector’s reputation on IT has been severely tarnished by high profile disasters such as the Libra system for Magistrates Courts.

The report notes: “It is generally agreed that public sector IT projects face specific difficulties, including their high visibility, the risk averse culture of the civil service, and the need to meet politically-driven timescales and, in many cases, their enormous scale and complexity.”  Within the public sector NHS Direct is highlighted as an exemplar.

John McDermid, Professor of Software Engineering at the University of York and a member of the working group, commented: "I wonder if the Government has assessed the risks of its latest proposal to merge the IT systems of the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise?"

With the inexorable rise in capability of computing and communications technologies but the Academy and the BCS report raises concerns that British Universities are not producing people with adequate skills.

The report recommends that all senior IT practitioners designing and delivering high-consequence systems should be either Chartered IT Professionals – a new qualification being launched by the BCS – or Chartered Engineers. "It is time for the IT industry to recognise the engineering content of their work and to embrace the discipline and professionalism associated with traditional branches of engineering," said Professor McDermid.

"In fact, there is a powerful argument that registration should be mandatory for people working on high-consequence systems like safety-critical or banking software. We think the Office of Government Commerce should consider this."

The report says that a common cardinal mistake made in complex IT projects is to select suppliers based on price alone, since it is very difficult for suppliers to accurately predict costs at the outset.  It argues that if a customer is asking for something unrealistic or ultra-high risk, the supplier should tell the customer and encourage them to review the project.

“Projects are often poorly defined, codes of practice are frequently ignored and there is a woeful inability to learn from past experience," said Professor McDermid. "The role of systems architects is critical – their job is to translate a business vision into a technical blueprint. They often hold the keys to success in complex IT projects but they are in very short supply.”

Professor Wendy Hall, President of the BCS said: "The BCS firmly believes that increasing professionalism is key to improving success rates on projects – it is fitting that this report should be issued at the same time as the BCS is launching its Chartered IT Practitioner scheme."

Linked Document: ‘The Challenges of Complex IT Projects’.