Question 2

Please provide enough information for 20 marks

DELIVERING LARGE-SCALE IT PROJECTS ON TIME, ON BUDGET, AND ON VALUE As IT systems become an important competitive element in many industries, technology projects are getting larger, touching more parts of the organisation, and posing a risk to the company if something goes wrong. Unfortunately, things often do go wrong. Our research, conducted in collaboration with the University of Oxford, suggests that half of all large IT projects, defined as those with initial price tags exceeding $15 million-massively blow their budgets. On average, large IT projects run 45 percent over budget and 7 percent over time, while delivering 56 percent less value than predicted. Software projects run the highest risk of cost and schedule overruns These findings-consistent across industries-emerged from research recently conducted on more than 5,400 IT projects by McKinsey and the BT Centre for Major Programme Management at the University of Oxford. After comparing budgets, schedules, and predicted performance benefits with the actual costs and results, we found that these IT projects, in total, had a cost overrun of $66 billion, more than the GDP of Luxembourg. We also found that the longer a project is scheduled to last, the more likely it is that it will run over time and budget, with every additional year spent on the project increasing cost overruns by 15 percent. Staggering as these findings are most companies survive the pain of cost and schedule overruns. However, 17 percent of IT projects go so bad that they can threaten the very existence of the company. These unpredictable high-impact events --"black swans" in popular risk parlance-occur significantly more often than would be expected under a normal distribution. Large IT projects that turn into black swans are defined as those with budget overruns of more than 200 percent (and up to 400 percent at the extreme end of the spectrum). Such overruns match or surpass those experienced by black swans among complex construction projects such as tunnels and bridges. One large retailer started a $1.4 billion effort to modemize its IT systems, but the project was eventually abandoned. As the company fell behind its competitors, it initiated another project-a new system for supply-chain management-to the tune of $600 million. When that effort failed, too, the retailer had to file for bankruptcy. So how do companies maximise the chances that their IT projects deliver the expected value on time and within budget? Our surveys of IT executives indicate that the key to success lies in mastering four broad dimensions, which combined make up a methodology for large-scale IT projects that we call value assurance." The following elements make up this approach: - focusing on managing strategy and stakeholders instead of exclusively concentrating on budget and scheduling - mastering technology and project content by securing critical internal and external talent - building effective teams by aligning their incentives with the overall goals of projects - excelling at core project-management practices, such as short delivery cycles and rigorous quality checks According to survey responses, an inability to master the first two dimensions typically causes about half of all cost overruns, while poor performance on the second two dimensions accounts for an additional 40 percent of overspending. Large-scale IT projects are prone to take too long, are usually more expensive than expected, and, crucially, fail to deliver the expected benefits. This need not be the case. Companies can achieve successful outcomes through an approach that helps IT and the business join forces in a commitment to deliver value. Despite the disasters, large organisations can engineer IT projects to defy the odds. Extracted from a report by Michael Bloch is a director in McKinsey's Tel Aviv office, Sven Blumberg is an associate principal in the Dsseldorf office, and Jrgen Laartz is a director in the Berlin office. 1.2 With reference to the case study provided, what are some of the implications of IT projects being delivered way over time for organisations. (20 marks)