According to the report a project is successful when:

• It is completed on time.
• It is within budget.
• It has met all the original requirements and specifications.

Challenged projects are completed, but:

• Exceed the budget.
• Are not completed on time.
• Don’t meet the original specification.

Lastly, failed projects are simply abandoned or cancelled.
The CHAOS database survey results of 50 000 completed commercial and government software projects in 2004 concluded:

• Only 29% of the projects were successful.
• 18% failed completely.
• 53% where considered challenged.

If you do a search on google.com for ‘IT project failure’ you will undoubtedly find hundreds, if not thousands, of surveys and articles listing typical failure causes. No executive buy-in, unrealistic time frames, scope creep, poor planning and so on.

Now look at any of these lists and you will notice that each item can be categorized in one of the following:

• Scope (Requirements, goals...)
• Time (Duration as well as timing, critical path...)
• Resources (People, equipment...)
• Finance (Cash flow, expenses, profit...)

These four categories are the primary elements of a project. Project Management is all about managing all four elements together. Neglecting any one of these and your project will quickly find its way to the wrong end of the CHAOS report.

For more information on The Standish Group visit www.standishgroup.com

The crew at Blue Rocket Ship have extensive experience and training in IT Project Management. Employing elements of both PMBOK and Prince2, we ensure that each project we undertake is strictly managed from inception.

Considering outsourcing your Project management requirements?

Talk to us about:

Click here to request more information.