IT Project problems - Essay Example

Organizational Problems leading to IT failures: Department of Unemployment Assistance vs. Deloitte Organizational Problems leading to IT failures: Department of Unemployment Assistance vs. Deloitte The case problem concerned the Massachusetts department if unemployment assistance and occurred in 2007. In this case, BearingPoint, the initial contractor went broke passing on the project to Deloitte. At the time of the article’s print, the project had gone late by two years, laden with a myriad of user complains and an over-budget of $6 million.

The project was replaced over 11 times, and was later cancelled earlier in the year, after spending $114 million. The article also highlighted various failures by Deloitte in a variety of IT projects in other states, districts and counties. The project was a good example of organizational problems leading to failures in IT projects. The key stakeholders were Deloitte and the state. Deloitte was to blame for the mishap due imminent organizational issues as will be discussed. There was lack of clear communication of what would be termed as the deliverable.

In such a case, it was possible to deem the project as a success without much questioning. Krigman (2013) states that the Deloitte group simply understated the problems as “issues and challenges” and that the systems were in a working condition in other states. This was a technical lapse owing to the fact that the project at hand was actually cancelled, after the long time and expenses. Success in an IT project depends on a number of factors, which lie under the realm of the management. Amongst these are time, budget, value, quality, professionalism and satisfaction to the stakeholders.

It is upon the project manager to ensure that these factors are met in order to deem a certain project as successful. In view of the case project, none of this was meant, meaning that the project was a critical failure. As part of the ten factor model of project implementation, management support is a crucial agent in distinguishing success from failure in projects. Project management is deemed to depend on the management for authority and direction and also as a channel for implementation of the goals and plans of the organization.

The manner in which the management supports a project determines the degree to which the clients will accept e same project. Thus, top management support is a combination of the resources allocated for the project, as well as the support available when a crisis occurs. In order to successfully implement projects, the management should be strict in standard guidelines of the project lifecycle. After the concept is adopted, proper planning should ensure that all necessary requirements are put in place.

These include budget and time constrains, scheduling procedures and required resources. During the execution of the projects, the management should ensure that all the project deliverables are up to date, and within the required stipulations.In the case of the failed Massachusetts project discussed, there was lack of top management support, as a key stakeholder, by Deloitte. This led to the collapse of the project as it was basically assumed that the project would work, just like in the other states (Krigman, 2013).

ReferenceKrigsman M. (2013). Massachusetts grills Deloitte over large IT failures. Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/massachusetts-grills-deloitte-over-large-it-failures-7000022638/