Understanding the Context of Large-Scale IT Project Failures

Large-scale information technology IT projects experience higher failure or abandonment rates than smaller IT projects and represent significant costs to both organizations and society. This paper describes the context of a three-decade long attempt to modernize a critical IT application in the U.S. government. The project has been revamped, stopped and restarted several times, and as of the writing of this paper has not been completed. Archival analysis of this implementation history reveals a set of emerging project characteristics and how these contributed to a pair of capability gaps which, in turn, influenced modernization efforts both pre-and post-abandonment. From a systems perspective, the problem appears to be related to dynamic and repeating management failures with an embedded project management model. The authors illustrate their hypothesis with a simulation model of project managements and show that even a relatively small but persistent introduction of new requirements has a dramatic effect on project overruns, setting the stage for abandonment and restart.