IT Managers Expect Problems With Tech Projects

Tata Consultancy Services has documented what CIOs have always suspected: A ton of IT projects fail in a number of different ways, and business managers have learned to accept the problems as the norm.

In a survey of 800 middle and senior IT managers in eight countries reported Tuesday, TCS said 43% expect problems with their IT projects and have learned to live with IT project challenges.

IT managers in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, and Sweden were interviewed for TCS by market research firm Dynamic Markets. Managers in European and Asia Pacific regions were more accepting of problems than those in the United States.

The good news is that 69% said their top management continued to provide financial support for their faltering projects. The most common problems were time overruns (reported by 62% of the respondents), budget overruns (49%), and maintenance overruns (47%.)

The problems don't stop there either: One in four companies said business users resisted adopting new systems after they were implemented.

So, what's an IT manager to do?

"Busineses should look at how their partners operate before signing on the dotted line," said N. Chandrasekaran, TCS's chief operating officer and executive director, in a statement. "They should consider longevity of partnerships, repeat business, and organic growth of relationships. Ultimately, what businesses should look for is the ability to provide the right services at the right cost in the right time frame."

TCS, which employs more than 100,000 IT consultants in 47 countries, said the survey indicates businesses should rethink their IT services and outsourcing strategies; all parties involved in an IT project should be able to explain the value of their work to top management and provide key performance indicators showing the benefits of planned investments.