How Management Metrics Doom IT Projects

August 4, 2008 from PC World – “The metrics organizations commonly use to determine whether an IT project is a success or a failure-whether the project is completed on time, on budget, and delivered the initial requirements-do more harm than good for IT departments, according to a new report from Forrester Research…

Project sponsors latch on to the initial estimates project managers propose for the schedule and cost of a project. And because project sponsors don't understand project complexity and other factors influencing cost and timeline when requirements change, they may see the project as a failure if costs increased, even if the changes improved the value delivered to the business. Unfortunately, business executives' lack of understanding about project management influences their perception of IT project success and failure.”

180 View – I (Michael Burns) have personal experience in project sponsors latching onto initial estimates but the problem is not with the business executives. The problem is with the project managers who have not set expectations or kept business executives up to speed. It’s true that requirements can change but most of this should be caught in the 1st phase of a project. The Project Manager should be estimating time and budget before the requirements are defined and firming them up once requirements are confirmed and implementers have agreed with the time and budget expectations. If requirements should change partly though a project, the Project Manager should get permission to proceed based on a business case.