Reasons for Failure
All projects, whether or not associated with system implementations, can fail for many reasons and rarely is there one specific cause of failure.
The failures of system projects are often blamed on 'the way it was implemented', but system implementations can fail as a result of mistakes made before, during or after the Implementation phase of the systems lifecycle.
Two characteristics often contribute to the risk of implementation projects. Firstly, they are often attempted by institutions after a long period of stability, implying that there is little organisational experience. Secondly, they vary widely in nature as technology evolves and systems embrace more functionality. Rapid changes in the personal use of technology mean we are often struggling to keep up with the expectations of our learners.
Reviews and assessments of both project successes and failures have highlighted that the most salient and momentous parts of any project to be:
project definition and ultimate objectives;
specification of software and hardware requirements;
expectations of the various stakeholders;
functionality to be provided by the software;
the contract and on-going relationship with the supplier;
project plans and progress made within the timescales for each phase;
the formation and make-up of the Steering Group and the project teams;
precise activities carried out by the Steering Group and the project teams; and
precise software or hardware problems that were reported and the extent to or speed at which they were resolved.
Nevertheless, one thing that stands out in the analysis of systems projects is that few fail for technical reasons. Projects are undoubtedly about people. Most projects fail because they are not effectively managed and communicated. In those projects, it is almost certain that individuals or groups could and should have reacted differently and taken courses of action that would have given the project a firmer base and/or arrested a decline that continued to gain momentum. Nevertheless, the demoralising situation in which organisations often find themselves is unlikely to have been because of the culpability of any one individual or third-party.
