Did You Know Nearly 50% of IT Projects Fail?

The last time you implemented a technology solution, how did it turn out? Was it a great initiative that continues to provide a return on investment, or was it a failure that hurt your company? As it turns out, half of the IT projects started by businesses turn out to be a failure, and the numbers are only increasing with time.

In 2013, a survey from Innotus estimated that 50 percent of businesses had experienced an IT project failure within 12 months. A more recent survey from 2015 revealed that the numbers have gone up to 55 percent, proving that there’s something seriously wrong with how many organizations implement IT solutions. CIO reports that these issues are likely a result of resource allocation deficiency, as well as problems aligning the available resources with the business’s specific goals.

In a way, this makes sense. An organization that doesn’t focus solely on IT is unlikely to know the full extent of what they will need to successfully pull off an in-depth IT infrastructure project. Who’s to say that the solution you implement now, will even be useful in the near future? Is it truly aligned with the needs of your business, or is it a spur-of-the-moment add-on that doesn’t add or provide value for your business?

CIO goes into greater detail about the aforementioned study: “Fifty-four percent of respondents say one of their top challenges is that IT projects aren't aligned with business goals; only 31 percent of respondents say they're focused on delivering business value. Instead, 50 percent say they're mainly focused on delivering projects on-time and on-budget.”

For your business, you need to ask yourself if you can afford to waste money and time on an IT project that’s doomed to fail without the proper oversight. Rather than completing a project on-time and on-budget, wouldn’t it make more sense to invest a little more time or capital into the solution and guarantee that it meets your organization's needs? Where does this misconception about IT projects come from, anyway?

Basically, it comes down to a lack of perspective. The average small business lacks the time and resources to fully investigate potential technology solutions for their business. In order to get the most bang for your buck from your IT solutions, you need to think with the future in mind. Building out an IT roadmap that details where you are in the present moment, as well as where you want to be in the next five or ten years, can be an incredibly valuable asset.

Ferrum Technology Services’s skilled technicians are trained and proficient with the use and implementation of modern technology solutions. We specialize in working together with your business to determine the best path forward for your technology infrastructure. We’ll perform a comprehensive assessment that details your current IT frustrations, and what the most efficient and cost-effective way of resolving them can be. Furthermore, we can help you build out an IT roadmap that’s designed to help your business best leverage its current and future IT assets.

Trust us; we know how difficult it can be to implement IT solutions, so we want to help your business get your IT right the first time. This will save you money and frustration in the long run. To learn more about what Ferrum Technology Services can do for your business, give us a call at (847) 697-3282.