Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Blogs Careers
    • Blogs
    • Careers

    Business Sponsors: The Weak Link in IT Projects

    By
    Donald Sears
    -
    October 19, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Perhaps the headline for this one should have read: “Does Your Project Have a Business Sponsor?”

      When surveyed about how to improve technology projects, most executives from IT and the business side often rank alignment of business and technology as a top priority. In fact, it ranked as the No. 1 priority on a survey from the Society for Information Management (SIM) in 2008.

      Then the economy tanked, so cost-cutting took over for this year, and more than likely, next year.

      Yet failure in technology projects is considered much too high by most business performance metrics. Earlier this year, The Standish Group– which tracks project failure annually–saw a marked increase in failure (32 percent successful, 44 percent challenged by timing, cost overruns and depleted features, 24 percent outright failure).

      “These numbers represent a downtick in the success rates from the previous study, as well as a significant increase in the number of failures”, said Standish Group CIO Jim Crear. “They are low point in the last five study periods. This year’s results represent the highest failure rate in over a decade”

      The high failure rate, however, doesn’t stop most companies from spending on technology projects. So, what are the best strategies for getting better aligned? There are many books on the subject, and many analysts and IT organizations who your management can pay to show them “the way.”

      Sometimes the best source is from someone in the trenches and who has seen success. In this instance, let’s look at what the CIO of the United States Tennis Association Larry Bonfante wrote on CIO Insight in his article “Task Mastering in IT.” Bonfante said that the USTA has never had a failed project.

      It’s hard to believe, especially after seeing those numbers on the number of projects in the “challenged” state, but hear him out. Here’s his description on how the USTA manages projects:

      “Every project needs to have a business sponsor that is willing to be accountable for requesting the funding and helping to manage the effort. It is amazing how much easier it is to get approval and funding and to keep a project on track when, for example, your chief marketing officer is the one seen as the project owner.Every project put forward for consideration also has to have either a qualitative or quantitative ROI. If a project doesn’t drive revenue, reduce costs, drive efficiencies, improve customer satisfaction or help us accomplish our mission, it is not put forward for board approval. Even infrastructure projects have a business sponsor: me! We simply won’t upgrade to the next version of an operating system unless there is a real business reason to do so.Another reality is that every one of our projects has a clear customer–a clear recipient of the project’s value. This might seem obvious, but you would be surprised at how many IT groups run projects without having sponsorship or buy-in from anyone for what they are attempting to accomplish.“

      Some might question his argument that they’ve never had failure, but the ideas should resonate with your management and team leaders. Business accountability has to come from business management and be shared across the organization.

      I liken it to a cliched baseball idea that when you have defined roles for a bullpen, games can be shortened in the favor of the team with a lead. You have to accept, of course, that those in those roles perform outs when they are supposed to… The biggest piece of any project’s success is still, ultimately, on its players.

      Defining accountability and performance metrics across a group can go a long way toward eliminating challenges and failure rates in projects.

      Donald Sears

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×