I was reading this morning that the FiReControl Plan (a universal panacea for the fire service) - estimated cost £120m, actual cost £470m value delivered £0 – had been abandoned! I was immediately worried that whoever named the project didn't know what the shift key was for. My worry quickly became anger when I remembered that it was my (our) £350m of overspend. Finally anger turned to frustration that this is too familiar a story from our industry.

I have seen dozens of IT projects over the years. Some go well, some do not; some go well but don’t deliver the right results (ROI); others go so badly that they don’t deliver any benefits (in the case of FiReControl)!

Why do they fail? Well, this can be for a number of reasons, please note this list is far from exhaustive but covers some of the main ones:

• Unclear objectives, goals and targeted ROI
• Over-optimistic view of work required (& budget)
• Over-reliance on internal teams more used to BAU than either development or contract management
• Over-reliance on contractors who don't have a good enough understanding of the business
• Not enough collaboration or consultation with end users
• No cultural alignment to new benefits or working practices post implementation

It is important to talk to your clients about clear benefits and business goals but manage expectations at the same time. Critically you need to work with clients to create a tailored plan or roadmap for them. Collaborate with them as a combined delivery team but beyond this help them to understand how to use their new technology throughout their business. Without this type of approach IT will continue to have a bad name.