Why New Systems Fail: An Insider’s Guide to Successful IT Projects

A Fortune 500 manufacturing company spent millions attempting to implement a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Across the globe, a 150-employee marketing firm built and tried to implement a proprietary customer relationship management (CRM) system. For two very different companies doing two very different things, the outcomes were identical. In each case, the organization failed to activate and utilize its system as initially conceived by senior management. And these two organizations are hardly alone. On the contrary, research indicates that more than three in five new IT projects fail. Many miss their deadlines. Others exceed their initial budgets, often by ghastly amounts. Even systems activated on time and under budget often fail to produce their expected results and almost immediately experience major problems. Although the statistics are grim, there is at least some good news: these failures can be averted. Organizations often lack the necessary framework to minimize the chance of system failure before, during, and after beginning IT projects. Why New Systems Fail provides such a framework, with specific tools, tips, and insight from the perspective of a seasoned, independent consultant with more than a decade of related experience. The book examines in great detail the root causes of system failures. Detailed case studies, examples, and lessons from actual system implementations are presented in an informative, straightforward, and very readable manner. More than a theoretical or technical text, this book offers pragmatic advice for organizations both deploying new systems and maintaining existing ones.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction

Part I: Deciding to Take the Plunge
Chapter 2 Why Organizations Maintain Legacy Systems
Chapter 3 Why Organizations Implement New Systems
Chapter 4 The Replacement System

Part II: System Selection
Chapter 5 The Sounds of Salesmen
Chapter 6 Business Processes
Chapter 7 Support for the New System
Chapter 8 Selecting Consultants

Part III: The System Implementation
Chapter 9 Implementation Strategies and Phases
Chapter 10 The Group Responsibility Matrix
Chapter 11 Setup Issues
Chapter 12 Testing Issues
Chapter 13 People Issues, Roles, and Responsibilities
Chapter 14 Reports and Interfaces
Chapter 15 Documentation Issues

Part IV: The Brave New World of Post-Production Life
Chapter 16 Ongoing System Maintenance
Chapter 17 Operational Changes and Risks

Part V: Maximizing the Chance of Success
Chapter 18 Mid-Implementation Corrective Mechanisms
Chapter 19 Audits
Chapter 20 Contingency Planning
Chapter 21 Employee- and Consultant-Based Strategies
Chapter 22 Intelligent Expansion
Chapter 23 Conclusions and General Rules of Thumb