IT staff are failing to make the grade with management, according to a new study.
The report by Info-Tech Research Group polled 1,400 mid-sized enterprises in the U.S., Canada and the UK. It found that 95 per cent of information technology (IT) departments are not delivering projects on time or to the full satisfaction of their company's executives.
"While 95 per cent is a high percentage, it is sobering that this number is not surprising to many business leaders," says Frank Koelsch, executive vice-president of Info-Tech Research Group. "The fact that almost every IT department is failing on some of their projects is both a major contributor to, and a major symptom of, the misalignment of business and IT."
The study added that only 11 per cent of enterprises now see technology as a "strategic weapon" against the competition.
Executives at the 1,400 companies polled were asked to indicate the top reasons projects fail. No. 1 on the list was unrealistic time frames (68 per cent of respondents), followed by lack of staff (64 per cent) and poorly defined project scope (62 per cent).
The findings and trend analysis are included in Info-Tech Research Group's annual IT Priorities 2005 report.
