Reasons For Information System Project Failures Can Be Analyzed In An Essay.

The Importance of Comparing Best Models to Real-Life Failed Situations

Discuss about the Executing And Closing Projects.

The investigation includes the comparison of the best models that goes against the real-life failed situations. This type of contrast possibility reveal about the discrepancies between the two and also highlight the concern areas. These type of differences can be easily interpreted in the context of the failed situation as well as conclusions. Exploring whether the failure can be avoided or either minimizing it to certain degree is basically worthwhile. Many studies have recommended that most of the information system project disasters can be easily avoided (Altuwaijri and Khorsheed, 2012). Many of the time, warning signals happen long time back before projects of information system started to get failed. It can be seen in history that software projects most likely to get successful if they are correctly emphasized as well as constructed over the well-analysed technology. There are many different writers who had discussed the reason why the project get failed. For example, Amoako-Gyampah and Salam (2004) inform that plans get abandoned due to the scope of the project is not appreciated entirely and requirement of the user are not analysed correctly.

Avison and Young (2007) mentions that MIS projects as well as related procurements are conducted in environment featured through lack of continuity of management as well as incentive system, which initiate the optimistic measurements about the advantages that can be achieved through undertaking the project. Bernroider (2008) discusses that expectations of high user can mainly considered as the reason for project failure. Avison and Young (2007) mention that project get failed due to the wrong alignment among the business users and IT departments. It is noted that project managers often act over the report compilers and process cops and usually lose the sight of why they expect to do so that it can be ensured that project is effectively running (Avison and Young, 2007).

Bernroider (2008) discusses that project get failed, and that’s reality of life. Many projects get been unable because the average project is known as iceberg, as 9/10th of it is hidden. Nevertheless, there is no researcher that had ever mentioned about the research reporting system of mechanism, which lead to success or failure of project (Bernroider, 2008). Along with this, there is no one that offers the insight about the rate of project failure. As per the article published in Journal of Systems and software, challenges and struggles are both part of the process of learning. ISDP (Information system development project) failure is not something new in present time, nevertheless, the research on these projects mention about the new factors required for analysis. In history, information system projects are featured through the increased rate of failure (Bridgestone, 2014). A current report gathered outcomes relates to five various surveys from different years, 2001, 1995 and 1997, shows that, IT project most likely to get failed, instead of getting successful; Around 1 out of 5 projects of IT are expected to come up with complete satisfaction; the larger the plan is, there are more chances of its failure; and around 40% of the failed projects attain the business case, in which they go live for only 1 years (Bridgestone, 2014).

Exploring the Possibilities of Avoiding or Minimizing Failures

As per Brehm, Heinzl and Markus (2001), it’s explored that projects related with e-governments are created in developed countries. The outcome of the survey depicts the high challenging state, in which 35% of the total projects get failed; 50% of the projects are partially failed, as well as 15% of the projects get success (Brehm, Heinzl and Markus, 2001). The failure of information system within the developing countries of the world are most likely to poses the more significance for both investigation and learning of failure reasons, as it not only waste the resources, but also try to disappoint the future investment. It is noted that opportunity cost is high within the developing countries, due to the less resource availability like skilled workforce and capital (Brehm, Heinzl and Markus, 2001). On the digital divide, the failure usually keep the developing countries over the wrong side, which turns the information communication technology in the global inequality technology. For such reasons, the failure in developing the information system within the developing countries highly poses the vital research area (Brehm, Heinzl and Markus, 2001).

It is analysed that successful companies usually tend towards hold blind spots, and in this kind of case, small businesses companies or either 500 companies are referred as ingenuity and creativity. Microsoft that had revolutionized the operating systems on the computer in these organizations (Coiera, 2007). Though such type of companies have tried to record the astonishing success, it is noted that both had the projects that are failed due to complete scope of the project was not considered. But the main point is that, what particularly is project scope? As per Coiera (2007), it is explained that project scope is considered as the core form, as well as the explanation of end results of specific product.

Project scope requires to include what authors try to dub as the project scope statement. In a different context, explaining what the end user will achieve through this project, is the statement that emphasizes over the success of the project on its successful completion of set goals, as well as the report that can be applied like a measuring and planning tool (Coiera, 2007). But to one’s surprise, as the necessary and essential scope explanation looks, it's often overlooked by the leaders of the project for adequately managing it within the corporations.

With the latest OS, Microsoft Corp, it’s optimistically known as VISTA. With the availability all around the world in the year 2007, it was advertised that Vista includes some neat features, like the new multimedia tools for creation, right graphical interface, right peer-to-peer technology, and simplified file sharing system (Coiera, 2007). Other benefits related with Vista is that it includes specific close off vulnerabilities towards security, which were there in OS predecessors like Windows XP. For most of the part, the system has completed it. Though, it looks that, there is no particular mission of project scope connected with it. One massive complaint that came related with Microsoft Vista was the service people of Microsoft was less as compared to stellar, in case of supporting to download the Vista (Hilditch-Roberts, 2012).

Reasons for Project Failures

Folks that download the Vista through the retailer website or third party explored that they had the issues related to locking up of computers at the time of installation of Vista. In single case, Microsoft service centre call yield the catch 22 outcomes, mainly the user rerun of the installation CD of Vista; issues in downloading, and they even failed to have CD for installation (Hilditch-Roberts, 2012). Customers that tried to attain the CD through Microsoft usually end up with the stymied continuity. As per Kannampallil, Schauer, Cohen and Patel (2011), one should always try to burnan the ISO disk through the downloading program of Vista, which was not present in this case.

Other solutions of the Microsoft for the user to purchase the new hardware assist the operating system of Vista. It is noted that Microsoft is not any manufacturer of hardware, but it defiantly try to achieve the same through its partners by selling out the upgrades for hardware, and mainly the system that ship through the Vista. Kannampallil, Schauer, Cohen and Patel (2011) commented that, it’s a cynically or any conspiracy, but Microsoft is not even able to win the friends and either create influence on people with its issues of installation.

The Window Vista failure happened due to specific reasons:

1. Microsoft creates massive promises related to how huge is Microsoft Vista would be until it’s rolled out. The stunts of PR supported in building the expectations of customers that were not fulfilled in the final product.
2. Customer’s viewpoint about Windows Vista hostages- it is noted that new PCs came along with the pre-installation of Windows Vista (Krigsman, 2010). It is noted that new PCs as well as Windows Vista pre-installation. Customers feel that if they come under the control and make the choices that can fulfill their requirements. Emphasizing the product due to the throats of customers, that don’t support in creating customers happy.
3. Most of the leaders in a market that has rolled out the product previously after another, customers look more satisfied with it, as it was able to roll out in fulfilling needs and expectations of customers (Krigsman, 2010). Microsoft also comes up with its agenda and then, later on, rolled the items that can fulfil one’s own needs, instead of the requirement of customers.

Many people in Vista hold an experience of both the hardware and software problems with Vista after its starting release, but it took no time before its launch. One person spoke with others and before anyone could understand it, every person new about Vista and mentioned it as troublesome (Krigsman, 2010). That’s why in long-term, Vista is referred as a failure, as its resource hog (intensive as compared with predecessor), it was poorly marketed, and people ignored its name. More or less, Microsoft had abandoned the Vista, and currently, they are developing Microsoft Windows 7. It is noted that Window 7 is expected to be compatible with Vista that leads to wonder if it is of any resource hog. As this point of time, it is analysed that Windows 7 should be fantastic, in case Microsoft wants to keep going its fan base. If Windows 7 was also failed like Vista, then the company will face significant issues, by trying to sway the people towards purchasing their operating system (Krigsman, 2010).

Cost- it is analysed that Microsoft Vista was the despised stepchild of the company, which was released past schedule, it was slow, clunky and disdained for a market that manufacturers of PC started providing downgrades for Window XP, to attract the customers. The cost of vista to Microsoft was also high (Krigsman, 2012). It implies that the company also missed the surge of a smartphone, increase in tablets, and the most dangerous was that it also lost the cloud computing. A considerable handover to the next operating system of Microsoft was Windows 8; else Vista would have killed the organization.

Challenges Faced While Analyzing Project Failures

Schedule- Schedule has the high efficiency over the project performance. This needs to have the continual monitoring as well as time measurement, people, milestones and schedules of equipment (Krigsman, 2012). Rightly done schedule control offers the hint that starting planning might not be done as per the schedule. The MSFT cost includes the Vista schedule details on top of the financial hit of getting charge for the upgrade.

Scope- As per Krigsman (2013), the scope of the project in its most core format is an explanation of the results or either mission of specific product. It is noted that the outcomes required to be measurable. Any scope of the project needs to have the researchers to be dub as the statement of scope. In a different context, explaining what the end user will achieve through the project, is the statement that emphasizes over the successful completion of project goals and the report that is applied in the measuring and planning tools (Krigsman, 2013). Poor change management scope might lead towards the dispute that might need to spend more time as well as money over the litigation and arbitration for what the clients believe they are entitled to get. There exist no doubt to delay or either cost overrun of the project. To attain the right control over the change of scope, it is significant first to explore the evidence that change is inevitable in the project and is equally advantageous for the complete success of the project (McManus and Harper-Wood, 2007). Therefore, the most crucial thing is that it integrates the right plan of  change management like that proactive approach can be adopted including the stakeholders of the project and incorporating what is required in complete lifecycle of the project.

Quality- the collected data about the size of the system for Windows Vista is automated. It is noted that Metrics, as well as other information, was gathered by the use of quality tools of production level and there is a reason to believe that it includes huge measurement errors (Metaxiotis, Zafeiropoulos, Nikolinakou and Psarras, 2005).

Project management provides the support to the company in minimizing the project failure risk, effectively through prioritizing the initiatives of the program, optimize the internal resources. It also tries to deliver the expectations of stakeholders and enhance the return on investment. This all is done by integrating the project management discipline like planning, resource, risk, expectations of stakeholders with bringing change, knowledge management, and quality (Krigsman, 2013). Project management methodology is based on PMBOK and Prince2 because its implementation can help in reviewing the documents, doing documentation, as well as an assessment of the business process. Prince 2 methodology application in Microsoft Vista might have supported in re-engineering the payroll operations for enhancing the information integrity, efficiency of the process and it would have also assisted in controlling the environment (Krigsman, 2013).

In the project management, it is noted that project is referred as failure, when the outcome doesn’t go as per the initial objective; similar reasons for the project failure is overrun of budget and overrun of time. Analysing why the projects doesn’t get finished on time or either within the budget can support in correcting the issues. For example, the current study done by Sedera and Gable (2010) depicts that the right practices towards overrunning the time is through implementing the fulfilling milestones. Understanding the failure is not usually intuitive; therefore, project managers should apply for the methods of system failure to analyse the information system, in order to prevent the failure of projects.  In most of the cases, failure doesn’t happen to be negative; it might be a positive experience, in case the procedure that is involved in failure is corrected and properly analysed (Sedera and Gable, 2010). Usually, one is not always right, as there is no option for learning.

Failure provides opportunity for learning through analysing the last mistakes, that’s why it enhances the process of decision making. When one goes right, then only one confirms about what is known before, and how the same can be done (Shaul and Tauber, 2013). A mistake is referred as an indicator of gap in own knowledge. It is noted that learning is undertaken when mistakes are explored, its procedure is explored and corrected. The idea to take benefit of failure and turning the adverse thing  through understanding what has gone wrong and then correcting the same in future is important (Tsai, Shaw, Fan, Liu, Lee and Chen, 2011).

Despite of the Microsoft cheerleading towards the friendly parts of media technology, customers were cheated. The Vista was very slow as well as buggy with its new interface, which create confusion for users. The worse matter was that Microsoft obsessions with various versions providing various features that later on created confusion in market. The vista was languished; therefore, customers took a decision to stick with Windows XP or to view it faster and designed the Apple computers, and the market share of Microsoft started to erode slowly (Verville, Paanisamy, Bernadas and Halingten, 2007).

It is noted that till Windows 7 was released, Apple was clawed their position in market. They even launched their iPhone and also caught shifting the personal computers towards smartphones. Expectedly, it was the highest embarrassment for the Microsoft, as launch of iPad was already done. The market was gagging for the right and best tablet computers from the year 1990 and the partners of Microsoft were failed in delivering it, like Windows XP, Vista, as well as Windows 7, were not able to perform, and iOS of Apple on the tablet come up as form factor. Its analysed that Microsoft entirely blow the decade that would have lead them in tablet market, and this was undoubtedly happened due to the misguided priorities and creepy features that drive to dogged the development of Vista (Weeks and Wadsworth, 2013). This costed the complete company.

The project post-execution phase includes the various potential factors, which might result in the cost overrun and delay. As it’s the last stage of the project lifecycle, it is usually ignored by companies, mainly in the environment of multi-project (Xu, Nord, Brown, and Nord, 2002). Slow kind of closeout can be viewed through dragging the different activities of handover course through unresolved challenges collected with client procurement, acceptance and contracts, and in this way issues of change order can be resolved, final order of change is not issued, wrong final account closeout, false project success documentation, learned lessons, slow acceptance of client, failing in closing up the work order might permit the unexpected delay as well as stray changes made in project (Capers, 2000). For example if the project team failed in decommissioning on the set time after the completion of project work, then there will be a tendency for initiating the right team, which might result into extra cost of project due to overhead and the same might project cost overrun. Likewise, payment delay of both suppliers and contractors after completing the project might result into the dispute as well as delay in depicting the final project completion certificate (Capers, 1998). Cost overrun and delay in slow closeout can be ignored when the closure phase of project is implemented as per the set plan.

1. Completion make sure that project get complete in full for avoiding the delay and disputes in payment.
2. Documentation in detail will make sure that all the future changes are made with few and extraordinary initiative.
3. Closure of project system includes the financial system closure, such as all work termination and payments.
4. Project review support in transferring the time and cost tangible knowledge, know-why and know-how.
5. Disband the members of project team and try to offer complement for achievements for ignoring the overrun of cost due to additional inclusion of overhead (Capers, 2001).
6. Satisfaction of stakeholders offers all the required information by stakeholders for avoiding the doubt and conflicts. This information might cover the timeline depicting the project progress from starting till end, milestones that are missed, encountered issues and brief financial presentation (Stephen, 2003).

Analysis of relationship between overruns and the stakeholders

A successful project examines the requirement of stakeholders by its product lifecycle. In project planning, the very first step is to explore every expected stakeholder. If it’s not done correctly, then there is a risk of delay in projects, and it might lead to its cancellation (Radice, 2002). In exploring the stakeholders, it is essential to consider the societal results of projects, in context of crucial aspects of the project and it might be a direct financial and functional stakeholder’s opposition that expects to draw the advantages through the project.

It is noted that financial stakeholders like the material suppliers and unions might apply the influence and production, to demand the financial advantages. It is said that contractors can adversely impact the project by cost and time overruns (Wiegers, 2002). When the delay happens through the particular group interest, it might enhance the project cost through including the cost of legal proceedings. Political stakeholders can also apply to ingratiate for voting the block as well as political donors (Yourdon, 1997).

The correct way to manage the negative stakeholder's influence on the project is done through exploring the stakeholders; all the expected issues related with stakeholders groups and then taking the steps towards settling the problems before the project planning (Francoise, Bourgault and Pellin, 2009). This includes exploring the strength of every stakeholder influence and project planning around the stakeholder group needs, achieving the buy-in and active assistance for the project before it gets started or get announced.

It might be inferred that there are around three variables like schedule control, right planning as well as clear responsibility, as these three affect the project performance. These three variable hold significance ineffective and successful project management (Haug, Arlbjorn and Pedersen, 2009).

Right planning- Right planning needs the best forward-looking plan that covers the detailed plan related to the stages of process implementation, falls back positions, task timelines as well as pre-planning. It has been noticed that initial idea is not enough for any project (Eden, Sedera, and Tan, 2012). Most of the time, projects might take wrong turns, or either starting solutions might prove to be unexplored. It is noted that project manager, who failed in preparing the re-plan or the one who has not considered or either planned for the fall back setup, at the time of initial failed plan, will most likely to explore that stalls of the first project and then its failure. It is important to remember that management of the project is not something straight-line process. Instead, it’s the iterative process, which needs agile rethinking as the analyzed changed environment in the past few years (Eden, Sedera, and Tan, 2012).

Accountability and clear responsibility of team members- this needs that every member of the team holds a right understanding of both the duties and roles of the project. They should analyze the expectations and achievements, which should be graded and measured (Eden, Sedera, and Tan, 2012). It all depends on the project manager to rightly apply the communication of all the responsibilities, to offer the feedback and make sure that all understand the things, for which they will be considered as accountable or responsible.

Schedule control- this needs to have the continual measurement and monitoring of milestones, time, equipment schedule and people. Right done schedule will offer the very first hint that initial planning in the project might not be working as per the set schedule (Eden, Sedera, and Tan, 2012). If the team successfully pick up the hint, then they will have an opportunity to implement the fullback setup and also re-plan for moving back on track. One of the articles has explored about the two attributes that look quite equal for the projects that might go successful or might get failed. These two are, well-qualified personnel and other one is the use of consultants. Right and equal number of abandoned and successful projects take the assistance of consultants, and the same goes in case of well qualified. It’s quite disappointing that the two attributes failed in depicting about the successful project (Eden, Sedera, and Tan, 2012). It looks quite obvious that various variables include the high weight for examining the ultimate results of the IT project. At last, the same study had involved four things, which foreshadow the failed project.

These failed project included lack of active links of internal communication, lack of active connections for external communication; lack of effective teamwork, as well as lack of responsive decision-making process (Fitz-Gerald and Carroll, 2003). This look quite frequently in the adverse way in case of failed projects. Therefore, at this point, various things might show the success of project and others, which might show about failed projects. This might be one thing, but there are others that explore all list. There is no right answer as well as no record that can offer a guarantee for project success. Both IS, and IT projects are quite challenging by its nature, and even they are unique. It is very challenging to conduct planning with the complete certainty that is not done before (Fitz-Gerald and Carroll, 2003). Every factor given in the list is crucial and should be referred to the project. The most complicated part might be given priority to the elements like which is more significant? Which should be undertaken first? But in every case, finally, we need to take a decision, relying on the different circumstances of the urgent project (Dezdar and Ainin, 2011).

Conclusion

Finally, different things had resulted in project success and various that lead towards its failure. Correct management of the project is referred as the process of undertaking continuous improvement. It’s also related to the process of creating the mistakes and then learning from those mistakes. It’s also considered as the process of conducting continuous study and learning. For the one, who cannot efficiently devote themselves to the process of never-ending, they will get few success. Various companies have applied information system failure of projects as the way to enhance the next software version or have made the entirely different project. The main point here is that they made the information system notion, in case they lose the project of information system do not forget the lesson. It is noted that not everyone IS failure is considered a failure, mainly if the experience is learned and implemented correctly. This report discusses the Microsoft Vista failure and points out the reasons behind it.

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