Victoria University: BCO6653 Assessment of IT Project Success/Failure

This report assesses the factors contributing to the success and failure of IT projects, focusing on case studies from Latrobe University and Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer and Research Centre (SKMCH & RC). It delves into the organizations' backgrounds, business processes, and strategies employed during both successful and unsuccessful projects. The report includes detailed descriptions, IS planning analyses, and comparative analyses of the two organizations, including insights from IT manager interviews. The analysis covers project delays, scope changes, resource and financial management, and the importance of documentation and agile methodologies. The report offers valuable insights into IT project management, financial planning, and the significance of learning from past experiences to improve future project outcomes.

Running head: ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
Assessment of failed and successful IT projects
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
Abstract
The primary objective of this paper is to focus and identify two projects from two different
organizations. Detailed description of the business process and description will be presented
in the paper along with their organizational background. The paper will also describe the
strategies adopted by these two organization during the failed and successful projects. The
solution strategies adopted by these commercial establishments during the success and failure
of the projects will be evaluate in this paper in an organized manner. Comparative Analysis
between two organizations and results to the architecture will also be presented in the paper.
The description of the interview will be presented in the pictorial diagram in the appendix
unit of the paper.

2ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Description of Latrobe University.............................................................................................3
Description of Shaukat Khanum memorial cancer and research centre (SKMCH & RC)........5
IS planning.................................................................................................................................6
IS planning literature analysis for Latrobe University...........................................................7
IS planning literature analysis for SKMCH & RC.................................................................8
Response from Latrobe University........................................................................................9
Response from SKMCH & RC..............................................................................................9
Comparative analysis for IS planning..................................................................................10
Comparative of literature and case studies output...................................................................11
Introduction......................................................................................................................11
Significance of the topic...................................................................................................11
Literature Analysis...............................................................................................................13
Comparative Analysis..........................................................................................................15
Conclusion................................................................................................................................18
Reference..................................................................................................................................20
Appendix..................................................................................................................................25

3ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
Introduction
The foremost determination of the paper is to focus on the assessment of two IT
projects in two different commercial establishments. The reason behind the success and the
failure of the project in these two different commercial establishments will be discussed in a
detailed manner in this report (DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst 2016). This report will have
numerous segments and each of the section can be very much beneficial to understand the
reason behind the success and the failure of the projects in numerous commercial
establishment.
Brief summary of the literature will also be provided in this paper in a detailed
manner from different perspectives. It can also be said that the usefulness of the literature
review will also be stated in the paper.
Description of Latrobe University
Name of the business: Latrobe University is a type of educational establishment
which deal with system application development and system application enhancement.
Location of the business: This educational establishment is located in Plenty Rd &
Kingsbury, Australia.
Size of the IT department: This educational establishment have a dedicated IT team
of 50 employees out of them 30 people work in the development team and the rest of the
professional work in designing, and documentation.
URL of the home page of this educational establishment:
https://www.latrobe.edu.au/

4ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
Screen dump of the home page of the website
Figure 1: Home page of the website
(Source: University 2019).
Description of the business
It can also be said that this failure due to delay in scope has an undesirable effect on
the growth and progress of this educational institution. As a result of this failed project
Latrobe University suffered huge financial crisis over a period of time (Eken et al. 2015). The
delay in scope associated this business required extra investments to address the
complications of this failed project. There were numerous reasons behind the failure of this
project and the lack of accurate documentation is considered as one of the most significant
reasons behind this delay (Duffield and Whitty 2015). The agile procedure which were used
by the management team was very much beneficial for this tertiary education provider
establishment as it helped them to optimise each of the departs of the IT team of this
commercial establishment.

5ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
Description of Shaukat Khanum memorial cancer and research centre
(SKMCH & RC)
Name of the business: It is one of the largest healthcare establishment in Pakistan
providing a wide range of service to their national as well as international consumers. This
commercial establishment provides huge range of services in terms of healthcare solutions.
Location of the business: This is one of the most significant cancer hospital and
research center located in Lahore, Pakistan.
Size of the IT department: This educational commercial establishment have a
dedicated IT team having both designers, developers, and dedicated professional which have
vast experience of all the emerging unproven technologies which are used in the systems used
in the hospital systems. Technologically advanced systems are used in the working
environment of this commercial establishment. The IT department of this organization deals
with numerous software-based applications, mobile applications and software
implementation.
URL of the home page of this educational establishment:
https://shaukatkhanum.org.pk/
Screen dump of the home page of the website

6ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
Figure 2: Home page of their website
(Source: Shaukatkhanum.org.pk. 2019).
Description of the business
This healthcare organization provides huge range of software services in order to
serve each of the patients in an organized manner. The major project which failed in this
commercial establishment is the failed implementation of the online pharma module version.
There were lots of issues associated with this failed project, the initial reason behind this
failed project is the lack of finance management (Finkler, Smith and Calabrese 2018). It can
also be said that this project exhausted the allocated budget and separate investments are
required in the middle of the project in order to continue the project (Eken et al. 2015). The
other reason behind the failed project is the compatibility issue of the resources which are for
using this application. The significance of accurate documentation was identified after this
failed project.
IS planning
Data collected from the internal stakeholders of these commercial organizations helps
in understanding the what were the reasons behind the failed project at the same time the
answers to each of the questions also helps in understanding the significance of efficient

7ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
documentation control which are very much required during the enactment of any new
software or IT systems.
It can be said that Latrobeau deals with numerous system application development,
systematic application enhancement and there are lots of complexities in the enactment of
each of these applications (Karimi, Taylor and Goodrum 2017). IT manager of this
organization has responded to each of the questions in a detailed manner which helps in
identifying the exact issue faced by this organization in terms of the delay due to the changes
in scope and the complexities of the new projects (Karadag 2015). The importance of
maintaining agile project management was also determined from the detailed discussion. The
detailed conversation also helps in identifying how project success and failure is measured.
IT manager of SKMCH & RC helped in understanding the significance of the
employment procedure of any medical system which are provided by the IT department of
SKMCH & RC. The different factors which are responsible for the failure of the project was
understood from the interview (Kanki 2019). The interview also helped in understanding that
an effective implementation plan is very much required during the enactment of the new
software systems. The detailed conversation also determined the importance of the lessons
learnt from SKMCH & RC (Chelladurai and Kerwin 2018). The significance of the managing
the project deliverable, post implementation procedures, are the main learning lessons which
are obtained from the interview.
Thus, these discussions are very much significant to understand the effectiveness of
IS planning for the incorporation of new systems for any business environment.
IS planning literature analysis for Latrobe University
Analysis: Based on the above discussion, it can be said the lessons learned from the
previous projects can be very much useful to manage the complexities of the current projects.

8ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
The discussion can also be very much useful to manage each of the challenges of projects
such as resource management and time management. Based on the discussion of the paper, it
can be said that the probability of success and failure of the can also be identified using the
previous lessons and experiences (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017). It can also be said that
previous mistakes can also be determined using previous projects. The selection and the
management of the resources can also be improved using previous experiences. The concept
of change management can also be determined from the above discussions of the paper. The
risks as well as the complexities of the employment of the IT systems can be efficiently
decreased if the successful implementation of the similar IT systems are analyzed and used in
an organized manner (Larsen et al. 2015). The above discussion from numerous literatures
also helps in understanding the delay in scope and time schedule as these can have a
significant impact on the final outcome of the IT projects. The discussion of the researchers
also helps in understanding the importance of prioritizing of the task in IT projects.
IS planning literature analysis for SKMCH & RC
Analysis: The above discussion are very much useful to understand the importance of
project finance to understand the structure and the future implications of the projects. The
role of the additional sponsors and the investment risks can also be understood from the
above discussion (Muller 2017). Numerous scholars helped in understanding how financial
management can have a huge impact on the both the simple as well as complicated IT
projects. The concept of procurement, financial reporting and internal control systems can
also be understood from these papers as it can have a direct impact on the financial planning
of projects (Martin 2016). The above discussions also monitored that the cash flow of the
project must be controlled using the financial management plan so that the IT project is not
affected by any kinds of financial disruptions. Based on the above discussions, it can be said
that the success of the project depends not only on finance management as well as resource

9ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
management (Chaves et al. 2016). It can also be understood that the long term financial goals
as well as the short term financial goals of the end product of the products has to be
considered during the planning phase of the project itself in order to address the financial
uncertainties of the projects (McKinney 2015). Literatures helped in understanding the how
the financial management can be very much useful to make most of the essential financial
decisions required in the complex projects. The six steps of the financial planning process
was highlighted can also be understood from these papers. The transparency must be
maintained in most of the business transactions as it can ensure the financial stability of the
projects according to the literatures.
Response from Latrobe University
Based on the interview it can be said Latrobe University is an educational
organizational having a dedicated IT department which deals with numerous categories of
services such as the system application, system application enhancement, system application
development. None of the projects failed in this organization; however, it can be said that
there are numerous challenges associated with this commercial establishment in terms of the
delay in scope. This organization has adopted the agile approach, which helps them to deal to
counter the delay in scope. LPM principles are considered by this organization in order to
provide high quality services to the end users. The continuous learning process of this
organization results in understanding the defects in the production rooms and make less
changes to the project schedule. This organization uses the project management matrix to
measure success as well as the failure of the undertaken projects.
Response from SKMCH & RC
The interview helps in understanding that SKMCH & RC is a healthcare
establishment having a dedicated IT team. The developers of the IT departments, develop IT

10ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
systems which are used in the hospital premises itself. The failed project of this organization
is the unprofessional enactment of new software which is the online pharma module version.
The main reason behind this failed project is inefficient resource management and financial
management. The documentation of this organization are very much used in most of the
similar projects. Each of the learning ongoing processed are used in multiple projects in this
organization. It can be seen that following up of the previous exercises was very much
beneficial for this organization from business perspective. The measurement of the failure
and the success are determined considering the deliverables and post implementation
procedures which are practised in this commercial establishments.
Comparative analysis for IS planning
Based on the above discussions it can be said that the business of these two
commercial establishments are very much different from each other as Latrobe University is
an educational institution and SKMCH & RC is a healthcare establishment.
Based on the detailed interview, it can be said that the business process of Latrobe
University can be further improved using the scope management plan. It can also be said that
the delay in each phase of the projects can be addressed using the professional project
scheduling technique in terms of Gnatt charts (Noe et al. 2017). However, it can also be said
that the limitation of Agile and the LPM principles must be planned and organized in a
professional manner so that the continuous learning process is maintained in this
organization.
The interview of the IT manager of SKMCH & RC helps in understanding that this is
a healthcare organization having a dedicated IT unit providing a wide range of service which
are used in the hospital sectors only. The failed project of this hotel is the failed
implementation of a new software and the reason behind this failure is the budget issue and

11ASSESSMENT OF FAILED AND SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS
lack of human resources (Oyewobi, Abiola-Falemu and Ibironke 2016). It can be said that the
financial issue can be addressed using efficient financial plan and the need new recruitment
strategies can be very much important to recruit new resources which can work very
professionally for this organization.
Comparative of literature and case studies output
Introduction
The topics which will be analysed in this management of the time and resource as it
can be one of the main reasons behind the success and failure of the projects (Brewster,
Mayrhofer and Morley 2016). The other topic which will be analysed is the importance of
learning from previous experiences and significance of the lean project management concept
as these practices can be very much significant for the success as well as the failure of
projects.
Significance of the topic
Resource and Time Management: Project finance management can be very much
important to ensure that the project completes successfully within the assigned deadlines and
the resource (Brewster, Chung and Sparrow 2016). The selection of the resources and
importance of managing each phases of the project are important to manage the resource and
time management. It can also be said that understanding how financial management and time
management is very much important to ensure the prosperity of the project (Renz 2016). The
flow of cash can also be very much significant to understand the cost of debt. The success of
the project depends mostly on the management of finances and time constraints. The strategic
importance of financial management was highlighted in the paper in a professional manner
(Oyewobi et al. 2016). Business plans must be altered in the first place so that the efficiency