CEO of Proceve and Former Global CTO for IBM Financial Markets, 3x Founder, with over 35 years of large-scale software development experience.
Companies Spend $1.6 Trillion Annually on Custom Software Development Projects, with a 70% failure rate and $500 Billion written off as waste. 🚨 The True Cost of Project Failure 🚨 Did you know that despite the advances in Agile and other methodologies and the $25 Billion spent annually on Project Management software, project failure is still incredibly common? According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), a staggering 31% of projects don’t meet business objectives, 43% are over budget, and 48% fail to finish on time. Yet, only 15% of projects are officially labeled as failures. How does this add up? At Proceve, our decades-long experience with IT projects shows that the reality can be much more severe. The global cost of failed software development projects? An eye-watering $500 BILLION annually. These failures aren’t just financial — they come with hidden opportunity costs, reputational damage, and lost strategic value. Take the infamous UK NHS Electronic Medical Records System, which ballooned from £6 billion to £12.7 billion before being scrapped, or the FBI’s Virtual Case File system that spiraled from $50 million to $175 million before being abandoned, only to be replaced by yet another system that cost the FBI over $550 Million. These aren’t just numbers; they represent massive missed opportunities and shaken public trust. 🚧 Why Does This Happen? 🚧 It’s clear that even with well-intentioned ideas, the risk of failure looms large. Key factors include: - Unclear objectives and requirements - Poor communication and planning - Unrealistic budgets and timelines - A lack of executive support and effective risk management The challenge for us as executives and project managers is to learn from these examples and work proactively to mitigate these risks. 💡 Let's Start a Conversation 💡 What’s your take on project failure? Have you witnessed or been part of a project that went off the rails? Let’s discuss what we can do differently to deliver success more consistently. Drop your thoughts below, and let’s explore this together! For a more in-depth look at this topic, see the link in the comments. #ProjectManagement #ProductManagement #ProgramManagement #Agile #ProjectFailures #ITFailures #LessonsLearned #RiskManagement #BusinessStrategy #Leadership #PMI #PMP #ProjectManagementSoftware