Viforce, Inc.

In the course of business, we are often approached by firms who have tried to build their own websites or software applications, or have employed other companies to do the work for them - and these projects were experiencing difficulties or had already failed. The Standish Group's 2006 Chaos Report states that only 35% of software projects started in 2006 were completed successfully, meaning they were completed on time, on budget and met user requirements. The Group further reported that 19% of all projects are total failures.

Why Projects Fail
There are many reasons for project failure, including:

• Misunderstanding the scope of the project, or changing the scope once resources and funds had already been allocated and work was underway
• Underestimating the time it would take to complete the project; software programmers generally underestimate these times by a factor of six, almost dooming a project to failure before it begins
• Not having an experienced Project Manager, or not giving the PM the tools and authority to get the job done
• Attempting to save money by employing offshore teams, who often do not understand the overall concept of the project or the methods employed in the project; the time differences and language barriers add to the difficulties, making this a false economy

Fortunately, we at Viforce have experience with projects that are failing or in danger of failing. We have successfully turned around projects - which had already costs their firms hundreds of thousands of dollars and months of excuses and delays - in just a few weeks and for just a few thousand dollars.

What Are the Signs of Project Failure?
Projects are generally evaluated based on the following:
Is the project on schedule? It is important for an IT project to remain on schedule and for each task in that project to be completed on time. When tasks are not completed on time, the project is in danger of failing.
Is the project on budget? Remaining on budget is as important to the project as remaining on schedule. When there are cost overruns, there is a chance of the project failing.
Is the product on spec? If the project is producing a product that lacks functionality or has performance problems, the project has failed.
Therefore, a project requires recovery when it is experiencing one or more of the following:

• Behind schedule
• Over budget
• Lack of functionality
• Poor performance

The occurrence of any of these issues alone is enough to require recovery steps. A combination of these issues increases the likelihood that project failure is certain.

What is Project Recovery?
Project Recovery is the process by which an IT project is turned from a failure into a success. It begins with a detailed analysis of:

• What the project is meant to achieve
• Where the project currently stands (tasks completed, budgeted funds spent, etc.)
• Why the project has encountered difficulties and what can be done to resolve these issues
• Whether the project would meet performance and functionality requirements if completed as is
• What additional performance and functionality is required

From there, we draw up a plan to address any issues, get the project back on track and complete the work. While we can't turn back the clock so that the original deadline can be met, we can come up with a realistic plan - with realistic time and budget projections - for turning failure into success.