A few weeks ago, Minister Schouten of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality pulled the plug on the development of a new IT system for the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) with immediate effect. It is yet another government IT project that fails. Costs incurred: 65 million euros. Why do government IT projects keep failing?
Five years ago, a parliamentary enquiry committee concluded that central government IT projects are often out of control in terms of cost, time or even the end result. According to the committee, between one and five billion euros is wasted every year, and of course it did not lack suggestions on how to do things differently. Given the current NVWA failure and earlier, for example, the halting of the major IT project at the Ministry of Defence, this does not plug the leak.
Often the same causes
The failure of IT projects can often be traced back to the same causes. Starting projects with a horizon for going live many years later, in an ever faster changing environment, is actually out of date. In IT, five years is the same as an eternity. Successful development can only be achieved by opting for a short-cycle approach, in which components are delivered one after the other, in coordination and to the client's satisfaction. By going live step by step, the client retains control and adjustments can be made continuously in mutual consultation.
Standardisation or customisation
Moreover, a ministry, or any other large organisation, is a bundle of specialisms. That includes specific policy areas and implementation tasks, but also, for example, human resources, legal, finance, communications, facility management, logistics, etc. What is the logic of capturing all this in one uniform ERP system with generic solutions? It is an illusion to think that this will give the best outcome for everyone. One standard for everything does not exist. However much some players would like us to believe that. After all, each field of work has its own specific requirements. Smart Internet technology-based (partial) solutions are nowadays very easy to link in real time with an ERP or other systems. Without having to make any concessions in terms of security. In this way, customisation goes hand in hand with the desire for overview, control and clarity.
Content matters
Pitfall #3 is the fact that managing IT projects is mostly done by IT professionals. This seems logical, but ultimately IT is just the tool. What matters is to be a real sparring partner for the content experts at the client. Often individuals with many years of experience and knowledge of every detail. They actually know what needs to be automated. Of course, as a rule, they get involved in a project. But how often is it not the IT person, reasoning from the technology, who then ultimately decides. Whereby the question then always remains to what extent he has really understood what is needed. IT is definitely a profession, but successful automation starts with substantive knowledge of the business in question.
Step by step
Furthermore, the decision to implement a new IT system is often accompanied by wanting to change existing work processes in the same move. Simply put, this is simply too much at once. Developing both a new system and introducing a new working method at the same time requires too much to manage properly at once. Far better to first automate the existing processes step by step, then gradually make them smarter and smarter. By opting for a generic IT architecture in the preliminary phase, this can be done without additional costs or limitations for the end result.
People are the key to success
Ultimately, the success of any IT project hinges on commitment on the shop floor. That is where people have to want to work with the new system. If the right thing is not automated, resistance will be the result. Employees must therefore be involved and included in the renewal process at an early stage. When employees experience IT as support, automation - within the conditions set for this - automatically becomes fun and thus a success.
Is the above the solution to the success of government IT projects? There is never a 100% guarantee, but short-cycle, step-by-step automation with customisation that is driven by content and puts employees in the driver's seat lays a solid foundation for success.
Rianne Groffen - Director Alliances and Business Development at Yellowstar Solutions
