Failure of Information Systems Projects

Question: Discuss about the Failure of Information Systems Projectsof Jordan. Answer: Introduction The business report depicts the important of developing an Information system project in organization in Jordon and how the failure of that IS project affected the commercial growth of the organization. The reasons behind the failure of the project are process driven issue, context driven issue and content driven issue (Sweis, 2015). Certain factors are also defined, that played the role of obstacles during the project development phase. This business report illustrates the causes behind the failure of the Information System (IS) in Jordon. Usage of improper technology is identified as one of the major problems of project failure. Project failure will affect the commercial growth revenue of an organization also. In order to combat the project failure, certain technology based recommendations are also provided. Analysis of the discovered problems in Information System Project in Jordan While analyzing the reasons behind the failure of the business project in Jordon, it has been found that process driven issue, context driven issue and content driven issues have affect the Information System project in the Jordanian organization. Information System is referred to as a diagnostic technological tool that is widely used by almost each and every organization all over the world (Kerzner, 2013).The organizational performance automatically gets enhanced after adapting the concept of technology in terms of Information System (IS). Difference between the Information System and Information Technology (IT) issues While analyzing the background of the failure of an Information Technology Project in Jordan a large set of differences between the Information System and Information Technology is defined. The differences are as follows: Information system Issue Information technology Issues Information system is referred to as a container that holds large data set or information in terms of people, processes that are used to create design of the project, data storage manipulating factors and different computing technology based tools (Sweis, 2015). It helps to establish a bridge rather communication between the business computing technology. The objects of the information system are different operating tools. If any of a tool fails to serve its requirement the entire project will be a failure. On the other hand Information Technology is referred to as instance of an Information System. IT only deals with the technology, If a single technology fails then it will lead to major organizational as well as business failure. The degree of an IS includes various IS theory, management foundation, social science and information technology (Kerzner, 2013). The IT infrastructure is required to be secured and aligned towards commercial benefit. If it lacks to meet the requirement of the consumers then project will be referred to as inefficient. IS concentrates on the quality of the information stored in the data storage or database of an organization. While adapting current technologies, the members of the development team are needed to be experienced (Davis, 2014). Lack of experience is another issue for the Information technology application. Integrated IS system also plays vital role in the external and internal communication processes. It increases the coordination and reduces the rate of conflict occurrence within an organization. Lack of technical innovation and invention are other IT issues. Identification of the factors that affect the business performance While developing an IS project, the development team should consider certain factors like cost, time and quality. The success of any information project depends on its time cost and quality management (Galliers Leidner, 2014). If an IS project fails to meet any one of the criteria then, the entire project will be a failure for the organization. Mainly two issues such as managerial and technical issues are identified that affect the profit of an organization. The project failure factors are as follows: Process driven issue: The process driven issue includes improper business planning, incorrect business planning, improper project management, monitoring, control, lack of strategic planning formulation and ineffective change management system (Pritchett, Woolcock Andrews, 2013). In the planning phase if the experts do not provide required attention to all the developmental aspects then, the project will be a failure. The project managerial head should monitor and control the entire progress path from the very initial till the implementation of the process (Wilson, 2014). According to changing time phase additional technologies are needed to be added with the existing business strategy to bring effective profit. In the initial project planning phase, the finance department of the Jordanian organization makes a feasibility study to measure whether the business project is beneficial or not. If the project is found to be ineffective then, before its official launching required changes s hould be added. In adequate assessment of risks is implies as another reason behind the project failure (Pankratz Basten, 2013). If it is found that, in order to bring changes in the existing Information System (IS) project the required budget is exceeding the estimated money then that will also lead to project failure. Context driven issue: This issue holds the technologies oriented to the information system project itself, design of the system, resources of knowledge and the IS/T professionals (Mashhour Zaatreh, 2015). If the development team selects a wrong integrated system in terms of software then, the scope of improvement declines. Content driven issue: This is referred to as the background or the project development environment. In other words it can be said that content driven issue arises if the project development team do not focuses on all the aspects (Davis, 2014). This issue includes, the culture of the firm, structure of the firm, management style maintains by the organization, internal and external communication processes, involvement of the participants from different departments are adapted to deal with risks that might occur in an organization (Preez, Tate Nili, 2016). If the participants of the project do not communicate with each other properly then due to lack of communication, it will unable to meet the requirement of the consumers. The accomplishment of an IS project is dependent on the contextual perspectives. The role of Information System in supporting the business process and technology integration During the measurement of Jordanian IS project success it has been found that Information System plays the vital role while developing a IS business project (Sweis, 2015). Weak measurement of development scope, incorrect timeline solution or the level of improvement according to changing time phase, poor communication among the members of the project development team are the main measuring factors that lead to failure of the IS project In order to improve the existing business project, the business project sponsor, project manager and the vendor manager are required to consider the measuring factors in an organized manner to conduct success and commercial benefit (Kendrick, 2015). It will help to reduce the complexity and the change management will help to resolve the issue occurring in an organizational management system (Sweis, 2015). The purpose of developing an Information System is to resolve the risks that might hamper the regular flow of a business process. The managers are required to be suggested by the IT experts so that the IS project could become efficient in terms of firm management process. The vendor and the consultants should understand the scope of the project complexity (Zou et al., 2014). If the project fails to adapt the required technical changes in the existing information system then, it will lead to complete project failure. The managerial factors related to the Information System management are the most critical factors or obstacles on the way of a successful project implementation (Ismail King, 2014). Even in the way of project success and failure organizational behavior and political factors play vital role. Ranking of the factors that leads to Jordanian business failure Success Factors Ranking Process driven issue 1. Timeline management during the IS project implementation phase 2. Inappropriate assumption of the availability of resources 3. Definition of the requirement and scope as a weak one 2 Context driven issue 1. Inadequate communication between the project members of the organization 2. lack of involvement of the participants 3. The key individual of the IS project, changes 3 Content driven issue 1. High degree of customized application 2. In the Information System project, specified design approaches 3. Inadequate key specification in the starting phase of the IS project 1 Depending on the sub factors of the risks it has been found that if the application of a particular business project is specified the project will not be able to serve all the requirements as per the clients requirement. Customization in the business project provides security to the business project (Sweis, 2015). Only the authenticated users are capable to access the information from the project or additional requirements can be added to the existing business by the authenticated team members. Before implementing the project in the real world application appropriate verification and validation are needed to be done so that, it could meet the requirements of the business project (Montequn et al., 2016). Feasibility study is referred to as one of the most important factors to be considered before the implementation of a business project in an organization. Estimated budget overflow is another issue with the Jordanian business project. Customization increases the efficiency of a business project and at the same time, if the development team unable to serve the requirement on time or unable to deliver the project outcome on tike then, it will also lead to project failure (Sweis, 2015). The IT consultants involved with the business project team are needed to be aware of the technical changes that are continuously taking place in the Technology based environment. Another failure aspect of the business project is lack of open communication. In order to improve the project, all the participants of a business project are required to provide their idea regarding technologies. From the level of risks it is found that content driven issue is the most prioritized risk (Fichman, Dos Santos Zhiqiang Eric Zheng, 2014). The impact of process driven risk and context driven risks are lower than the others. Other affecting factors Implementation of specified changes late: In Order to develop an existing business process all participants belonging from different departments are needed to make the necessary changes. Lack of involvement: If the participants do not provide required attention to the business project then, it will lead to project failure (Kerzner, 2013). The business operations and business functionalities will also get affected for inadequate participant involvement. Employees from different departments are needed to consider separate functional segments of the business project. The finance department and the audit team of the organization are needed to look into specified parts of the business project (Galliers Leidner, 2014). In order to reduce the work pressure, the entire business project is divided into segments and the individual segments are tested by the testing department of the organization. Lack of executive support: Due to lack of executive support a project team might not achieve the project goal (Sweis, 2015). Executive management based support is referred to as the fundamental factor behind the success of a project. If the executive suddenly becomes disengaged with the business project, then maximum turnover will take place. Conflict between the participants: Due to lack of leadership management, internal and external conflicts within the Jordanian business project are continuously taking place in organizations (Schwalbe, 2015). Internal conflict will lead to lack of trustworthiness among the project team members and none of the team member feels free to give their thought and idea about the business project development. Incorrect cost management:Before implementation and development of the project if the finance department does not make the required cost management. Inaccurate estimation of cost and forecast of that cost management lead to organizational failure (Pearlson, Saunders Galletta, 2016). Budget estimation s required to be done in the initial phase. If changes are made according to the changing time line and it exceeds the estimated budget then the stakeholders are not capable to serve the required money to implement the business project. Improper cost management is a major reason for Jordanian business project failure. Shortfalls in the resource: If the allotted resources and team for the project development are not consist any IT expert then the formulation of idea will not be a compatible one comparison to other existing business projects. Inflexible architecture: Lack of management and business oriented strategies might lead organizational failure. Technology governance processes are needed to be served to improve the project (Baskerville Wood-Harper, 2016). If the architecture does not fit the business purpose or of the business architecture is infeasible then it will be another major business risk. Conclusion From the overall discussion it can be concluded that, the critical factors that might affect the success of business or lead to failure of an Information System (IS) project are mentioned in this report. The technology is changing at a random basis; in order to meet the requirement of the consumers and complete the project within the allotted time phase the identified issues are needed o be mitigated from the core business architecture. The report has determined the factors behind the IS project failure in Jordon. The affect of these factors can be mitigated by implementing certain change management with the existing business process. From the business project study it is found that the high degree of customization, will lead to continuous risks in the business organization. Project failure is referred to as a failure for both the organization and for its consumers. Violation from any of these segments will interrupt the regular business flow. Lack of communication among the team mem bers and between the project manager and the project team members will generate another major concern in the business management system. Recommendations to improve the performance of the organization In order to mitigate the failure of business projects in Jordan certain recommendations are provided to the project managers. The recommendations are as follows: Cost management: For managing a proper business project, management of cost is referred to as a major factor. During the recruitment period, hiring of appropriate person for manager post and arrangement of exact training and development program is needed to be done, so that while required they could serve out of box rather critical business strategies to the organization. The information system is required to be well managed by the project manager and he or she must be aware of the how to guide his or her fellow project team members. Communication management: Instead of vertical, horizontal, upward and downward communication, the Jordan business organization should posses open communication among the team members. It will help to establish a proper communication layer, where, al the team members will feel free to communicate with each other and also with the project manager. Time management: This is another factor that is needed to be considered before the implementation of a business project in the Jordanian business organizations. During the planning phase the development team measures a time within which the project is required to be completed under the guidance of the project manager. Improper time management will exceed the estimated budget also because, if the time exceeds then the duration or day count of effort will also exceed. Therefore, before launching the business project in the real world, proper time management is needed to be done by the project participants. References Abu-Shanab, E., Bataineh, L. Q. (2014). Challenges facing e-government projects: how to avoid failure?.International Journal of Emerging Sciences,4(4), 207-217. 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