Top 5 IT Project Sponsor Frustrations

The research

Although I could find a good amount of research into IT Project failures and their causes, I couldn't find any research into the frustrations they caused for IT Project Sponsors. So I decided to do some research myself. I wanted to understand how IT Project Sponsors felt. And feel they did. More than a few got quite emotional. My target group was business managers who were neither professional project managers nor IT specialists. 

In 2011:
  • I surveyed 57 people
  • Talked to another 26 face to face
  • Ran 3 focus groups

The results

 Not a huge survey but enough to get an idea. Here are the results.
  1. benefits not realised
  2. cost and time overrun 
  3. lack of can-do attitude from the IT supplier
  4. mismatch between business requirements and solution provided
  5. inflexibility
    • of process - “this is how we will do it”
    • solution - a desire to develop new, using new toys
    • inability to think outside the box
    • hiding behind jargon
Talking to IT Project Sponsors, it is clear that they often feel that they do not have control of their project's destiny. They feel like a passenger. But there is a lot that they can do, without trying to micro-manage the project themselves.