We've released our latest report: Getting IT Right: Achieving value from government information technology investments.
The report looks at common causes of information technology (IT) project success and failure, and includes information about how much government invests in IT, an overview of current oversight practices, and common IT project challenges.
Government's IT systems are critical to its operations and the delivery of services to B.C. residents. In 2014/15 alone, government spent $668 million on developing new IT systems and on major enhancements to existing systems.
Achieving success in IT projects is about more than just being on time and on budget, it's also about achieving value. However, achieving value is not easy. IT projects are often complex and inherently risky. A recent global study found that about 19% of projects fail, 52% run into problems, and only 29% succeed.
This trend isn't unique to government.
These investments deserve our attention because everything from healthcare and education to social services has an IT component. Successful IT projects can improve services and allow more effective use of taxpayer money. As such, we decided to look broadly at government's oversight of its IT projects. Our goal is to help decision-makers and leaders of IT projects guide their projects to greater success.
The report contains three recommendations to improve oversight and accountability across the public sector, as well as 20 questions for project success.
Click here for an audio/visual summary of the report.
