1

Introduction:-

IT Projects are usually complex and have different phases that require lot of different

peoples and departments involved working together in order to make things work. IT

projects should always be developed according to organization`s needs and

requirements. Furthermore every IT project has Time and financial constraints as well.

Therefore the failure rate of IT projects is significantly high. An IT Project is considered

Failed if it gone significantly over the budget, taken too much time to implement and or

got so many problems at implementation stage . Change Management also plays an

important role in success of IT projects.(Langabeer,2011). Implementation stage is

significantly important in IT projects management as most of IT initiative fails at

implementation phase.

Typical IT Project Implementation Process:-

IT project management implementation process is generally based on Project

management principles. Typical IT implementation project involves following steps

(Weger & Lee,2011)

(i) Project mission, vision, statement, kickoff planning etc that involves

identification of Stakeholders, project planning ,budgeting, scheduling and

risk assessment.

(ii) Requirements Analysis, Requirements for IT projects based on business

functions

(iii) Design and development stage involves project actual design and

development based on requirements gathered in last phase.

(iv) Project Testing step involves testing of project in actual environment.

(v) Change management is part of project implementation plan

(vi) Project implementation and Support involves actual implementation of It

project while support is provided in case of any problems.

2

Project Roles and Responsibilities:-

An implementation of large IT project involves four roles. Business sponsor, owner,

Project Manager and IT Manager.(Ramington & Pollouck,2011)

(i)Business Sponsor:- Overall accountability of IT project depends on business

sponsor. In case of health care Medical Director can act as business sponsor or in other

case chief financial officer can act as business sponsor. Business sponsor helps defining

project and deliverables.

(ii)Business Owner:- Business owner is generally responsible for operations of

organization. Chief operating officer in any department. in many organizations may act

as business owner. He is usually department head and work jointly to overcome any

problems during IT implementation projects.

(iii)Project Manager:- Project Manager is responsible for overall implementation of

project. Each stage of Project is monitored and controlled by project manager. Project

Manager manages project from start till end.

(iv)IT Manager:- IT manager Manages the role of IT department in IT project

implementation. IT manager might manage the whole process of implementation

because IT manager of an organization can understand the organization better from IT

perspective.

3

IT Project implementation Failures (Causes)

(i)Lack of Clarity of Purpose:-

Lack of clarity of purpose if IT initiative may result in failure of IT projects . All the

stakeholders should be involved in an IT initiative. The purpose of an IT initiative

should be well explained. All the stake holder should understand how an IT initiative

going to help them in achieving organization`s objectives and what will affect day to day

operations. In case project is poorly understood by stake holders it will be difficult to

design and implement project. In case of CPOE implementation project was poorly

understood and had lack of clarity from start. Physicians though it would increase their

work burden indicates there was lack of clarity of purpose . Stakeholders didn’t

understood the scope and purpose of IT initiative. (Wager, Lee, Glaser, & Wager, 2009)

.It is important to clearly explain the way project will help organization and

stakeholders in achieving their objectives.

(ii)Lack of Believe in the Project:-

A successful Implementation of IT projects require the contribution of every

stakeholders. Some time IT initiative is clearly explained to stakeholders but it didn’t

fully convince them as it will change their work activities. In case stakeholders don’t

believe in the project they will not fully participate in the project that might affect

different stages of IT project. (Einbinder, Lorenzi, Ash, Gadd, & Einbinder, 2010In case

of CPOE implementation Physicians did not had believe in the project as it will change

the way they performed their duties in the past.

4

(iii)In Sufficient Leadership Support:-

Leadership support plays an important role in successful implementation of IT project.

Leadership of an organization should take IT projects seriously. The decision making

related to IT project needs full involvement of organization`s leadership. Management

might need to utilize lot of time in decision making and monitoring the progress of IT

project implementation. In case the decision making is delayed to not done carefully

may reduce success rate of It project. In case of COPE implementation shows insufficient

leadership support in the project. There were leadership crises from start and many

members just said yes to IT initiative on pressure of other while they were not fully

convinced about projects. Insufficient leadership support and Lack of believe in project

consumed so much time in initiating the project while there was very less time left for

design and requirements gathering phase of project.

(iv)Organization Inertia:-

IT project initiative may add much more work on top of routine work. Management and

employees might already be over burden with work load. In this case IT project

initiative doesn’t get full concentration and involvement from employees and

management. Stakeholders might be stressed and overworked that might hinder the

progress of work on IT project. In case of COPE implementation The initial stage took 6

months to complete while there were only 12 months left for project design and

implementation resulting in rushed requirement analysis and design .(Ramington &

Pollack,2010 Rushed requirement analysis may result in poorly designed project.

Requirement analysis phase is very important in IT projects.

(v)Project Complexity:-

Project complexity depends on organization`s size and requirements related to

automation. Some projects may be very complex and bigger than other require lot of

time and budget to impalement. (Langabeer,2011).Some organizations might be

complex to understand and involve number of different type of stake holders that adds

to complexity of IT projects as well. In case of COPE implementation the IT project was

complex and required lot of time and budget with careful requirement analysis activity.

Project complexity was not considered at initial stage leading delay in project at each

stage due to different reasons.

5

Conclusion:-

It can be concluded that success of IT project depends on number of different factors.

Problems at one stage of project may affect whole project. IT project covers all the

aspects of organization that requires contribution and efforts from all the stakeholders.

In Case of Memorial Health System CPOE implementation It project was complex and

required careful planning and allocation of required resource. The Project Lacked

involvement and support of all stakeholders. Rushed requirements analysis significantly

reduced the chances of CPOE implementation with in time.

6

References:-

Langabeer, J. R. (2011). Project and Change Management. In Cram101 textbook outlines

to accompany: Health care operations management : a quantitative approach to

business and logistics. S.l.: Cram101

Remington, K., & Pollack, J. (2011). Leading complex projects and tools for complex

projects. Farnham: Ashgate.

Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., Glaser, J. P., & Wager, K. A. (2009). Health care information

systems: A practical approach for health care management. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-

Bass.

Einbinder, L., Lorenzi, N. M., Ash, J., Gadd, C. S., & Einbinder, J. (2010). Transforming

Health Care Through Information: Case Studies. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag New York