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February 20, 2006

Just Ancient History?

Are these two unique incidents, just separated in time?  It seems doubtful.  In 1994 the Standish Group published a now famous study on information systems failures.  Entitled “The CHAOS Report,” the study indicated the leading causes of IS failure are, in order, (1) lack of user input; (2) incomplete requirements and specifications, and (3) changing requirements and specifications.  That study was completed some 20 years after our study at CSU.

More recently, in 2004, Professor Joseph Kasser and his students at the University of Maryland analyzed 19 system failures to determine their cause.  They then correlated their analysis of the cause with the opinions of the professionals involved in the failures.  The correlated results indicate the first-priority cause of system failure was ”Poor requirements,” and the second-priority cause was ”Failure to communicate with the customer”.

In 2003, the IRS Oversight Board concluded the first cause of the IRS BSM failure was "inadequate business unit ownership and sponsorship of projects.  This resulted in unrealistic business cases and continuous project scope 'creep.'"

Posted by DavidK at February 20, 2006 02:45 PM | Permalink

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