"Top 10 Lessons for IT Project Success"

Yesterday, I blogged about a rather uninspired article from Baseline Magazine, which described ten IT project pitfalls. In contrast, today I’m happy to share and excellent list of ten lessons for IT Project success, from CIO Insight magazine:

1. Business processes should set the agenda, not technology.
2. Biting the bullet and migrating off an older technology can pay off.
3. Track projects across the entire enterprise.
4. Get stakeholders in the same room.
5. Give customers what they want.
6. Measure success—but also failure.
7. The easiest solution isn’t always the best.
8. Consider Master Data Management.
9. Make a lean system even leaner.
10. Don’t use complicated, expensive software when a clipboard and pencil will do.

These are great lessons. All too often, advice comes in the form of consultant-speak, using nice sounding words with little meaning. On the other hand, these ten lessons are clearly rooted in cold, hard experience. The kind of experience that is qualified to explain what really works, in a practical and immediately useful manner.

I particularly like the do-more-with-less perspective of these ten lessons. The most successful projects are rooted in a deep understanding of the business issues to which technology is being applied. This typically implies less fascination with technology for its own sake. It’s a healthy perspective and one which I endorse wholeheartedly.