Factors that influence the outcome of information technology projects in South Africa: An empirical investigation

Abstract

Purpose:In developing countries such as South Africa, many organisations are reliant on information and communication technology (ICT) to provide accurate, relevant and timely information. For organisations to obtain and sustain a competitive advantage, ICT systems are constantly implemented, upgraded, modified or replaced. These initiatives are often managed as projects.While there is an increasing amount of both financial resources and effort being spent on ICT, these projects are not always delivered within the predetermined project constraints. This implies additional time to complete, as well as additional costs, as resources are not released in time to participate in other projects. It is therefore important to understand the factors that influence the outcome of South African ICT projects relative to their original constraints.Problem Investigated: The goal of this article is to determine the factors that influence South African ICT projects, taking into consideration the fact that most current published research on this topic was done within the context of a developed country such as the USA and Europe.Design and/or methodology: The outcomes of ICT projects in South Africa as well as the factors that influence them were determined through an extensive survey. An analysis was done on the factors together with a correlation between the main factors contributing to project outcomes. The purpose of this was to establish if a factor's presence or absence influenced the eventual outcome. Findings:The factors that contribute to a successful outcome are often outside the direct control of the project manager and tend to be complex in nature. One factor that does stand out is that the alignment of projects with business objectives influences their perceived success. Originality/Value:The benefits of this article are that it firstly provides a South African perspective of current ICT project management practices, and secondly, it highlights factors that influence project outcome. Organisations can use this information to improve their current practices. Conclusion:The value of the research results presented in this paper lies in the realisation that project success is not just determined by adherence to best practices or formal processes, but requires an environment and context conducive to business success.

Exploring Issues in Agile Requirements Engineering in the South African Software Industry

“…And yet 46% are neutral about the constraints that NFR put on software projects. These are all common problems in ARE and consistent with reasons for project failure such as handling change, customer involvement, and requirements definition defined by Sonnekus and Labuschagne (2003) and Labuschagne et al (2009).…”

“…Six of these principles mostly define collaboration and interaction between customers and software practitioners; consequently, one can deduce from the results that the two parties are very collaborative. Good collaboration is essentially one of the reasons influencing project success in South Africa (Sonnekus & Labuschagne, 2003;Labuschagne et al, 2009). The fourth objective sought to get software practitioners receptivity vis-à-vis dynamic requirements.…”

“…Figure 1 shows an average consistency in the software market value forecast in later years. Africa, 27% still represents a significant waste of financial resources, time and effort (Marnewick & Labuschagne, 2009). This significant waste is then corroborated by an empirical study conducted by De Wet and Visser (2013) who suggested that the success rate of completing software projects to specifications in South Africa is low.…”

“…In the software market in South Africa, 27% still represents a significant waste of financial resources, time and effort (Marnewick & Labuschagne, 2009). The success rate of completing software projects to specifications in this country is low (De Wet & Visser, 2013).…”

A Coherent Framework for Understanding the Success of an Information System Project

“…One of reasons why numerous studies [1][2][3] indicated that the IS project management is the immature discipline; it may because the performance of the projects still show its high failure rate [4]. As it was initiated by the Standish Group's report in the mid of 1990s, and the similar announcements were presented by numerous survey studies [5][6][7].…”