Project Management Industry Statistics and Trends

The average company completes only 37% of large Information Technology projects on time and only 42% on budget.
Business Week, September 1998

• A survey of 500 IT directors found that 76% had experience a major project failure at some point in their careers
Sequent Computer Systems, Inc., 1998

• Project failures due to lack of project management seem to be a cost of being in the IT business.
Sequent Computer Systems, Inc., 1998

• US firms spent over $250 billion on IT applications development in 1997, but over 31% of all IT projects were cancelled prior to completion. Of the completed projects, over 52% of them suffer significant cost overrun
The Standish Group

• A study of 300 large companies attempting to implement software or hardware development projects found that 65% of the organizations reported that their projects were grossly over budget, far behind schedule, and/or the technology was non-performing. Over half of the executives interviewed believed this state to be “normal”. They did not consider these numbers to be either surprising or particularly troubling.
Industry Week, August 18, 1997

• Top 8 Reasons Why Companies Outsource

1. Reduce and control operating costs
2. Improve company focus
3. Gain access to world class capabilities
4. Free internal resources for other purposes
5. Resources are not available internally
6. Function is difficult to manage or project is out of control
7. Make capital funds available
8. Share risks

The Outsourcing Institute, September, 1998