Why do Software Implementation projects fail to deliver the desired results?

To define failure, we must understand the reasons for implementation and the problems that are going to get solved. The reasons can be defined as success factors of the project and are finalized during the project initiation phase. 

 According to a report, two of the three technology implementation programs exceed initial budget, miss schedule estimates, and fail to deliver against the desired objectives and benefits.

 Some of the common reasons for failure of the projects are unclear objectives, ineffective change management, poor team capabilities, vendor deficiencies, excessive customization, wrong choice of technology or poor decision making. The diverse range of challenges makes the implementation project complex.

 The following pointers might help to avoid the common pitfalls.

Alignment to Overall Company Goals

This is a top-down approach, wherein, the company tries to bring in digitalization in various initiatives to improve delivery of goods and services to customers. The goals can lead to either an increase in revenue or increase in profitability or might have an impact on both. Some projects might be related to compliance.

Involvement of Senior Leadership and Stakeholders

All the initiatives should be driven top-down, failure to do so will lead to poor adoption. Also, identification of key stakeholders who will benefit from the adoption will improve effectiveness of roll out. Strategies such as alignment of goals of stakeholders can be incorporated to drive success of adoption and improve effectiveness of rollout.

Communication Between Stakeholders

Effective communication brings all stakeholders on the same page. Also, the senior leadership should clearly communicate the large picture about the need of the initiative and clearly lay out the benefits.

This helps in ironing out the issues and challenges, so that timely corrective action is taken. The communication should not only be held at the beginning but should be carried out throughout the execution of the project to ensure constant stakeholder engagement.

Early Engagement with Stakeholders

The sooner the stakeholders are apprised of the initiative, the better will be the effectiveness of the roll out. Requirement gathering surveys to bring out the issues and pain areas in the current systems and bake them up as requirements for the new system. This will also help in capturing the requirements effectively. Also, doing so will help in change management, as end users are aware of the changes in their ways of working in future.

Investment in Training and Change Management

Proper training and effective change management practices help drive adoption of the software and help the company derive benefits from its investment. The company can identify power users and follow a ‘train the trainer’ approach so that a larger set of users can be trained. Training can be imparted through live sessions, recorded videos, documents, or FAQs. Training sessions at regular frequency should be planned with multiple cohorts for effective adoption.

Setting up Governance Model

Governance is the blueprint for executing the project. It provides a framework for the project management team to take result-oriented decisions that align with the larger organization’s goals and policies. It helps in defining the rules, policies and processes that need to be adhered to during the entire cycle of project execution from initiation to closure to post implementation support.

Standardized Workflow

Workflow is step by step procedure that needs to be followed to carry out a task. Now, there are two ways to go about it. Either ask the vendor to customize according to your requirement. This approach will save time in change management but may increase the cost of software implementation. The other approach is to configure the OOTB solution and rely on the best practices in the industry. This will save cost and implementation time but increase effort in change management.

Following the above-mentioned practices and more can help organizations succeed in their software implementation journey. Managing a series of trade-offs, adopting the right methodologies, adhering to a well-defined strategy can help organizations in achieving their goals.