Hollywood Secrets of Project Management Success

Floating Over the Numbers

Separate, independent studies indicate that today the typical IT project still overruns its budget by about 43 percent.^[16] Studies by four prominent research firms show that only around 20 percent of all IT projects ever finish within budget.^[17] Another survey surmises that a third of IT projects carried out in the private sector run between 10 and 20 percent over the original budget.^[18]

These numbers confirm that the IT world has a difficult time keeping its projects on budget. Why? There are many reasons, many of which are addressed in this book. Here’s an obvious one: Project management in many IT shops just doesn’t pay that much attention to the budget. Yes, project managers are frequently seen carrying their schedules ...