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The distinction between "projects" (PMBoK) and "operations" (ITIL) varies somewhat from one organization to the next, but in practice they are distinct, and the two sets of processes coexist very well within many organizations.

fe a t u r e a r t i c l e Timothy IijimaO rganizations spend a disproportionate share of their IT budgets on "projects"-primarily, systems implementations. Because of their scale and their impact to company operations, the risk of these IT projects is significant. Nonetheless, oversight by external and internal audit tends to be cursory. In this article we will explore the risks and implications of IT projects, the nature and limitations of current IT project oversight programs, the profile of leading-edge oversight programs, and practical oversight steps companies can consider.

Large IT projects at companies generally underperform expectations—they either are delivered late, come in over budget, or fail to deliver their expected benefits. Studies reveal that there is no single driving factor for these failures, and no single “magic bullet” solution. But are many projects doomed from the start to underperform expectations—because the expectations were inappropriately set? This article focuses on this key element—the setting of expectations in the form of a formal business case. The author discusses five key points of failure in IT business cases, why they occur, and how they can be avoided. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Large IT projects at companies generally underperform expectations—they either are delivered late, come in over budget, or fail to deliver their expected benefits. Studies reveal that there is no single driving factor for these failures, and no single “magic bullet” solution. But are many projects doomed from the start to underperform expectations—because the expectations were inappropriately set? This article focuses on this key element—the setting of expectations in the form of a formal business case. The author discusses five key points of failure in IT business cases, why they occur, and how they can be avoided. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.