{"id":4414,"date":"2015-05-12T20:43:03","date_gmt":"2015-05-12T20:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multiacademstg.wpengine.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2015\/05\/12\/how-to-use-itil-to-avoid-50-of-it-project-failures\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T08:27:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T08:27:35","slug":"how-to-use-itil-to-avoid-50-of-it-project-failures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2015\/05\/12\/how-to-use-itil-to-avoid-50-of-it-project-failures\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use ITIL to avoid 50% of IT project failures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s no secret that IT projects fail. What can\u2019t be agreed upon is by which percentage. Many years ago, when I entered the Project Management world, I was told that as many as half of all IT project fail. Maybe there were not that many surveys at that time, so the assumption was more subjective, but it\u2019s for sure that IT projects (and their Project Managers) have been watched carefully.<\/p>\n<p>Has anything changed? Well, the percentage of failed projects now varies between 20% and 50%, and there are more Project Management methodologies, but the bottom line is still the same \u2013 IT projects fail. Being involved in Project Management for years, as well as in IT Service Management (ITSM) based on <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/what-is-itil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ITIL<\/a>, I\u2019ve noticed that there are many things that could be used for successful Project Management.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">Behind the scenes<\/h2>\n<p>Arguing about possible reasons why IT projects fail could result in writing a book. And, new ones come up almost on a daily basis. If you take a better look at your projects \u2013 I\u2019m sure you will detect dozens of possible sources of project failure.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of thinking of them as possible sources of failure, let\u2019s see what challenges Project Managers face along the way:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Technology related<\/strong> \u2013 Technology expands in rapid steps. Sometimes it\u2019s hard to follow and once you master it\u2026 here comes something new. Even projects implementing the same service can use a completely different technological solution.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Capability related<\/strong> \u2013 As technology grows, so do expectations of the project results. And that puts an additional load on the Project Manager. He has to be \u201cMr. Everything.\u201d He doesn\u2019t go into the details, but must be informed, and able to answer all requirements, which usually spread throughout vast comprehensive technological solutions. That\u2019s hard even for the professionals in IT, let alone the Project Manager (who is not necessarily an IT expert).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Time related<\/strong> \u2013 If you would ask managers (who approve IT projects) what is their first concern regarding IT projects, the majority would say \u2013 time. I see two main reasons here: managers have bad experiences regarding projects being (un)finished on time, and time constraints are set too short (at least from the project manager\u2019s point of view).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, many challenges arise that are potential sources of project failure, but ITIL (and ISO 20000) have many useful resources for Project Managers.<br \/>\n<div id=\"middle-banner\" class=\"banner-shortcode\"><\/div><script>loadMiddleBanner();<\/script><br \/>\n<div id=\"side-banner-trigger\" class=\"banner-shortcode\"><\/div><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">What is the fit?<\/h2>\n<p>First of all, IT Service Managers are benefiting from usage of Project Management throughout the service lifecycle (i.e., <a href=\"\/20000academy\/knowledgebase\/itil-service-strategy-itsm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Service Strategy<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2013\/06\/25\/service-design-itil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Service Design<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2013\/06\/11\/service-transition-itil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Service Transition<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2013\/05\/27\/service-operation-itil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Service Operation<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2013\/04\/09\/itil-continual-service-improvement-never-ending-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Continual Service Improvement<\/a>). You can find a few examples in my previous article <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2015\/03\/31\/itil-and-iso-20000-what-does-project-management-have-to-do-with-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ITIL and ISO 20000 \u2013 What does Project Management have to do with it?<\/a>. But, value goes in the opposite direction as well. So, what use can Project Managers get from ITIL?<\/p>\n<p>ITIL follows the service lifecycle, which might sound like a \u201cbig picture\u201d view. But, if you take a closer look, you will notice that there are many details in processes and function that are in the scope of ITIL. And that\u2019s the gain for a Project Manager. ITIL defines the service lifecycle, which starts from strategic decision, requirement definitions, design, and then to implementation and improvement. Most of the Project Management methodologies have some kind of initiation, plan, execute, and monitor\/control phase. How do they fit together? Let\u2019s see.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Initiation<\/strong> \u2013 This is a setup phase where you have to charter the project. The Project Manager can use Financial Management, Service Portfolio Management, and Strategy Management for IT Services, as well as general principles of ITSM based on ITIL (e.g., identify stakeholders like users, clients or processes and functions).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Plan<\/strong> \u2013 In this phase scope, <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=relationship-and-agreement-processes&amp;doc=service-level-requirements\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">requirements<\/a>, project plan, and <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/documentation\/risk-assessment-and-treatment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">risks<\/a>\u00a0are defined. In ITIL vocabulary this is the place where the value created by the service will be defined. Value is defined through utility (\u201cwhat\u201d does the service do, i.e., its requirements) and warranty (\u201chow\u201d the service is delivered). Activities during this phase will gain from ITIL Service Design processes like Service Capacity, Service Availability, Information Security Management, etc.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Execute<\/strong> \u2013 This phase is the most visible phase of the project. This is where a product or service becomes real. ITIL can help with Service Transition processes. I have to point out \u2013 I think that in this phase there are some very important processes to the whole lifecycle like the Service Asset and Configuration Management process, Knowledge Management process, and Release and Deployment Management process. This is where most of the job is done and where most of the knowledge is created (and, hopefully, captured).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Monitor\/Control<\/strong> \u2013 Last, but not least, here you will control the scope of the project as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=supply-demand-processes&amp;doc=budgeting-and-controlling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">costs<\/a>, quality, risks, and (very important) <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=service-design-build-and-transition-processes&amp;doc=request-for-change-and-change-record\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">changes<\/a>. While talking about the change, it\u2019s important to distinguish between Project Change and Request for Change or change in general from ITIL. None of them has greater\/lower importance, but they are equally important. And, if you skip one of them \u2013 an important aspect of the project is missing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-52314\" style=\"padding-top: 5px;\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/05\/Usage_of_ITIL_for_Project_Management_purposes.png\" alt=\"Usage of ITIL for Project Management purposes\" width=\"648\" height=\"77\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><em>Usage of ITIL for Project Management purposes<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">Does ITIL compete or complement Project Management?<\/h2>\n<p>Both Project Management and ITIL are important for an organization to lower the percentage of failed projects. But, the trick is that none of them alone is enough for the Project Manager to \u201csleep peacefully.\u201d Quite the contrary; both methodologies are valuable, but that value can multiply (note: not simply add) when used together.<\/p>\n<p>And one more logical question \u2013 While using Project Management methodology together with ITIL, can you skip something that the methodology requires (and catch up with ITIL)? No, I don\u2019t think so. It\u2019s because Project Management methodologies and ITIL are not replacements for one another, but they do complement each other. Seen in the real world, they complement each other \u2013 very well!<\/p>\n<p><em>To implement ISO 20000 easily and efficiently, use our<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ISO 20000 Documentation Toolkit<\/a> <em>that provides step-by-step guidance for full ISO 20000 compliance.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s no secret that IT projects fail. What can\u2019t be agreed upon is by which percentage. Many years ago, when I entered the Project Management world, I was told that as many as half of all IT project fail. Maybe there were not that many surveys at that time, so the assumption was more subjective, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":4415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[351,344,379,204,380],"class_list":["post-4414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-change-management","tag-itil","tag-project-management","tag-service","tag-strategy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4414"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18473,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4414\/revisions\/18473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}