Business Intelligence Network - The Vision for BI and Beyond

One hospital's project implementation runs up against a hard deadline, leaving the testing phase incomplete. Another hospital's project is dropped in the face of massive organizational change. A county's project flounders after a shift in the political power structure, while an apparel manufacturer's project collapses because there's no budget for training.

The common thread connecting these failures is lack of due diligence, the fourth in what I consider the seven deadly sins of project management. Here are the elements that support due diligence and help keep projects on track.

Respecting Hard Deadlines. Most business operations are driven by very real deadlines (business cycles), which if breached result in significant interruptions, unhappy customers, disgruntled employees or a drop in revenues. For IT managers, the immutable principle to follow here is this: Never implement a project that results in major operational changes in the midst of an important business cycle.