7 early warning signs of a dying IT project

The Y2K date conversion was one of the longest IT projects on record. Given the extended timeline and massive amount of resources dedicated to that project, the only reason it survived to completion was the absolute necessity to change all date formats so they wouldn’t clock out systems at the end of the last century.

In other words, enterprises’ Y2K projects succeeded because of their urgency. Everyone knew what was at stake and why the project took so long.

Other IT projects aren’t like that. If projects start to lag, or if enthusiasm wanes, it’s time for CIOs and project managers to check in. Could it be that you’re working on a dying project?

The cost of a failed project is significant. Whether it’s a gen AI initiative, software project, or large-scale digital transformation, IT projects continue to fail at alarming rates. Knowing when to recover a failing project is a key skill IT leaders must develop. Like a sixth sense. And sometimes pulling the plug is the best course forward.

There are many reasons why projects that were once enthusiastically endorsed begin to falter. Here are several key red flags that could indiciate your IT project is one of them.

Your vendor shows signs of pulling back on investments

You’re working on a set of proprietary reports for a vendor-based system, and you’re utilizing vendor tools to build these reports. As the project proceeds, you notice that the vendor begins to slow down delivery on its fixes and enhancements. The vendor’s software release cycles get longer. You even hear that there might be impending layoffs at the vendor.

These are project danger signs because you’re depending on the vendor’s tools and platform for the project. If activity seems to be slowly dying at the vendor, it might signal a similar death knell for your project.

Keeping a pulse on your key vendors’ investment appetites is essential for knowing how your IT initiatives will fare for the long — and sometimes short — haul.

Users turn to your project platform less often

You’re making a substantial enhancement to an in-house system, but you notice that user usage has steadily fallen off over the past few months. Could it be a sign that the users don’t find this system as valuable as they used to? It’s time to talk things over with your users.

Tracking usage metrics and establishing collaborative relationships with your user base to better ascertain their needs and interests are two keys ways to keep apprised of flagging user interest.

Project deadlines keep getting renegotiated

Your project starts out with a bang and users and IT are excited and engaged, but three months in, the project sponsor knocks on your door and asks whether the project deadline can be pushed back because other urgencies have come up and staff needs to shift elsewhere. The sponsor assures you that everyone still supports the project, so you push the timeline back. But just as the project is scheduled to restart, the sponsor comes to you again and asks for another project delay. Could it be that once-high project enthusiasm is losing altitude?

Learn to read the signs of potential business stakeholder disinterest and work to transform stakeholders into project partners to ensure at-risk projects can be righted or a mutual decision to shelve the project can be arrived at without disrupting other IT priorities or draining more time, budget, and resources.

Budgetary funding is reduced or gets deferred

In the last budget process, everyone was so excited about the project that you received all the funding you asked for. Now, during a new budget session, the CEO and CFO request scaling back some of that initial project funding, or at least defer it until the company is in a better financial position to pursue it.

Belt tightening is understandable in every business environment, but if project belt tightening requests occur two quarters in a row, it’s time to question the viability of the project.

Establishing a strong relationship with your CFO can be helpful, as can ensuring you manage your project budget well.

Project champions leave

One or more of the superuser, project manager, or technical guru behind a project decide to leave the company for other employment, so the project takes a hit in the champions who originally promoted and sold it to management. No one is left onboard who can fill these empty shoes, making it a prime time to gauge the ongoing health of the project to see whether it still has a future.

Of course, employee retention efforts can help here, as can knowing the most common reasons top talent leaves.

Management changes unfold at your vendor or company

If a key company or vendor manager leaves who initially was highly supportive of your project, it’s time to see whether that project support will stay intact.

In the vendor area, management changes happen most often when companies merge or are acquired. In these cases, the vendor software that your project is built on might even be ticketed for retirement.

In your own organization, when a key business sponsor leaves and a new manager comes in, the new person might have their own ideas on which products or software they want to use — and it might not include your project. The best approach is to ask these parties directly if they still support your project. Vendor management best practices can also help in the event of outside dependencies changing.

Business direction changes

Your company wants to move to an omnichannel sales platform where customers can interact seamlessly with the company, whether online, over the phone, or at a physical retail store, so you start an IT integration project that will integrate all these sale channels. But as the project progresses, the company experiences extreme and unanticipated market pressures. The executive leadership team concludes that the company must change direction and get its online sales outlet running right away — even if it can’t be integrated. What does this portend for your all-channel integration project? It’s time to find out.

While such changes can’t always be anticipated, establishing strong relationship with other key executives can help surface early warning signs and worthwhile conversations for necessary pivots.

Almost 30 years ago, the Harvard Business Review opined, “Strategy renders choices about what not to do as important as choices about what to do.” Technologies and project approaches have substantially changed since then, but the age-old adage still holds.

When a project suddenly starts getting stuck in the mud when it was smooth going before, or when business or environmental conditions change so dramatically that a project’s future is in question, it’s time to step back to consider viability — and to ask this same viability question of project stakeholders. An open and candid dialogue will either renew, defer, or cancel a project, but at least you’ll obtain consensus and a clear strategic direction.