IT Project Management Maturity: A South African Perspective

Abstract

The success rate of IT projects remains questionable as do the benefits that an organization receive from any IT projects. The 2006 CHAOS report states that only one of the IT projects is a success and contribute to overall success of organization. A similar study was conducted in South Africa to determine how the IT project management maturity of an organization relates to the success rate of its IT projects. This paper is a continuance of the original study that was conducted in 2003. The goal is to determine if there was only improvement regarding the success rate of IT projects per se and if organizations have matured since the previous study. The importance of this continuing research is to monitor the state of IT projects versus project management maturity in South Africa. These results can be utilized to determine any shortcomings that need to be focused on. Through an extensive survey of over two hundred respondents, the success rate of IT projects was determined as well as the project maturity of organizations. The correlation is analysed, and based on the results, shortcomings are highlighted according to the nine knowledge areas of project management. By highlighting the areas of concern, organizations can put measures in place to improve these areas of concern to ensure a better IT project success rate.