Colo. Fights IT Project Failure

When it comes to IT projects frequently failing, Colorado is no exception. The state's troubled $223 million welfare benefit system is just one example.

But the state legislature is trying to do something about it, according to an article posted by the Rocky Mountain News. The Colorado Senate passed Senate Bill 254 abolishing the Colorado Commission on Information Management, which was compromised of lawmakers, private-sector experts and department heads who oversaw IT projects.

Taking over those duties will be the Colorado Governor's Office of Innovation and Technology, comprised of much of the same individuals: tech specialists and department heads, who will draw "on outside experts," according to the article. "The idea is for the governor's respected Chief Information Officer Michael Locatis to forge better collaboration and expertise-sharing among information technology teams now scattered across 20 agencies, said Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction," the newspaper reports. "An executive with strong private- and public-sector IT expertise, Locatis won praise as Denver's technology czar for forging the city's fragmented technology offices into a strong team."

The Rocky Mountain News quotes Buescher:

This is an effort to say: Let's get our very best minds together. Let's concentrate our effort. Let's make sure that when we do a new technology program that it's driven from within one department.

Is creating another office to oversee IT projects enterprisewide the answer for failed technology projects? Or is the key to IT project success a strong central leader? Or is it something else? Let us hear how you feel by clicking the "comment" link below.