Why IT Transformations Fail

This is volume 1 of 137. (Just kidding.) But the reasons why IT Transformations fail are as numerous as grains of sands on the beach. In this article, I will cover some of the more common reasons why IT Transformations fail and also provide some guidance on how to avoid the major pitfalls.

In a previous article (Finding a Transformation Partner), I discussed how companies chose a Transformation Partner. But what causes companies to decide to transform? It is almost always an external event: (i.e. regulation, competition, new leadership) that triggers a transformation, but no matter what the cause, all Transformations have the same basic premise:

• WHAT needs to change
• WHY the change is necessary
• WHO is impacted by the change
• WHEN is the change complete

So, what are some of the common reasons IT Transformations fail?

SUCCESS IS A SHARED VISION

One of the first reasons is lack of a common shared vision. This vision should include the business objectives, desired end state, and how this change will improve the business. Often a leader has clear and concise vision of the change required, but is not able to articulate it to the rest of the organization. Communications between the leader and the troops gets lost in the middle layers ...

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About the Author
John Palinkas is a Principal Consultant at CastlePointe, a management consulting firm specializing in leading IT transformation efforts. He has spent over two decades in the IT services industry working with industry leaders AT&T, AT&T Solutions and British Telecom. He has led numerous multi-million dollar, multi-year outsourcing and service delivery engagements for dozens of Fortune 500 firms during his career. He has extensive experience and expertise in IT transformation efforts, outsourcing analysis, M&A integrations and service implementations. Prior to his customer-facing work, Mr. Palinkas spent many years running internal infrastructure operations and serving in senior technical management roles within AT&T.

About CastlePointe
Headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, CastlePointe is a premier provider of strategic IT consulting services to Fortune 2000 firms. Uniquely focused on leading its clients through successful IT transformation initiatives, CastlePointe operates nationally from offices in California, New Jersey and Tennessee. Using our proprietary DeepRoots™ methodology, we help large IT organizations reduce costs, improve service levels, drive efficiency and build operational scalability. To learn more about CastlePointe, please visit us at www.castlepointe.com.