IT Implementation Failure

I've been around for quite some time throughout my career as a management consultant, and I've been involved with companies and organizations that implemented IT systems to support their operations.

And I've seen them fail miserably.

Just think about it : An organization spent hundred thousands of dollars to purchase and install a high-tech IT system to improve their manufacturing and supply chain operations. But in the end they suffer, generally from being unable to utilize it as they expected it in the beginning of the project.

See, this is the main problem of IT implementation : A radical change of mindset, work systems and management control systems is mandatory, which needs a thorough change management program to lead all the people towards the desired change of behaviors . . . and this is what IT implementors don't have in their protocols and methodologies. At least here in Indonesia.

What IT implementors need is to integrate people development programs in their methodologies, which involves - among others - change management. We cannot simply install a new system and setup training sessions to teach people HOW to use it, we also need to lead the people to WANT to use it appropriately. We need a plan to make people LOVE to use the system, which then lead them to utilize it and improve it.

We need to change people's mindset so that they FULLY TRUST the system.

Let me give an example : In one of the Productivity Improvement Projects that I'm involved in, there was this organization that installed a hundred-thousand-dollar Supply Chain Management software that was supposed to simplify access to up-to-date data, like, it should help a manager to find out today's production output from a specific production line at specific time and location. But in reality, they still need to go down and check it on the production floor where the WIP was placed. The problem lies on the admin at the production floor who was too lazy to make the input 30 minutes before the shift ends. Oh, the admin DID input the data into the system, but he didn't seem to see the benefit of the system. The organization had tried many ways to make the admin do his job at the designated time, but failed every time. Or maybe they succeeded and the admin DID do his job at the designated time, but the manager still can't believe it and keep checking it on the production floor, or through a manual report generated and sent by the supervisor.

The problem is that they didn't involve change management in their IT implementation, that is, to shape the people's ways of thinking to make them see the benefit of the new system. And that's just one among many things that need to be changed in order to make people want to use the system, like changing people's behavior from doing their paperwork manually to doing it through a computerized system, make people committed to follow the new instructions that's not there before, etc.

It's people we are dealing with. You can simply install softwares to our PCs and expect them to work as expected, given that all compatibility checklist is all green. But with people, it's a whole different story.