CHAOS Report

The CHAOS Report is a study based on The [[Standish Group]]’s CHAOS Research Project on IT project success rates and project management best practices. The study is often cited as the de facto authority on success rates of IT projects. It was started in 1994 and reported that only a startling low 16.2% of IT projects are successful. Successful projects are defined as meeting all the requirements of the project management [[iron triangle]]; on time, on budget and on scope. The CHAOS reports classifies projects into:

• success – the project was delivered on time, on budged and will all features.
• challenged – the project was eventually delivered but either over budget, not on time or not fully completed
• failure – nothing was delivered

In the 2006 report, the success rate had risen to 35% of IT projects. Jim Johnson, the founder and CEO of The Standish Group, cites that better project management techniques, iterative development and the dynamic deployment nature of the web are major factors in the increase in success rates. Note that the still nearly 2 out of 3 projects are not fully successful.

Additional Reading

http://www.sdtimes.com/content/article.aspx?ArticleID=30247