5 things guaranteed to push a government IT project over budget

So, what can be done to stop surprise costs cropping up in the course of an IT project? These 5 things are among the most common resource-draining pitfalls that affect government IT projects - and they can all be easily avoided.

Integration issues

The DNA of most government departments comprises traces of a raft of legacy IT projects, the input of numerous managers over a period of decades and a variety of different systems of varying degrees of suitability for their current purpose.

As such, any project that involves integrating something new with the existing infrastructure - which tends to be most projects - needs to do so in a way that ensures any issues are overcomes quickly and within the budget.

Liaison with third-parties

Those aforementioned legacy IT projects and other systems are likely to have their own technical support programmes. If integrating the new project requires liaison with these third-parties, that can take time and, consequently, money (particularly if said third-party isn’t feeling very cooperative).

Unexpected support costs

It is unrealistic to think that a large-scale government IT project can be brought on-board without any hiccups whatsoever; that nobody in the department will need additional support to help them grasp a particular aspect of the new technology.

If an appropriate level of support is not agreed before the project starts, this can cause costs to spiral.

Bug resolution

Similarly to support costs, you would have to be quite the optimist to think that a big government IT project won’t have at least the odd teething problem.

Again, there is a need to be realistic in advance of starting the project and make provisions for any bugs that need to be investigated and resolved later on.

RoI measurement

When an IT project goes smoothly, works exactly as needed and makes life easier for those it was intended to help, it is equally important to be able to prove that's the case. As such, consideration needs to be given to measuring return on investment.

Retro-fitting RoI measurement after the event can be time-consuming and costly, so this is another factor that needs to be managed early on.

At Tibus, we’ve established that these 5 things take government IT projects over budget. That’s why they’re all included in the costings we provide at the outset of any project.

There are no hidden fees or consultancy costs when you work with us for your web hosting or digital infrastructure project.