An exploratory study of ICT projects failure in emerging markets

Information and communication technology (ICT) projects still suffer from high failure rates, especially in emerging markets. This paper investigates existing trends and influencing factors for this failure in such a context, using a representative sample of organizations in Saudi Arabia (SA). To this end, two sources of data collection are used, a corporate survey on local and multinational organizations working in SA including a qualitative analysis of the participants’ answers, and archival data of a real-world case study of a challenging software project. The management/organization factors including lack of planning, resistance to change, misunderstanding user requirements, government regulations, poor business process reengineering, and lack of training were found to be the key indicators that influence ICT project failures. However, technical factors (e.g. redesign required for government compliance such as the use of the Hijri calendar) and financial reasons tend to have reduced influence because of extensive government subsidization in such countries. To generalize our findings, we compare and discuss our results with another Middle Eastern market. The comparison found that the lack of planning is the most important factor of failure between the two countries. The results may also apply to other emerging markets.