Introduction Frankly sir, we're tired of bein., on the cutting edge of technology. guide is designed to help you and needed to improve or change the way they ur organization make good decisions gather and use information. Here at the Center when and how to invest in information for Technology in Government, we have worked technology(IT). Put another way, it will help on projects in human services, criminal justice, you avoid becoming one of the statistics that financial management, and environmental dominate reports on information technology protection, among others. investments The agencies weve worked with range in Reports on failure rates range from 50 to 80 size from enormous federal departments to percent and sometimes more Failures don't tiny towns, and everything in between. Their happen because people arent smart or trying goals focused on a wide variety of functions hard. But failures do happen every day-mostly including case management, direct citizen because people fail to realize and appreciate contacts, research and analysis, general the complexity of these decisions and the way administration, and regulatory affairs. Some they affect nearly every other aspect of an had many years of experience in using IT; organization 's work others were novices Failure is almost inevitable if decisions Regardless of their differences, every project about IT are hasty, unrealistic, or uninformed encountered similar basic challenges. Early To help you avoid this fate, we lead you conceptualizations of their problems were through the complex and challenging process often oversimplified. The influences of their of analyzing an information problem or larger organizational and political environments need-and its context. We help you identify, were underestimated. The ways in which evaluate, and choose possible solutions And current work would have to change were not through the of building onsidered. In those a solid business case for investing in yo the effort needed to identify how people and or ways of working were considered, estimates recommendations processes work now(and how they would have Everything in this guide is based on years to change) were vastly insufficient. Agencies of experience working with dozens of times hoped that " the right " technology government and nonprofit agencies that would solve almost any problem CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY IN GOVERNMENT: MAKING SMART IT CHOICESCENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY IN GOVERNMENT: MAKING SMART IT CHOICES Introduction 1 This guide is designed to help you and your organization make good decisions about when and how to invest in information technology (IT). Put another way, it will help you avoid becoming one of the statistics that dominate reports on information technology investments. Reports on failure rates range from 50 to 80 percent and sometimes more. Failures don’t happen because people aren’t smart or trying hard. But failures do happen every day—mostly because people fail to realize and appreciate the complexity of these decisions and the way they affect nearly every other aspect of an organization’s work. Failure is almost inevitable if decisions about IT are hasty, unrealistic, or uninformed. To help you avoid this fate, we lead you through the complex and challenging process of analyzing an information problem or need—and its context. We help you identify, evaluate, and choose possible solutions. And we guide you through the process of building a solid business case for investing in your recommendations. Everything in this guide is based on years of experience working with dozens of government and nonprofit agencies that needed to improve or change the way they gather and use information. Here at the Center for Technology in Government, we have worked on projects in human services, criminal justice, financial management, and environmental protection, among others. The agencies we’ve worked with range in size from enormous federal departments to tiny towns, and everything in between. Their goals focused on a wide variety of functions including case management, direct citizen contacts, research and analysis, general administration, and regulatory affairs. Some had many years of experience in using IT; others were novices. Regardless of their differences, every project encountered similar basic challenges. Early conceptualizations of their problems were often oversimplified. The influences of their larger organizational and political environments were underestimated. The ways in which current work would have to change were not fully considered. In those cases where new ways of working were considered, estimates of the effort needed to identify how people and processes work now (and how they would have to change) were vastly insufficient. Agencies sometimes hoped that “the right” technology would solve almost any problem