Understanding the Context of Large-Scale IT Project Failures

Problem Context And Research Base

The empirical grounding for this work comes from examination of IT modernization efforts at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) spanning a period of over thirty years. Using archival analysis techniques we examined documents from a variety of sources both inside and outside the IRS while adhering to guidelines for gathering historical evidence.³ Primary source material included over 750 historical documents, including audits, reports, memos, project documentation, media documents, congressional testimony, as well as previous academic studies. Photographs of operations provided contextual artifacts of the operational conditions within the agency at different points in time. After completion of the archival analysis, our findings were reviewed and refined through a small number of confirmatory interviews with individuals familiar with the relevant IRS projects and public sector IT project management.