Benefits of information system projects: The tale of two countries

• Benefits realisation of IS projects has not yet reached maturity within organisations. Although organisations are familiar with benefits management, the organisations in this study are not fully implementing the entire benefits management process when applied to IS projects.
• The way and manner that benefits are managed in Dutch and South African organisations does not differ. By implication it means that organisational or country culture does not necessary play a role in the way that benefits are managed.
• The realisation of benefits should become part of an extended project life cycle. This extended life cycle should improve adherence to the realisation of benefits.
• Governance controls as prescribed by COBIT for an example, are not incorporated into IS projects and leaves room for organisations not to adhere to basic governance controls which require the realisation of benefits.

International results emphasise that information systems (IS) projects fail at an alarming rate and do not contribute to the strategy of the organisation. The results also indicate that there is a shift in how IS project success is measured, i.e. towards benefits realisation. This raises the concern whether organisations understand the notion of benefits management. Secondly, does benefits management have an impact on the success rates of IS projects and ultimately the success of the organisation itself? Organisations within the Netherlands and South Africa were targeted to benchmark the benefits management process employed by the organisations against best practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted within 33 organisations and the interviewees expressed their views on the adoption of the benefits management process. The results indicate that although organisations are aware of and are implementing benefits management best practices, there is still a notion not to relate the delivered benefits back to the promised benefits within the business case. Benefits management also plays a role within individual projects and not just within programme management. Organisations can reap more benefits from IS projects when benefits are stipulated up front and are managed throughout the project/programme life cycle. Enhancing benefits realisation implies that the return on investment improves and that organisations ultimately are successful and sustainable.