In organizations where project sponsors fulfill their responsibilities, the number of failed projects is decreased by at least five percent. In the same way that a doctor checks a patient's pulse, blood pressure, weight and reflexes, so do sponsors need to monitor the vital signs of their projects. Incredibly, few companies operate any kind of process to monitor the progress of their IT projects. Status of critical path. Milestone hit rate.
Deliverables hit rate.
Actual cost vs. estimated cost. Actual resources vs. estimated resources. Top seven risks. Competent monitoring of the vital signs of a project will decrease the failure rate by at least five percent. Following the latter steps will result in a minimum of 10 percent fewer failed projects.