A study of one of the key issues in the design and development of IT systems: the fact that the bulk of system development projects undertaken will fail to meet originally defined objectives. Using a number of case studies, the book analyses the reasons for this poor performance and provides readers with a pattern of well-defined failure mechanisms which are especially relevant to large, long-term projects. With these established, it then generates a set of planning procedures and corporate guidelines which will substantially reduce the impact and probability of financial and performance disasters in future projects.