Abstract
M.Tech.
In this age of ever-increasing competition, organisations are facing unprecedented pressure to
meet the combined obligations of showing returns to shareholders, and staying ahead of the
competition. To meet these obligations, organisations have become increasingly dependent on
technology, as an enabler. This dependency suggests that technology projects have become
strategically more important than ever for organisations; yet the success of technology projects
remains questionable. Furthermore, organisations do not have simple mechanisms to allow them
to quickly and accurately trace the causes of IT project management failures. One of the causes
of project management failures is the inability and/or unwillingness of project managers to adhere
to project management best practices adopted by their organisations.
This research proposes a simple and repeatable model to help organisations determine whether
they are indeed following the project management best practices which they purport to follow.
The research methods consisted firstly of a wide review of relevant literature on auditing, project
management, and IT governance. Secondly, empirical data was collected and analysed. Thirdly,
modelling was used to develop a conceptual model for auditing IT project management.
The empirical study is based on a semi-structured interview, involving ten project managers in
charge of IT projects. The findings from this research confirm that project managers do not
adhere to project management best practices which they purport to follow. Consequently, this
dissertation concludes that IT project managers must adhere to best practices adopted by their
organisations, regardless of how impractical or inconvenient that may seem; the proposed model
for auditing IT project management helps them achieve just that.