Recover an IT project that has lost control

First establish the facts: what exists, what remains, why control is slipping and which options are viable.

Project health check — an independent assessment

A health check brings together information scattered across contracts, backlogs, reports, invoices, correspondence and people's knowledge. It goes beyond checking whether the schedule is red.

The assessment asks whether the project still serves its business goal and what completing the current scope will cost.

What I assess

• Which scope has been completed, demonstrated and accepted.
• Budget spent and outstanding commitments.
• The current completion date and cost forecast.
• Whether the backlog and schedule reflect reality.
• Decisions, dependencies and risks blocking progress.
• Whether scope changes were consciously approved.
• Whether quality and architecture support safe continuation.
• Whether the client provides decisions, data and resources on time.
• Whether the contract and pricing model support recovery.
• Whether the solution still has a business case.

The aim is not to assign blame automatically

Project crises rarely have a single cause. A vendor may underestimate while the client delays decisions and changes priorities. Unclear requirements can drive incorrect delivery, and late testing reveals problems only near the end.

The review identifies how the problem works and how to stop it. Accountability matters, but it should not replace an action plan.

Possible next steps

• Continue with clearer management and responsibilities.
• Recover through short phases with measurable outcomes.
• Reduce scope to the highest-value features.
• Split deployment into independent stages.
• Renegotiate schedule, budget or pricing model.
• Strengthen the team or change key roles.
• Prepare a controlled handover to another vendor.
• Stop if the cost of continuing outweighs the justified value.

A recovery plan must be short and testable

Another six-month schedule is not enough. A troubled project needs near-term checkpoints that show whether conditions are actually improving.

The plan should specify work for the next few weeks, outcomes, owners, decisions and conditions for further funding. If the first phase still shows no progress, the organisation must be able to change direction.

What you receive

• A factual picture of the project's current state.
• Problems, risks and their causes.
• Completion cost and date forecasts for the available options.
• A recommendation for next steps.
• An action plan for the coming weeks.
• Material for vendor and stakeholder discussions.
• An option for continued oversight of the recovery plan.