ABSTRACT
Building responsive systems in today's demanding business environment creates many challenges, even for the most seasoned and sophisticated information management and technology (IM&T) organization. This chapter discusses the warning signs and symptoms of a high-risk systems integration project that goes awry. It discusses these problem systems terminally ill integration projects (TIIP). The stakes for systems integration are indeed high. No longer are errant integration projects just an IM&T technical issue or an internally embarrassing problem. TIIPs have very distinct qualities and many early warning signals. Unfortunately, many of these signals are subtle; if viewed individually, each on its own may not necessarily provide any alarms. In the context of a TIIP, project leadership is inappropriate when the leaders do not possess the necessary knowledge, empowerment, or technical and business skills to manage the integration process and resources assigned successfully.
