Brighton backs Clasquin on this, and has an additional observation."Project management is a tactical activity," he says."It takes discipline, perseverance and hard work. Saying that is all you need, though, is like saying Â'to win a race you need to move your legs up and down a lot'. Nothing beats experience, especially the bad kind. I'm currently in my fourth financial system implementation. This one will be the first to be on time and on budget without compromising the design to achieve it. Three failures make for valuable if painful experience."

As Mason notes, this is true not just for the individual project manager but for the uber-project manager - the CIO."Good CIOs must apply a fair dose of entrepreneurial as well as business acumen on top of their technology management practice," he says."A CIO cannot just be another name for the CFO. The understanding, the logic of the CIO needs to be much broader for the business to receive most benefit. The CIO of today must be an all-rounder, he needs a broad range of management skills and experience.

"Today's CIO is like any CEO - if he [or she] hasn't failed at least once, he [or she] won't be able to recognise the signals that tell him or her that things are on or off the rails until it is too late," Mason says.

SIDEBAR: Mission Accomplished

Keys to executing against strategy

• Clear understanding of the business model and strategy
• IT strategy that supports the business vision and strategy
• Defined and measurable outcomes
• Skilled staff
• Metrics tracked throughout the program
• Appropriate budget
• Board support
• Seasoned project managers
• Realistic expectations
• Effective communications
• End-user buy-in