Abstract:

Despite of the huge investments in information technology (IT), IT project success rates are unsatisfactory, and still remain very low.  This issue has been investigated by many researchers all over the world to identify the critical success factors. However, there is no universal agreement on which factors are significant to success.
This paper presents an exploratory study of the main factors that affect IT projects success in public organizations in Saudi Arabia from chief information officers’ (CIOs) perceptive. A qualitative approach using semi-structured interview method was used to collect and analyze the data. Interviews were conducted with CIOs to gather their opinions about the IT projects success factors.

The findings of the study proposed seventeen factors that may have effect on IT projects success. Conflict of interest, knowledge management, rewards & recognition, top management stability and project management office (PMO) have been collected from the interviewees. Top management support and commitment, strategic planning, project management, process management, project team competency, IT infrastructure, change management, risk management, communication management, training & education, supplier management, stakeholder management have been collected from the literature and confirmed by the interviewees.