Eight characteristics of a successful IT project

How often have we seen in the media that 60% to 70% of IT projects fail?  What can we do to make them successful?

You'll have greater success with your IT projects if they exhibit these characteristics:

• a clear committed sponsor - a project sponsor has to be fully engaged in the project, be available throughout, make timely decisions, approve changes to scope, timetable or resources, and mobilize resources when required.
• a clear business case - a presentation on the reasons for a project including the strategic fit, an analysis of alternatives, a cost-benefit analysis, identify risks, and a justification of the proposed solution.
• a well-constructed project charter - this includes such items as the project purpose and description, goals, project scope, deliverables, schedule, milestones, budget estimate, change management process, team roles, success metrics, and more.
• a communications plan  - all successful projects have a clear communications plan.  Identify who needs to be notified of what and when.
• a change control process - all projects experience hiccups and you need to manage these unexpected changes in a clear, expeditious fashion with sign-off by the project sponsor. 
• project summaries - regular communications to all stakeholders on the project status.
• issues log - a detailed, managed list of all issues arising during the project and how they get solved.
• an effective post-implementation follow-up including lessons learned - after the project is completed, follow-up is required to ensure the project's stated objectives were met.  Be sure to document what was learned from this project so you can apply these lessons to future projects.

Furthermore, many organizations have implemented a Project Management Office (PMO) - a centralized office for keeping projects within scope, schedule and budget, that also ensures integration of business goals through the creation and enforcement of project management and IT governance policies and procedures. The PMO should help in achieving successful projects.

Question: in your organization does the Project Management Office just monitor IT-related projects or does it oversee all projects including business-related projects?