Many companies pour significant capital into digital platforms and systems yet see little return. The issue is rarely a lack of ambition.
More often the root cause is mismanagement, which stems from the following:
- A mismatch between strategy and execution
- Poor planning
- A failure to understand that infrastructure has value only when it enables the organisation to manage its data well
So how do you manage IT infrastructure effectively?
You begin by recognising that infrastructure performance is directly linked to how well it processes, stores, connects and protects your data.
Next, you establish the critical don’ts of infrastructure and data management.
How poor infrastructure management impacts organisational performance
Across the UK and beyond, IT infrastructure commitments continue to rise.
Institutional funders increased allocations to infrastructure in 2024 in response to demand for stable long-term returns. Despite this appetite, many projects under-deliver.
A 2024 report by the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) reviewed major UK projects and found repeated failings including weak strategic direction, ineffective sponsorship, inefficient consenting and constrained supply chains.
Global studies show similar trends. Only 5% of large infrastructure projects are completed on time and on budget.
Most exceed their original budget by an average of 37% and overrun schedule by 53%.
When IT infrastructure is delivered late or over budget, the organisation loses the ability to use its data effectively. Efficiency gains, cost reductions, capacity improvements and competitive advantages depend on data that flows cleanly through the system.
If the infrastructure that moves and shapes that data is delayed or poorly executed, the returns are postponed or lost.
The result is capital tied up without return and ongoing operational friction because the organisation cannot access or use its data at the speed and quality the business needs.
Where businesses go wrong: common pitfalls
From our experience at Rio working with clients on IT infrastructure, data strategy and business development, these failures often stem from four key issues.
- Lack of clear business strategy
Boards often pursue infrastructure upgrades because they appear strategic without defining how these upgrades will improve data quality, data availability or data-driven decision making.
You cannot achieve better customer experience, faster product delivery, a lower cost base or stronger compliance without understanding the data outcomes you expect.
Without clarity, the project becomes an asset exercise instead of a data-led value creation initiative.
- Scope, design and requirement drift
Initial business cases for many infrastructure investments appear sound.
Once design begins, additional features, new use cases and broader data demands are added. Each addition increases complexity and redefines how data needs to be moved, integrated or secured.
Without firm control, small upgrades grow into major undertakings that add little improvement to data capability or business performance.
- Underestimating delivery complexity
Underestimating complexity is common because IT infrastructure exists to handle large volumes of interconnected data. The work rarely follows a simple linear path.
Even well-planned upgrades involve hidden data dependencies, legacy configurations, integration challenges and coordination across multiple teams.
What appears on paper as a simple task expands once real-world issues emerge such as undocumented systems, inconsistent data models and unaligned security requirements.
When complexity is underestimated, projects run late, risk increases and budgets inflate. The organisation accumulates technical debt, and its data remains fragmented or unreliable.
- Failure to align infrastructure to business operations
Infrastructure often sits outside the operational planning cycle.
IT rewrites or platform changes are framed as technical investments rather than enablers of better data flow, cleaner processes and improved governance.
As a result, they are managed in isolation from the operational teams that rely on the data the infrastructure delivers.
We see this most clearly when companies deploy new platforms but overlook the need to update processes, skills and governance.
The new system may be powerful, but the data that flows into it is unmanaged or misaligned. The investment remains under-used and fails to deliver its intended return.
Best practices for managing IT infrastructure effectively
If your board is planning a new infrastructure investment or reviewing past spend, we recommend the following guardrails.
- Define clear outcomes
Start with the data need not the technology. Identify the problem you are solving and the measurable data outcomes you expect. This includes accuracy, availability, latency and the decisions the data will support.
- Freeze scope early
Avoid uncontrolled expansion. Every new requirement must be assessed in terms of its data value. If it does not materially improve how the organisation manages, accesses or uses its data, it should not be included.
- Treat delivery as business transformation
Infrastructure improvements reshape how data flows across the organisation. Processes, skills and governance must adjust so that the data created and consumed by the new system is reliable and fully integrated into the business.
- Track value over time
Define data and business KPIs up front and measure performance continuously. This includes capacity, cost savings, risk reduction and improvements in decision making. If infrastructure is under-utilised or fails to improve data quality, intervene quickly.
Final thoughts on managing IT infrastructure
Infrastructure matters because it enables you to process, store and use data. Data is what enables superior performance, resilience and agility.
The right infrastructure enhances your ability to turn data into insight and growth. The wrong kind drains capital and slows progress.
The key to effective infrastructure management is to connect every investment to clear business and data outcomes.
Stop viewing infrastructure as discretionary IT spend and begin treating it as the foundation for better data management and stronger business performance.
To learn more about Rio’s data-first approach to infrastructure, and how we help our clients manage it more effectively click here.