The 12 Days of Benchmarking - Day 6
On-time project delivery
Yesterday we explored confidence in solution delivery and innovation.
Today we make that confidence measurable:
👉 How often do you actually deliver digital initiatives when you said you would?
Because reliability of delivery is one of the fastest ways to build - or lose - trust with the business.
What this metric is
On-time project delivery measures the percentage of digital technology initiatives delivered within their agreed timelines.
In simple terms:
Of all your digital initiatives, how many were delivered on time?
It includes projects, major enhancements, product increments, or any formally approved initiatives intended to deliver measurable business value.
Why it matters
Time matters.
In many businesses, timing is critical:
- systems must be ready for key periods.
- regulatory changes must be implemented on time
When delivery is consistently late, it creates:
- loss of confidence from stakeholders
- knock-on impacts to business operations
- increased costs and rework
- and pressure on operational teams
Consistent on-time delivery demonstrates:
- and strong delivery discipline
What good looks like in practice
Organisations that perform well in this area typically show:
- Realistic planning and commitments
- Delivery timelines are based on capacity and complexity, not optimism
- Strong delivery governance
- Clear oversight of priorities, risks, and dependencies
- Teams have the right skills and resources to deliver consistently
- Good coordination with operational work
- Project work and live service work are balanced effectively
- Appropriate delivery methods
- Agile, product, or project approaches are used depending on the type of work
Why projects are often late
When on-time delivery performance is low, the causes are usually familiar:
- Insufficient delivery capacity
Under-resourcing, skill gaps, or over-reliance on key individuals
- Unrealistic planning and shifting priorities
Commitments made without considering real constraints
- Scope creep and uncontrolled change
New requirements added without adjusting timelines or resources
- Weak project or product management capability
Lack of discipline in planning, tracking, and risk management
- Inflexible delivery approaches
Using rigid methods for work that requires more iterative or adaptive delivery
These are all highlighted as common drivers of poor performance in the PBM guidance.
How to improve it
If you want to improve on-time delivery performance:
1. Improve planning realism
Base delivery commitments on actual capacity, not best-case assumptions
2. Strengthen portfolio prioritisation
Focus on fewer, higher-value initiatives and avoid overloading teams
3. Control scope effectively
Ensure changes to scope are matched with changes to time or resources
4. Invest in delivery capability
Develop project, product, and delivery management skills across teams
5. Choose the right delivery model
Use the right approach for the work, whether that is PRINCE2, agile, or a hybrid model
A simple reflection
Look at your last 10 digital initiatives.
How many were delivered on time?
And if the answer is lower than you’d like…
👉 Is it a one-off issue… or a systemic pattern?
Take part in the benchmarking
The ITIL Performance Benchmarking Model helps you understand how reliably your organisation delivers digital change.
By contributing your data, you can:
- compare your delivery performance with peer organisations
- identify structural issues in planning, capacity, or governance
- and strengthen your delivery capability
👉 Take part in the PBM survey and contribute your data - ITIL Performance Benchmarking Survey 2026 Tomorrow’s focus:
On-budget project delivery - are you delivering digital initiatives within the budgets you commit to?
