IT Management Slideshow: Dirty Dozen: Inside 12 IT Disasters

Learning from your mistakes is good. Learning from others' mistakes is even better. We looked at 12 major IT failures to learn more about how and why they happened.

Each example is unique, but they all have something in common: a chain reaction of pain that rippled through the entire business or organization. Whatever the specifics, breakdowns within the IT organization are rarely contained. They can lose a business customers, they can cause lawsuits, and in some instances they can even shut a business down.