Why media discontinuity sabotages the digital project twin—and makes projects unnecessarily expensive

The digital project twin is in place - but the connection is missing

The digital project twin is the key to modern project management:
A central, up-to-date image of the project that makes deadlines, progress, deviations and decisions transparent.

In theory.

In practice, it often looks like this:

• Deadlines in Excel

• Progress reports by e-mail

• Defects in PDFs

• Decisions in meetings

• Status reports assembled manually

The project twin exists - but it is fragmented.
And this is where the problems begin.

Media disruptions: the invisible saboteur in project management

Media disruptions occur wherever information is

• is transferred manually

• is maintained twice

• is not linked to one another

• arrives with a time delay

Excel, e-mail and individual tools are not "stopgap solutions" - they are
they are active risk drivers.

This is because they prevent a project from being managed digitally.

Why Excel & email undermine the project twin

A digital project twin thrives on interrelationships:

• Task ↔ Deadline

• Deadline ↔ Progress

• Progress ↔ Costs

• Deviation ↔ Measure

Media breaks sever precisely these connections.

Typical effects:

• Progress is reported but not categorized

• Deviations are visible, but without context

• Effects on subsequent work remain hidden

• Decisions are based on partial information

The project twin becomes a data graveyard instead of a control instrument.

The true cost of a lack of consistency

Media disruptions don't just cost time - they cost money, trust and the ability to control.

In concrete terms, this means

• More coordination loops

• Later escalations

• Higher documentation costs

• Wrong decisions due to outdated data

• Lack of transparency towards clients

This quickly adds up, especially in large projects:

Weeks of delay.
Six-figure additional costs.
Constant stress for project managers.

Consistency is not an IT issue - it's a management issue

Digital consistency does not mean:

"We have lots of tools."

It means:

• A central project logic

• A consistent flow of data

• A shared understanding of the project status

• One source of truth

Only then can a project twin deliver what it promises:
Control instead of explain.

What constitutes true digital consistency

A consistent project management system:

• logically links all project objects with each other

• automatically updates statuses from the work

• Avoids manual transfers

• Makes effects immediately visible

• Replaces Excel shadow worlds

The project status is then not created in reporting -
but directly in the project.

What project managers gain from this

With digital consistency:

✔️ Less coordination effort

✔️ clear basis for decision-making

✔️ reliable statements on the project status

✔️ More time for management instead of administration

✔️ fewer "surprises"

In other words:

The project twin works for you - not against you.

Conclusion: Media disruptions are no small matter - they are a risk

As long as Excel, emails and individual solutions dominate day-to-day project work, the digital project twin will remain fragmented.

Only digital consistency makes it possible:

• up-to-date

• trustworthy

• controllable

And therefore what project managers really need:
a tool that makes complexity manageable.

👉 In the next article, we will take a look at why manual progress reports systematically distort projects - and how digital project management prevents this.