[14] 2006 - project management for modern information systems

7/28/2019 [14] 2006 - Project Management for Modern Information Systems

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i

Project Management

for Modern

Information Systems

Dan Brandon, PhD, PMPChristian Brothers University, USA

IRM Press

Publisher of innovative scholarly and professional

information technology titles in the cyberage

Hershey London Melbourne Singapore

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ii

Acquisitions Editor: Michelle Potter

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Copyright 2006 by Idea Group Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,

stored or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

without written permission from the publisher.

Product or company names used in this book are for identification purposes only. Inclusion of thenames of the products or companies does not indicate a claim of ownership by IGI of the trademark

or registered trademark.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brandon, Dan, 1946-

Project management for modern information systems / Dan Brandon.

p. cm.

Summary: "This book describes and illustrates practices, procedures, methods, and tools for IT project

management that address project success for modern times"--Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-59140-694-3 (softcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 1-59140-695-1 (ebook : alk. paper)

1. Project management. 2. Management information systems. I. Title.

HD69.P75.B733 2005

004'.068'4--dc22

2005022459

ISBN (hardcover) 1-59140-693-5

British Cataloguing in Publication Data

A Cataloguing in Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.

All work contributed to this book is new, previously-unpublished material. The views expressed in this

book are those of the authors, but not necessarily of the publisher.

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iii

This book is dedicated to my family, who had to settle for less of my attention

during the writing of this book, but who, nonetheless, enthusiastically sup-

ported me; specifically to my father and mother, Dan and Shirley, who in-

stilled in me the principles and ethics that have guided my life, and to my

children, Madison and Victoria, whose presence are my greatest blessing.

Dedication

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iv

Project Management

for Modern

Information Systems

Table of Contents

Preface ........................................................................................................................viii

Acknowledgment ......................................................................................................... xii

Chapter I

Todays IT Environment ................................................................................................. 1

The Information Revolution ................................................................................. 2

Better, Cheaper, Faster ......................................................................................... 4

Teamed-Based Workplaces ................................................................................. 6

Projects and Project Management........................................................................ 9

The Project Manager .......................................................................................... 11

IT Project Management ...................................................................................... 13

Chapter II

Critical Success Factors for IT Projects .................................................................... 18

Definition of Success ......................................................................................... 18

Completion and Satisfaction Criteria .................................................................. 19

Generalization of Success Factors for IT............................................................ 20

Managing for Success ....................................................................................... 24

Chapter III

Project Selection and Initiation .................................................................................. 29Organizational Planning ..................................................................................... 29

Project Initiation ................................................................................................. 31

Project Proposals ............................................................................................... 32

Project Business Plan ......................................................................................... 34

Financial Evaluation and Selection Methods ..................................................... 35

Decision Trees ................................................................................................... 37

Project Scoring Methods ................................................................................... 42

Project Stage Gates ............................................................................................ 45

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v

Chapter IV

The Project Management Discipline .......................................................................... 48

Project Management Organizations ................................................................... 48

Project Management Institute ............................................................................ 50Project Management Body of Knowledge ......................................................... 50

Chapter V

The Software Engineering Discipline ........................................................................ 59

Software Engineering vs. Project Management ................................................. 59

Software Development Lifecycle Methodology................................................. 60

Management Stage Gates .................................................................................. 65

SDLC Variations and Alternatives ..................................................................... 66

Development Acceleration ................................................................................. 71

Modern SDLC Implementations ......................................................................... 74

Object-Oriented Software ................................................................................... 79

Software Reuse .................................................................................................. 85

Software Engineering Institute ........................................................................... 88

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ................................................ 92

Other Software Standards Organizations ........................................................... 94

Chapter VI

Project Overall Planning ............................................................................................ 98

The Project Charter ............................................................................................ 98

The Project Master Plan ................................................................................... 100

Project Calendars and Fiscal Periods ............................................................... 100

Kickoff Meeting ............................................................................................... 104

Scope Management ......................................................................................... 106

Requirements Analysis .................................................................................... 109

Chapter VII

Developing the Schedule and Cost Plan .................................................................... 120

Detail Project Planning ..................................................................................... 121

Developing the Work Breakdown Structure .................................................... 122

Task Estimation ................................................................................................ 133

Task Sequencing and The Critical Path ........................................................... 143

Scheduling ....................................................................................................... 147

Resource Assignment and Costing Methods .................................................. 150

Developing the Cost Plan ................................................................................ 152

Chapter VIII

Risk Planning and Management............................................................................... 157

Project Risks and Opportunities....................................................................... 157

Risk Identification ............................................................................................ 160

Risk Quantification ........................................................................................... 166

Risk Response Development ........................................................................... 169

Risk Plan Example ............................................................................................. 175

Risk Response Control ..................................................................................... 179

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vi

Chapter IX

Project Execution and Control .................................................................................. 183

The Control Process......................................................................................... 183

What to Control ............................................................................................... 185Measurement of Completion Factors ............................................................... 186

Measurement of Satisfaction Factors .............................................................. 191

Measuring and Reporting ................................................................................ 193

Stage Gate Implementation............................................................................... 195

Corrective Actions ........................................................................................... 197

Chapter X

Managing Quality ..................................................................................................... 202

Quality Management ........................................................................................ 202

Quality Planning............................................................................................... 204

Quality Assurance ........................................................................................... 208

Quality Control ................................................................................................. 209

Software Testing .............................................................................................. 212

Quality Stage Gates .......................................................................................... 220

Quality Programs.............................................................................................. 223

Software Development Standards .................................................................... 227

Chapter XI

Change and Closeout Management ........................................................................... 234

Project Changes ............................................................................................... 234

Establishing a Change Control System ............................................................ 236

Version Control ................................................................................................ 239

Configuration Control ...................................................................................... 240Scope Creep ..................................................................................................... 241

Project Closeout ............................................................................................... 243

Chapter XII

Procurement and Outsourcing ................................................................................. 248

Procurement ..................................................................................................... 248

Procurement Planning ...................................................................................... 251

Solicitation Planning ........................................................................................ 253

Solicitation ....................................................................................................... 255

Source Selection............................................................................................... 255

Contract Administration and Closeout ............................................................ 257

SEI SA-CMM .................................................................................................. 257Outsourcing ..................................................................................................... 258

Chapter XIII

Stakeholder Management ......................................................................................... 274

Stakeholder Identification and Analysis .......................................................... 274

Communication Management .......................................................................... 278

Organizational Context ..................................................................................... 286

Human Resource Management ........................................................................ 291

Managing the Project Team ............................................................................. 297

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vii

Chapter XIV

Performance Reporting and Earned Value Analysis ................................................ 309

Traditional Performance Reporting .................................................................. 310

Earned Value Analysis ..................................................................................... 316Effective Implementation of EVA ..................................................................... 322

Progress Reporting .......................................................................................... 324

Actual Cost Data.............................................................................................. 327

Other EVA Issues ............................................................................................ 331

EVA, Success Factors, and Stage Gates .......................................................... 333

Chapter XV

Software Systems for Project Management ............................................................. 338

Spreadsheets .................................................................................................... 338

General Project Management Software ............................................................ 343

Open Source Software...................................................................................... 345

The FiveAndDime System ............................................................................... 348

Chapter XVI

Managing Multiple Projects ..................................................................................... 351

The Project Management Office....................................................................... 352

Portfolio Management...................................................................................... 357

Knowledge Management ................................................................................. 365

Lessons Learned .............................................................................................. 367

Standard Forms and Templates ........................................................................ 372

Global Projects ................................................................................................. 372

The PMO Portal ............................................................................................... 374

Project Management Maturity ......................................................................... 376Project Management and Strategic Planning ................................................... 378

Glossary and Acronyms ............................................................................................ 385

About the Author ....................................................................................................... 405

Index ........................................................................................................................ 407

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viii

Preface

In the past, the formal discipline of project management was applied primarily to very

large projects lasting several years and costing millions of dollars; this was as true for

information technology (IT) projects as it was for other industries. Furthermore in the

20th century, project management methods were largely based upon command and

control techniques. These techniques evolved from ancient military regimes and dic-

tatorial governments, where relatively few educated people directed large numbers of

uneducated people. Some industries are still that way, but many companies and most IT

organizations are evolving into team- and project-based environments using knowl-

edge workers, independent contractors, and, perhaps, various forms of outsourcing.Competitive advantage today is increasingly based upon knowledge assets instead of

upon the traditional assets of land, labor, and capital. In addition there is now a separa-

tion of work from workplace, and operations may be performed on a global scale.

To be successful in our IT projects (and most IT projects are still not successful), it is

imperative that we apply formal project management methods and tools to all IT project-

based work. Also the formal methods and tools of project management need to evolve

to address the changes in modern software engineering and our high-tech global work-

places. In the past, project success was defined too narrowly as simply meeting time

and cost constraints for a given scope of work. However, in order for an IT project to be

completely successful, that basic definition of success needs to be extended. This

extension is particular with regard to product quality, stakeholder satisfaction, security,

organizational human capital, and long-term factors such as maintainability and adapt-

ability. With that extended definition of success, management techniques and tools can

be extended or otherwise modified to be more effective.

This book describes and illustrates practices, methods, and tools for IT project man-

agement that address this extended definition of project success for modern times. As

such, this book is directed to IT project managers, those IT personnel aspiring to

become project managers, and also to experienced IT personnel who wish to learn of

new project management concepts, methods, and tools. This book is also designed for

use as a textbook or reference in graduate or upper-level undergraduate university

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ix

programs in IT or project management. Throughout the book, a number of IT project

management standard forms are presented and a number of spreadsheet models are

also developed. An open source general Web-based project management software sys-

tem (FiveAndDime) is used to illustrate many of the methods and applications dis-cussed in the book. An appendix of the book contains a glossary of the IT project

management and software engineering terms and acronyms used.

Chapter I introduces and defines a project, project management, the project manager,

and project stakeholders. These management concepts are discussed relative to our

modern IT dominated world and in context with todays information revolution and to

the business and technical forces that drive this revolution. The distinctions of IT

project management as compared to general project management are also identified

here.

Chapter II introduces the concept of project critical success factors. A key factor

leading to the continued failure in IT projects is the lack of identification and apprecia-

tion for all the major components of project success. Critical success factors are thosethings that must be done or handled properly for a project to be successful. A compre-

hensive model of critical success factors for IT projects permits the development of

better management plans, processes, and metrics particularly for risk, quality, and per-

formance control. In this chapter, general critical IT success factors are identified and

techniques for the management of those factors are introduced. The notion of a dual

stage gate process for the comprehensive and effective management of these success

factors is also introduced in this chapter; later chapters define metrics and control

methods for these success factors using dual stage gating.

Chapter III discusses project initiation and selection. The careful selection of which

projects to initiate is vital to the success of an organization. Project initiation repre-

sents a future commitment of both human and financial resources as well as of manage-ment attention. In this chapter, methods for the proper selection and initiation of projects

are discussed with regard to overall organizational goals and business justification. In

this chapter, project initiation and the processes and documents involved with project

evaluation from a business perspective are discussed and illustrated. Standard forms

for the project proposal and project business plan are presented. (Later, Chapter VI

continues with the life of a project after an organization has committed to perform said

project.)

Chapters IV and V discuss project management and software engineering from a disci-

plinary perspective, as these concepts and terms are used throughout the remainder of

this book. A number of worldwide professional organizations have been developed to

foster the project management discipline, and these organizations and their bodies of

knowledge are presented in Chapter V.

Although software engineering is not a formal part of project management, it is vital for

the proper planning of IT projects. Even for IT projects that primarily involve software

acquisition and integration instead of software development, the software engineering

embedded in the products that are acquired will significantly affect long-term project

success factors. In Chapter V, modern software engineering and its relation to IT project

management is discussed. Key challenges to software engineering in the 21 st century

are presented as well as how software engineering together with project management

can address those challenges.

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x

Chapter VI formalizes overall project planning and requirements analysis. Getting off to

a fast start in the right direction is important in any endeavor, and overall planning and

requirements are two of the most important aspects of IT project management. Standard

forms are presented for the project charter, overall project plan, software managementplan, and requirements document. The process of IT requirements discovery and docu-

mentation is formalized and illustrated. Once a complete and clear set of requirements

has been documented and approved by all relevant stakeholders, detail project plan-

ning can begin; such detail planning is covered in the following chapters.

Chapter VII is concerned with detail project planning, particularly the schedule and

cost plan. In this chapter, the formulation of a detail schedule and cost plan is dis-

cussed and illustrated. WBS formulation, task sequencing, task estimation, scheduling,

and costing methods are all covered. The detail scope, time, and cost planning of this

chapter forms the basis for other detail plansincluding the risk plan, procurement

plan, HR plan, quality plan, control plan, and change plandescribed in subsequent

chapters.Success in the modern business world involves taking some risk. All the systems that

are really changing the world today are very risky systems, but one needs to know how

to manage risk, including how to identify risk sources, quantify risk parameters, and

develop plans to handle risks; these are the topics covered in Chapter VIII. The total

project risk-management process is described and illustrated and standard forms are

developed for an IT risk-management plan. A framework based upon critical success

factors for analyzing project risk threats and hazards is also presented.

Once a project is planned and underway, the project manager cannot simply walk away

and assume that everything will go according to plan. In Chapter IX, project perfor-

mance control metrics and techniques are defined and discussed. Performance metrics

for each critical success factor are identified and illustrated. Standard forms for statusreports and stage gate reviews are presented. Corrective actions to bring a project back

in compliance with the plan are also identified and discussed.

As a project proceeds, quality is often the most difficult area to keep on track. Chapter

X discusses the many quality aspects of project management, and project success

factors are used as the basis for key quality metrics. A quality management plan for IT

projects includes both verification and validation, and such a plan is presented here.

Other important quality topics are also discussed in this chapter, including the many

types and methods of software testing, software development standards, and quality

organizations and programs. Standard forms for quality standards and quality stage

gates are included here.

Change is a fact of life for most projects, particularly IT projects. A major cause of ITproject overruns is changes in scope. Change can be good or bad, but change is

expected, and change has to be managed. Chapter XI is concerned with the overall IT

change management process, including version control and configuration control.

Project closeout and related topics such as lessons learned are also included and illus-

trated. Standard forms for change control plans, change orders, and project closeout are

presented in this chapter.

Many IT projects involve the purchasing of goods or services, and some IT projects

are mostly procurement activities, at least from a cost perspective. With the increase in

IT outsourcing and outsourcing offshore, there is an increasing need for very formal

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xi

procurement management, and that overall management process is the subject of Chap-

ter XII. This chapter covers general project procurement and the formal procedures and

documents used in procurements such as the statement of work, request for proposal,

and contracts. The different types of procurement documents are discussed and whichtypes are used in which situations and with what types of contracts. In particular for IT

projects the subject of outsourcing is also covered in detail.

The identification and management of a projects stakeholders is vital to the complete

success of a project. Often, well-planned and properly executed projects can still fail

due to a lack of relationships or inappropriate relationships between the project man-

ager and various stakeholders. Chapter XIII discusses matters related to the human

side of project management including stakeholder relations, communications, team

management, and security. Standard forms are presented for the project communica-

tions plan, human resources plan, and security plan.

Traditional methods of progress performance reporting are often inaccurate and mis-

leading. Earned value analysis (EVA) has proven to be an extremely effective tool forproject time and cost management, providing good estimates of actual project comple-

tion cost and date. EVA is also is a good early indicator of project problem areas, so that

appropriate corrective action can be initiated. In Chapter XIV, EVA is defined, dis-

cussed, and illustrated in detail. EVA is one of the key metrics in the management-for-

success philosophy that is developed in this book via critical success factors and dual

stage gates. EVA is often difficult to implement effectively and can have a number of

problem areas. However, this chapter identifies the EVA problem areas and their practi-

cal solutions.

There is a vast amount of project management software available today in a wide vari-

ety of capabilities, applicability, platform requirements, and prices. These software

products significantly enhance a PMs job of managing a project in almost all aspectsincluding selection, planning, scheduling, execution, control, risk, communications,

and so forth. Therefore, PMs should be aware of the types of tools available and the

features and applicability of those tools. In Chapter XV, types of software products and

some specific products are identified and discussed, including spreadsheet models and

open source software.

Management of IT projects and being on an IT project team used to be simpler. PMs

typically had one project to manage and team members were only on one team. All the

team members were located in close geographic proximity, and the work was all done at

the workplace. Today, however, the project landscape has become much more complex,

where everyone is concerned, with multiple projects and teams spread out all over the

world. The business needs of cutting costs to the bone and being quicker to market

have increased the pressures on project teams and their managers. Chapter XVI dis-

cusses modern ways that organizations can effectively deal with these complexities,

including the use of project management offices (PMOs), project portfolio optimization,

knowledge management, project dashboards, and PMO portals. Chapter XVI also dis-

cusses project management from a strategic perspective.

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xii

My sincere thanks and appreciation goes out to the many individuals both in

the academic world and in the commercial sector who discussed various book

topics with me. My particular appreciation goes to those who helped review

the content and style of the book: Jonathan Pierce at Computer Science Corpo-

ration; Richard Flaig at the NASA Stennis Space Center; Professors Frank

Marion, James Aflaki, and Larry Schmitt, all at Christian Brothers University;

and communication specialist Diane Brandon.

Acknowledgment

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Todays IT Environment 1

Copyright 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written

permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.

Chapter I

Todays

IT Environment

A competitive advantage comes only with superior IT.

(Aetna Healthcare Chairman/CEO Richard Huber)

In the last few years, information technology (IT) has significantly impacted the

operation of most businesses, and even though most corporations still spend only 3%

to 8% of their revenue on IT, businesses depend upon IT for their day-to-day operations.

For many businesses, IT is a, if notthe, key factor in their competitive strategy. Due to

IT, we have all experienced many changes, some good some bad, in our personal lives.

In fact, probably not since the industrial revolution have people all over the world

experienced such dramatic life-style changes. One is reminded of the opening sentencefromA Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens: It was the best of times, it was the worst

of times. Dickens was referring to the French Revolution, but in the 21st century we are

well into the IT Revolution. In regard to project management, there are two IT related

matters: the utilization of IT in managing all types of projects and the management of IT

projects. Before we further discuss these project management matters in this modern IT

dominated world, we need to consider the technical and business forces that are shaping

this new environment.

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2 Brandon



The Information Revolution

According to the RAND organization (Hundley, 2004),

Advances in information technology are affecting most segments of business, society,

and governments today in many if not most regions of the world. The changes that IT

is bringing about in various aspects of life are often collectively called the information

revolution.

The current IT revolution is not the first of its kind. Historians and nations may debate

the exact time and place of previous information revolutions, but they are as follows:

Invention of writing, first in Mesopotamia or China, around 3000 BC

Invention of the written book in China or Greece, around 1000 BC

Gutenbergs printing press and engraving, around AD 1450

Major revolutions help some people and some organizations, and, therefore, for them it

is the best of times; but revolutions also hurt some people and organizations, and for

them it is the worst of times. With big revolutions, there always will be big winners and

big losers. As an example, when the printing press was invented, the largest occupation

in Europe was the hand copying of books in thousands of monasteries, each of which

was home to hundreds of monks; 50 years later, the monks had been completely

displaced. The impact to society was enormous, not because of the displacement ofmonks by other craftsmen and machines, but because the price of books dropped so

drastically that common men could now afford to educate themselves.

For many, this new IT revolution is bringing great things with unprecedented improve-

ments in the quality and efficiency of all we do as organizations and as individuals. For

others, however, IT is a two-edged sword, bringing about many problems, disturbances,

and unresolved issues. A great digital divide is being created, and this divide has three

dimensions: income, age, and education. This divide will further separate the haves from

the have-nots as manufacturing operations move to lesser developed countries, where

over 1 billion low-paid workers will be available in a few years. In the future, for developed

countries, workers may be divided into InfoWorkers and McWorkers. In addition IT

security and privacy problems are getting out of control, as evidenced by computer

viruses, worms, e-mail fraud and spam, compromise of personal and private digital

information, spyware, piracy of intellectual property, ID theft, hacking, and other

computer crimes. Today, there are major and numerous security holes in most software

that corporations and individuals use every day.

The most important technology of this information revolution has to be the Internet,

which is the combination of several underlying technologies. Consider the penetration

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rate (in the time to reach 50 million users) of recent milestone information technologies

compared to the Internet:

It took the telephone 40 years to reach 50 million users.

It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users.

It took cable TV 10 years to reach 50 million users.

It only took the Internet only 5 years to reach 50 million users!

The Internet and related technologies are, however, beginning to cause significant

industrial disruptions:

Internet shopping is disrupting traditional sales channels for hard goods.

Internet sharing and distribution is disrupting traditional intellectual property

rights and sales of soft goods (print, audio, video, multimedia).

Voice Over IP combined with ultra-high-speed optical and wireless media will start

to disrupt traditional telecommunications.

Open source software with community online support will start to disrupt the

traditional software marketplace.

Separation of work from workplace will disrupt corporate and personal real estate

and related business sectors.

As national barriers (political, physical, economic, and temporal) are removed,

massive globalization will allow the free flow of both work and product.

The need for retraining and lifetime learning, coupled with distance education, istransforming the traditional higher education landscape.

The process and results of these disruptions has been called creative destruction by

the RAND corporation, and this results in the economic eclipse of organizations not

embracing the new IT world. Traditional mechanisms of government (i.e., jurisdiction,

taxation, regulation, permits, and licenses, etc.) will also significantly be disrupted in

response to these other disruptions, as will the insurance and finance industries.

Likewise this process of creative disruption will result in the career destruction of

managers (including project managers) not embracing modern IT.

In his essay on this modern information revolution, business guru Peter Drucker (2004)

noted, This revolution will surely engulf all major institutions of modern society, and

[t]his revolution will force us to redefine what the business enterprise actually isthe

creation of value and wealth.

Furthermore, he questioned whether management is prepared for the full impact of this

revolution, and he saw no sign of it at that time.

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4 Brandon



Better, Cheaper, Faster

The battle cry of the 1990s, what with the advent of client-server technology to replacemainframes, was

Better!

Cheaper!

Faster!

These themes are still dominant in the 21st century. That battle cry continues from the

board room down through the management chain, because these themes are the crux of

market positioning (quality, cost, and time to market), as illustrated in Figure 1.1.

To produce better and cheaper products or services and get them to market quicker

requires better, cheaper, faster processes, as is illustrated in Figure 1.2. In todays world,

information systems play a key role and an ever-increasing role in the overall process of

producing and delivering products or providing services. Today, almost every aspect

in the design, creation, delivery, and support of products or services depends strongly

on IT.

As Tom Cruise said in the movie Top Gun (Paramount Pictures, 1986), I feel a need, a

need for speed. Upper management emphasizes that need for speed to IT project

managers and software development teams. Many managers and technologists see

speed as a solution to the problem illustrated in Figure 1.3. The world is changing so fast

that, by the time we develop an IT solution for a business problem, the shape of that

problem has changed.

Newer and faster project management and software engineering methods can address a

portion of this problem. Speed, however, is not the only way to address the problem

shown in Figure 1.3 (as this book will show). Compounding the problem is the fact that

too many in IT and general management have though that better-cheaper-faster pro-

cesses are obtained primarily by better-cheaper-faster people. Thus management meth-

ods as exporting work to cheaper locations, importing cheaper workers, or dismissing (or

buying out) older workers have become common. Another management misconception

is that better and faster is obtained by using better and faster tools; but better-faster tools

without better practices and methods simply allow one to build the wrong product even

faster.

A basic premise of this book is that the best long-term solution to better-cheaper-fasterIT products and services involves a number of modern project management and software

engineering practices and methods that can be collectively called IT project manage-

ment maturity. Three important basic project management and software engineering

themes are embodied in this maturity model:

1. Do it right the first time

2. Do only manageable portions at a time

3. Do it in a reusable and adaptable manner

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This method is illustrated in Figure 1.4, and each of these components will be discussed

later in this book.

The project management processes, practices, and methods that are the key to this IT

maturity model are based upon critical success factors. All too often in IT, project and

line management do not allocate enough time to do the project work right the first time,

but later they are forced to find the time and resources to do it over again. Completing

Figure 1.1. Marketing dimensions

Figure 1.2. Products and processes

Figure 1.3. Changing shape of IT problems

Product

or Service

Quality Cost

Time To

Market

Better Cheaper

Faster

Better,

Cheaper, Faster

Better,

Cheaper, Faster

Requires

ProcessesProducts

Business

Problem

Business

Problem

Business

Problem

Business

Problem

Requirements Design Development Solution

Solution Domain

Problem Domain

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6 Brandon



IT projects successfully the first time requires the identification and understanding of

all the critical success factors of such projects. Once these factors are itemized and fully

appreciated, then effective management and technical methods and metrics can be

formulated for project performance, risk, and quality control.

Theoretically and statistically, project success probability decreases as the size of an IT

project grows. Many factors, such as the interaction of project stakeholders and the

interaction of technical components, increase in complexity in ratio to the square of the

number of such items. Therefore, subdividing large IT projects into smaller parts

decreases complexity and thus increases the likelihood of success; however, this

subdivision needs to be consistent with the metrics and methods to monitor and control

all identified critical success factors. In the next chapter, critical success factors for IT

projects are identified and defined and, in later chapters, effective management and

technical techniques for the measurement and control of these factors are presented.

Teamed-Based Workplaces

In the 20th century, management methods were largely based upon command and

control techniques. These techniques evolved from ancient autocratic societies and

military environments in which relatively few educated people lead large numbers of

uneducated people. Management structures were developed to take much detailed

information and to summarize that information up through a number of middle manage-

Figure 1.4. IT Project management maturity

Manageable

Scope(Requirements

and Phasing)

IT Project

Appropriate

MethodologyOO

Architecture

Standards(embedded and

enforcable)

SoftwareEngineering

Maturity

Success FactorBased Project

Management

Quality

Program(TQM,QFD, ISO

9000, Six Sigma)

Business

Justification

Security

Program

(project andproduct)

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ment levels so that decisions could be made in regard to different scopes and time

horizons. Several management levels were formed at each of the business operational,

tactical, and strategic decision points.

Today, however, in developed countries, management structures have changed and

evolved due to a number of factors. One is that the economies of developed countries

continue to shift from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. Another factor

is that most corporate workers have become knowledge workers, where a computer or

computer interface is an integral part of their job. And the other major factor is that IT is

used extensively to gather and summarize the information flow from the point of origin to

the eventual decision maker; IT is now often part of the decision process itself through

decision support systems.

This evolution of management structures has resulted in a reduction of the number of

middle management layers and the creation of team-based work at the lower levels. It used

to be that a corporate organization chart might have management positions for supervi-

sors (or foremen), unit managers, section managers, department managers, divisionmanagers, directors, and vice presidents. In a modern organization, there are much fewer

levels, such as team leader (or project manager), director, and vice president (or CIO).

Teams are given not only the work assignment(s) but also are given the responsibility

(at least partially) for the work results. Management used to monitor employee perfor-

mance by observing work activity and work results, hence the old expressionMBWA

(managing by walking around). But in the team environment, it is becoming the respon-

sibility of teammates to observe work activity and the team leader to monitorwork

results. This creation of teams at the lower levels of the organization has proven very

effective for maximizing employee performance, and where the nature of the work is the

completion of projects, the team leader is called the project manager (PM).

IT has also shown that productivity is not necessarily related to proximity and, thus, workis being separated from the workplace. Many knowledge workers can do much of their

work from places other that the company facility including working from home, or while

traveling, or while at a customer or vendor location. In many cases, IT has made it possible

for an individual to work for an organization and live anywhere.

Due to the tearing down of national barriers, the work of many companies and individuals

is now on a global scale. Furthermore, IT has permitted the team based workplace to be

extended to a global scale by the facilitation of virtual teams using electronic communi-

cation and collaboration tools such as e-mail, interactive Web sites with electronic forms,

chat rooms, bulletin boards, instant messaging, and other forms of groupware. Even

business processes, both intracorporate and intercorporate, have become Web-enabled.

Virtual teams may be assembled quickly with the right mix of skills to address a particular

problem or project, and then they may be disassembled just as quickly when the job is

done. It is not atypical for an individual to be a part of many virtual teams simultaneously.

In a virtual environment, managers only monitor work results and the old concept of

managing work activity has almost disappeared. This does not mean that managers no

longer interact with their staff, it is just that the mode of interaction has often become

digital instead of face to face.

Some organizations have gone a step further and created the virtual organization, in

which extensive use of IT is used to create an extremely flexible team- and project- based

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organization, which may need no physical facilities at all. A related concept is embedded

in the term virtual corporation, which refers to a business strategy for allying comple-

mentary businesses via IT into a symbiotic network and allowing them to respond to

customers as a single entity. The complete integration of IT into the work and virtualworkplace is creating a number of strategies that include the word (or synonym) instant

(Pearlson & Saunders, 2004, pp. 76-77):

Instant Value Alignment: Understanding the customer so well that the customers

needs are anticipated.

Instant Learning: Building learning directly into each employees work process

and/or schedule (just in time training).

Instant Involvement: Using IT to communicate all needed information to vendors,

employees, and so forth (just in time inventory and supply chain automation).

Instant Adaptation: Creating an environment enabling all teams to act instantly andto make timely decisions.

Instant Execution: Designing business processes so that they have as few people

involved as possible and reduce cycle times so that these processes appear to

execute instantly.

To successfully function in this new IT-enabled instant world and workplace, managers

must adapt and obtain the necessary knowledge and skills. Several years ago, The

Gartner Group researched this topic, and their list of these management skills follow

(York, 1999):

Understand project management

Manage for results

Speak the language of business

Improvise with grace and harmony

Understand IT processes and business processes

Make informed business decisions quickly

Know how and when to measure performance

Cultivate an environment of risk tolerance

Communicate clearly, appropriately, and relentlessly

Computerworld also investigated this topic and called the new breed of IT team leaders

business technologists and listed their ideal characteristics as (Brandel, 2001):

Business and financial acumen

Understand tension between budget, operations, capital, expense, and head

count

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Sensitivity to all the dimensions that influence a project

Both written and oral communication skills

An understanding of relationship management Project planning skills

Performance monitoring skills

An understanding of the value of coaching

A customer focused approach

In the preceding lists, those items that specifically deal with project management (as

opposed to management in general) have been italicized; however, all these traits are

necessary for effective project managers.

Projects and Project Management

Aprojectis defined as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or

service (PMI, 2000). A project is undertaken when work is best accomplished through

methods that fundamentally differ from those of everyday operations. A list of the key

characteristics of a project can further clarify that definition:

Temporary endeavor with a beginning and an end

Often broken into subprojects (or phases) Creates a unique product or service

Done for a purpose

Has interrelated activit ies (tasks)

Is an instrument of change

A project usually has certain aspects or key components which include project-related

management, a common vocabulary, project-related methods and tools, teamwork, a plan,

trade-offs (involving scope/deliverables, time, cost, and quality), identified require-

ments (needs) and unidentified requirements (wants or expectations), and stakeholders.

Thestakeholders involved with a project may be many and possibly diverse in several

respects including interests, needs, expectations, and priorities. Satisfying the stake-

holders is one of the key objectives of the project and the project manager. Key

stakeholders include the organization and people doing the work, who are called the

performing organization, and the people or organization benefiting from the work (and

also usually paying for the work), who are called the benefiting organization. These

two organizations may or may not belong to the same corporation. This is illustrated in

Figure 1.5. The benefiting organization, customer, and end user also may or may not be

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part of the same organization. The project manager is a key stakeholder, and this

individual is almost always part of the performing organization. Another key stakeholder

is the project sponsor (sometimes called the project champion), and this individual

usually initiates or formalizes the idea of the project. It is extremely helpful if a projecthas support from high up in an organization, and the project sponsor is often part of upper

management. Usually the project sponsor does not (and should not) play an active role

in the day-to-day management of the project. Other stakeholders (shown in the diagram

as S) may be in either organization or be external to both.

Project managementis the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to

the project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from

a project (PMI, 2000). It involves the planning, organization, monitoring, and control of

all aspects of a project and also the management, leadership, and motivation of all

involved parties to achieve the project objectives within agreed time, cost, quality,

safety, and performance criteria.

Project management in some form has existed for thousands of years, and it was likelyused in the construction of the wonders of the ancient world. Modern project manage-

ment, including the use of the engineering and management disciplines, started around

the turn of the 20th century. Around that time, managers of such projects faced pressure

from proponents of scientific management to organize in a centralized way and control

not just what was done but the details of how and when it was done (Yates, 2000). Henry

Gantt developed the Gantt Chart in World War I, and it was used in huge projects like

the construction of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s. IT project management appears to go

back to the 1950s, when the Critical Path Method (CPM) was developed by DuPont and

Remington Rand/Univac.

However, it is not always necessary to use formal project management methods for

important temporarily endeavors, and the British Computer Society (in the spirit of DavidLettermans Top Ten List) itemizes the top 10 reasons not to use such formality:

10. Our customers really love us, so they dont care if our products are late and dont

work.

9. I know there is a well-developed project management body of knowledge, but I cant

find it under this mess on my desk.

8. All our projects are easy, and they dont have cost, schedule, and technical risks

anyway.

7. Organizing to manage projects isnt compatible with our culture, and the last thing

we need around this place is change.

6. We arent smart enough to implement project management without stifling creativ-

ity and offending our technical geniuses.

5. We might have to understand our customers requirements and document a lot of

stuff, and that is such a bother.

4. Project management requires integrity and courage, so they would have to pay me

extra.

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3. Our bosses wont provide the support needed for project management; they want

us to get better results through magic.

2. Wed have to apply project management blindly to all projects regardless of size

and complexity, and that would be stupid.

1. We figure its more profitable to have 50% overruns than to spend 10% on project

management to fix them.

The Project Manager

The project manager (PM) is the leader of a team performing a project. The project

manager and his team must identify the stakeholders, determine their needs, and manage

and influence those needs to ensure a successful project. A key to stakeholdersatisfaction is the diligent and accurate analysis of the stakeholders themselves as well

as their stated needs and unstated expectations. A project manager should not just be

handed a statement of work from upper management and then try to complete it; rather

the PM should be deeply involved with the development of that statement of work. The

roles of a PM are many, some of which include the following:

Identifying the requirements and risks

Making plans and organizing the effort

Qualifying and possibly selecting project team, vendors, and other participants

Communication among team, management, stakeholders Assessing the probability of occurrence of problems

Developing solutions to problems (both in advance and on the spot)

Ensuring that progress occurs according to the plan

Deliverable management

Figure 1.5. Project stakeholders

Performing

Organization

Benefiting

Organization

S

S

Customer

End

User

S

S

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12 Brandon



Running meetings

Acquiring resources for the project

Influencing the organization Leading and team building

Negotiation (external and internal)

The many elements of a PMs work were expressed in the PMs Worldview, as shown

in Figure 1.6 (Cooke-Davies, 2004).

It is the role of the project team members to do their assigned duties, complete their

assigned tasks, and help each other. It is the role of upper management to define the goals

of the project, support the project, and protect it from disruptive influences. Other project

matters fall to the PM; thus, the prime role of the PM is as the integrator, communicator,

and problem solver for the project team, upper management, the customer, and all other

stakeholders. Project managers need a host of skills and knowledge of both business and

technical matters, and this is particularly true in IT. Computerworld states:

Shouldering project management responsibilities isnt for the average Joe or the

fainthearted. It requires people who have a relentless, or one might say obsessive-

compulsive, attention to detail. They must also be thick-skinned individuals, willing

to withstand verbal barbs, insults to their genealogy and possibly some old-fashioned

assault and battery from people tired of being prompted for their part of the project.

(Hall, 2004)

Its a tough job with long hours and stress that needs someone whos a cross betweena ballet dancer and a drill sergeant (Murch, 2000). A well-known story (but of unknown

origin) about PMs emphasizes their role:

A project manager, his chief software engineer, and lead network analyst were having

a lunchtime stroll in the woods when they happened on a small brass lamp. They picked

it up and rubbed it and a grateful genie appeared. When confronted with three of them,

the genie granted the traditional three wishes, but only one wish to each of them.

The eager analyst went first and requested a South Sea Island with sweet music, swaying

palm trees with a matching supply of lei-clad girls delivering endless Tequila Sunrises.

No problem said the Genie, and with a quick flash and a cloud of smoke, the analyst

disappeared.

Next came the software engineer, who merely wished to be locked in the sample room

of the Coors Brewery with a guarantee of a self-regenerating liver. No problem said

the Genie, and with a quick flash and a cloud of smoke the software engineer

disappeared.

Then came the project manager. No problem! he said. I want those other two back

at their desks by 1:15.

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IT Project Management

The evolution of flatter and team-based workplaces has progressed quicker and deeper

in IT organizations than in the general corporate world. In addition, IT project manage-

ment has some key differences and distinctions from project management in other fields.

Some of these differences have to do with visibility, and this aspect alone makes IT

projects more difficult that projects in other industries (McDonald, 2001). For example,

the scope is hard to seeone cannot count the bricks, and quality is hard to seeit is

not apparent if parts do not fit, do not work, cannot handle loads, cannot handle

extensions, and are not compliant with standards. Here are other major differences and

difficulties:

The major cost is labor with high degrees of specializations

There is a large difference in productivity rates of the human resources even in same

job category

There are multiple quality dimensions and criteria

Cost and time estimation is more complex

There are multiple architectures, methodologies, tools, et cetera, and these are

constantly changing

Projects have a high degree of complexity

Projects may effect the entire organization or beyond

Projects have a large amount of changes to requirements Projects usually have a high degree of significant risks, including

New features

New algorithms and methods

New languages, platforms, architectures, and supporting tools

New operating systems, telecommunications, interfaces

New technology in general

Measurement of return on investment (ROI) and other business metrics is difficult

There are often unrealistic goals and pressures placed upon project managers and

project teams to deliver software products better-cheaper-faster

Today, IT projects often involve many outside parties as consultants and vendors

Today, IT projects often involve offshore resources

Despite ongoing advances and innovations in project management, many projects fail;

in IT, most projects still do not succeed. The Standish Group has been performing a study

called CHAOS for about a decade. In 1994, their studyfound that only 16% of all ITprojects come in on time and within budget (Cafasso, 1994); projects that are completely

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14 Brandon



abandoned represent about 15% of the failures. The problem is so widespread that many

IT professionals accept project failure as inevitable (Cale, Curley, & Curley, 1987;

Hildebrand, 1998). In 2004, the IT project success rate in the CHAOS report was 28%,

down from 34% in 2003, and IT projects were getting more expensive (Hayes, 2004).

The failure rate goes up as the size of the IT project increases; projects over $10 million

have success rates of only 2%, projects between $3 and $10 million have success rates

from 23% to 11%, and projects under $3 million have success rates from 33% to 46%. Even

relatively small IT projects succeed only half of the time. However, the definition of

success used here may be too restrictive and this is the topic of the next chapter.

The CHAOS report also lists the major causes of IT project failure, and over the years

the top causes have been lack of end-use involvement; lack of executive support; poor

project management and/or planning; unclear business justification; and problems with

requirements, scope, methodology, and estimation (Standish Group, 2004). All of these

issues (and other problem areas) are discussed in this book, and methods to mitigate such

problems are illustrated.

Due to the difficulties in delivering successful IT projects, project management is viewed

as one of the most valuable skills for IT professionals. The Project Management Institute

(PMI) has a certification program for the project management discipline, and the highest

level of certification therein is the project management professional (PMP). Citing a 2002

Foote Partners Study, Computerworld listed the certifications obtained by IT profession-

als, and which certifications were the most valuable in terms of percentage pay increases

after certification (King, 2003). The three most valuable certifications in IT were

PMI Project Management Professional (PMP): 15%

GIAC Certified Intrusion Analyst: 12% Microsoft Certified Trainer: 12%

Figure 1.6. PMs worldview

BenefitsStraegic

Change

Stake

Holders

Goals Strategy Resources

StagesProject

Team

Productor Service

Project

WorkRisk

Involves

Desire

Appoint

Allocate

Decide

Perform

Plan &Execute

Affects

Requires

Delivers

Influences

Suggest

Met

By

Delivers

Expressed

In

Achieved T hru

PerformedIn

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According to Sommerville (2003), there are three challenges to software engineering

projects in the 21st century:

1. The Heterogeneity Challenge: Flexibility to operate on and integrate with multiple

hardware and software platforms from legacy mainframe environments to the

landscape of the global Web.

2. The Delivery Challenge: Ability to develop and integrate IT systems rapidly in

response to rapidly changing and evolving global business needs.

3. The Trust Challenge: Being able to create vital (mission and/or life critical)

software that is trustworthy in terms of both security and quality.

These are also three of the most critical issues for IT project management in general, and

these issues are addressed throughout this book. Being able to build flexible and

adaptable systems to address the heterogeneity and delivery challenge is crucial

because more IT and related environmental matters are changing, and they are changing

in an ever faster rate. In a similar vein, Computerworlds 2005 Executive Panel described

an evil triad that has become the predominant future IT concern. That evil triad is poor

security, unreliabili ty, and increased complexity (Anthes, 2005).

With more powerful tools comes the potential for greater benefits including productivity

increases, better cost and performance, and improved quality. However that power also

brings a higher cost and damage potential when the tool is misused either accidentally

or intentionally. IT is such a powerful tool, and that power in terms of computational

speed is still doubling about every 18 months. Many other IT advances are also

facilitating the possible misuse of IT, including,

Price for computational resources has dropped so low that even the smallest of

organizations and countries can obtain massive power

Advances in data storage technology mean that huge amounts of data can be

stored cheaply

Advances in data mining techniques mean that huge amounts of data can be

analyzed in many ways

Advances in data networking mean that the cost and time of moving and accessing

data has become very low, and that computers both inside and outside of an

organization are increasingly connected

As a result of these advances which facilitate IT misuse, computer security incidents are

growing rapidly. The number of domestic U.S. computer security incidents published by

the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University has increased dramatically

in recent years, as is shown in Figure 1.7. The number of these incidents has increased

so much that CERT is no longer keeping detail information thereon.

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These are just the security incidents that have been reported. Because IT is so prevalent

in all the products and services that organizations offer today and so prevalent in

everything we do as individuals, the impact of these security problems is also quickly

increasing. This problem could become enormous in the years ahead, and security

breaches such as Trojan horses and back doors may already be in place within key

software used by corporations and governments. The security issue in IT project

management is twofold:

Being able to shield the project work, project team, and other resources from

security threats

Being able to build adequate security protection into the product that is the subjectof the project

In the future, the last of Sommervilles (2003) challenges previously listed may become

as, or even more, important than the first two. Being able to run projects and build systems

that are impervious to both internal and external security threats will become vital to the

success of organizations and survival of free world governments.

Figure 1.7. Reported security incidents

6 4062340 3734

21756

137529

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

Reported

Incidents

1988 1991 1994 1998 2000 2003

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References

Anthes, G. (2005, March 7). The dark side. Computerworld.

Brandel, M. (2001, January 1). Dual personalities. Computerworld.

Cafasso, R. (1994). Few IS Projects come in on time, on budget. Computerworld, 28(50),

20.

Cale, E. G., Curley J. R., & Curley, K. F. (1987). Measuring implementation outcome.

Information and Management, 3(1), 245-253.

Cooke-Davies, T. (2004). Project success. InP. Morris & J. Pinto (Eds.), The Wiley guideto managing projects. Wiley.

Drucker, P. (2004). The next information revolution. Retrieved from www.versaggi.net/

ecommerce/articles

Hall, M. (2004, February 16). Thieves among us. Computerworld.

Hayes, F. (2004, November 6). Chaos is back. Computerworld.

Hildebrand, C. (1998). If at first you dont succeed. CIO Enterprise, Section 2, 4-15.

Hundley, R., et al. (2004). The global course of the information revolution: recurring

themes and regional variations. Retrieved from www.rand.org/publications/MR/

MR1680/

King, J. (2003, February 10). Where certifications and paychecks meet. Computerworld.

McDonald, J. (2001). Why is software project management difficult ? And what that

implies for teaching software project management. Computer Science Education,

11(1), 55-71.

Murch, R. (2000).Project management best practices for IT professionals . Upper SaddleRiver, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Paramount Pictures. (1986). Top Gun. Directed by Tony Scott.

Pearlson, K., & Saunders, C. (2004).Managing and using information systems. New York:

Wiley.

PMI. (2000). The project management body of knowledge (PMBOK). Newton Square,

PA. ISBN 1-880410-22-2.

Sommerville, I. (2003). Software engineering. Boston: Addison-Wesley.

Standish Group. (2004). Chaos chronicles. Retrieved from www.standisgroup.com

Yates, J. (2000, August). Origins of project management.Knowledge Magazine.

York, T.(1999, January 18). Shift in IT roles ahead.InfoWorld.

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Chapter II

Critical Success Factors

for IT Projects

IT managers careers will rise and fall based on their abili ty to deliver high

quality projects on time.

(J. I. Cash, Harvard Business School)

A key factor leading to the continued failure in IT projects is the lack of identificationand appreciation for all the major components of project success. Critical success factors

are those things that must be done or handled properly for a project to be successful.

A comprehensive model of critical success factors for IT projects permits the develop-

ment of better management plans, processes, and metrics, particularly for risk, quality,

and performance control. In this chapter, general crit ical IT success factors are identified

and techniques for the management of those factors are introduced; later chapters then

detail those techniques.

Definition of Success

Cost, time, and quality (often referred to as theIron Triangle) have formed the prime basis

for measuring project success for the last 50 years (Atkinson, 1999). However a number

of authors in more recent years (Atkinson, 1999; Brandon, 2004; DeLone & McLean, 1992;

Lim & Mohamed, 1999; Morris & Hough, 1987; Pinto & Slevin, 1998;) have suggested

that other criteria are also important. Some of these other criteria may be less quantitative,

more difficult to measure, and some of the criteria may be temporary in that their values

may be much more important at some points in the project.

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Critical Success Factors for IT Projects 19



So what is meant by project success? Success needs to be definedcompletely so that

the factors that lead to success or failure in a broad perspective can be identified. In the

past, success has been too narrowly defined; this definition has typically been confined

to scope, cost, and time issues. Handling these particular issues has been well addressedby methods such as earned value analysis (EVA), which have proven successful for

accurate performance measurement and control (Brandon, 1999; Fleming & Koppelman,

1994, 1998); earned value is specifically addressed in later chapters of this book.

Originally, Schultz and Slevin (1979) discussed overall implementation success and

identified three dimensions to success: technical (Does it work?), organizational validity

(Is it what the users want?), and organizational effectiveness (Is it a cost effective

solution?). Pinto and Slevin (1998) presented a widely used 10 Factor Model for

success factors involving project mission, management support, planning, client con-

sultation, personnel, technical tasks, client acceptance, project control, project commu-

nication, and handling unforeseen issues (Pinto & Millett, 1999; Pinto & Slevin, 1992).

Hawkins (2004) determined that the most critical success factors for ERP IT projects wereadequate resources, shared and well communicated business justification, open commu-

nications, participation by all relevant levels of management, visible and continuous

executive sponsorship, being in touch with those most affected, preimplementation

training, and structured change management.

Klastorin (2004) illustrated project success in broader terms with the example of the movie

Titanic (Paramount Pictures, 1997). When that movie was release in 1997, it was well

behind schedule and cost almost twice the planned amount. It was, however, the first

movie in history to gross over $1 billion, and it received the best picture award for that

year.

Lim and Mohamed (1999) also raised the question of What is a successful project? and

noted that different stakeholders involved with the same project may have differentopinions about a projects success. One of their examples concerned the construction

of a shopping center that was eventually completed to match the required quality

standard, however with significant cost and time overruns. Some stakeholders were very

unhappy, depending upon the type of contracts involved and who contractually bears

the burden of the cost overruns (i.e., who pays for cost overruns). Other stakeholders

(such as mall customers and the merchants renting space in the mall) were all pleased and

saw the project as a great success. Lim and Mohamed defined two perspectives, the

macro perspective, which involves all the stakeholders, and the micro perspective, which

involves only the construction parties such as the developer and contractor(s). The

macro perspective is relevant for all phases of a project from conceptualization, through

construction, and then operation. The micro perspective is most relevant for the

construction phase.

Completion and Satisfaction Criteria

Lim and Mohamed (1999) also defined two types of success criteria: completion and

satisfaction. Completion criteria include contract-related items such as cost, time, and

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scope. Satisfaction criteria include utility (fitness for purpose), quality, and operation

(ease of use, ease of learning, ease of maintenance, etc.). The macro perspective involves

both; the micro perspective only involves completion perspectives. This is illustrated

in Figure 2.1. Often, scope can be somewhat divided into a portion affecting completion(mainly stated requirements, or needs) and a portion affecting satisfaction (mainly

unstated requirements and expectations, or wants). This division of success criteria into

micro and macro perspective types is very important in terms of project performance

control and the effectiveness and cost thereof. This division provides for different review

time periods, different review methods, and different project stakeholder involvement

for the review of each type of criteria.

Lim and Mohamed (1999) drew a clear distinction between success criteria and

success factors. The criteria are a principle or standard by which anything is or can

be judged; factors are any circumstance, fact , or influence which contributes to a

result. Figure 2.2 illustrates this point. Factors for the completion criteria would typically

include financial variables, process variables, resource variables (cost, availability, skill,motivation, etc.), management variables (project manager skill, line management support,

etc.), and risk variables (weather, economy, technology, etc.). Factors for the satisfaction

criteria would be those things that drive the satisfaction of the stakeholders.

Success criteria tend to be relatively independent of the type of project being measured.

The factors are, however, very dependent on the type of thing being built (or accom-

plished). In the previous mall example, a factor for the satisfaction type criteria of utility

might be ample parking; a factor for the operation component of the satisfaction criteria

might be ease of parking.

Generalization of Success Factors for IT

I proposed a more generalized model in an earlier work (Brandon, 2004), and in developing

that generalized model for IT success factors, the success criteria were divided into the

two dimensions of project success defined by Lim and Mohamed (1999). Next, the general

criteria suggested by Lim and Mohamed were also used, and these criteria are relatively

independent of project type. The third step was to determine the factors that underlie

these criteria for IT projects.

Many authors have studied components of IT project success and risk. The original

Figure 2.1. Success criteria

CompletionCriteria

---------------ScopeTimeCost

Overall ITProject

Success

SatisfactionCriteria

-------------

UtilityOperation

Quality

+ =

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Critical Success Factors for IT Projects 21



Standish Group (1994) study found that the three most common causes of project failure

were: lack of user input, incomplete requirements, and changing requirements. Con-

versely they found that the three most important factors for success were user involve-

ment, executive management support, and a clear statement of requirements. The

European Software Process Improvement Initiative (ESPITI) performed a study in 1995

and noted that the major IT project failure factors were requirements specifications,

managing customer requirements, documentation, quality, and project management

methods. Hallows (1998) stated that the major causes of failure involved scope: poor

original definition, poor management of scope, and unforeseen changes in scope.

Jones (1994) studied software risks in different IT environments and identified majorissues

[14] 2006 - project management for modern information systems

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