Project management for modern information systems by dan brandon

Once these factors are itemized and fullyappreciated, then effective management and technical methods and metrics can beformulated for project performance, risk, and quality control.Theo

i

Project Management

for Modern Information Systems

Dan Brandon, PhD, PMP Christian Brothers University, USA

IRM Press

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All work contributed to this book is new, previously-unpublished material The views expressed in this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

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

Project Management

for Modern Information Systems

Table of Contents

Preface viii

Acknowledgment xii

Chapter I Today’s 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 29

Organizational 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

v

Chapter IV

The Project Management Discipline 48

Project Management Organizations 48

Project Management Institute 50

Project 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

Chapter IX

Project Execution and Control 183

The Control Process 183

What to Control 185

Measurement 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 240

Scope 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 257

Outsourcing 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

vii

Chapter XIV

Performance Reporting and Earned Value Analysis 309

Traditional Performance Reporting 310

Earned Value Analysis 316

Effective 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 376

Project Management and Strategic Planning 378

Glossary and Acronyms 385

About the Author 405

Index 407

In the past, the formal discipline of project management was applied primarily to verylarge projects lasting several years and costing millions of dollars; this was as true forinformation technology (IT) projects as it was for other industries Furthermore in the

20th century, project management methods were largely based upon “command andcontrol” techniques These techniques evolved from ancient military regimes and dic-tatorial governments, where relatively few educated people directed large numbers ofuneducated people Some industries are still that way, but many companies and most ITorganizations 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 ofupon 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 isimperative 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 places In the past, project success was defined too narrowly as simply meeting timeand cost constraints for a given scope of work However, in order for an IT project to becompletely successful, that basic definition of success needs to be extended Thisextension 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

work-be extended or otherwise modified to work-be more effective

This book describes and illustrates practices, methods, and tools for IT project agement that address this extended definition of project success for modern times As

man-such, this book is directed to IT project managers, those IT personnel aspiring tobecome project managers, and also to experienced IT personnel who wish to learn ofnew project management concepts, methods, and tools This book is also designed foruse as a textbook or reference in graduate or upper-level undergraduate university

ix

programs in IT or project management Throughout the book, a number of IT projectmanagement “standard forms” are presented and a number of spreadsheet models arealso 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 projectmanagement 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 ourmodern IT dominated world and in context with today’s “information revolution” and tothe business and technical forces that drive this revolution The distinctions of ITproject management as compared to general project management are also identifiedhere

Chapter II introduces the concept of project “critical success factors.” A key factorleading 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 ofbetter management plans, processes, and metrics particularly for risk, quality, and per-formance control In this chapter, general critical IT success factors are identified andtechniques for the management of those factors are introduced The notion of a “dualstage gate process” for the comprehensive and effective management of these successfactors is also introduced in this chapter; later chapters define metrics and controlmethods for these success factors using dual stage gating

Chapter III discusses project initiation and selection The careful selection of whichprojects 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 projectsare discussed with regard to overall organizational goals and business justification Inthis chapter, project initiation and the processes and documents involved with projectevaluation from a business perspective are discussed and illustrated Standard formsfor the “project proposal” and “project business plan” are presented (Later, Chapter VIcontinues with the life of a project after an organization has committed to perform saidproject.)

Chapters IV and V discuss project management and software engineering from a plinary perspective, as these concepts and terms are used throughout the remainder ofthis book A number of worldwide professional organizations have been developed tofoster the project management discipline, and these organizations and their bodies ofknowledge are presented in Chapter V

disci-Although software engineering is not a formal part of project management, it is vital forthe proper planning of IT projects Even for IT projects that primarily involve softwareacquisition and integration instead of software development, the software engineeringembedded in the products that are acquired will significantly affect long-term projectsuccess factors In Chapter V, modern software engineering and its relation to IT projectmanagement is discussed Key challenges to software engineering in the 21st century

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 andrequirements are two of the most important aspects of IT project management Standardforms 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 requirementshas 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 andcost 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 thischapter forms the basis for other detail plans—including the risk plan, procurementplan, HR plan, quality plan, control plan, and change plan—described in subsequentchapters

Success in the modern business world involves taking some risk All the systems thatare 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, anddevelop plans to handle risks; these are the topics covered in Chapter VIII The totalproject risk-management process is described and illustrated and standard forms aredeveloped for an IT risk-management plan A framework based upon critical successfactors for analyzing project risk threats and hazards is also presented

Once a project is planned and underway, the project manager cannot simply walk awayand assume that everything will go according to plan In Chapter IX, project perfor-mance control metrics and techniques are defined and discussed Performance metricsfor 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 successfactors are used as the basis for key quality metrics A quality management plan for ITprojects includes both verification and validation, and such a plan is presented here.Other important quality topics are also discussed in this chapter, including the manytypes and methods of software testing, software development standards, and qualityorganizations and programs Standard forms for quality standards and quality stagegates 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 isexpected, and change has to be managed Chapter XI is concerned with the overall ITchange 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 arepresented in this chapter

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

xi

procurement management, and that overall management process is the subject of ter XII This chapter covers general project procurement and the formal procedures anddocuments 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 ITprojects the subject of outsourcing is also covered in detail

Chap-The identification and management of a project’s stakeholders is vital to the completesuccess of a project Often, well-planned and properly executed projects can still faildue to a lack of relationships or inappropriate relationships between the project man-ager and various stakeholders Chapter XIII discusses matters related to the humanside of project management including stakeholder relations, communications, teammanagement, 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 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 thatappropriate 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 dualstage gates EVA is often difficult to implement effectively and can have a number ofproblem areas However, this chapter identifies the EVA problem areas and their practi-cal solutions

mis-There is a vast amount of project management software available today in a wide ety of capabilities, applicability, platform requirements, and prices These softwareproducts significantly enhance a PM’s 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 thefeatures and applicability of those tools In Chapter XV, types of software products andsome specific products are identified and discussed, including spreadsheet models andopen source software

vari-Management of IT projects and being on an IT project team used to be simpler PMstypically had one project to manage and team members were only on one team All theteam members were located in close geographic proximity, and the work was all done atthe workplace Today, however, the project landscape has become much more complex,where everyone is concerned, with multiple projects and teams spread out all over theworld The business needs of cutting costs to the bone and being quicker to markethave 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

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

Today’s IT Environment 1

Chapter I

Today’s

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 not the, 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 worldexperienced such dramatic life-style changes One is reminded of the opening sentencefrom A 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 arewell into the “IT Revolution.” In regard to project management, there are two IT relatedmatters: the utilization of IT in managing all types of projects and the management of ITprojects Before we further discuss these project management matters in this modern ITdominated world, we need to consider the technical and business forces that are shaping

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 debatethe 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

• Gutenberg’s 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 forthem it is the “worst of times.” With big revolutions, there always will be big winners andbig 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 whichwas home to hundreds of monks; 50 years later, the monks had been completelydisplaced The impact to society was enormous, not because of the displacement ofmonks by other craftsmen and machines, but because the price of books dropped sodrastically that common men could now afford to educate themselves

For many, this new IT revolution is bringing great things with unprecedented ments in the quality and efficiency of all we do as organizations and as individuals Forothers, 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 threedimensions: income, age, and education This divide will further separate the haves from

improve-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 developedcountries, workers may be divided into InfoWorkers and McWorkers In addition ITsecurity and privacy problems are getting out of control, as evidenced by computerviruses, worms, e-mail fraud and spam, compromise of personal and private digitalinformation, spyware, piracy of intellectual property, ID theft, hacking, and othercomputer crimes Today, there are major and numerous security “holes” in most softwarethat 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

Today’s IT Environment 3

rate (in the time to reach 50 million users) of recent milestone information technologiescompared 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 significantindustrial disruptions:

• Internet shopping is disrupting traditional sales channels for hard goods

• Internet sharing and distribution is disrupting traditional intellectual propertyrights 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 thetraditional software marketplace

• Separation of work from workplace will disrupt corporate and personal real estateand 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” bythe RAND corporation, and this results in the “economic eclipse” of organizations notembracing the new IT world Traditional mechanisms of government (i.e., jurisdiction,taxation, regulation, permits, and licenses, etc.) will also significantly be disrupted inresponse to these other disruptions, as will the insurance and finance industries.Likewise this process of creative disruption will result in the career destruction ofmanagers (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 is—thecreation of value and wealth.”

Furthermore, he questioned whether management is prepared for the full impact of thisrevolution, and he saw no sign of it at that time

Better, Cheaper, Faster

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

To produce better and cheaper products or services and get them to market quickerrequires better, cheaper, faster processes, as is illustrated in Figure 1.2 In today’s world,information systems play a key role and an ever-increasing role in the overall process ofproducing 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 projectmanagers and software development teams Many managers and technologists seespeed as a solution to the problem illustrated in Figure 1.3 The world is changing so fastthat, by the time we develop an IT solution for a business problem, the shape of thatproblem has changed

Newer and faster project management and software engineering methods can address aportion of this problem Speed, however, is not the only way to address the problemshown in Figure 1.3 (as this book will show) Compounding the problem is the fact thattoo 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 (orbuying 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 toolswithout better practices and methods simply allow one to build the wrong product evenfaster

A basic premise of this book is that the best long-term solution to better-cheaper-faster

IT products and services involves a number of modern project management and softwareengineering practices and methods that can be collectively called “IT project manage-ment maturity.” Three important basic project management and software engineeringthemes 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

Figure 1.1 Marketing dimensions

Figure 1.2 Products and processes

Figure 1.3 Changing shape of IT problems

Product

or Service

Tim e To Market

Faster

Better, Cheaper, Faster Cheaper, Faster Better,

Requires

Processes Products

Business

Problem Business Problem Business Problem Business Problem

Solution Domain Problem Domain

IT projects successfully the first time requires the identification and understanding ofall the critical success factors of such projects Once these factors are itemized and fullyappreciated, then effective management and technical methods and metrics can beformulated for project performance, risk, and quality control.

Theoretically and statistically, project success probability decreases as the size of an ITproject grows Many factors, such as the interaction of project stakeholders and theinteraction of technical components, increase in complexity in ratio to the square of thenumber of such items Therefore, subdividing large IT projects into smaller partsdecreases complexity and thus increases the likelihood of success; however, thissubdivision needs to be consistent with the metrics and methods to monitor and controlall identified critical success factors In the next chapter, critical success factors for ITprojects are identified and defined and, in later chapters, effective management andtechnical 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 andcontrol” techniques These techniques evolved from ancient autocratic societies andmilitary environments in which relatively few educated people lead large numbers ofuneducated people Management structures were developed to take much detailedinformation and to summarize that information up through a number of middle manage-

Figure 1.4 IT Project management maturity

Architecture

Standards (embedded and enforcable)

Software

Engineering

Maturity

Success Factor Based Project Management

Quality Program (TQM, QFD, ISO

9000, Six Sigma)

Business Justification

Security Program (project and product)

Today’s IT Environment 7

ment levels so that decisions could be made in regard to different scopes and timehorizons 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 andevolved due to a number of factors One is that the economies of developed countriescontinue to shift from a manufacturing economy to a service economy Another factor

is that most corporate workers have become knowledge workers, where a computer orcomputer interface is an integral part of their job And the other major factor is that IT isused extensively to gather and summarize the information flow from the point of origin tothe eventual decision maker; IT is now often part of the decision process itself throughdecision support systems

This evolution of management structures has resulted in a reduction of the number ofmiddle 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 sors (or foremen), unit managers, section managers, department managers, divisionmanagers, directors, and vice presidents In a modern organization, there are much fewerlevels, 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 expression MBWA

supervi-(managing by walking around) But in the team environment, it is becoming the sibility of teammates to observe work activity and the team leader to monitor work results This creation of teams at the lower levels of the organization has proven very

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

is being separated from the workplace Many knowledge workers can do much of theirwork from places other that the company facility including working from home, or whiletraveling, or while at a customer or vendor location In many cases, IT has made it possiblefor 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 beextended 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 Evenbusiness processes, both intracorporate and intercorporate, have become Web-enabled.Virtual teams may be assembled quickly with the right mix of skills to address a particularproblem or project, and then they may be disassembled just as quickly when the job isdone 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 ofmanaging work activity has almost disappeared This does not mean that managers nolonger interact with their staff, it is just that the mode of interaction has often becomedigital instead of face to face

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

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 tocustomers 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 customer’s

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 and

to 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 toexecute instantly

To successfully function in this new IT-enabled instant world and workplace, managersmust adapt and obtain the necessary knowledge and skills Several years ago, TheGartner Group researched this topic, and their list of these management skills follow(York, 1999):

• Speak the language of business

• Understand IT processes and business processes

• Make informed business decisions quickly

• 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

Today’s IT Environment 9

• Sensitivity to all the dimensions that influence a project

• Both written and oral communication skills

• An understanding of relationship management

• Project planning skills

• An understanding of the value of coaching

• A customer focused approach

In the preceding lists, those items that specifically deal with project management (asopposed to management in general) have been italicized; however, all these traits arenecessary for effective project managers

Projects and Project Management

A project is defined as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or

service” (PMI, 2000) A project is undertaken when work is best accomplished throughmethods that fundamentally differ from those of everyday operations A list of the keycharacteristics 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 activities (tasks)

• Is an instrument of change

A project usually has certain aspects or key components which include project-relatedmanagement, 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.The stakeholders involved with a project may be many and possibly diverse in several

respects including interests, needs, expectations, and priorities Satisfying the holders is one of the key objectives of the project and the project manager Keystakeholders include the organization and people doing the work, who are called the

stake-“performing organization,” and the people or organization benefiting from the work (andalso usually paying for the work), who are called the “benefiting organization.” Thesetwo organizations may or may not belong to the same corporation This is illustrated in

part of the same organization The project manager is a key stakeholder, and thisindividual is almost always part of the performing organization Another key stakeholder

is the project sponsor (sometimes called the project champion), and this individualusually 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 uppermanagement 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 management is “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 ofall aspects of a project and also the management, leadership, and motivation of allinvolved 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 aroundthe turn of the 20th century “Around that time, managers of such projects faced pressurefrom proponents of scientific management to organize in a centralized way and controlnot just what was done but the details of how and when it was done” (Yates, 2000) HenryGantt developed the Gantt Chart in World War I, and it was used in huge projects likethe construction of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s IT project management appears to goback to the 1950s, when the Critical Path Method (CPM) was developed by DuPont andRemington Rand/Univac

However, it is not always necessary to use formal project management methods forimportant temporarily endeavors, and the British Computer Society (in the spirit of DavidLetterman’s Top Ten List) itemizes the top 10 reasons not to use such formality:

10 Our customers really love us, so they don’t care if our products are late and don’twork

9 I know there is a well-developed project management body of knowledge, but I can’tfind it under this mess on my desk

8 All our projects are easy, and they don’t have cost, schedule, and technical risksanyway

7 Organizing to manage projects isn’t compatible with our culture, and the last thing

we need around this place is change

6 We aren’t smart enough to implement project management without stifling ity and offending our technical geniuses

creativ-5 We might have to understand our customers’ requirements and document a lot ofstuff, and that is such a bother

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

Today’s IT Environment 11

3 Our bosses won’t provide the support needed for project management; they want

us to get better results through magic

2 We’d have to apply project management blindly to all projects regardless of sizeand complexity, and that would be stupid

1 We figure it’s more profitable to have 50% overruns than to spend 10% on projectmanagement to fix them

The Project Manager

The project manager (PM) is the leader of a team performing a project The projectmanager and his team must identify the stakeholders, determine their needs, and manageand 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 behanded a statement of work from upper management and then try to complete it; ratherthe PM should be deeply involved with the development of that statement of work Theroles 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

• Running meetings

• Acquiring resources for the project

• Influencing the organization

• Leading and team building

• Negotiation (external and internal)

The many elements of a PM’s work were expressed in the “PM’s Worldview,” as shown

Shouldering project management responsibilities isn’t 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)

“It’s a tough job with long hours and stress that needs someone who’s a cross between

a ballet dancer and a drill sergeant” (Murch, 2000) A well-known story (but of unknownorigin) 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.”

Today’s IT Environment 13

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 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 ITprojects more difficult that projects in other industries (McDonald, 2001) For example,the scope is hard to see—one cannot count the bricks, and quality is hard to see—it isnot apparent if parts do not fit, do not work, cannot handle loads, cannot handleextensions, and are not compliant with standards Here are other major differences anddifficulties:

manage-• The major cost is labor with high degrees of specializations

• There is a large difference in productivity rates of the human resources even in samejob 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 areconstantly 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 andproject 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 study found that only 16% of all IT

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 millionhave success rates of only 2%, projects between $3 and $10 million have success ratesfrom 23% to 11%, and projects under $3 million have success rates from 33% to 46% Evenrelatively small IT projects succeed only half of the time However, the definition ofsuccess 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 yearsthe top causes have been lack of end-use involvement; lack of executive support; poorproject management and/or planning; unclear business justification; and problems withrequirements, scope, methodology, and estimation (Standish Group, 2004) All of theseissues (and other problem areas) are discussed in this book, and methods to mitigate suchproblems 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 highestlevel of certification therein is the project management professional (PMP) Citing a 2002Foote Partners Study, Computerworld listed the certifications obtained by IT profession-als, and which certifications were the most valuable in terms of percentage pay increasesafter 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 PM’s worldview

Benefits Straegic Change Holders Stake

Goals Strategy Resources

Stages Project Team

Perform

Plan &

Execute

Affects Requires

Delivers

Influences Suggest

Performed In

Today’s IT Environment 15

According to Sommerville (2003), there are three challenges to software engineeringprojects 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 thelandscape 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, andthese issues are addressed throughout this book Being able to build flexible andadaptable systems to address the heterogeneity and delivery challenge is crucialbecause more IT and related environmental matters are changing, and they are changing

in an ever faster rate In a similar vein, Computerworld’s 2005 Executive Panel described

an “evil triad” that has become the predominant future IT concern That evil triad is poorsecurity, unreliability, and increased complexity (Anthes, 2005)

With more powerful tools comes the potential for greater benefits including productivityincreases, better cost and performance, and improved quality However that power alsobrings 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 computationalspeed is still doubling about every 18 months Many other IT advances are alsofacilitating the possible misuse of IT, including,

• Price for computational resources has dropped so low that even the smallest oforganizations and countries can obtain massive power

• Advances in data storage technology mean that huge amounts of data can bestored cheaply

• Advances in data mining techniques mean that huge amounts of data can beanalyzed in many ways

• Advances in data networking mean that the cost and time of moving and accessingdata has become very low, and that computers both inside and outside of anorganization are increasingly connected

As a result of these advances which facilitate IT misuse, computer security incidents aregrowing rapidly The number of domestic U.S computer security incidents published bythe 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

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 ineverything we do as individuals, the impact of these security problems is also quicklyincreasing This problem could become enormous in the years ahead, and securitybreaches 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 projectmanagement is twofold:

• Being able to shield the project work, project team, and other resources fromsecurity threats

• Being able to build adequate security protection into the product that is the subject

of the project

In the future, the last of Sommerville’s (2003) challenges previously listed may become

as, or even more, important than the first two Being able to run projects and build systemsthat are impervious to both internal and external security threats will become vital to thesuccess of organizations and survival of free world governments

Figure 1.7 Reported security incidents

Today’s IT Environment 17

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 In P Morris & J Pinto (Eds.), The Wiley guide

to 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 don’t 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 thatimplies for teaching software project management Computer Science Education, 11(1), 55-71.

Murch, R (2000) Project management best practices for IT professionals Upper Saddle

River, 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.

Chapter II

Critical Success Factors

for IT Projects

IT managers’ careers will rise and fall based on their ability 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 factorsare 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 ment of better management plans, processes, and metrics, particularly for risk, quality,and performance control In this chapter, general critical IT success factors are identifiedand techniques for the management of those factors are introduced; later chapters thendetail those techniques

develop-Definition of Success

Cost, time, and quality (often referred to as the Iron 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 suggestedthat 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 valuesmay be much more important at some points in the project

Critical Success Factors for IT Projects 19

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

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

by methods such as earned value analysis (EVA), which have proven successful foraccurate 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 andidentified three dimensions to success: technical (Does it work?), organizational validity(Is it what the users want?), and organizational effectiveness (Is it a cost effectivesolution?) Pinto and Slevin (1998) presented a widely used “10 Factor Model” forsuccess 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 continuousexecutive sponsorship, being in touch with those most affected, preimplementationtraining, 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 firstmovie in history to gross over $1 billion, and it received the best picture award for thatyear

Lim and Mohamed (1999) also raised the question of “What is a successful project?” andnoted that different stakeholders involved with the same project may have differentopinions about a project’s success One of their examples concerned the construction

of a shopping center that was eventually completed to match the required qualitystandard, however with significant cost and time overruns Some stakeholders were veryunhappy, depending upon the type of contracts involved and who contractually bearsthe 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 andsaw the project as a great success Lim and Mohamed defined two perspectives, themacro perspective, which involves all the stakeholders, and the micro perspective, whichinvolves only the construction parties such as the developer and contractor(s) Themacro perspective is relevant for all phases of a project from conceptualization, throughconstruction, and then operation The micro perspective is most relevant for theconstruction phase

Completion and Satisfaction Criteria

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

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

(ease of use, ease of learning, ease of maintenance, etc.) The macro perspective involvesboth; 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 (mainlyunstated 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 aresult” Figure 2.2 illustrates this point Factors for the completion criteria would typicallyinclude 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 satisfactioncriteria 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 criteriamight be “ease of parking.”

Generalization of Success Factors for IT

I proposed a more generalized model in an earlier work (Brandon, 2004), and in developingthat generalized model for IT success factors, the success criteria were divided into thetwo dimensions of project success defined by Lim and Mohamed (1999) Next, the generalcriteria suggested by Lim and Mohamed were also used, and these criteria are relativelyindependent 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

Completion Criteria - Scope Time Cost

Overall IT Project Success

Satisfaction Criteria - Utility Operation Quality

Critical Success Factors for IT Projects 21

Standish Group (1994) study found that the three most common causes of project failurewere: 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 TheEuropean Software Process Improvement Initiative (ESPITI) performed a study in 1995and noted that the major IT project failure factors were requirements specifications,managing customer requirements, documentation, quality, and project managementmethods Hallows (1998) stated that the major causes of failure involved scope: poororiginal definition, poor management of scope, and unforeseen changes in scope

Jones (1994) studied software risks in different IT environments and identified majorissues and related metrics For example, MIS software problems were “creeping”requirements (80%), excessive schedule pressure (65%), low quality (60%), cost over-runs (55%), and inadequate configuration control (50%) McConnell (1998) developed

a “survival test” for software development projects and detailed a number of successcriteria within five categories Pearlson (2001) assessed project success criteria by askingkey questions to minimize risk: “Are we doing the right things?”, “Are we doing it in thebest way?”, “How do we know how well we are doing?”, “What impacts are we having

on the business?”, “Is the project cost-effective?”, “Is there clear accountability for theproject?”, and “Are key assets protected?” In 2004, The Standish Group (1994) updatedits list of IT critical success factors to include (Collett, 2005):

• User involvement

• Executive management support

• Clear business objectives

• Experienced project manager

• Minimal scope and requirements

Figure 2.2 Criteria and factors

Criteria - Principles Standards

Factors - Circumstances

Facts Influences

Judgement - Project Success

• Skilled personnel

• Formal methodology

• Financial management

• Standard tools and infrastructure

Based on the detail study of these past works (both scientific parametric-based studiesand the expert opinion of practitioners) combined with our own experience and research,

we have developed a recommendation for the major IT project success factors, bothcompletion and satisfaction For the area of completion criteria, these major IT successfactors have been identified:

• Ability to Perform: Includes having the necessary amount of resources needed and

the correct resources to carry out the project plan The ability to perform is also one

of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) “common features” in their CapabilityMaturity Model (CMM), which is discussed later in this book

• Commitment to Perform: (Another CMM common feature) includes both project

sponsor and upper management support (including organizational and mental matters)

environ-• Methodology: Involves the selection of specific IT software engineering

pro-cesses (requirements analysis, systems analysis, design, development, tation, testing, etc.) and how these processes will be organized, utilized, andintegrated both amongst themselves and with the project management processes

documen-• Verification: Involves “built-in” quality or “defect prevention” and concerns the

quality of the development processes, thus answering the question, “Have we built

the product right?” Formally, verification is proof of compliance with requirements,specifications, and standards Verification processes usually result in exception(bug) reports where compliance is not achieved

• Technology: Involves the proper selection of applicable technology for use both

in the product and in the process of building the product It covers architecture,platform, language, tools, and supporting technology selection as well as issues

of each including the maturity, stability, and support thereof

• Project Management: Addresses the use of proper project management skills and

knowledge in dealing with planning, schedule, cost, scope, risk, human resources,and stakeholders; this is what the Project Management Institute (PMI) calls

“knowledge areas.” Also included herein are the capabilities and experience of theproject manager

In the area of satisfaction criteria, these major success factors have been identified:

• Business Justification: Involves some type of cost-benefit model Line

manage-ment, users, and the project team must “buy-into” and support this model Business

Critical Success Factors for IT Projects 23

justifications, financial models, and project feasibility are discussed later in thebook

• Validation: Involves the product that is the subject of the project and checks all

user (customer) requirements (both stated and expected) and answers the tion, “Have we built the right product?” Formally, validation is proof that thecustomer and end users are satisfied with the system Proper user involvement isvital to this aspect of the development and/or integration process Validationprocesses usually result in change orders when the user is not satisfied with anaspect of the product

ques-• Workflow and Content: Involves the effective integration of the new product into

the organization and each user’s workflow Content includes all deliverableinformation including: documentation, help system, data, and media content(especially in the sense of modern and internet applications)

• Standards: Relate to compliance with applicable industry, corporate, and user

(customer) standards in regard to both external (i.e user interface) and internalissues (i.e coding standards) Standards are also discussed later in this book underquality management

• Maintainability and Support: Involves the inherent maintainability of the

devel-oped product and the willingness and timeliness of the developing (or support)organization in responding to the customer’s concerns about usage or integrity(real or perceived) issues

• Adaptability: Relates to the flexibility of the product to be adapted (successfully

modified) for evolving changes in the environment in which the product isdeployed; this includes both technical changes and business changes

• Trust and Security: Relates to both the security built into the product and to the

security of the process for building the product Product security and trustinvolves the customer’s willingness to fully utilize the system in all necessarymodes without concern for compromise of any of the customer’s assets includinginformation assets

Figure 2.3 summarizes our general modern model for IT success factors In the last chapter

of this book, we discuss project management from a strategic perspective and inparticular the collective management of multiple projects Probably the most effectivemethod of modern strategic management is the Balanced Scorecard Method (BSC), whichdivides strategic metrics into four perspectives: financial, process, learning and growth,and the customer’s perspective Our general model uses just two perspectives formanagement at the individual project level (completion and satisfaction) and the reasonsfor that will become clearer with each chapter of this book However, our completioncriteria map to the BSC financial and process perspectives; and our satisfaction criteriamap to the BSC learning, growth, and satisfaction perspectives

The Slevin-Pinto Profile (Pinto & Slevin, 1998) discussed earlier has often been used toidentify IT project success factors in order to focus management attention on the keyissues A more recent Project Management Journal article illustrates the application of

model to the Slevin-Pinto model For the “Project Management” column, the PMI projectmanagement “knowledge area” is shown, and these are discussed later in this book.

Our critical IT success factors are for IT projects in general, and will be used throughoutthis book to formulate effective IT project management processes If some of thesefactors are not relevant to a particular IT project (or if there are additional critical factors),then the processes, techniques, and metrics described later in this book can be modifiedaccordingly

Managing for Success

This book focuses on managing for success in modern times Once the critical success factors for IT projects have been identified, then those factors become the foundation

Completion Criteria - Scope Time Cost

Overall IT Project Success

Satisfaction Criteria - Utility Operation Quality

Completion Factors - Project Management Methodology Commit to Perform Ability to Perorm Verification Technology

Satisfaction Factors - Business Justification Validation Workflow & Content Standards Maintainability & Support Adaptability Trust/Security

Figure 2.3 Critical IT success factors

Figure 2.4 Success factors vs Slevin-Pinto Profile

Critical Success Factors for IT Projects 25

for effective performance management and management of other key project aspects as risk Performance management involves the things we know we have to do; risk manage- ment involves the things we may have to do This is illustrated in Figure 2.5.

This book introduces and develops the concept of splitting the traditional stage gatereviews (exit gates or kill points) based upon the critical completion and success criteria

Figure 2.6 Dual stage gates and success criteria

Completion Criteria - Scope Time Cost

Overall IT Project Success

Satisfaction Criteria - Utility Operation Quality

Managment Stage

Quality Stage

Quality Stage Gate Quality Stage Stage Gate Quality Quality Stage

Managemant Stage Gate

Quality Stage Gate

Figure 2.5 Success factors and performance/risk management

Completion Criteria - Scope Time Cost

Overall IT Project Success

Satisfaction Criteria - Utility Operation Quality

Completion Factors - Project Mgmt.

Methodology Commit to Perform Ability to Perorm Verification Technology

Satisfaction Factors - Business Justification Validation Workflow & Content Standards Maintainability & Support Adaptability Trust/Security

Performance Monitoring and Control

Risk Identification and Mitigation

Management stage gates are used for the completion criteria and are implemented viamanagement by exception using earned value metrics at regular time periods so that theproject can flow quickly with minimal management review delays Quality stage gates areused to monitor the satisfaction criteria and their timing is event driven by the completion

of preliminary product manifestations This is outlined graphically in Figure 2.6 anddiscussed in detail later in the book This dual gating process minimizes the time that bothupper management and the project team spends in status meetings by splitting the reviewprocess into separate completion and satisfaction reviews with the occurrence of each

Figure 2.7 Risk framework and success factors

Risk Source Framework

Critical Success Factors for IT Projects 27

based upon the need thereof However, it ensures that customer involvement is sufficient

in the project items that most concern the users

With the success factor model becoming the foundation for other key project ment areas (including quality, security, and risk), frameworks are developed for the detailprocesses of each management area For example, a framework for risk identification andquantification is formulated as shown in Figure 2.7

manage-Chapter Summary

In this chapter the concept of critical success criteria has been developed, and criticalsuccess factors for IT projects have been identified and divided into completion andsatisfaction groups More detailed coverage of each critical success factor is contained

in succeeding chapters of this book, and Figure 2.8 shows a rough mapping betweensuccess factors and book chapters The notion of a dual stage gate process has beenintroduced for the comprehensive and effective management of these success factors,and later chapters will define metrics and control methods for both completion andsatisfaction criteria

References

Atkinson, R (1999) Project management: Cost, time and quality, two best guesses and

a phenomenon., International Journal of Project Management, 17(6), 337-342.

Brandon, D (1999) Implementing earned value easily and effectively Essentials of Project Control, 113.

Brandon, D (2004, May) A generalization of critical success factors for IT projects Proceedings of the 2004 IRMA (Information Resources Management Associa- tion) Conference, New Orleans, LA.

Collett, S (2005, February 28) New project perils Computerworld.

DeLone, W., & McLean, E (1992) Information systems Success: The quest for thedependent variable Information Systems Research, 3(1), 60-95.

European Software Process Improvement Initiative (1995) User survey report Bizkaia,

Spain

Field, T (1997) When bad things happen to good projects CIO, 11(2), 54-62.

Finch, P (1993, September) Applying the Slevin-Pinto Project Implementation Profile to

an information systems project Project Management Journal.

Fleming, Q., & Koppelman, J K (1994) The essence of evolution of earned value Cost Engineering, 36(11), 21-27.