8. IT Projects

Question 1

What is a problem regarding IT projects that has not improved over time?

Answer 1

The fact that a lot of projects are late and over budget.

Question 2

What are four problematic outcomes that is common when appropriate IT management is not there?

Answer 2

1. Only projects in 1-2 areas of the portfolio are successful
2. Difficult IT projects fail
3. Costs during the whole software-lifecycle is too high (many costs take place after roll-out, not before).
4. The organizational implementation of the software is not sufficient for the users.

Question 3

Is it only the largest projects that fail?

Answer 3

No, it is actually quite common that medium-sized projects fail or are being challenged by delayes and breaching the budget limit.

Question 4

What are the 3 main risks with IT Projects (that often make them fail)?

Answer 4

1. Planning - the planning is not done properly, ex overlooking the management and business impact issues, unclear scop and objectives, or inaccurate estimation of resources.
2. Technological appropriateness - too narrow focus on the tech IT issues, choosing inappropriate tech or too complex technicalities.
3. Technology specification - unclear or incorrect identification of systems requirements.

Question 5

7 reasons for failure:

Answer 5

1. Approach and procedures not professional
2. Inadequate approach - ex having an approach for a strategic project but the project was actually support.
3. Intangible nature of software makes controls difficult
4. Application development disciplines are new to the world.
5. Uniqueness of large application projects (you do them rarely, so it’s hard to learn and improve)
6. Lack of understanding IT projects as socio-organizational (it is more than a technical project!)
7. Escalating Commitment - makes problems worse.

Question 6

How is escalating commitment related to sunk cost?

Answer 6

You invest time, effort, money into something and this makes it hard for you to abandon the project even if you see red signs… However this is irrational and you should not take sunk costs into consideration.

Question 7

Mention a driving force and a critical requirement for High Potential projects

Answer 7

-Driving force: new business ideas or technological opportunity
Critical req: Must do a rapid evaluation of prototypes and avoid wasting effort/resources on failures (fail fast!

Question 8

Mention a driving force and a critical requirement for Strategic projects

Answer 8

• Driving force: Market requirements, competitive pressures or external forces
• Critical req: Rapid development (speed matters here too) to meet business objective and realize benefits within the window of opportunity

Question 9

Mention a driving force and a critical requirement for Key Operational projects

Answer 9

• Driving force: Improving performance of existing activities
• Critical req: High-quality, long-life solutions and effective data management

Question 10

Mention a driving force and a critical requirement for Support projects

Answer 10

• Driving force: Improved productivity/efficiency of specific (often local) business tasks
• Critical req: low-cost, long-term solutions that are often packaged software to satisfy most needs.

Question 11

What type of leadership styles match the 4 application areas?

Answer 11

• HP: entrepreneur
• Strategic: developer
• KO: controller
• Support: caretaker

Question 12

Key issues regarding how leadership change when we move around the portfolio, starting in the HP quadrant:

Answer 12

First when moving from HP to STR, we lose individual ownership and freedom. But you gain senior mngmt, Then when moving from STR to KO we must re-engineer for long-term use and integration for effectiveness, so we lose the IT-involvement and project management. Take control of the “mess”. Then when the software is no longer core –> move to SUPP we lose the tech leadership because need just a caretaker.

Question 13

Three important factors for complexity and riskiness of projects:

Answer 13

• Project size (in relation to what the business is used to)
• Experience with technology
• Requirements volatility (ability to plan the req or results in advance + organizational change)

Question 14

Management tools for managing risks in IT projects: (4)

Answer 14

1. External integration (to users and user organizations, ex show prototypes and engage them)
2. Internal integration (own team, ex meetings)
3. Formal planning methods (task, time, budget, resources).
4. Formal methods to control objectives (being on track with the results).