Perspectives on Role of IT

Canadian survey looks for input on skills shortage and offers perspective on the role of IT. Execs see IT in a run-the-business role while IT pros aspire for greater business impact. ...

... "The survey found that most executives view system upkeep and maintenance as the most important role for IT, but three-quarters of IT professionals want a chance to play a larger and more strategic role in their organization. " ...

Via Ottawa Business Journal: Survey

IT Project: Cutover Preparation

Mergers and acquisitions are common in today's markets. These corporate marriages often come with consolidation and integration. Eventually, information systems are consolidated. When systems touch customers, our risk antennae should perk up and we should prepare to minimize business impact. Preparation includes planning, temporary resources, a command center, practice through rehearsing, etc. Read about USAirways post-acquisition preparation for cutover to its common reservation system. ...

... "US Airways has been prepping for the mammoth IT project since the America West-US Airways merger closed in September 2005. " ...

Via Arizona Republic: US Airways IT Integration

Update: Via Bloomberg: USAirways Cutover Issues: "US Airways' kiosks at Charlotte and four regional hubs couldn't communicate with the reservation network for several hours after the systems were unified ... "

IT Value EQ Business Value

What is the value of IT? Expressing it in the language of business is essential. Direct tangible impact is the best. However, when tangible financial impact is not obvious, IT professional must connect the dots. ...

... "Everyone on the panel said it makes sense to judge technology projects based on business metrics. Boiled down that means two measurements: Reduced cost and increased revenue. " ...

Via ZDNet: IT Value

Just the Facts: Evidence-Based Management

I recently read an enlightening book by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, titled, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management.

The premise of the book is that many organizations follow the guru du jour, or manage according to the book of "someone said so." As the book points out, if we only looked at the evidence, we'd see that may of these so-called truths are anything but.

Here are some examples of the lessons the book has to offer, always supported by evidence:

1) Forced ranking of employees doesn’t work, especially where people’s performance depends on interdependence with others. Furthermore, a survey of over 200 HR professionals by the Novations Group found that forced ranking (employed by more than half of the companies) resulted in lower productivity, injustice, skepticism, less employee engagement, reduced collaboration, lower morale, and mistrust in leadership.

The authors add that, if an organization trains people right and places them in an effective system, there’s no reason why 10 or 20 percent would automatically become incompetent every year.

2) Beware of your biases as a manager. Studies of NBA drafts showed that players picked earlier and paid more were less likely to be traded and had longer careers, regardless of their actual performance.

3) In the war for talent, don't forget that bad systems cause far more damage than bad people. Try redesigning systems and jobs before judging individuals. And don’t give people objectives unless the system and staffing can support it.

4) Watch out for dangerous incentives. One organization's salespeople shipped too far ahead of schedule just to win a prize. Some salespeople would hold customer returns in the trunk of their car so they still get their commission for that period. Others opened bad credit accounts because any order counted as a good order. In another company, incentives to complete truck routes early led to increased accidents and overloading of trucks to avoid multiple trips.

5) Strategy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Operational execution often has a greater impact on performance. The CEO of Wells Fargo once said, “I could leave our strategic plan on a plane and it wouldn’t make any difference. No one could execute it.” In U.S. football, virtually every play is designed to go for a touchdown. Unfortunately, reality gets in the way, as do mistakes in execution.

The authors point out that time spent pursuing strategic options could be better spent solving operational problems or focusing on customer needs. Organizations such as eBay and Intel use a “learn as you go” approach, putting something in the market and tweaking accordingly. Doing the right things is important, but not at the expense of doing them effectively.

6) Many changes, including mergers and acquisitions, ERP implementations, Six Sigma programs, Business Process Reengineering, cost cutting initiatives, and others, carry risks that outweigh the benefits and can be easily misapplied. People tend to underestimate the costs and overestimate the gains.

However, if it is determined that the change is still needed, the authors suggest we:

a) Ensure dissatisfaction with the status quo (i.e. the burning platform)
b) Communicate the same message repeatedly about the need for the change
c) Express extreme confidence in the change, but listen to concerns and adjust accordingly
d) Expect setbacks, errors, and miscommunication; Learn from it and revise processes. Never point fingers.

7) Based on proven evidence, in order to gain respect and trust, leaders should:

a) Act "as-if" - Be sure to act and talk like a leader
b) Have some sense of modesty. Understand the difference between knowledge (knowing things) and wisdom (knowing what you know and knowing what you don’t know).
c) Know when to get out of the way.
d) Above all, be an architect of systems, teams, and cultures.

These are but a few of the valuable nuggets in the book. The book offers additional tips as well, plus loads of supporting stories, examples, and research. Perhaps most valuable is the chart on the various types of changes and risks associated with them. I highly recommend this book to all leaders.

IT Governance: Board of Director Involvement

Corning demonstrates leading practices in board-level governance of IT - setting strategy, shaping the portfolio, understanding business impact, and sustaining benefit realization. The company expects growth through innovation in display technologies, diesel products, and telecommunications. Corning has a history of innovation and continues to invest in longer-term emerging technologies. ...

... "They play an active, creative role in helping to set IT strategy, make sure they know what's in the technology pipeline and what it will mean to the bottom line, and ride the results hard. " ...

Via Corporate Board Member Magazine: Board Level Governance of IT

IT Professionalism: Business Impact

From the land of ITIL comes IT certification. Nice vision. Business impact is the end-game. ...

... "To create a profession where the test of professionalism is related to business impact and outcomes in addition to technical excellence. " ...

Via British Computer Society: The vision for Professionalism programme

Business Results: IT Strategy

Today's IT career path requires evolving your role into a challenging place - the potential to impact business results - which comes with its set of risks. However, standing still increases the risk of outsourcing, or worse yet, irrelevance. ...

... "If they're not in the decision-making stream, playing some role that's accountable for real results from IT strategy, even on a very local, project level, they're at greater risk both to outsourcing and stalling wages. They need to work themselves into a position that's closer to business results and end customers. " ...

Via InformationWeek Weblog: Read

Quality vs. Quantity: Is it Really a Choice?

There's an article in CIO magazine about how business leaders are beginning to choose quality over quantity (although the evidence seems to be to the contrary). The article refers to quantity as faster, more, cheaper, etc. But is it really a choice?

With adequate up-front research, phased deliverables, frequent communication, and good change management practices, we can achieve both. Phased deliverables provide earlier benefits (i.e. speed), fact-based learnings, less resistance, less rework (i.e. cheaper) and many other benefits. Change management practices insure that the rollout of any new feature or product won't break something (the level of change management needed must of course be appropriate to the type of product and industry).

And so what if it turns out through the early phases that requirements must change or more features are needed? As long as the change impact is managed and the change is agreed-upon, that's perfectly fine. These value-based course-corrections are another advantage of phased deliverables.

These precautions are the difference between speed and haste. As Patton said, "Haste is speed without planning." Indeed, we can achieve quantity and quality.

Here's the CIO article...

Getting Quality Over Quantity Better the First Time Around - Business Pulse - Leadership RC - CIO

Unconsulting: Common Sense Lessons for Project Managers

At someone's recommendation, I just finished reading Unconsulting, by David Newman. Fascinating and energizing book for anyone in business.

His book is partly inspired by Peter Drucker's statement, "Only marketing and innovation produce revenue. All other business functions produce costs." To this end, Newman offers that "the bottom line is meaningless if the top line is weak." He points out that, according to studies, "Companies with the same earnings per share that got there from SALES were worth about 30% more than companies who got there with COST CUTTING."

Newman, who, according to the book's back cover, has been called "a younger version of Tom Peters with less hair," offers 95 common-sense "in your face" tips.

A few more key points, paraphrased from the book:

• When consulting, talk to people (especially the impact points such as customers, suppliers, etc.) to gain anecdotal data to gain texture, context, and perspective.
• 95 percent of problems can be addressed by making significant changes to 5 percent of the processes, people, or technology.
• Simplicity defined: Find the shortest way to the best answer.
• Be with the client, not of the client. Rock the boat. You're there preceisely for that reason and to give advice. You're there to do your thing for them, not be a "yes" man (or woman).
• There is no cookie-cutter. Don't sell canned solutions. Listen to the client and look at unique angles to each engagement.
• Bill Cosby says, "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
• Don't isolate talent management and organizational development to one department. Institutionalize it in all your management.
• The unconsultant handles an engagement in this way:
  
  "I'll ask some questions, do some research, guide the discussion, help set clear and specific objectives for the work, offer options, tools and answers each step of the way, and then we'll do the work together."
  
  All in all, very refreshing stuff. And a good model for project managers as well. I highly recommend this book. It's not available on Amazon.com, only on Newman's site, but well worth getting. Also, see the wealth of free white papers on his site, as well as his blog...
  
  David Newman: Professional Speaker Motivational Speaker and Keynote Speaker and Business Consultant

Talent Management: Readiness Survey Results ...

Interesting results of recent talent survey ...

Knowledge Infusion performed the 2010 Talent Readiness Survey in the early summer of 2006 to understand the talent gap to be left by retiring Baby Boomers. The study evaluates when people will leave the workforce, if there will be talent shortages that impact business outcomes, the steps organzations can take to find, develop, and retain the critical skills required for success. ...

The survey validates these findings:

Larger organizations are likely to impacted the most by the retiring workforce.

By 2010, a significant portion of the eligible workforce will retire.

To get ready: You must understand the impact on your organization. What percentage of your workforce could retire in four years? If succession planning at your company is focused more on the executive ranks, now is the time to apply succession modeling to your critical skills. Take a skills inventory. Understand the skills across the workforce demographics. Develop a plan to attract and retain the critical skills for your organization.

And, of course, digitizing your talent data enables your organization to provide visibility to this critical workforce information. Cornerstone OnDemand provides integrated on-demand solutions for talent management.

Via Cornerstone OnDemand : Managing Talent in the Face of Workforce Retirement ...

21 Success Secrets of The Beatles

One thing I enjoy doing is studying excellence. There's something about unique, extraordinary human achievement that I find fascinating.

I love studying it, dissecting it, and extracting lessons from it. It's what attracted me to write about Napoleon. It's what led me to explore lessons from Einstein. And it's what leads me to dive into lessons from The Beatles.

Like them or not, nobody can argue that The Beatles didn't achieve amazing feats. I doubt there will ever be another musical group that could rival them for sheer impact on the music scene and the world.

They were the first pop artists to record in stereo. They were the first band to experiment in the studio. They were the first band to list lyrics on their album. The list goes on and on.

But what made them so successful? And are the lessons applicable to building successful and innovative individuals and teams in business? Here are 21 lessons that answer definitively "yes."

1) Focus on Strengths - They focused on their strengths, doing what they do best (songwriting and performing).

2) Engage a partner - They got help (from Brian Epstein, their manager, and George Martin, their producer). They couldn't have achieved such heights on their own.

3) Differentiate! - They dared to be different, whether it was their suits, their hair, the instruments they experimented with, their neverending search for new chords, and so on.

4) Have key values - They stuck to principle themes, such as love, peace, and the search for truth.

5) Adopt a cause - In the band and in their solo careers, they always had a cause that they were passionate about, whether peace, vegetarianism, eastern philosophy, or some other passion.

6) Worship change - They weren't afraid to change, even in the midst of success. At the top of the moptop craze, they changed their style, then they changed again with Sergeant Pepper, which was a virtual celebration of change.

7) Broaden your horizons - They continuously sought self-growth, learning new philosophies, new chords and instruments, etc.

8) Be passionate about everything you do. They treated each deliverable (i.e. song) as THE hit, which is why their "B-sides" did better than most people's A-sides.

9) Embrace conflict - They readily embraced creative conflict and friendly competition. It was precisely the conflict and competition between Lennon and McCartney that made each of them strive for new heights.

10) Keep moving - Fast! - They recorded constantly, always looking for some new and unique angle. They recorded first and asked questions later.

11) RMF (Risk Magnificent Failures) - They experimented with new chords, new concepts, and had some celebrated failures (Revolution #9-although some liked it; the Magical Mystery Tour Movie, in which they filmed everyone on a bus in the hopes that something neat would happen--nothing did). In a sense, each album was also an experiment in some way.

12) Aim for the Skies - They thought big ("To the toppermost!" they used to say) and they believed it! Similar to Napoleon Hill's principles in Think and Grow Rich, they aimed high and got there.

13) Talent matters - When all is said and done, they had the right talent. All the other elements wouldn't have helped if they didn't have a natural talent for music. Luck helps, but if you have the right talent in the right job, the luckier you get.

14) Use your whole brain - They used the left and right sides of their brain---using the right side when freeflowing creativity and innovation were needed, and the left side when the proper structure was important.

15) Have Fun!!! - Above all, they had plenty of fun, and even stressed the importance in the song "She's Leaving Home" (about a girl who left home to explore "something inside that was always denied for so many years---She's having fun, bye bye.")

16) Never Conform - They didn't conform to standard education, which led to their unorthodox style. In fact, I've noticed most great pop musicians hold their instruments "the wrong way." Tom Peters pointed the same thing out about great Tennis players and their rackets.

17) Field the right team - They were built for synergy -- each were different but shared the same values. The whole was truly greater than the sum of its parts.

18) Get noticed! - They wouldn't have gotten anywhere if they didn't get noticed in the first place. How did they get noticed? By playing in public, where they could get noticed. This should stress the importance of networking. Be seen.

19) Prototype and Test! - They prototyped and tested zillions of versions of their songs. For each hit, there were about 20 alternate takes in different styles and genres. And they practiced each version over and over.

20) Study the greats, Then forget them. - They didn't begin in a vacuum. They studied their idols, such as Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, and others. If you want to succeed at something, a good place to begin is studying those who have succeeded before. But then make your own way, just like The Beatles did. Carve your own niche.

21) Be Authentic - They were authentic to who they were - British lads from Liverpool.They could sing colorful lyrics about places like Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields, and could talk about TV shows like "Meet the Wife" ("It's time for tea and Meet the Wife" from "Good Morning"). They could sing about these things because it's who they were, not because they were trying to be cute or clever. It's important to be true to who you are, not who you'd rather be.

Project Failure: Asset Impairment Charge: IT Strategy Rationalization ...

IT integration projects are a tough business. Failures can be expensive, impact the bottom line, and affect careers. Here's a clear example ...

... "LCH.Clearnet has decided to close down its Generic Clearing System (GCS) project. A review of the GCS programme in 2005 had already concluded that part of the GCS investment would not be brought into economic use and an impairment charge of EUR20.1 million was therefore recognised in the 2005 interim accounts. Further work completed in June 2006 concluded that the further development of GCS was not economically or technically viable, and the Group has therefore decided not to continue to use assets from GCS within its technology strategy. An impairment charge of EUR47.8 million, which substantially relates to those assets, has been recognised and will be reported in the LCH.Clearnet Group Limited 2006 half year results to be published in August." ...

Project Failure: Asset Impairment Charge: IT Strategy Rationalization: Via LCH ClearNet: LCH.Clearnet Rationalises IT Strategy ...

IT Strategy: Financial Services CIO Recognized ...

CIO is recognized for excellence in strategic management, impact on company results, and deployment of advanced technology. Financial services firms are critically dependent on technology and must integrate IT strategy into the overall business strategy. Saxo Bank is differentiating itself. ...

... "In a profile appearing in Borsen in connection with the award, Ole Rossing was commended for his central role in the strategic direction of Saxo Bank. The bank has no separate IT strategy – rather, IT is a fully integrated part of the company's total strategy, placing Rossing in a particularly pivotal role for the bank's success in recent years. He has also been a key driver of the bank's exponential growth in recent years. Ole Rossing came to Saxo Bank eight years ago, at which time the bank's IT department numbered just seven employees. Today, Rossing leads 200 of Saxo Bank's 575 current total employees. " ...

IT Strategy: Financial Services CIO Recognized: Via saxobank: Saxo Bank's Ole Rossing scoops up IT award ...:

Personal Value Proposition: Assess Your Business Impact ...

Nice article, by Pete McGarahan, challenges the reader to assess how they contribute value to an organization and be accountable for their future by taking risks, learning, and owning their personal development. Quick and worthwhile read ...

... " ... a business mentor once asking me, What's your value proposition to the organization? I was taken aback by the question and began rattling off what I did for a living. He quickly stopped me and said, No, Pete, what value do you provide to the organization on a daily basis? " ...

Personal Value Proposition: Assess Your Business Impact: Via CCN: Being the CEO of You (PDF) ...

PMOs; Where's the Value?

A contributor to eProject's eLounge mentioned this excellent article from Chief Project Officer. It's written by Tom Westcott, founder of Project Solutions Group. Several years ago, I saw him speak on scheduling techniques at the PMI Delaware Valley Chapter's Annual Workshop, and was very impressed with his dynamic style and pragmatic approach.

In the article, Westcott talks about how PMOs must demonstrate value if they are to survive, and offers some good tips on how to do just that. Specifically, he says they must create strategic alignment, deliver real value, and communicate frequently.

Here's an excerpt on what he has to say about delivering value:

PMOs must deliver value to survive. Value is not templates, tools, methodology, processes, training; these are means to driving value. Value is gaining efficiencies, achieving cost savings, increasing customer satisfaction, reducing time-to-market, increasing revenue and profit, reducing deficits, or increasing competitive advantage. Too many PMOs wrap their whole mission and existence around the services they provide instead of their impact on the business. Executives buy value.

Too many PMO directors are former project managers who see their role as project management evangelists. This
leads to a myopic view, and often they are ill-prepared or unable to work strategically with executive management. PMO directors need to speak and think in business terms, financial and organizational. Nix the "project-management speak." How does this project benefit the organization and support our strategy? And how can we get it done as quickly and inexpensively as possible? That's what they care about.

For the full article, read on...

Chief Project Officer: PMO or Bust?

IT Strategy: Corporate Interests Can Influence Architecture and Career Path ...

Ancedotal evidence illustrates the impact of external forces when enterprise architecture transformation is being considered. Those forces can impact the architecture and the career path of those involved. Who said enterprise architecture wasn't risky business? Ethan Butterfield reports on the status of Massachusetts' Enterprise Technical Reference Model. ...

... "Without mentioning Microsoft by name, John Weathersby, executive director of the Open Source Software Institute of Oxford, Miss., said powerful corporate interests used their leverage to aggressively fight the state’s initiative. It demonstrates the lengths to which some will go to try to slow the adoption of open standards within public-sector IT environments, he said. " ...

IT Strategy: Corporate Interests Can Influence Architecture and Career Path: Via GCN: Loss of advocate Quinn doesn’t slow down state’s effort ...

Project Management: Virtual Decision Making

Struggling with enabling and sustaining project decisions? Bill Thomas promotes effective decision-making through a process that considers the level of decision-making participation and measures performance. The decision roles of participants should be understood, documented, and monitored (helpful with compliance, such as SOX). Graphical visualization of key measures is recommended, in combination with the appropriate commentary to provide the color and texture of the business context. ...

... "Effective group decision making within performance management has always been a challenge, but traditional decision-making approaches do not consider the speed and complexity of dynamic virtual work teams regularly employed at this time. They also neglect recent compliance regulations that have a direct impact on defining current business processes. Ten years ago, an organization could employ loose guidelines and/or project management techniques because group decision making was less complicated. " ...

Via Business Intelligence Network: Decision Making and Risk within the Performance Management Process ...

Keeping Technology In-House Pays Off

A little over a year ago, JPMorganChase canceled its $5 billion outsourcing contract with IBM Global Services and brought its technology operations back in-house.

Says CIO Austin Adams:

"The decision to cancel the outsourcing deal wasn't driven entirely by cost savings... It was about our belief that we wanted to be more involved in every aspect of our business, and technology is a significant part."

And this belief has proven true. The bank is now seeing cost savings from better leveraging of software and hardware deals, and is seeing excellent operational efficiencies as well.

For project managers, this can bring additional benefits, such as having the right know-how in house, and avoiding the need to manage across multiple organizations.

In general, while appearing to be a silver bullet, outsourcing can have negative effects on morale and can damage communities as well. Furthermore it doesn't always bring the cost-savings it promises and puts the organization at the mercy of its vendors. Collectively, there's no telling what the long-term impact will be on the United States.

Companies such as Toyota practice long-term thinking, pride of workmanship, and remain community-focused, with good results. Cheers to JPMorgan Chase.

Here's the full article from Baseline Magazine. There's also an interesting sidebar called "Can You Outsource Project Management?"

JPMorgan Chase Retakes Control of I.T.

Risk Analysis

Oil exploration is a notoriously risky business. Add in the physical risk of deep water drilling and you can easily understand why risk analysis and management takes on a really high profile in the off shore drilling industry.
DNV is a long established maritime certification organisation and, with the North Sea oil boom, has moved naturally into the off shore oil exploration risk management and certification business.
This paper describes an approach to risk management for deep water exploration. It is written with a general approach and is adaptable to other styles of project and product.
A couple of perspectives that make it particularly interesting:
The risk analysis - and management plan - will be different for the organisation executing the project and for the contractors;
The categorisation of risks by Economy, Time and Performance - equivalent to Cost, Schedule and Scope. The familiar Probability/Impact matrices are represented for each of these and the authors use an interesting method of plotting the effect of risk mitigation plans on the analysis.
There is also extensive discussion of the risk management process, use of the risk register and communication. It ends with a couple of case studies that illustrate the approach nicely.
DNV Risk Analysis

Japan's Recovery - Internet Companies, Governance & More

This Time, Japan's Recovery Seems for Real

Like cherry blossoms that symbolize springtime and renewal in Japan, signs of an end to the nation's 15-year economic slump are beginning to emerge. Shares are trading at five-year highs, property values are ticking up and consumer price deflation appears to be ending -- all indications that the world's second-largest economy appears poised for recovery. At the same time, say Wharton faculty and outside observers, Japan continues to face challenges as it grapples with sluggish and outdated financial institutions, massive government debt and strained political relations with its fast-growing neighbor, China. In this special section, we offer an overview of Japan's economy, a report on the move to reform its massive postal savings system, and an analysis of the important role China plays in Japan's recovery. In addition, we describe the impact that two Japanese Internet companies are having on corporate governance, and look at the revival of Japan's retail sector, with its continued emphasis on customer service and demand for high-quality brands.

Summary is courtesy of Knowledge @ Wharton (Wharton is the University of Pennsylvania's business school - one of the top b-schools in the US)

Find out more: Link

VOIP Project: Voice-Over-IP ...

The VOIP transformation project is relatively high-risk: newer technology, questionable scalability, increased cultural change, and impact to a critical business function: communications. J. Nicholas Hoover discusses the pitfalls of a voice-over-IP phone project

... "Anyone thinking a switch to a voice-over-IP phone system will be smooth and easy should remember Ruth Harenchar's ruby-red nail polish. At the Hobart West Group, where Harenchar is CIO, the company's VoIP project required tough decisions, like whether to spend money training existing IT staff or hire expensive consultants. It meant learning to live without certain common telecom features in order to get the savings the company wanted. And it involved helping employees through the culture shock of replacing the familiar ... " ...

Via InformationWeek | Voice-Over-IP | VoIP Gotchas ...



Here are some relevant references on VOIP implementations:

Via NetworkWorld: The ROI of VoIP: "When it comes to VoIP, most network managers are satisfied that the technology works. The challenge is developing cost analyses: What will the new technology cost to roll out and support, and what benefits can companies expect to reap? "

Via NetIQ: VoIP in Action: "OK, you've moved beyond the deployment stage of your VoIP project. Your first group of VoIP phone users are happy and you've got high levels of availability and call quality. Now what? In the management stage, you need to keep those users happy with consistent availability and high call quality. "

Managing VoIP Implementations Effectively: "Voice over IP (VoIP) is the hottest telephony technology. Consumers and corporations are looking to reduce costs by deploying VoIP systems. The challenge, however, is that the technology is so new that few project managers have expertise in managing VoIP implementation. If you are interested in or responsible for implementing VoIP at your organization, this is the course for you. "

IT Governance Process: Drive Business Value ...

IT governance seen as hot trend for 2006. CIO's will leverage business leaders to make investment decisions and increase the business value of the IT project portfolio. Summit Strategies publishes its annual list of seven IT high-impact trends in the information technology space. ...

... "CIOs Get Business Value Religion. Leading-edge CIOs will implement sophisticated, business-focused IT governance processes and tools to increase their credibility with internal business sponsors and free up funding to support strategic business/IT initiatives. " ...

Via Tekrati Research: IT Vendors Face Fundamental Changes in 2006, Says Summit Strategies ...

IT Governance: Scope of Responsibility ...

University organization model is a representative scope for an IT governance council with good list of responsibilities. ...

IT Governance: Scope of Responsibility: Via The University of Southern Mississippi: IT Governance ...

... "This is an advisory and coordination council that provides a process for identification and prioritization of requests requiring technology support. The process will be based on business/client value which will include identifying need, cost, benefit, visibility/impact and risk. Under the direction of the Chair, the council will serve as the technology advisory body ... " ...

Business Performance Management: IT Project Challenges ...

Project managers need to pay special attention to requirements definition when involved in business performance management, or BPM, initiatives. Craig Schiff discusses the challenges associated with business performance implementations. ...

Business Performance Management: IT Project Challenges: Via DMReview: Maximize Business Performance: Don't Underestimate the Potential Impact of BPM

... "Underestimating BPM's possible payoff goes hand in hand with inadequate sponsorship and support from senior management that relegates BPM to a small IT project to be dealt with in the back office. This tends to result in failure to involve end users in the early stages of requirements definition and a poor grasp of the business issues. " ...

Project Management Practices During Periods of Turnover ...

Project management best practices can be leveraged to manage through periods of turnover. Jim Rogers, Primavera Systems, offers his insights on turnover, especially in offshoring / outsourcing situations, a common experience these days. ...

Project Management Practices During Periods of Turnover: Via IT Business Edge: Dealing with the Realities of Turnover ...

... "Accurately tracking project results can help you accurately measure the impact of turnover, and decide if it is a major issue and whether the level of risk needs to be re-evaluated. " ...

Business Continuity Project: Key Part of IT Strategy ...

Business Continuity Project: Key Part of IT Strategy: Via Continuity Central: Selling business continuity to finance directors

The business impact assessment, an early step in a business continuity project, sets the focus areas and tempo of the implementation project. Nick Sutton, describes the key benefits of a business continuity program and techniques that IT professionals can use to effectively communicate the situation to leaders. This concept of the backlog trap is real and does not take a disaster to be confronted. Outages during peak periods and other events can trigger a backlog of business transactions that need to be caught-up ...

... "The focus that BIA can give to IT strategy and expenditure - through its identification of needs, shortfalls and priorities -makes for an IT infrastructure that can be relied upon to produce accurate data. One theory well-known amongst business continuity specialists is the Backlog Trap. The after-effects of interruptions to normal work flows can result in severe backlogs, built up while attention is focused on dealing with the abnormal situation or during resultant system-downtime. " ...

Business Risk Innovation and Edges

Business Risk Innovation and Edges: Via The Daily Innovator: Clear thinking about risk ...

Jeff De Cagna explores innovating at the risky edges of business ...

... "In the process, they can redefine not only their businesses but also the operating environment itself. While the short-term goal is to minimize the impact of risk on the organization's strategy and operations, the long-term goal must be to leverage risk to gain strategic advantage. " ...

Managing the Front-End of Projects; Is it Part of the Project?

There has been some good discussion as a result of my post on September 15th on the "impact of initiation and planning on the project budget." Managing these early phases well is truly a gap in the project management field and there doesn't seem to be industry consensus on whether these phases (known as Front-End-Loading or FEL) should be part of the project or not. Traditional thinking seems to place FEL outside the realm of project management, as a separate entity, with project management only getting involved once the resulting charter is established. Yet, this is odd, since Front-End-Loading plays such a significant role in project success.

The paper below, from the proceedings from the 2005 PMI Global Congress in Edinburgh (be sure to click on the link for the PDF version for best readibility), makes a good case for including FEL as part of the project. At the very least, we need a way to better integrate these strategy, conceptualization, governance, and early planning activities with the project itself.

Managing the Front-End: how project managers shape business strategy and manage project definition

The Impact of Initiation and Planning on the Project Budget

For those familiar with Earned Value, we know that the calculations require a baseline (which get created at the end of the planning phase), as well as actual costs.

But what about all that time spent during the all-important initiation phase (which should include some sort of conceptual planning and alternatives analysis) and the planning phase (which includes WBS and schedule development)? These happen prior to Earned Value tracking.

Typically, there will be quite a bit of time spent in these phases, and by the time the baseline is approved at the end of these phases, a big chunk of the budget has already been spent. Since we can't use Earned Value during those phases (no baseline exists yet), how can we avoid blowing our budget too early?

I've seen several approaches to this:

1) One approach is to create the initiate phase in the project schedule immediately upon starting a project. Begin tracking time immediately. Consider starting with a baseline (i.e. budget) for that phase, and tracking against "budget" just like you would the rest of the project. The problem is that it's hard to budget for this type of activity.

2) Another approach is to do the initiation work (conceptual planning, initial requirements gathering, preliminary scope and business case development, etc.) outside of the project, and begin the project with the charter resulting from that "early initiation" activity (typically just after project approval). As Max Wideman said on his site, there's not really consensus in the industry if these "front-loading" activities should be part of the project or not. Still, you'd need track the WBS and schedule development, but at least those activities are easier to get a handle on.

3) I've even seen companies not bother tracking time until the schedule has been created and baselined. All initiation and planning phases are outside of the project. Sometimes they don't even submit their project for acceptance until after the WBS and schedule have been created. Most companies want the first approval earlier, though, based on an order-of-magnitude estimate.

I'd be curious to see what other approaches may exist for controlling (or not) the time spent on the initiation and planning phases.