Oops IT did it again

... a familiar tune? It better not be on your iPod. ...

Commerce Bank, a financial company known for a superior level of customer service, has experienced business impacts as information systems are integrated into its acquirer, TD Bank (Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank), during the recent weekend conversion project. I may open up an account so I can get a copy of the lessons-learned report. ...

... "Customers can see account balances from the end-of-day yesterday, and will get updates later today, spokesman Nick Petter said in an e-mailed statement. " ...

Via Bloomberg: TD Bank Update on U.S. Accounts

Update: More details on the customer impact.

Sunset Projects

Should server, application, or platform retirements be managed as specific "sunset projects" or built into the original business case with set-aside funding for the shutdown phase of the life-cycle, ie: pre-planned? This is analogous to preparing a will - necessary but usually put off until much later. ...

... "Yet we seem to always forget to plan for their eventual end: the closure of projects, the removal of applications, the retirement of servers and the departure of users. " ...

Via Computerworld: Project closure

Manage Uncertainty with Liquid Plans

Project Team Recruiting

As you forecast the staffing of your project team resources into your planning horizon, soft skills such as teamwork, commitment, and work ethic are intangibles that should factor into your decisions. Returning military personnel can offer these intangibles in addition to specific work experiences and position your projects for success. ...

... "That's because more companies now see the value of military experience, in terms of skills training, work ethic and culture, which stresses teamwork, loyalty and integrity ... " ...

Via NYTimes Career Couch: Armed Forces

Project ReBaseline

Statistics on IT projects are not flattering and may be obscured by manipulating baselines. Baselines on budget, schedule, effort, etc. are tools for assessing progress against plan. Re-baselining is appropriate for significant scope changes. For multi-year projects, it may be worthwhile to baseline and track performance against scope / work packages, which can be useful for showing improving project / team efficiencies. What are your experiences with baselines? good or bad. ...

... "As the report points out, rebaselining can be used to mask cost overruns and missed deadlines. Of course, there are legitimate reasons for rebaselining ... " ...

Via Information Week: Success Of An IT Project

Project Advice for 2008

Advice for the new year includes building better business cases and planning for the organizational changes needed to operate new business processes enabled by technology implementations. ...

... "If your business case can't stand up to careful scrutiny and evaluation, then it's highly likely the project will experience significant downstream problems. " ...

Via ZDNet: Five Tips for IT success in 2008

Plan and Estimate using Agile

Agile techniques are not just for small projects. ...

Resource Planning for Project Success

IT services organization, Parity, sees resource planning as an opportunity to position projects for success. Their whitepaper offers advice that includes a thorough planning period, setting appropriate resource durations to support sourcing arrangements, and a disciplined approach to recruiting project talent. They see shortages in skilled IT resources as a strategic challenge confronting the IT space. ...

... "Failure to get IT resource requirements mapped out adequately is undermining the chances of IT projects succeeding and raises the risk of projects going over time and budget warns Parity ... " ...

Via Parity: Inadequate resource planning puts projects at risk

Enterprise Architecture Comes to Forefront

David Linthicum, an author and respected expert on integration, shares thoughts on the importance of a well-planned enterprise architecture and leveraging architects to develop a sustainable roadmap. ...

... "If investors hold management accountable for accounting irregularities and missed sales, then lost dollars around the ineffectiveness of IT can't be far behind. Thus, the ability to maintain effective and agile enterprise architecture is indeed a corporate responsibility ... " ...

Via InfoWorld: SOA

Project Planning for Scale

Server stress tests. Network utilization tests. Plan for scalability accordingly on your IT projects. ...

... "First, every IT project takes twice as long as you expect. Don't let any IT guys tell you otherwise and, if you're the IT guy, plan accordingly. " ...

Via ZDNet: Scalability

Steer Your Plan

Business planning requires routine schedule updates. Sound familiar? ...

... "Set up schedules for frequent review. Your plan will change. Your assumptions will be wrong. Your plan will be wrong. " ...

Via Tim Berry, Huffington Post: Business Planning

Seasonality in Project Resource Plans

Wishing you a nice holiday this summer ... don't forget to update your resource plans. ...

... "Kevin Fitzpatrick, CIO at Sodexho U.K., said plans are often made irrespective of the fact so many key people will be away. " ...

Via ZDNet Asia: Summer impact on IT projects

Quality is Job One

Who said that? ... What is the right balance of quality, schedule, and budget on an IT project? It's situational. Just know which one is most important and plan accordingly. ...

... "Quality happens only when careful planning is done, when the entire project team maintains a quality-conscious approach every step of the way, and when problems don't escape from the phase in which they were introduced. " ...

Via CIO: Software Quality Control