Trouble in IT

www.pmi.org

The June 2008 edition of PM Network states what many have suspected for sometime: “IT projects are becoming more complicated – and companies are struggling to get the job done.”

According to a survey in September 2007 by ComputerWorld, Project Management ranked as the number one concern particularly for mission-critical strategic projects, such as those that will help to move the organisation to the next level.

Reasons for Failure:
Today companies need to become more innovative to succeed and therefore more projects are strategy-driven, which often makes them riskier to deliver. In addition, weak project management infrastructures and poor planning often result in a rise in project costs and fall in achievement of project outcomes.

Another survey by IAG Consulting in North America revealed that companies with poor project processes spend approximately $2.24 million more on strategic technology projects and have three project failures for every success compared to those that employ requirements best practices.

Another reason for failure is cited as lack of committed and active sponsorship, not usually through lack of desire to be a sponsor, but more likely through insufficient knowledge and training of how to carry out the sponsorship/executive role.

Solution:
The president for the Centre for Project Management in California sums up by saying that companies need to invest in their people, processes and project management infrastructure in order to deliver strategic projects that meet business and customer needs.


Filling the Gaps by Dr Bud Baker

Bud Baker argues that all strategy is about identifying where we are today, where we want to be in the future and then identifying what we have to do to get there; i.e. what projects need to be undertaken. Every company strategic initiative, diversification, new product launch, acquisition etc involves the management of change and the best way to manage that change is through the tools, tactics and techniques of project management.

Project management becomes the bridge between what is and what will be and requires the project manager to successfully deal with the challenges of the management of change to fulfill the organisation’s strategic needs. It would appear that in addition to the usual skills required of a project manager, experience and skills in change management are something organisations should prioritise when recruiting.


Five Business Trends forcing companies, and project management, to adjust by Sarah Fister Gale

1. The Battle for the Right People
The war for talent is a global issue, especially for highly technical skills often due to large numbers of retiring workers not being replaced by sufficient technology graduates. In addition, companies need to delivery projects more quickly and cheaply with better results and therefore the demand for IT project managers with good business acumen is on the increase.

Suggested Solution – make a commitment to develop talent in order to build loyalty, improve organisational skill sets and avoid having to recruit for key positions.

2. The Rise of Emerging Markets
Emerging markets such as Latin America and India are sparking a wave of massive projects. According to the Project Management Research Institute, Kerala, India, huge infrastructure projects are becoming essential to sustain the growth rates being achieved by India. India, however, has a shortage of experienced project managers capable of handling such large projects.

Suggested Solution – there are lucrative opportunities for experienced project managers with the wherewithal to deal with having to develop their own regulations and standards from scratch.

3. Interactive Innovation
Research and development is fast being replaced by crowdsourcing and other social networking tools. Organisations that continue to pour money into traditional R&D projects make plans in isolation and are not allowing fresh ideas into the decision-making mix.

Suggested Solution – avoid being left behind by embracing web 2.0 tools to get a more holistic view of customer needs and align them with core business strategies and project goals.

4. Realistic Responsibility
Companies need to take their environmental policies and corporate social responsibility from being a public relations after-thought to being a critical business driver which is part of their day to day operations.

Suggested Solution – provide Project Managers with the power and information they need to make more thoughtful sustainable choices in their daily decision making and encourage them to add issues such as environmental impact to their project assessment methodologies.

5. The Here and Now
Globalisation has forced companies to move at a much more rapid pace, meaning project managers face higher project expectations to be delivered in a shorter timeframe using less resources.

Suggested Solution – Project Managers need to be clearer about what is required by fostering greater involvement by customers and stakeholders. Project Managers need to place a priority on client collaboration, establishing frequent deliverables and review points. This allows greater flexibility for change without the need to lose time on significant re-work and reduces the risk of not matching client requirements. In summary, project managers need to be experts at customer and stakeholder engagement.