Risk management for IT projects : how to deal with over 150 issues and risks / Bennet P. Lientz, Lee Larssen.

ISBN:

9780750682312

Title:

Author:

Lientz, Bennet P.

Personal Author:

Lientz, Bennet P.

Publication Information:

Boston : Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann, c2006.

Physical Description:

xviii, 331 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.

General Note:

Includes index.

Contents:

Part I: Issues and risk management 1. Introduction -- 2. Effective issues management and coordination -- 3. Analysis and measurements of issue and risk; Part II: Internal issues and risk 4. Teams -- 5. The work -- Business units -- 7. Management -- 8. Projects -- 9. Resistence to change; Part III: External issues and risks --10. Vendors, consultants and outsourcing --11. Headquarters --12. Technology; Part IV: Issues and risks in specific IT activities 13. IT strategic planning -- 14. Analysis -- 15. Software packages -- 16. Development -- 17. Implementation -- 18. Operations and support.

Subject Term:

Information technology -- Management.

Risk management.

Added Author:

Larssen, Lee.

Format:

Books

Publication Date:

2006

Publication Information:

Boston : Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann, c2006.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
004.1681 LIE	Book	1	Standard shelving location	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

The rate of failure of IT projects has remained little changed in survey after survey over the past 15-20 years--over 40-50%. This has happened in spite of new technology, innovative methods and tools, and different management methods. Why does this happen? Why can't the situation be better? One reason is that many think of each IT effort as unique. In reality many IT projects are very similar at a high, strategic level. Where they differ is in the people and exact events--the detail. If you read the literature or have been in information systems or IT for some time, you have seen the same reasons for failure and the same problems and issues recur again and again. In this book IT Management experts Ben Lientz and Lee Larssen show you how to identify and track the recurring issues leading to failure in IT projects and provide a proven, modern method for addressing them. By following the recommendations in this books readers can significantly reduce the risk of IT failures and increase the rate of success. Benefits of using this approach: * Issues are identified earlier--giving more time for solution and action. * Issues are resolved more consistently since the approach tracks on their repetition. * You get an early warning of problems in IT work--before the budget or schedule fall apart. * Management tends to have more realistic expectations with an awareness of issues. * Users and managers have greater confidence in IT due to the improved handling of issues. * Since the number of issues tends to stabilize in an organization, the IT organization and management get better at detecting, preventing, and dealing with issues over time--cumulative improvement. * Giving attention to issues make users more realistic in their requests and acts to deter requirement changes and scope creep.

Author Notes

Bennet P. Lientz is a consultant, teacher, and researcher. He is Professor of Information Systems at the Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Preface	p. xv
Part I Issues and Risk Management
Chapter 1 Introduction
Common IT-Related Problems	p. 3
Why IT Efforts Fail	p. 5
IT Differs from Other Types of Business Work	p. 7
How IT and the Business Have Changed	p. 8
IT and Politics	p. 9
The Management View of IT	p. 9
Issues and Risk	p. 9
Types of Issues	p. 10
The Life Cycle of an Issue	p. 11
Some Common Problems in Issues Management	p. 12
Issues Across Projects	p. 12
Problems Versus Opportunities	p. 13
The Goals of IT	p. 13
Process Improvement and Reengineering	p. 14
General Approach to Issues and Risk Management	p. 15
Organization of the Book	p. 15
Conclusions	p. 16
Chapter 2 Effective Issues Management and Coordination
Introduction	p. 17
General Management of Issues	p. 18
The Issues Databases	p. 19
Getting Started	p. 21
Defining Issues at the Start of Projects and Work	p. 23
Tracking of Issues and Risk	p. 24
User and Vendor Issue Coordination	p. 27
Issue and Risk Communications and Reporting	p. 27
Handling Issues Within the IT Organization	p. 29
Decision Making and Follow-up	p. 30
Dealing with Multiple Issues	p. 30
Coping with Recurring Issues	p. 31
Conclusions	p. 32
Chapter 3 Analysis and Measurements of Issues and Risk
Introduction	p. 33
Problems with Standard Measurements	p. 34
Management Critical Path	p. 35
Multiple Project Analysis	p. 39
Tracking Status Using Issues and Risk	p. 39
Total Issues	p. 42
Open Issues	p. 42
Uncontrolled Versus Controlled Open Issues	p. 43
Aging of Open Issues	p. 43
Average Time to Resolve Issues	p. 44
Distribution of Open Issues by Type	p. 45
Issues by Type over Time	p. 46
Selection of Issues for Decisions and Actions	p. 46
Perspective on Different Issues	p. 47
Project Evaluation	p. 48
Project Termination	p. 48
Conclusions	p. 49
Part II Internal Issues and Risk
Chapter 4 Teams
Introduction	p. 53
Lack of Teamwork	p. 54
Team Members or Departments That Do Not Get Along with One Another	p. 56
Team Members That Are Difficult to Manage	p. 58
Wide Range of Experience and Knowledge Among Team Members	p. 60
Project or Work Leader Who Is Junior and Lacks Experience	p. 62
Substantial Turnover Among Team Members	p. 64
Lack of Motivation	p. 66
Not Much Communication Among Team Members and Outside of the Team	p. 67
New Team Member Has to Be Socialized into the Group	p. 68
Team Member Performance That Does Not Seem to Improve over Time	p. 69
Too Much Time Spent in Meetings	p. 70
Conclusions	p. 71
Chapter 5 The Work
Introduction	p. 73
Limited or No Guidelines for Using Methods and Tools	p. 74
Tools That Are Used with No Structured Methods	p. 76
Lack of Formal Reviews of Work and Too Much to Review	p. 78
Methods That Are Too Informal	p. 79
Faulty Reporting on the Work	p. 81
Lack of Planning for the Work	p. 82
No Gathering of Experience from Performing the Work	p. 83
New Tool to Be Introduced	p. 85
Repetition of the Same Mistakes in the Work	p. 86
People Who Work in a Single-Tasking Mode	p. 87
Conclusions	p. 88
Chapter 6 Business Units
Introduction	p. 89
Users Who Resist Change	p. 90
Users Who Want the Technology but Do Not Want to Change	p. 92
Business Processes That Have Too Many Exceptions	p. 94
Many Shadow Systems in the Business Units	p. 95
Many Variations in Use of the Same Process	p. 97
Difficulty Getting Qualified Users to Join the Effort	p. 98
Users Who Do Not Want to Assume Responsibility	p. 99
Users Who Do Not Resolve Issues Quickly or Adequately	p. 101
Users Who Dictate Solutions	p. 102
User Management That Is Attempting to Manipulate IT to Gain More Power	p. 104
Users Who Change Requirements Frequently	p. 105
Users Who Are Unwilling to Sign Off	p. 107
Conclusions	p. 109
Chapter 7 Management
Introduction	p. 111
Management's Unrealistic Expectations of Benefits and Impacts	p. 111
Lack of Clear Goals	p. 113
Management's Frequent Changes of Direction	p. 114
Decisions Being Made Without the Advice or Involvement of the IT Managers	p. 116
Substantial Turnover of Management	p. 117
Management's Pulling of Resources from Some IT Work and Reassigning Them	p. 118
Management's Attempts to Micromanage the Work	p. 120
Management's Lack of Interest in IT Matters	p. 121
Management's Failure to Resolve Issues	p. 122
Lack of a Strategic IT Plan	p. 124
Lack of Alignment of IT to the Business	p. 126
Conclusions	p. 127
Chapter 8 Projects
Introduction	p. 129
Projects That Do Not Seem to Start Out Right	p. 129
Too Many Surprises in the Project	p. 131
Too Much Unplanned Work in the Project	p. 133
Difficulty Managing and Tracking Multiple Projects	p. 134
Time-Consuming Project Administration	p. 136
Project Leaders Who Lack Skills and Knowledge	p. 137
Lack of Standard Project Reporting	p. 139
Small Projects Not Being Treated as Projects	p. 141
Larger Projects Being Divided Up in the Wrong Way	p. 142
Too Many Projects	p. 144
Not Knowing What Is Going On in the Project	p. 145
Conclusions	p. 146
Chapter 9 Resistance to Change
Introduction	p. 147
Change That Does Not Fit Our Work	p. 147
Having Tried Similar Things Before That Did Not Work	p. 149
Lack of Incentive to Change	p. 151
Change That Means More Work for the Same Compensation	p. 152
Lack of Available Resources or Time to Support the Change	p. 153
Technology or Change That Is Too Complicated	p. 154
Possible Job Loss	p. 155
Resisting Change Because What Has Been Done in the Past Worked Well	p. 157
Inability to Teach an Old Dog New Tricks	p. 158
Change That Is Too Risky	p. 159
No One Taking Responsibility When the Change Does Not Work	p. 160
Conclusions	p. 161
Part III External Issues and Risks
Chapter 10 Vendors, Consultants, and Outsourcing
Introduction	p. 165
Inadequate Vendor Performance	p. 165
Vendor Staff Who Do Not Share Information	p. 167
Vendors That Use Their Own Proprietary Methods and Tools	p. 168
Vendors That Do Something Different from What They Agreed to Do	p. 169
Substantial Vendor Staff Turnover	p. 170
Unstructured Vendor Communications	p. 172
Vendor That Was Politically Selected by Management	p. 173
Vendor That Does Not Resolve Issues	p. 174
Vendor Team Leader Who Miscommunicates to Vendor Staff	p. 175
Vendor That Overpromises	p. 176
Vendor Staff Being Thinly Spread over Multiple Clients	p. 177
Highly Unqualified Vendor Staff	p. 178
Conclusions	p. 179
Chapter 11 Headquarters
Introduction	p. 181
Headquarters Dictating a Solution	p. 181
No Allowance for Resource Needs at the Local Level	p. 183
Headquarters Attempting to Micromanage the Work in the Business Unit	p. 184
Lack of Understanding of the Cultural and Political Differences Between Locations	p. 185
Poor Communication Between the Business Unit and Headquarters	p. 186
Too Frequent Turnover and Change of Headquarters People	p. 187
Headquarters Changing Direction Often During Implementation	p. 189
Headquarters Being Inflexible in the General Implementation of the Work	p. 190
Headquarters Providing No Direction for the Work	p. 191
Headquarters Not Providing the Necessary Funding	p. 192
Issues and Questions Raised with Headquarters That Are Not Being Addressed	p. 193
Conclusions	p. 194
Chapter 12 Technology
Introduction	p. 195
Merging and Combining of Technology Vendors	p. 195
Lack of Integration with the Technology	p. 197
Lack of Time to Adequately Learn the New Technology	p. 198
Unclear Benefits of the New Technology	p. 200
Need for a Decision as to Whether to Adopt a New Technology	p. 201
Incompatibility of the Technologies in Use and of Potential Use	p. 204
Privacy Concerns	p. 205
New Technology Being Only an Incremental Improvement	p. 206
Wide Range of Potential Technology Solutions	p. 208
Vendor That Is Forcing an Upgrade	p. 210
Lack of Standards	p. 211
Technology That Is Changing Too Slowly or Too Rapidly	p. 212
Conclusions	p. 213
Part IV Issues and Risks in Specific IT Activities
Chapter 13 IT Strategic Planning
Introduction	p. 217
Lack of Management Interest Once the Plan Is Approved	p. 218
Difficulty Linking IT Planning Factors to the Business	p. 219
High Management Expectations of the Planning Effort	p. 221
Lack of a Defined Business Vision or Mission	p. 222
Difficulty Showing the Benefits of Technology Projects in the Plan	p. 224
Limited or No Resources to Do the Planning	p. 225
Failure of Past Planning Efforts	p. 226
Deciding Whether the IT Plan Should Be Business Driven or IT Driven	p. 227
Business Being Unclear About What They Would Get from the Plan	p. 228
Challenge in Turning Action Items in the Plan into Actions	p. 229
Conclusions	p. 230
Chapter 14 Analysis
Introduction	p. 233
Incomplete Requirements	p. 233
Inadequate Time to Gather Requirements	p. 235
Users Lacking Knowledge of Their Own Processes	p. 236
Users Not Being Creative in Developing Solutions	p. 237
Unclear Benefits of the Work	p. 239
Lack of Real Overall Measurement of the Process	p. 240
Overly Formal and Unscalable Analysis Methods	p. 241
Original Stated Problem Not Being the Real Problem	p. 243
Real Problems Being Political and Not Technical	p. 244
Lack of a Real Downside If the Project Is Not Done	p. 245
Conclusions	p. 247
Chapter 15 Software Packages
Introduction	p. 249
No Software Package That Fits the Requirements	p. 250
Lack of Vendor Support in the Client Location	p. 251
Software with No New Releases in Some Time	p. 253
Deciding Whether or Not to Move to a New Release	p. 254
Lack of Vendor Support for the Product	p. 255
Software Package Vendor That Was Acquired by Another Firm	p. 257
Promised Features and Functions That Are Not There	p. 258
Inadequate Product Documentation	p. 259
Lack of Qualified Training in Use of the Software Package	p. 260
Limited Flexibility of the Software Package	p. 261
Substantial Hidden Costs of the Software Package	p. 263
Conclusions	p. 264
Chapter 16 Development
Introduction	p. 265
Overreliance on One Person	p. 265
Departure of a Key Person	p. 267
Development Performed ad hoc Without Adequate Design	p. 268
Lack of Emphasis on Testing	p. 269
Inadequate Tools	p. 270
Developers Who Do Not Share Knowledge	p. 273
Lack of In-Depth Review of Work	p. 274
Users Who Regularly Contact Programmers Directly	p. 276
Lack of Teamwork Among Developers	p. 278
Developers Who Cannot Agree on the Details of the Technical Approach	p. 279
Few Guidelines for Doing the Work	p. 280
Lack of Applying Past Knowledge and Experience	p. 281
Developers Who Are Concentrating on the Easy Parts First	p. 283
Conclusions	p. 284
Chapter 17 Implementation
Introduction	p. 285
Users Who Refuse to Accept Responsibility	p. 285
Users Being Unavailable to Participate in the Implementation	p. 287
Last-minute Requirement Changes	p. 288
Lingering Issues	p. 289
Resolved Issues That Become Unresolved	p. 290
Incomplete or Unsuitable User Training	p. 291
Users Who Resist Change During the Implementation	p. 293
Users Who Continue to Work with the Old System	p. 294
Problems with the Data Discovered During Data Conversion	p. 295
User Management That Is Unwilling to Enforce Turnover to the New Process	p. 296
Inadequate User Testing	p. 297
Conclusions	p. 298
Chapter 18 Operations and Support
Introduction	p. 299
Many IT Staff Members Preferring Operations Support to Projects	p. 299
Too Much Emergency Work	p. 301
Some Staff Using Maintenance as a Chance to Redevelop Software	p. 303
Overly Cozy Relationship Between Some IT Managers and Staff and Users	p. 304
Overly Specialized Support Requirements	p. 305
Lack of Measurement of Support and Maintenance	p. 306
No Differentiation Between Maintenance and Enhancement	p. 307
How Operations and Maintenance Should Be Managed	p. 308
Conclusions	p. 310
Appendix A The Results of a Survey on IT Issues	p. 311
Appendix B The Magic Cross-Reference	p. 319
Appendix C Websites	p. 321
Bibliography	p. 323
Index	p. 325

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Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents