Revolutionizing IT: The Art of Using Information Technology Effectively

Revolutionizing IT......Page 3
CONTENTS......Page 9
ABOUT THE AUTHORS......Page 15
PREFACE......Page 19
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 23
INTRODUCTION......Page 27
CHAPTER 1: The Nature of Projects......Page 33
The Race......Page 34
Terminology......Page 35
Principles and Methodologies......Page 36
The Improvement of Business Processes......Page 37
The Classic View of Project Management Theory......Page 39
Classic Theory Limitations......Page 41
The Methodology Evolution......Page 42
Summary......Page 43
CHAPTER 2: In the Beginning......Page 45
How Projects Are Typically Initiated......Page 46
The Virus That Causes Scope Growth......Page 49
Resource Limitations......Page 50
Management Misunderstanding......Page 51
Did Lewis and Clark Succeed or Fail?......Page 53
Summary: Early Stage Problems......Page 54
Mega-Multi Manufacturing......Page 57
Drowning under the Waterfall......Page 62
Unrealistic Assumption # 1: The Environment Will Remain Stable during the Project......Page 63
Unrealistic Assumption # 2: End Users Can Define, in Advance, Exactly What Will Be Needed......Page 64
Unrealistic Assumption # 3: Complex Problems Can Be Solved Completely on the First Attempt......Page 65
Unrealistic Assumption # 4: Requirements Can Be Precisely Defined before Packaged Software Is Selected......Page 66
A Second Look at Mega-Multi......Page 67
The Evils of Scope Creep......Page 68
Why Has the Waterfall Lasted This Long?......Page 69
Summary: Why So Many Projects Fail......Page 70
Strong Leadership......Page 73
Resource Limitation......Page 74
Concept Recycling......Page 75
Why the Largest IT Project Ever Undertaken Succeeded......Page 76
A Seemingly Simple Success Story: Bass Pro......Page 77
Emergency Behavior......Page 79
Case History: Fort Knox Fails, but Silverlake Shines......Page 80
Summary......Page 82
What Is Success?......Page 83
The Patton/Lombardi Effect......Page 85
Building a Mental Picture......Page 86
More Realistic Assumptions......Page 87
Following Mother Nature......Page 88
A Different View of Projects......Page 89
Better Measures of Success......Page 90
What Project Teams Need to Do......Page 92
Summary......Page 93
CHAPTER 6: Deciding What to Do......Page 95
Defining Specific Project Goals......Page 97
Organizing Task Forces......Page 98
Practical Advice......Page 99
Mega-Multi Manufacturing Revisited......Page 100
A Quick Review......Page 103
Summary......Page 104
CHAPTER 7: Controlling Project Scope......Page 107
Let Time Determine Scope......Page 110
Control the Use of Resources......Page 113
Limit the Size of the Design Team......Page 115
Gauge Your Ability to Absorb Change......Page 116
Imitate, Don’t Invent......Page 117
Management’s Role in Scope Control......Page 119
Bite-Sized Pieces......Page 120
Case History: The Birth of the PC......Page 122
Summary......Page 123
CHAPTER 8: Who Is Accountable?......Page 125
Who Should Be Accountable?......Page 128
IT Accountability......Page 131
Rewarding Project Teams......Page 133
Summary......Page 134
The Role of Packaged Software......Page 137
Package Selection the Traditional Way......Page 138
Another Adventure for Mega-Multi......Page 139
What Is Wrong with the Traditional Approach?......Page 141
The RITE Approach......Page 142
Getting Help Selecting and Installing Packages......Page 146
Package Selection Using the RITE Approach......Page 147
Case History: Mississippi Chemical......Page 149
Summary......Page 150
CHAPTER 10: The Balancing Act......Page 153
Questions to Ask......Page 154
More Speed, Scotty......Page 155
Planning versus Doing......Page 158
Delivering Benefits......Page 160
Disruption: How Much Is Too Much?......Page 161
Controlling Risk......Page 163
Summary......Page 165
CHAPTER 11: Using Outsiders Wisely......Page 167
The 1-5-10 Business Model......Page 169
Other Business Models......Page 171
The Rate Issue......Page 172
Who Assumes the Risk?......Page 174
A Better Model for Obtaining IT Project Assistance......Page 176
Making the Right Choice......Page 177
Summary......Page 178
CHAPTER 12: Managing IT Professionals......Page 181
What Makes IT Professionals Different......Page 183
Motivation and Job Satisfaction......Page 184
Career Management......Page 185
Managers and Leaders......Page 186
High-Potential Employees......Page 187
The Causes of Turnover......Page 189
Summary......Page 190
CHAPTER 13: Management of Projects......Page 193
The Project Scheduling Dilemma......Page 194
Why Most Schedules Are Not Met......Page 195
A Different Approach to Scheduling......Page 197
Using Two-Tier Schedules to Defeat Parkinson’s Law......Page 199
Case History: Sealectro Replaces Its Applications......Page 200
Summary......Page 202
CHAPTER 14: Building Software Yourself......Page 205
The Role of Management......Page 206
The Development Challenge......Page 207
Another Visit to the Waterfall......Page 209
The Planning Stage of Development......Page 210
The Need for a Balanced Development Plan......Page 211
Reviewing and Approving the Project Plan......Page 212
Thoughts about Prototyping......Page 213
The Design Stage of Development......Page 214
The Coding Stage of Development......Page 217
The Test Stage of Development......Page 218
The Delivery Stage of Development......Page 220
The Service Stage of Development......Page 221
The Use of In-Process Metrics......Page 223
The Underlying Tool Base......Page 224
Some Parting Thoughts......Page 226
Summary......Page 227
CHAPTER 15: The Changing World of Software Development......Page 229
Promoting Reusability......Page 231
Building Applications from Objects......Page 232
Searching for the Perfect Object......Page 233
Follow the Leader......Page 234
Java Perks Up......Page 235
Use Case Methodology......Page 236
The Unified Modeling Language (UML)......Page 237
The Agile Movement......Page 238
Summary......Page 241
CHAPTER 16: A Review of the RITE Approach......Page 243
What Often Goes Wrong......Page 244
The Reasons for Failure......Page 245
More Realistic Assumptions......Page 246
The RITE Way to View Projects......Page 247
Scope Control......Page 248
Accountability......Page 250
Favor Packaged Software......Page 251
Using Outside Resources......Page 253
Managing IT Professionals......Page 254
Project Scheduling......Page 255
Developing Custom Software......Page 256
Final Thoughts......Page 258
REFERENCES......Page 259
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 261
INDEX......Page 265