Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 12.5
Factor
Countermeasure
Project Planning Issues
Frequently Contributing to
Project Failure
Solving the wrong problem
Establish a clear connection between the project
and organizational goals.
Follow a standard systems development approach.
Poor problem definition and analysis
Poor communication
Project is too ambitious
Set up communications procedures and protocols.
Narrow the project focus to address only the most
important business opportunities.
Lack of top management support
Identify the senior manager who has the most to
gain from the success of the project, and recruit
this person to champion the project.
Lack of management and user
involvement
Identify and recruit key stakeholders to be active
participants in the project.
Follow a standard systems development approach.
Inadequate or improper system
design
Lack of standards
Implement a standards system, such as ISO 9001.
Use of Project Management Tools
Project management involves planning, scheduling, directing, and controlling human, finan-
cial, and technological resources for a defined task whose result is achievement of specific
goals and objectives. 59 Corporations and nonprofit organizations use these important tools
and techniques. As an academic exercise, for example, Purdue University undertook a project
to build a supercomputer using off-the-shelf PCs. The project was completed in a day and
required more than 800 PCs. 60
A project schedule is a detailed description of what is to be done. Each project activity,
the use of personnel and other resources, and expected completion dates are described. A
project milestone is a critical date for the completion of a major part of the project. The
completion of program design, coding, testing, and release are examples of milestones for a
programming project. The project deadline is the date the entire project is to be completed
and operational—when the organization can expect to begin to reap the benefits of the
project. One company offers a 20 percent refund if it doesn't meet a client's project deadline.
In addition, any additional work done after the project deadline is performed free of charge.
In systems development, each activity has an earliest start time, earliest finish time, and
slack time, which is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the entire
project. The critical path consists of all activities that, if delayed, would delay the entire
project. These activities have zero slack time. Any problems with critical-path activities will
cause problems for the entire project. To ensure that critical-path activities are completed in
a timely fashion, formalized project management approaches have been developed. Tools
such as Microsoft Project are available to help compute these critical project attributes.
Although the steps of systems development seem straightforward, larger projects can
become complex, requiring hundreds or thousands of separate activities. For these systems
development efforts, formal project management methods and tools become essential. A
formalized approach called Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) creates
three time estimates for an activity: shortest possible time, most likely time, and longest
possible time. A formula is then applied to determine a single PERT time estimate. A Gantt
chart is a graphical tool used for planning, monitoring, and coordinating projects; it is es-
sentially a grid that lists activities and deadlines. Each time a task is completed, a marker such
as a darkened line is placed in the proper grid cell to indicate the completion of a task (see
Figure 12.11).
Both PERT and Gantt techniques can be automated using project management software.
Several project management software packages are identified in Table 12.6. This software
monitors all project activities and determines whether activities and the entire project are on
time and within budget. Project management software also has workgroup capabilities to
handle multiple projects and to allow a team to interact with the same software. Project
management software helps managers determine the best way to reduce project completion
project schedule
A detailed description of what is to
be done.
project milestone
A critical date for the completion of
a major part of the project.
project deadline
The date the entire project is to be
completed and operational.
critical path
Activities that, if delayed, would
delay the entire project.
Program Evaluation and
Review Technique (PERT)
A formalized approach for
developing a project schedule that
creates three time estimates for an
activity.
Gantt chart
A graphical tool used for planning,
monitoring, and coordinating
projects.
 
 
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