mis session 17.pdf

7/30/2019 MIS Session 17.pdf

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MIS Session 17

Managing IS / IT Projects


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Managing IS/ IT Projects

Project

Planned series of related activities for achieving a specific

business objective

Information Systems Projects Development of new Information Systems

Enhancement of existing systems

Upgrade / replacement of the firms IT infrastructure

Project Management

Application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to

achieve specific targets within specified budget and time

constraints


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Managing IS/ IT Projects

On Time

On Specification On Budget

Balancing all three corners is a challenge


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Importance of Project Management

Projects that are not managed properly could have

serious consequences

Poor PM consequences

Cost overruns

Time slippage

Technical shortfalls impairing Performance

Failure to obtain anticipated benefits


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Project Management Activities

Project Management Activities include

Planning the work

Assessing risk

Estimating resources required to accomplish the work

Organizing the work Acquiring human and material resources

Assigning tasks

Directing activities

Controlling project execution

Reporting progress

Analyzing results


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Project Management Activities Contd.

Five major variables to deal with

Scope

Time

Cost

Quality

How well the end result satisfies the objective

Ease of use of the system

Accuracy and timeliness of information produced

Risk


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IS Plan

Identify IS projects that will deliver the most business value Important to link IS plan to B plan

Develop an effective IS plan Important to understand the organizations shortterm and longterm

information requirements

Establish Information Requirements Critical Success Factors method (proposed by John F. Rockart)

Critical Success Factors Principal method Interviews with 3-4 top managers to identify goals and resulting CSFs

Personal CSFs aggregated into small number of firm CSFs

Systems built to deliver information on CSFs


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Critical Success Factors

Strengths Shaped by the industry, the firm, the manager and

the broader environment

Suitable for DSS/ESS

Weaknesses No clear methods for aggregation of personal CSFs

into firm CSFs

Confusion between individual CSFs and

organizational CSFs

Biased towards top managers


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Evaluation/Selection of Projects

Portfolio Analysis

Scoring Models

Costs and Benefits analysis

Costs (Direct, Indirect)

Benefits (Tangible, Intangible)

Capital Budgeting models (NPV, IRR, ROI etc)

Real Option Pricing models


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Portfolio Analysis


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Project risk

Financial models to evaluate projects have

limitations

There could be several causes that make a

project risky

There could be several causes that could

make a system a failure


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Why Do Systems Fail? Resource failures

Allotted resources are not sufficient to build the required system Requirements failures/ Goal failures

Incorrect, incomplete or unclear specifications of systemrequirements/goals

Technique failures

The system builders fail to use, or use incorrectly, effectivesoftware development techniques

User contact failures Inability to communicate with the user community

Internal users - leads to poor acceptance of the System

External users - leads to contractual problems

Organizational failures Lack of leadership, large span of control, poor coordination

between sub-groups, lack of clearly designated responsibility

Source: Monash University

School of Computer Science and SoftwareEngineering (CSE3308/DMS/2005/20)


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Why Do Systems Fail? Technology failures

Failure of acquired hardware or software utilized by the system beingdeveloped

Size failures

The system is just too big for the software development group to build

Methodology failures

Failures to perform the activities needed to build the system orperforming unnecessary activities

May be due to a lack of a formal methodology or due to a rigidadherence to a methodology or due to management directive

Planning and control failures

Failure to track progress, depict plans and schedules and vaguely

defining assignments Personality failures

Clashes between people within the system development group orexternal to the system development group

Source: Monash University School of Computer Science and Software

Engineering (CSE3308/DMS/2005/20)


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McFarlans Risk Assessment

Method

A simpler method of assessing the risk of a Project

Relies upon examining three factors of a project

The measurement of these three factors isconducted via a questionnaire

These questionnaires are most useful when basedupon the past experience of the Organization

Source: Monash University School of Computer Science and

Software Engineering (CSE3308/DMS/2005/20)


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The Three Factors

Project Size the larger the project, the greater the risk

project size is relative to the experience of the softwaredevelopment group

Experience with the Technology the less experience the software development group has

had with the technology used, the greater the risk

Project Structure How well-defined are the requirements of the project

and how liable are they to change

High structure where requirements are well-definedand stable indicates lower risk




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Estimating Project Risk




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Portfolio Risk Profile

Organizations should not build only low riskprojects

Organizations should have a portfolio of risks intheir system development

Organizations should develop a risk profileappropriate for their situation

Example :

where IT is strategic (e.g. banking), managers should beconcerned if there are no high-risk projects

Otherwise competitors will almost certainly get ahead




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Techniques for Managing Risk

Four main categories of techniques External Integration tools

organizational and communicational tools that link theproject teams work with users

Internal Integration tools

ensure that the team operates as an integrated unit Formal planning tools

help to structure the sequence of tasks in advance and toestimate the time, money and technical resources the teamwill need to execute them

Formal results-control mechanisms help managers to evaluate progress and to spot potential

discrepancies

Source: Monash University School of Computer Science and

Software Engineering (CSE3308/DMS/2005/20)


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Runaway Projects

At various times during a project, managementmust evaluate its health

Whenever the current resource usage exceeds the

budgeted amount, the project is starting to

runaway

Questions to ponder

Why is it difficult to identify the signs of an impending

runaway project? Why is it difficult to react rationally and terminate the

project?


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Why is it difficult to identify the

signs of an impending runawayproject?

Attention deficit

Information Overload

Managerial overconfidence

Source: Stopping runaway IT Projects by Yukika Awazu et al.


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Why is it difficult to react rationally and

terminate the project?

Conforming evidence

Hear only what you want to hear

Maintaining status quo

Sunk costs

Power battles

Harmony

mis session 17.pdf

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