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What To Do When Your IT Project Is Late, Over Budget, and Looks Like It's Never Going To Work
Here's a scary statistic. According to four prominent research firms, only around 20% of all IT projects are finished in a timely manner. By "timely" the researchers mean without loss of quality or being over budget. They go on to say the average project runs approximately 200 percent late, roughly 200 percent over budget, and contains only 2/3 of the original functionality. Failure is the norm in the IT industry. But why? And more importantly, how do we fix it? There must be a way to dissect the problem, and create a solution to the diagnosis of "doomed failure." Trust me, there is! Top 7 Problems and Their Solutions Let's take a look at the top 7 reasons IT projects are late or over budget. Then I'll show you some proven solutions taken straight from the trenches. 1. Not Enough Time Whether it's a misunderstanding of the complexity of computer system designs or some other reason, many times little time is devoted to gathering the necessary data. Because this is one of the first steps in the process, when adequate time isn't given to data collection, everything else suffers. Likewise, enough time is rarely allotted to creating a good design. While the planning stage may not offer the excitement that development does, it is equally, if not more, important. Lack of planning in the design phase almost always leads to ongoing changes during the development phase. When this happens, budget dollars and man-hours are eaten away. SOLUTION: Give it more time. This vital step must be given due consideration. Adjust your schedule as needed, and you'll find the rest of the process goes much smoother. Yes, you have to make it to market before your competition. But if you make it to market and your product is filled with bugs, what do you get? A pile of returns and complaints, and a bad reputation. 2. Open the Lines of Communication It sounds like a cliché, but communication is absolutely vital to the success of any project. The communication between the development team and the users, and also the communication inside the development team must be crystal clear. Does everyone understand you? Do they know exactly what's expected of them or have you assumed they know? Do they communicate well with each other? With users? With other departments? SOLUTION: Identify communication breakdowns now. These can only lead to confusion and complications down the road. Never assume that everyone understands. Take just a little extra time to create an environment that is destined to produce a product on time and under budget. 3. Testing a New Program in the Production Server Testing in the production server leads to a breach of security, which can lead to "immediate" release without testing which can ultimately disrupt the production environment. SOLUTION: There should be specific protocol setup for security and quality control considerations for new program tests. 4. Inadequate Testing Experience and studies show that testing is almost always pushed to the end of the development cycle. Since the development is usually bad, the testers run out of time. The result? Running over schedule and over budget. Not to mention the release of an inadequate product. SOLUTION: Remember problem #1? Ditto! Yes, you have to make it to market before your competition. But if you make it to market and your product is filled with bugs, what do you get? A pile of returns and complaints, and a bad reputation. Test all the way through the process, and you'll save a lot of time in the end. 5. Pressing the Budget Too Tight When you have unrealistic goals for a project's budget to start with, chaos is bound to set in. Departments fall behind, resources are slow to arrive, and - because of budget constraints - the project, once again, runs off the road. SOLUTION: Create an accurate budget. Also, outline ways to develop better upfront planning of the resources. 6. Never/Rarely Checking the Progress of the Project As the project goes along, the unexpected happens. Various people implement their ideas as to how to fix these challenges and - when launch day comes - you're surprised with an entire list of challenges that need your immediate attention. SOLUTION: Define "checkpoints" throughout the project. Give attention to those things that need to be adjusted along the way, even if they cause minor delays. Fixing them now, rather than later, will take less time overall. 7. Not Reviewing Existing Standards Do most or all of your projects run late and over budget? Do you keep the same standards in place time after time? How's that working for you? If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you get. Let's face it? things change, and if you want to keep pace, you have to change, too. SOLUTION: Take time to review the standards used for each and every project. Keep a running list of what worked, what didn't, and how to do it better next time. The next time your IT project is late, over budget, and looks like it is never going to work, review this list again. Make the necessary adjustments, and you'll be downright amazed at the difference! About The Author Frank Schmidt is a seasoned Project Predictability Specialist specializing in Executive Coaching and Project Management Methodologies. He has worked with a wide range of companies, software developers, and human resource personnel to effectively meet the deadlines of urgent projects. Frank is available to consult on your next IT project. Visit his site today for additional details: http://www.GeniusOne.com; FrankSchmidt@GeniusOne.com
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news UAL shares walloped by new posting of old news (Reuters via Yahoo! News) A nearly 6-year-old news story on the 2002 bankruptcy filing of UAL Corp resurfaced on the Internet on Monday, clobbering the airline's shares as some traders mistook the report as current and plausible news. ABC News hammering out Palin interview plans (Reuters via Yahoo! News) ABC News is spending more time trying to assemble the logistics of its exclusive interview with Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin than it did negotiating with the McCain campaign itself. ABC News campaigning in all 50 states (Reuters via Yahoo! News) ABC News will be hitting the road -- and the rails -- for a whirlwind tour of all 50 states before the November election. Game news: 'GTA IV' hits 10 million, EA meets ESPN (AP via Yahoo! News) Real news from the virtual world: Google News snafu leads to airline stock plunge (CNET) After an investor news wire service mistakenly highlights a 6-year-old news story (allegedly sans time stamp) about United Airlines filing for bankruptcy, shares of the carrier tank. Tacoma's News Tribune offers buyouts to 189 staff (AP via Yahoo! Finance) The News Tribune on Monday offered voluntary buyout deals to 189 of its 350 full-time staffers although the publisher said the newspaper doesn't intend to accept anywhere near that number as it works to bring its expenses in line with reduced advertising income. 2002's News, Yesterday's Sell-Off (Washington Post) A six-year-old article mistakenly seen by Bloomberg financial news users yesterday reported the bankruptcy of United Airlines and triggered a massive sell-off that nearly obliterated the company's stock in a matter of minutes. Kenyans React to American Political News (NPR) The United States and much of the world have been transfixed by the current presidential race. Farai Chideya crosses to Barack Obama's father's homeland, Kenya, to get insight into how political news is being received. She's joined by radio reporter Michael Kaloki. United Airlines shares nosedive on old news (BBC News) United Airlines shares nosedive after an old news story about its 2002 bankruptcy battle resurfaces. Column: 'Daily Show' Is One Of Few Fair And Balanced TV News Shows (CBS News) I have this silly little habit of watching the Fox News Channel when I'm bored or in some weird self-loathing state of mind. So for the Republican National Convention, I thought it appropriate to bathe in their conservative credibility instead of the CNN/Barack Obama PDA I witnessed the week before. Site: news - Google News Palm Shares Soar As New Smartphone Wins Wall Street Praise - CNNMoney.com
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for management Unisys Wins Email-Management Deal From UK Police Force (Computer Business Online via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News) Unisys' UK subsidiary has been awarded a three-year outsourcing contract from North Wales Police to provide email management services. CA Offers Compliance-Management for Utilities Sector (Computer Business Online via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News) CA has launched a risk and compliance management offering for power and utility providers. Vodafone Restructures and Shuffles Management (Computer Business Online via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News) UK mobile network operator Vodafone has announced a series of changes to its management and organization including the split of its emerging markets business into two divisions. Enterprise Asset Management Market to Grow 6.5% Over Next 5 Years (Industry Week) Sept. 12, 2008 -- The worldwide market for Enterprise Asset Management (EAM/CMMS) is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% over the next five years, according to a new ARC Advisory Group study. Selfridges rolls out complaint management software (Computing.co.uk) Angelica Mari, Computing , Thursday 11 September 2008 at 16:11:00 Feedback system aims to help maintain service levels Retail chain Selfridges is using feedback management software to build customer loyalty and maintain service standards. The company hopes that the new system will help it identify the root cause... Industry releases content-management interop spec (ZDNet Asia) Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, SAP, EMC, Alfresco and OpenText have released the first draft of their Content Management Interoperability Services specification. Compare your salary Use the IT salary benchmark wizard and know the average salary differences between different job functions. Join activeTechPros. http://www.activetechpros.com Compli And Environmental And Occupational Risk Management (EORM) Announce Partnership To Provide EH&S Compliance ... (SafetyOnline) As part of Compli's continuing effort to provide compliance protection to auto dealerships, Compli and EORM (Environmental and Occupational Risk Management) of San Jose, California, have formed an alliance to provide top-tier Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) information and content to dealers through Compli's Dealership Compliance Management System (DCMS) POWER: Lighting management IC drives up to eight LEDs in series (Embedded Systems Programming Magazine) Phoenix, Ariz. ? ON Semiconductor has introduced the NCP5890, a lighting management device that integrates LCD backlighting, fun light controls and ambient light sensing in a 3 x 3 x 0.55-mm uQFN-16 package. The NCP5890 targets compact smart phone and portable media player applications. Union Bank - Edelweiss JV for wealth management service (Business Standard India) Union Bank of India (UBI) in tie up with Edelweiss Securities has launched wealth management services ti tits high networth clients in Mumbai. RedPrairie Enhances Internationalized Shipment Capabilities In Transportation Management System (TMS) (Logistics) RedPrairie Corporation, a world leading consumer driven optimization company, announced today a host of new features in its updated transportation management (TMS) release - built especially for international users. Site: management - Google News PRACTICE MANAGEMENT: What Brokers Should Know Before They Go - CNNMoney.com
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