It Success ! – Towards a New Model for Information Technology
Towards a New Model for Information Technology
Paperback Engels 2007 9780470724019Samenvatting
Fifty years after the birth of corporate computing, IT today is still characterized by 50–70% project failure rates. Which is pretty scary when you come to think of it: either a goblin has cast a spell on a whole profession or that profession is doing something fundamentally wrong .
IT Success! challenges the widespread assumption that an IT department is like a building contractor whose project managers, architects and engineers (all construction industry terms ) are supposed to deliver systems on schedule, within budget and to spec. Michael Gentle explains why this is not possible, and turns conventional wisdom on its head by showing that:
you cannot define an IT project in terms of contractual budgets and schedules
anything can change during the life of a project
what is eventually delivered can never be what is actually needed
He proposes a new model for IT in which the traditional client/vendor relationship, with its contractual commitments, is replaced by a shared risk/reward partnership geared towards workable results over time. Using real–world examples and a case study, the author walks you through the end–to–end processes of an IT department, covering subjects like demand management, investment planning, agile development and managing production applications.
Specificaties
Lezersrecensies
Inhoudsopgave
<p>Acknowledgements.</p>
<p>Abbreviations.</p>
<p>PART I: BLINDED BY SPECS.</p>
<p>1 In Search of
Excellence
the Fundamentals.</p>
<p>The more things change, the more they stay the same.</p>
<p>A worldwide phenomenon.</p>
<p>How the traditional IT model started.</p>
<p>The construction industry trap.</p>
<p>The free lunch trap.</p>
<p>Houses of ill repute.</p>
<p>A business problem rather than an IT problem.</p>
<p>IT and original sin.</p>
<p>No sacred cows.</p>
<p>2 IT 101 The Basics for Non–Specialists.</p>
<p>The process breakdown for traditional IT activities.</p>
<p>The process breakdown for business (i.e. non–IT) activities.</p>
<p>The fundamental difference between IT and non–IT activities.</p>
<p>′That′s not my problem!′ process ownership and behaviour.</p>
<p>3 The Flaws of the Traditional Model.</p>
<p>The unintended consequences of the waterfall method.</p>
<p>In search of a pizza parlour manager.</p>
<p>Who provides process expertise client or vendor?</p>
<p>When standard client vendor relationships are possible.</p>
<p>When standard client vendor relationships pose problems.</p>
<p>Is a standard client vendor relationship possible for IT?</p>
<p>The ′Statement of Requirements′ (SoR) trap.</p>
<p>A poor to non–existent pricing model.</p>
<p>Should IT be run like a business (i.e. an ESP)?</p>
<p>The limits of outsourcing.</p>
<p>Current IT organizational trends.</p>
<p>The ultimate litmus test to determine one′s business model.</p>
<p>What model would be appropriate for IT?</p>
<p>PART II: BUILDING A NEW BUSINESS MODEL FOR IT.</p>
<p>4 Managing Demand.</p>
<p>Managing demand traditional model.</p>
<p>Managing demand new model.</p>
<p>Capturing demand and identifying opportunities.</p>
<p>Prioritizing and approving demand.</p>
<p>Planning approved demand.</p>
<p>Linking demand to resource capability.</p>
<p>Approving demand based on portfolios.</p>
<p>The missing component in Project Portfolio Management.</p>
<p>Business cases are in the eye of the beholder.</p>
<p>Building the IT plan and budget.</p>
<p>Demand from a customer perspective.</p>
<p>Shaking off the chains of the construction industry.</p>
<p>Funding approved demand.</p>
<p>Roles and responsibilities.</p>
<p>5 Managing Supply.</p>
<p>Managing supply traditional model.</p>
<p>Managing supply – new model.</p>
<p>Iterative development in practice.</p>
<p>Why prototyping has never become mainstream.</p>
<p>Is prototyping the answer to everything?</p>
<p>Project critical success factors.</p>
<p>Maintenance – letting go of the M–word.</p>
<p>Delivery and implementation.</p>
<p>Service and support.</p>
<p>6 Monitoring Costs and Benefits.</p>
<p>Monitoring costs and benefits for traditional IT activities.</p>
<p>Monitoring costs and benefits for business (non–IT) activities.</p>
<p>Monitoring costs and benefits new model.</p>
<p>Ownership and accountability for costs and benefits.</p>
<p>Cost benefit analysis during the life of a project.</p>
<p>It is normal for costs and benefits to change!</p>
<p>Portfolio performance monitoring.</p>
<p>Cost benefit analysis after project delivery.</p>
<p>7 Financials.</p>
<p>The main categories of IT costs.</p>
<p>Ownership of IT costs for the regulation of supply and demand.</p>
<p>Who has the final say for IT investments?</p>
<p>Allocations vs cross–charging.</p>
<p>Capturing costs for allocations and cross–charging.</p>
<p>Benefits as part of the P&L and annual planning.</p>
<p>Ongoing cost benefit analysis for applications.</p>
<p>Reducing application lifetime costs.</p>
<p>The limits of financial ROI when applied to IT.</p>
<p>PART III: THE NEW MODEL IN PRACTICE.</p>
<p>8 Players, Roles and Responsibilities.</p>
<p>Players, roles and responsibilities the business.</p>
<p>Players, roles and responsibilities IT.</p>
<p>The new business IT relationship.</p>
<p>The changing role of the business analyst.</p>
<p>The changing role of the developer.</p>
<p>Towards the merging of the developer and analyst roles?</p>
<p>The changing role of the project manager.</p>
<p>The changing role of the operations department.</p>
<p>What role for PMOs?</p>
<p>The role of External Service Providers (ESPs).</p>
<p>9 Getting Started.</p>
<p>The business challenge.</p>
<p>The IT challenge.</p>
<p>Where to start.</p>
<p>How to start from checklist to action plan.</p>
<p>From the status quo to first results.</p>
<p>From first results to asset management.</p>
<p>The role of best–practice methodologies.</p>
<p>How consulting companies can help.</p>
<p>How tools can help.</p>
<p>The costs of moving to the new model.</p>
<p>In closing addressing the three fundamental questions.</p>
<p>Further reading.</p>
<p>10 Case Study.</p>
<p>The company.</p>
<p>The business problem.</p>
<p>The project context.</p>
<p>Building an IT business partnership.</p>
<p>Kicking off the project.</p>
<p>Feasibility study and defining a solution.</p>
<p>Building the business case.</p>
<p>Project approach.</p>
<p>Product evaluation buy or build decision.</p>
<p>Building a prototype.</p>
<p>Results.</p>
<p>Timescales.</p>
<p>Three months later.</p>
<p>One year later.</p>
<p>Two years later.</p>
<p>Main lessons learnt (on the plus side).</p>
<p>Main lessons learnt (on the minus side).</p>
<p>Comments with respect to the new model.</p>
<p>Reader feedback.</p>
<p>Index.</p>
Rubrieken
- advisering
- algemeen management
- coaching en trainen
- communicatie en media
- economie
- financieel management
- inkoop en logistiek
- internet en social media
- it-management / ict
- juridisch
- leiderschap
- marketing
- mens en maatschappij
- non-profit
- ondernemen
- organisatiekunde
- personal finance
- personeelsmanagement
- persoonlijke effectiviteit
- projectmanagement
- psychologie
- reclame en verkoop
- strategisch management
- verandermanagement
- werk en loopbaan