Risk Management for IT Projects

350 Pages·2011·3.233 MB·English

by  Bennet Lientz, Lee Larssen

Risk Management
for IT Projects
How to Deal with Over
150 Issues and Risks

Risk Management
for IT Projects
How to Deal with Over
150 Issues and Risks
Bennet P. Lientz
Professor
Anderson Graduate School of Management
University of California, Los Angeles
Lee Larssen
President
The Strategic Edge
Amsterdam (cid:127) Boston (cid:127) Heidelberg (cid:127) London
New York (cid:127) Oxford (cid:127) Paris (cid:127) San Diego
San Francisco (cid:127) Singapore (cid:127) Sydney (cid:127) Tokyo
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights
Department in Oxford, UK: phone: [phone], fax: [phone],
E-mail: [email protected]. You may also complete your request on-line
via the Elsevier homepage (http://elsevier.com), by selecting “Support & Contact”
then “Copyright and Permission” and then “Obtaining Permissions.”
Recognizing the importance of preserving what has been written, Elsevier prints its books on
acid-free paper whenever possible.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lientz, Bennet P.
Risk management for IT projects : how to deal with over 150 issues and risks / Bennet
P. Lientz, Lee Larssen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7506-8231-0 (alk. paper)
1. Information technology—Management. 2. Risk management. I. Larssen, Lee.
II. Title.
HD30.2.L544 2006
004.168′1—dc22
2006040906
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 13: 978-0-7506-8231-2
ISBN 10: 0-7506-8231-0
For information on all Butterworth–Heinemann publications
visit our Web site at www.books.elsevier.com
Printed in the United States of America
06 07 08 09 10 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface xv
Part I
Issues and Risk Management
Chapter 1
Introduction
Common IT-Related Problems 3
Why IT Efforts Fail 5
IT Differs from Other Types of Business Work 7
How IT and the Business Have Changed 8
IT and Politics 9
The Management View of IT 9
Issues and Risk 9
Types of Issues 10
The Life Cycle of an Issue 11
Some Common Problems in Issues Management 12
Issues Across Projects 12
Problems Versus Opportunities 13
The Goals of IT 13
Process Improvement and Reengineering 14
General Approach to Issues and Risk Management 15
v
vi Contents
Organization of the Book 15
Conclusions 16
Chapter 2
Effective Issues Management and Coordination
Introduction 17
General Management of Issues 18
The Issues Databases 19
Getting Started 21
Defi ning Issues at the Start of Projects and Work 23
Tracking of Issues and Risk 24
User and Vendor Issue Coordination 27
Issue and Risk Communications and Reporting 27
Handling Issues Within the IT Organization 29
Decision Making and Follow-up 30
Dealing with Multiple Issues 30
Coping with Recurring Issues 31
Conclusions 32
Chapter 3
Analysis and Measurements of Issues and Risk
Introduction 33
Problems with Standard Measurements 34
Management Critical Path 35
Multiple Project Analysis 39
Tracking Status Using Issues and Risk 39
Total Issues 42
Open Issues 42
Uncontrolled Versus Controlled Open Issues 43
Aging of Open Issues 43
Average Time to Resolve Issues 44
Distribution of Open Issues by Type 45
Issues by Type over Time 46
Selection of Issues for Decisions and Actions 46
Perspective on Different Issues 47
Project Evaluation 48
Project Termination 48
Conclusions 49
Contents vii
Part II
Internal Issues and Risk
Chapter 4
Teams
Introduction 53
Lack of Teamwork 54
Team Members or Departments That Do Not Get Along with One
Another 56
Team Members That Are Diffi cult to Manage 58
Wide Range of Experience and Knowledge Among Team
Members 60
Project or Work Leader Who Is Junior and Lacks
Experience 62
Substantial Turnover Among Team Members 64
Lack of Motivation 66
Not Much Communication Among Team Members and Outside of the
Team 67
New Team Member Has to Be Socialized into the Group 68
Team Member Performance That Does Not Seem to Improve over
Time 69
Too Much Time Spent in Meetings 70
Conclusions 71
Chapter 5
The Work
Introduction 73
Limited or No Guidelines for Using Methods and Tools 74
Tools That Are Used with No Structured Methods 76
Lack of Formal Reviews of Work and Too Much to
Review 78
Methods That Are Too Informal 79
Faulty Reporting on the Work 81
Lack of Planning for the Work 82
No Gathering of Experience from Performing the Work 83
New Tool to Be Introduced 85
Repetition of the Same Mistakes in the Work 86
People Who Work in a Single-Tasking Mode 87
Conclusions 88
viii Contents
Chapter 6
Business Units
Introduction 89
Users Who Resist Change 90
Users Who Want the Technology but Do Not Want to Change 92
Business Processes That Have Too Many Exceptions 94
Many Shadow Systems in the Business Units 95
Many Variations in Use of the Same Process 97
Diffi culty Getting Qualifi ed Users to Join the Effort 98
Users Who Do Not Want to Assume Responsibility 99
Users Who Do Not Resolve Issues Quickly or Adequately 101
Users Who Dictate Solutions 102
User Management That Is Attempting to Manipulate IT to Gain More
Power 104
Users Who Change Requirements Frequently 105
Users Who Are Unwilling to Sign Off 107
Conclusions 109
Chapter 7
Management
Introduction 111
Management’s Unrealistic Expectations of Benefi ts and Impacts 111
Lack of Clear Goals 113
Management’s Frequent Changes of Direction 114
Decisions Being Made Without the Advice or Involvement of
the IT Managers 116
Substantial Turnover of Management 117
Management’s Pulling of Resources from Some IT Work and Reassigning
Them 118
Management’s Attempts to Micromanage the Work 120
Management’s Lack of Interest in IT Matters 121
Management’s Failure to Resolve Issues 122
Lack of a Strategic IT Plan 124
Lack of Alignment of IT to the Business 126
Conclusions 127
Chapter 8
Projects
Introduction 129
Projects That Do Not Seem to Start Out Right 129
Too Many Surprises in the Project 131
Contents ix
Too Much Unplanned Work in the Project 133
Diffi culty Managing and Tracking Multiple Projects 134
Time-Consuming Project Administration 136
Project Leaders Who Lack Skills and Knowledge 137
Lack of Standard Project Reporting 139
Small Projects Not Being Treated as Projects 141
Larger Projects Being Divided Up in the Wrong Way 142
Too Many Projects 144
Not Knowing What Is Going On in the Project 145
Conclusions 146
Chapter 9
Resistance to Change
Introduction 147
Change That Does Not Fit Our Work 147
Having Tried Similar Things Before That Did Not Work 149
Lack of Incentive to Change 151
Change That Means More Work for the Same Compensation 152
Lack of Available Resources or Time to Support the Change 153
Technology or Change That Is Too Complicated 154
Possible Job Loss 155
Resisting Change Because What Has Been Done in the Past
Worked Well 157
Inability to Teach an Old Dog New Tricks 158
Change That Is Too Risky 159
No One Taking Responsibility When the Change Does Not Work 160
Conclusions 161
Part III
External Issues and Risks
Chapter 10
Vendors, Consultants, and Outsourcing
Introduction 165
Inadequate Vendor Performance 165
Vendor Staff Who Do Not Share Information 167
Vendors That Use Their Own Proprietary Methods and Tools 168
Vendors That Do Something Different from What They Agreed
to Do 169