In the example used, several conclusions can be drawn that can be used to identify IT project development problem areas and to begin to develop plans to raise the levels of development success within the IT department. The material drawn fro m the analysis in the example shows that in the past, the organization got into trouble when project size exceeded 900 hours of effort. In thinking about that hour range, it should be kept in mind that not only are the hours a factor, but as the size of a project grows, the complexity of that project also grows. An inherent linkage exists between project size and complexity, and they have to be considered as inseparable when examining the causes of project failure.
With regard to size and complexity, the analysis also shows that they do not appear to be negative factors in the development of projects if the management of those projects is under the direction of one of the several strong project managers. It would be beneficial to pursue the reasons why some managers appear to do well regardless of the size or complexity of their projects. Determining what those managers are doing correctly and then applying their management techniques to the manner in which other projects are managed could bring significant benefits to the organization.
EXAMPLES OF THE FACTORS THAT ADD TO IT
APPLICATIONS COMPLEXITY
Complexity, when it applies to IT projects, is going to be found in a number of areas.
Some of the more prominent areas include the following situations:
§ The scope of the project exceeds the ability of the organization to handle the work. In other words, the expectations of the people involved (IT and or business people) are unrealistic given the levels of resources and project development experience within the organization. It sometimes happens that an organization will recognize that it is in over its head and, in an attempt to improve the management of the project, will go outside for assistance. Doing so can be another way that the complexity associated with the project will increase.
§ There is an extensive use of new (either to the IT department or the industry) technology which is deemed as critical to the success of the project.
§ The business issues to be addressed by the project are either new to the organization or not well understood within it.
§ The organization finds itself the victim of a vendor who promotes a series of application packages that are beyond the capacity of the organization to effectively manage. Another aspect of that phenomenon can be that the packages offered by the vendor do not deliver what had been expected and, as a result, a considerable amount of custom work has to be completed to obtain the needed results.
§ The issue of project “scope creep” is not properly managed. Although a serious hindrance to successful IT project management, scope creep tends to be a common factor in the development of IT projects. Scope creep is just what the name implies — the size of the project is allowed to expand as the project moves forward. The problem here, as previously stated, is that project size relates to increased project complexity, so when scope creep is tolerated, additional complexity is likewise tolerated.
RECOGNIZING THE COORDINATION DANGERS
INHERENT IN OVERLY COMPLEX IT PROJECTS
As development projects grow, the number of the factors involved in the successful completion of the project and the complexity of those factors also grows. The problem is not limited to the issue of managing the identified project components along a specified project management time line. That effort, particularly with a large project, will present significant difficulty by itself; the problem becomes much more pronounced because of increases in the external connections to the project that will require close management.
Those connections include items such as the transfer of data between existing systems and the new applications. To complicate matters, that data may be in different formats in the different systems. There may also be timing issues in terms of when data needed from one system to another is going to be updated in order to provide current information. Developing the planning for the various interactions and making certain that the data contained in the data streams are and remain current and correct can pose considerable management challenges. The task becomes more complex, because people responsible for those ancillary systems may not feel a sense of urgency about doing the work required for the support of the new applications. That is not necessarily to imply that the people do not care; it may be that, given their normal workload, accommodating the needs of the new system will not have a high priority. Obviously, delays in progress with the ancillary systems will
have a waterfall effect on the development project, which will translate into delay and additional expense.
Another way to look at the issue of the connections to other systems is to consider the growth of the number of people involved as the project enlarges. It is possible that the total number of people involved might grow by a factor of three or four, or more with really large projects. As the number of people involved grows, the coordination and communication issues within the development project can become extremely difficult to manage. In that environment, not only is the risk of failure going to rise, the costs associated with attempting to manage the coordination and communications aspects are also going to rise.
Staying with the theme of the difficulties inherent in project growth, it must be recognized that beyond the increased difficulties associated with coordination and communication, the exposure to risk increases as a corollary of the growth. For example, a project of moderate size might involve six or seven key participants to take it to a successful conclusion. With a full-time project manager, the issues of coordination and control among the key group of participants can be fairly easily managed. Assume that the project grows and now, rather than six or seven key participants, the number rises to 14 or 15.
In the foregoing scenario, the number of connections relative to moving the project forward has grown considerably. The project manager is now faced with two to two-and-a-half times more people who will have to be included in dealing with project issues and decisions. That growth is very likely to require an additional project manager, so the cost of the project is going to be increased. Cost is not the only issue. While another project manager will help to lighten the load, the issue of coordination and communication between the two project managers must be recognized and managed.
The increase in the number of connections as the project grows will not be limited to the people-associated problems; the apparently simple issues associated with the coordination of all the aspects of the project will expand rapidly. There will be additional hardware issues, and there may be the issue of dealing with different systems, data formats, and operating systems and the timing and use of testing to handle the work being done in the different areas can become major items. Making certain that everything needed is available at the appropriate time now becomes a much larger task than it was before the project grew.
Issues associated with the testing phases of the project development process grow dramatically as the scope and complexity of the project expands. What that means in practical terms is that more attention must be paid to the management of the testing processes and to the verification of the testing results. For example, assume that a test is run in one set of programs within the project and changes are required to the programs to correct testing errors. Although those programs are correct, the changes to the application have created the need to make changes in several other applications within the project. So the issue becomes not only one of appropriate unit testing, but also of carrying the testing changes to other areas of the project. Again, the issues of coordination and communication are of serious concern. The issue is not limited to large complex projects; it is common in many IT projects. However, what raises the level of concern in large projects is that the change environment becomes much more difficult to manage.
TAKING STEPS TO CONTROL IT PROJECT COMPLEXITY
Discipline must be seen as a critical success factor in any IT development project.
When dealing with the issue of the control of IT project complexity, the work can be made considerably easier if an appropriate level of discipline is a component of the development process. The importance of discipline as it relates to project success has to be recognized, and its application must be consistent throughout the entire development process.
Moving to a higher level of discipline, particularly in organizations where it has been lacking, can be a difficult task. Attempting to improve the discipline associated with maintaining and controlling the size and complexity of IT applications projects is not easy. Adopting a more disciplined project management approach is likely to open the IT department to charges of being unwilling to provide higher levels of service, of being uncooperative, and of lacking a sense of customer service. In organizations in which there is already a level of hostility between the IT department and other sections within the organization, attempting to raise the level of IT project development will increase that hostility.