- 23/11/2012
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Free essays
4. Use the knowledge acquired from Chapter 7 and other IT resources to provide a summary of common project cost estimating pitfalls. Conclude by offering tips on how some of these mistakes can be avoided.(1 Page)
There are some aspects of managing a large project and its cost, but we formulate some basic rules and pay attention to some pitfalls:
At the end of certain time period most of project managers have to plan the budgeting for next year, however, the strategy has changed according to the crisis. That is why the main problem for the project manager is minimizing the cost of IT projects. But sometimes it is difficult to understand the real costs of IT projects. To estimate the size of spending and to avoid the mistakes , managers must remember the most simple method of estimation – such as the percentage of turnover). In order to properly justify the IT budget , the company’s management must identify: those projects that must be completed at the planned horizon, estimate their “utility” to the core business of the company, as well as to make their financial assessment, of course, not forgetting the cost of maintaining existing corporate information systems and the costs of the work of IT department itself.
A complete system of budgeting and management accounting should include the following elements:
* Setting of budgets;
* Rules of formation and approval of budgets;
* Rules execution, monitoring and analysis of budgets;
* Staff responsible for the formation and execution of a budget.
The absence in the company of at least one of these elements makes the whole system ineffective and leads to cost losses.
In addition, there is also such an error as high expectations from the introduction of a software product. So to avoid the cost losses and other cost estimating pitfalls it is necessary to plan the budgeting system and further implementation of the IT project.
5. Browse credible Information Technology publications to find some examples of quality-related issues that could arise in a project. Discuss the severity of some of these issues in relation to the progress of a project. Provide some general steps for addressing these issues. (1 Page)
We have already mentioned that the proportion of unsuccessful projects is extremely high. Why is this happening and who is to blame for such errors? To manage a major IT project due to the schedule, without cost overruns and with tangible long-term returns (namely, these three conditions are considered the criteria of success) is a very difficult task, because the leaders of the project operate under severe restrictions. 
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One of the issues that can arise is a lack of risk management systems. Developed plans are built based on the ideal flow of the project and the constancy of the external and internal conditions. In this exceptional situation (such as unexpected changes in the law) is usually just not considered, not to mention the elaboration of escape from them.
Secondly, it is necessary to ensure the business involvement in the project, as for the successful implementation of the project, staff of business units should participate in it on an ongoing basis and ensure that decisions meet their needs. Often, business units formulate their demands, and then for many months “forget” about the project and begin to be active at the moment testing system which, if such an attitude on the part of business, tend to be unsuccessful. Although after the approval of technical specifications the general direction of the project usually does not change, approximately 80% of decisions directly affecting the usability and usefulness of the system to the user, made after the development of specifications and to the acceptance test. Thus, if the future users of the IT system is not constantly involved in decision-making, then later they discover that the result does not meet their expectations, there is a lot of errors in processes that occur later in the interaction with customers and the company has to make new adjustments.
6. You learned in Chapter 10 that it is essential for IS professionals to develop and use good communication skills (writing, speaking and listening) because they use them on a daily basis to interact with many non-technical stakeholders such as senior managers, business professionals, end-users, and customers about matters related to ongoing projects and operations. Which of the three skills are you the best at? Which of the three do you think should be improved before you can become a marketable IS professional? Which tools or approach can you use to improve in this area? (1 Page)
Project manager needs to combine a lot of knowledge and skills from different areas of management. First of all these are managerial and leadership skills, as well as interaction with superiors, the structural units of the company and stakeholders. Also, being a team player, a project manager must be able to manage the team, hiring and retaining team members through rewards, motivation, personal development, promotion, etc.
All skills of IS professional must be applied in the same vein, together with the company strategy, adjusted for cultural differences and personal characteristics of employees. Also among the skills must be knowledge in the fields of conflict management, communication, planning, decision making, and others. For efficient operation of the project manager must adapt to the model of decision making within the organization.
Certainly, the project team and other participants make an important contribution to the success of the project. However, a good project team with a bad IS project manager can not prevent catastrophe. Therefore, the main role of project manager is to create a dedicated project team, using the leadership skills and work with people. Project manager should assemble all the parts of the project together and gain the confidence of all stakeholders.
Project managers need to possess all the skills of working with people to create an environment in which team members will be highly motivated to get satisfaction from their professional activities, participate in joint work with each other and be committed to this joint work to create the necessary product or provide the required result.
Organizations nowadays move toward open communication and information sharing, and project managers should be more open to interpersonal communication. Acute global competition requires organizations increasingly responsiveness, flexibility and adaptability. So IS manager must to be able to respond immediately and change his style of work in real time. Business requires creative and innovative approach, and because of this, self-development of employees and their job satisfaction is of great importance.
7. John Peters is a new Project Manager working with a team of two part-time programmers and five content developers to build a knowledge base portal for the company. He is getting quite frustrated because some of the members on his team are not providing him with satisfactory status updates on their work. Provide advises on how to best to handle this process.
High probability of failure of IT project requires the highest discipline of all participants, and ensure that it can only be properly organize the project and employing various management tools that ensure timely participation of all necessary parties, emerging issues, monitor the achievement of results, etc. How to cope with major risks to make the project has not started to burn, and the employees have not lost faith in his success?
There are several solutions that can improve the project implementation efficiency:
• Taking into account all influencing the outcome of factors, regardless of whether the area responsible for any service in the company they belong.
• Carrying out all the necessary market research and auditing company, the results of which will build the proposed solutions.
• Optimize the organizational structure for the task.
• Streamline business processes affected by the introduction of the solution.
• Optimization of personnel management, production control system performance and motivation.
• Detailed planning, the development budget, the resources, the forecast results and to establish the performers.
• Implement an effective document management or information systems, eliminating data loss.
• Assistance in attracting investors and partners.
References:
Schwalbe K. “Information Technology Project Management” ( 6th Edition). Course Technology
Doug De Carl. “eXtreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles, and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility”. Jossey Bass, 2004.
Kevin Forsberg, Hal Mooz, Howard Cotterman. “Visualizing Project Management. Models and Frameworks for Mastering Complex Systems” (Third Edition). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Web.
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