Define a Clear Set of Goals and Success Criteria for the Project

Martin understood the frustration of his users. He too had many of the same applications that the traders used. All employees of the company had to log in to both a Windows domain and a Novell directory. To access Internet-based applications and financial provider Web sites, each user needed to enter a user ID and password for login to the firewall and proxy. Also, the mail system had a different password and most of the trading systems were Windows-based. To evaluate the reduction in password resets, Martin examined his help desk log and found that the majority involved the login to the network, then to mail, then to the Web, and lastly, to the trading applications. Martin then defined his success criteria for password reductions as being able to log into the network, mail, the Web, and two trading applications. If this could be accomplished, he felt that it could be sold to senior management for piloting and eventually deployment. The company had experimented with biometrics previously. The experience had not been overly positive because many users could not use the biometric on a day-to-day basis. It was also found that many employees could not even be enrolled in the system. Martin believed that for a biometric system to be deployed, 90 “95% of the user population needed to accept this technology. The biometric system also needed to enroll 95 “97% of its user population.

Jason needed to show that biometrics could work to protect the users' digital certificates. It was that simple.

The Methodology

Based on the objectives that were defined earlier in the process, clear goals and success criteria in obtaining the goals should be defined. The goals should be milestoned and built on previous wins; they should not take large leaps in technology or project scale. The success criteria are defined so that in striving to be successful, the goals are met. The success criteria are what the different phases of the project will be measured against when they are completed. This will be used to make a go/no go decision. Where possible, the success criteria should be objective and well-defined . For example, a success criterion stating that the end-users must accept the technology is subjective . A success criterion which states that the end-users should show a greater than 95% willingness to continue with the project based on a standard survey is a measurable objective. In addition, it is important to set early expectations of what error rates are acceptable for the project. Setting success criteria supports the goal of having a deployable and usable biometric system. To assign values to these success criteria, the chosen vendor needs to provide some guidance. Usually, the vendor will provide a more positive range of values than what will actually be seen. Knowing this ahead of time will allow the project team to set reasonable expectations.

Goals come in two forms. The first is a goal for a completion date or use of a feature. As a project progresses through its various phases, these goals will need to be evaluated and adjusted. The second: the whole point of doing a POC, piloting, and then deploying is to have reasonable goals and expectations for the project by the time it is deployed. The goals will also guide the project as it progresses. Adjusting a goal does not imply a missed requirement, but rather a growing and maturing with the technology.