1.3 Figuring Out a Project s Feasibility


Many ideas sound good on paper but are not a good fit for the company. For instance, the company may lack the sophistication to implement and run a technically complicated application, or an application may require a very structured approach to business that does not match the company s way of doing business.

A good exercise for figuring out the feasibility of a project is to map out the effect of adding a new project to the company. The chart in Figure 1.1 provides a good visual aid to use when mapping out a project s feasibility. The horizontal bar identifies IT s experience with a proposed project. The vertical bar identifies end-user experience with the applications and hardware that make up the project. The lowest risk projects are in quadrant 1, where both IT and end users are familiar with and knowledgeable about developing or using a project. The highest risk projects are in quadrant 4, where IT and end users are unfamiliar and will need additional training. A quadrant 1 project uses technologies that are familiar to your IT people and produces solutions that are familiar to your user community. A quadrant 2 project takes advantage of your IT organization s existing skills and uses already existing IT equipment but changes the way the end- user community works; hence, end users will need heavy training or new equipment. For a quadrant 3 project, IT will need to purchase new technology and train or hire new IT people, but end users can use existing hardware and will need minimal or no training. Quadrant 4 projects result in IT and end users being retrained and both IT and end users needing new hardware and software. Projects in quadrant 1 will have the highest success rates and lowest hidden costs. As projects move out of quadrant 1 and into quadrants 2, 3, and 4, the risk increases as the unknowns, learning curves, and purchases increase. It is important to understand up front a project s risk level since higher-risk projects typically have more hidden costs, may take longer to implement, and are at a higher risk to miss targeted savings. Take the time up front to map out the risk of the project. It may save millions in the long run.

click to expand
Figure 1.1: Resource Matrix

Quadrant 1 Example: IT is adding a new feature to an existing application. Both IT and the user community are familiar with the hardware and software used.

Quadrant 2 Example: The company is adding a new customer service application that will be deployed on portable tablet computers. The software is a module that works with the company s existing database application. IT is familiar with the server software and hardware, but hardware needs to be purchased and deployed for the user community, and employees need to be trained on using this new application.

Quadrant 3 Example: IT is adding a new search engine to the company s intranet. Employees are familiar with search tools, although IT has to add new hardware and train someone to develop Web server applications on UNIX platforms.

Quadrant 4 Example: The project is to install a sales force automation application. The application calls for new equipment and will be run on an unfamiliar database. IT does not have any people proficient with the database the software runs on. The software will also change the way the sales organization does their job. Massive training will be needed in order to deploy this new solution.

Look at the infrastructure created by this project. If the IT department consists of COBOL programmers and this project needs Java programmers it may be high risk, since the technical strengths found in IT are not being leveraged. Likewise, if the Help Desk organization has a strong database background and this project needs data communications support, this project may cost more than anticipated, since the installation plan will need to include training or hiring Help Desk people. Depending on the project, Help Desk staff may not have the skills to cover for one another, adding costs to the project. Cost-effective projects typically reuse internal infrastructure, allowing existing and new employees to easily migrate between projects. When migrating your existing applications to take advantage of Internet technology, you may need to migrate existing employee skill sets. If you need to change the skill set of existing employees, identify this up front, so you can factor in the cost and time of training. It is not necessarily practical to replace existing employees because they are not familiar with a new technology. Early in this process identify the skill sets necessary for the project to be successful. Experienced developers who have worked on previous, non-Internet versions of the application may bring more to the table than hiring a recent college graduate proficient with Java. IT will have to figure into its cost and schedule the time it will take to get existing employees trained with new technologies. This education process should be started once the Project Concept has been approved. The Design phase will give IT the time to send employees to training classes and, if necessary, hire additional people who can augment the team with their experience.

Finally, the company should look at the project s ability to reuse known technology. When creating new technology it is wise to limit the number of unknowns. Creating new technology based on new technology can lead to a disaster. Many companies have learned this the hard way. There are many stories of programmers designing solutions based on a vendor s nondisclosure presentation. The company reaches a critical point in the development process only to realize the infrastructure technology they need does not exist. The Resource Matrix is one tool that management can use to assess the risk of a project.

1.3 in a Nutshell

Many ideas sound good on paper but are not a good fit for the company. Initially ideas need to be reviewed to assure feasibility. The following is an example of a simple list that a project should be reviewed against.

  • Is the infrastructure created by this project reusable?

  • Is the project based on technology the company is already using and for which it has in-house expertise?

  • Can the technology be developed using off-the-shelf applications and known technology, or will your IT organization be creating new applications?

  • Will the new project slip seamlessly into your current employee or customer offerings or will you need to install additional hardware or provide additional training?

  • If the organization is set up as a profit center, is the project s return on investment (ROI) or margin acceptable?

It s true: The Resource Matrix shows how risky a project may be. It is a tool to provide management with a risk assessment early on.




Effective IT Project Management
Effective IT Project Management: Using Teams to Get Projects Completed on Time and Under Budget
ISBN: B000VSMJSW
EAN: N/A
Year: 2004
Pages: 105
Authors: Anita Rosen

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net