Description

Scope: There is no mystery surrounding the reasons for IT project failure, yet such problems are ubiquitous and touch on businesses of every variety. Although all the experience and information we need is out there in the public domain, vendors and buyers of IT services make the same mistakes again and again. This book provides systematic guidance on how to sense and avoid the causes of IT project failure at every step, from project conception to the  disposal of the system after a long and beneficial operational life. 

It includes detailed analysis of what the author sees as the 40 root causes of troubled IT projects, drawn from the available research, the author's personal experience and common sense. This book covers the entire project life-cycle from both sides of the buyer-vendor relationship and will be a valuable handbook for IT services professionals, IT managers and software engineers.

Book review

"Smith takes the reader through every stage of the process, pointing out pitfalls and suggesting tactics as you go." Computing, January 2002.

Book readership

Software engineers, IT service vendors and buyers, IT managers and consultants

Level

Professional, reference

Book contents

Foreword, Preface, Part 1 Why Projects Fail; 1: What is a Troubled Project?; 2: Root Causes of Troubled Projects; 3: A Troubled Project Case Study The SS Great Eastern; Part 2 Preventing Troubled Projects at the Bid Stage; 4: A Professional Services Sales Primer; 5: Opportunity Qualification and Selection; 6: Engaging the Potential Buyer - and Bid Planning; 7: Shaping the Solution; 8: Defining and Refining the Solution; 9: Project Estimating, Planning, Contract Negotiation and Pricing; 10: Managing Quality and Risk; 

11: Writing and Presenting the Proposal, Part 3, Preventing Troubled Projects in Delivery; 12: Project Delivery Reviews; 13: Review Planning and Preparation; 14: Conducting the Review and Preparing the Report; 15: Requirements and Design Baselines; 16: Project Planning and Progress against Plans; 17: The Development Life-cycle; 18: Project Organisation; 19: Project Management System; Part 4 Project Turnaround and Organisational Learning; 20: Turning Around a Troubled Project; 21: Individual and Organisational Learning; Bibliography; Index.

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