If anyone here wants to learn about the driving causes of IT project failures and how to avoid them I recommend you read:
The Mythical Man Month by Frederick P Brooks.
It is the single most insightful text on projects that I have read in the last 25 years.
If I were king no first year IT student would be allowed to pass without thorough indoctrination in the ideas put forward by Frederick Brooks.
All these other comments about project management etc is just 'chatter'
when compared to the thoroughness and depth of Frederick Brooks insightful writing....I am tempted to put it onto my web page as 'required reading'...
I re-read it again recently after about 10 years since my last reading..I still see clients making all the same mistakes documented in the early 70s.
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: mmadsen... via dw-select [
Sent: 04 August 2006 21:37
To: pete...
Subject: RE: [dw-select] Re: DTS - is it viable?
Hear hear! Bad IT and project management is the source
of most project failures. It was true 15 years ago
when I got a degree in software engineering, and the
stats haven't budged since then.
Mark
----------
--- barbara wheeler via dw-select
<dw-select@Groups.ITtoolbox.com> wrote:
>
> Yes, clarity of purpose and sponsorship issues can
> doom data warehouses.
> Barbara Wheeler
> EDW Support
> 202-268-8226
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wright, Aldrich [IT] via dw-select
> [
> Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 1:32 PM
> To: Wheeler, Barbara - Washington, DC - Contractor
> Subject: RE: [dw-select] Re: DTS - is it viable?
> IT Project Failures, in general, come down to
> communication or
> organizational problems:
> Misunderstood or miscommunicated requirements
> Scope changes without regards to date, Dates set in
> stone without regard
> to scope
> Not getting executive sponsorship
> Not getting IT buyin
> Not communicating or dealing with issues
> etc
> It doesn't have to do with the programmers not
> knowing how to code (at
> least not usually), it doesn't have to do with
> salaries, and it doesn't
> have to do with using consultants or not.......
> From: brett via dw-select
> Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 11:55 AM
> To: Wright@imbaspam-ny10.iplex.ssmb.com; Wright,
> Aldrich [CIB-IT]
> Subject: RE:[dw-select] Re: DTS - is it viable?
> I would tend to disagree with that statement. Most
> of the
> failures I've seen have been due to poor
> management, managements
> inability to listen to the advice of the
> consultants they're
> paying for, and managements inability to pay a
> decent salary to
> get good people.....
> >unfortunately a large
> > part of IT (and the IT industry) has had this
> inherent approach
> for
> > forty odd years, and looking at the
> success/failure ratio of
> IT
> > projects, it is, I guess, hardly surprising.
> >Not really. The large amount of failures >are due
> to the short
> supply of real
> >professionals in the IT business. The lack >of
> professional
> licensing
> >something like the doctor have. I bet most >of
> failed IT
> projects were
> >staffed with former music majors and >similar. Not
> that I have
> anything
> >against music majors, except that they >should
> stick to music.