Four Secrets Project Success

8/18/2019 Four Secrets Project Success

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Chicago l Cincinnati l Columbus l Dallas l Denver l Fort Lauderdale l Houston l Indianapolis l Phoenix l Tallahassee l Tampa l www.sark.com

By Carl Breunlin

Director Project Office

Software Architects, Inc.

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The 4 Secrets of Project Success


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Premise& 'hat (ou do be)ore a pro*ect

starts signi)icantl( in)luencesthe success or )ailure o) (oure))ort.


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With that said, there are 4 secrets to project

success

And

They are easy to implement

+ Focus on Feasible

+ Get the Numbers Riht

+ Ne!er Second Guess the "stimate

+ #on$t %oose &ontrol


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Focus ,n Feasibilit(

-ou cant determine )easibilit( until (ou

know the details o) a pro*ect./ased on the details (ou can determine&

Technical )easibilit(

Financial )easibilit(0chedule )easibilit(

,rgani1ational )easibilit(

FA&T'


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System #escription ( Table of &ontents

)*+ System o!er!ie

-*+ &urrent system definition.*+ Ne system definition

4*+ /mpacts of the ne system 0orani1ationally, financially, etc*2

3*+ Ad!antaes and disad!antaes of ne system

*+ Notes

The 2asiest 'a( to 3et the Details is to 'rite a

0(stem Description

SAR5 recommends ritin a System #escription as a

first step in project plannin*


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System #escription Table of &ontents

)*+ System o!er!ie-*+ &urrent system definition

.*+ Ne system definition

4*+ /mpacts of the ne system

0orani1ationally, financially, etc*2

3*+ Ad!antaes and disad!antaes of ne

system

*+ Notes

Technical Feasibility

Is the network ,45

Do we have enoughprocessing power5

6re we pushing the stateo) the art5

'ill per)ormance be anissue5

6re there technicallimitations5

Has this been donebe)ore5

YES NO

Technical 6

Financial

Schedule

7rani1ational


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Financial Feasibility

Is the total budgetade7uate5

Is the budget per periodade7uate5

'hat is the 8,I5

'hen is /reak 2ven5

6re there hidden costs5

'hat are the intangiblebene)its

'hat is the TC,5







system

*+ Notes

YES NO

Technical 6

Financial 6

Schedule

7rani1ational


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system

*+ Notes

Schedule Feasibility

'hat is the drop deaddate5

Can the pro*ect becompleted b( then5

'hen do ma*ormilestones need to becompleted5

Can the( be completedon time5

'hat happens i) thepro*ect is late5

YES NO

Technical 6

Financial 6Schedule 6

7rani1ational


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system

*+ Notes

7rani1ational Feasibility

Does the IT team have theexperience )or a pro*ect o) thissi1e5

Do we have a world9class

Pro*ect :anager5Do we have experience withthis technolog(5

How will the new s(stemimpact the organi1ation5

'hat impacts are there tovendors;partners< etc.5

How much training isre7uired5

YES NO

Technical 6

Financial 6

Schedule 6

7rani1ational 6


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System #escription

Table of &ontents

)*+ System o!er!ie-*+ &urrent system

definition

.*+ Ne system

definition

4*+ /mpacts of the ne

system

0orani1ationally,

financially, etc*2

3*+ Ad!antaes and

disad!antaes of ne

system

*+ Notes

Feasibilit( 6nal(sisTechnical

Financial

0chedule

,rgani1ational

,nce )easibilit(anal(sis iscomplete< it iseas( to puttogether a plan )or

an( item not)easible ormarginall( )easible

Feasibility is the cornerstone of early project plannin*

“To be successful we need to hire a world class project manager by June who has these skills…..”


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I) Feasible< the =ext 0tep is to 3et the

=umbers 8ight

I) the estimate is wrong< $ times out o)>! the pro*ect is doomed.

0684 has developed a world class approach toestimating that is&

Totall( transparent2xtremel( accurate

Ties the estimate directl( to what users want

Is the basis )or cost and schedule control


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-ou have to spend timeup )ront gettingre7uirements

,nl( a)ter (ou havere7uirements can (oucreate an accurateestimate

The better there7uirements< the betterthe estimate

8efore e discuss estimatin, a fe

thouhts'

Analysis is becomin a larer

percent of total de!elopment time9


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Suppose :ou &ollected These Re;uirements and

Grouped Them As Follos

Shall be able to view general ledger entries in multiple

currencies

Shall allow viewing of general ledger entries by invoice

Shall be able to select consumer accounts

Shall be able to select business accounts

Shall be able to create source codes

Shall be able to modify source codes

Shall be able to perform product catalog entry

Shall be able to perform product catalog changes

Accounting

Order Entry

Marketing

Fulfillment

Requirement Design Element


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The project estimate is based on determinin ho

lon it ill ta


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This is How 0684 Creates 6ccurate 2stimates

What needs to be built :our lifecycle

?o much effort

is re;uired


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No that e


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?o often does this happen in your orani1ation@

"stimatorPB#irector "tc. ? Itll take @A: and >B months to do thispro*ect.

8oss&(%e!el Somebody ? =ope< =ope< =ope not acceptable. 3ottahave it done b( (ear end< and b( the wa( the budget is @>.%:. Period

"stimatorPB#irector "tc. ? a)ter a long pauseE ,k.

Later alone in the office to himself/herself

"stimatorPB#irector "tc. ? =ever going to happen Period.

Later either alone or to some higher leel !oss

8oss&(%e!el Somebody ? /o( did I do a good *ob managing thoseout o) control development costs

/main the Folloin &on!ersation


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This is called

CSecon" #uessing the $stimateD

The idea is to somehow )it more re7uirementsinto the development e))ort than the budget

supports.

IT =2G28 ',840


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Instead o) 0econd 3uessing 9 se 0684s 6pproach to 8econcile 'ants with /udget

)* First, double chec< the estimate for accuracy E be careful

-* Ne=t, analy1e e=pensi!e features E are they orth it@

.* Then prioriti1e e=pensi!e features E or et rid of them

4* /f necessary schedule multiple releases E plan a multi(

period roll(out to match budet ith needs

-ou can do the

same i) (ou use ourestimatingapproach


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'ith this approach< (our pro*ect is much<

much more likel( to succeed.

/utcompromises must be made.

/utthats better than having the pro*ectoverrun.

T?" 87TT7B %/N"'

/f the estimate is accurate and it should be, don$t

demand more for less*


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=ow 'e Can Turn ,ur 6ttentionto the Last 0ecret&Dont Loose Control

+ &ontrol &ost Schedule

+ &ontrol &hanes

+ &ontrol Huality


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Controlling Cost and 0chedule

@!

@"!

@I!

@!

@B!

/C'0 @"!

/C'P @>

Jan Feb. :ch. 6pril :a(


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Controlling Changes

A riorous chane control

process assures that allchanes are documented

and that the impact of

appro!ed chanes are

reflected in the cost and

schedule baseline*


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Controlling Kualit(

8uildin ;uality into

your project from

day one ill

sinificantly

contribute to o!erall

project success*


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0ummar(

The premise o) our discussion toda( isthat what (ou do be)ore a pro*ect starts

signi)icantl( in)luences the success or)ailure o) (our e))ort.

'e have discussed eas( to implement

strategies to help guarantee that (ourpro*ect completes success)ull(.


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Huestions@

Than< you for your time*

=eed :ore In)o5Contact&

Carl /reunlin

cbreunlinsark.com

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Softare Architects /nc* is a full ser!ice softare consultin firmspeciali1in in custom application de!elopment and application

interation* Please !isit our eb site at'

*sar

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Four Secrets Project Success