CIO/IT Strategy

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E-Guide

Enhancing IT performance at
growing companies with more
effective project management

Projects are the lifeblood of IT -- playing a crucial role in IT

Service Delivery and serving as the only way to administer
change. Why, then, do IT projects fail so often? Read this
e-guide to learn about how to increase the effectiveness of
project management and how high-end PPM software offers
the functionality necessary to succeed in more complex
environments.

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 Enhancing IT performance at growing companies with more effective project management
Table of Contents

E-Guide

Enhancing IT performance at
growing companies with more
effective project management

Table of Contents:

High-end PPM software, not just MS Project, finds place in midmarket

Communication with IT project stakeholders is key to success

Resources from CA

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 Enhancing IT performance at growing companies with more effective project management
High-end PPM software, not just MS Project, finds place in midmarket

High-end PPM software, not just MS Project, finds place in

midmarket
Kristen Caretta, Associate Editor

Just one in five midmarket organizations uses some sort of PPM software, according to new SearchCIO-
Midmarket.com research, and of those, a third use Microsoft Project. But when businesses and IT projects grow
more complex, some IT shops -- even midmarket ones -- look to more expensive PPM solutions for their greater
functionality.

The project and portfolio management (PPM) and IT governance survey found that the top reasons for implementa-
tion were the need for project and resource management functions, cited by 69% and 67% respectively. Next was
the need to develop metrics and methodologies for project evaluation post-implementation. Cost estimation also
ranked high on the list. The survey, conducted in May, had 236 respondents from companies with 100 to 1,000
employees.

The midmarket results differ somewhat from the enterprise, where financial analysis took the lead as most-used
feature.

Interviews with PPM software users show that most organizations either start with or at least consider Microsoft
Project, but they move to more enterprise-class applications when their environments grow more complex.

Dalton, Ga.-based Shaw Industries Inc. consolidated various project platforms, including Microsoft Project, when it
moved to Compuware Corp.'s ChangePoint. Shaw, a manufacturer of flooring products that had grown by acquisi-
tion, had 10 types of PPM software across its 10 remote locations, said Greg Livingston, director of IS planning
and systems development. These included Evernote version 1.0 (a tool used to manage Scrum projects -- "a good
product, but not an enterprise PPM solution," Livingston said), Jira (an open source application) and Lotus Notes.

The different systems meant projects weren't consistent, and business partners had a difficult time deciphering all
the reports.

"When we work with our business partners, all the reports always looked different, the prioritization processes
looked different -- no one knew what to expect," Livingston said.

A much-needed process and procedures standardization rollout, coupled with the need for a more thorough tool,
got the ball rolling for the decision to invest in a single type of PPM software. More specifically, Livingston said,
Shaw was looking for financial analysis, thorough project request management, development cycle management
and application portfolio management features.

"MS Team Foundation Server was utilized for our Microsoft development environment and included some PPM
functionality," he said. "But we needed a product that was more independent of platform for our enterprise
solution."

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 Enhancing IT performance at growing companies with more effective project management
High-end PPM software, not just MS Project, finds place in midmarket

Higher-end PPM software from the beginning

Phil Bertolini, CIO of Oakland County, Michigan, has had PPM software since 1996. The county included Microsoft
Project in its initial product review and then again when its contract with CA Inc. was up in 2002, but it has stuck
with CA's Clarity product.

"There were still features and functionality [Microsoft Project] didn't have," Bertolini said. "And at that time, we
would've had to take a step back from what we already had."

Bertolini said he used the tool to help navigate a $1.5 million budget cut by determining priorities. He and his team
rely on the financial analysis feature to allocate resources and ensure all financial commitments are met; they
review the data weekly.

"With regard to our workload, if we didn't have a good accounting of our resources and the planning for them --
always knowing what we're working on, how it's being executed -- we couldn't deliver," Bertolini said. "It's huge as
a service delivery."

Other important features include project scheduling and weekly tracking and analysis. "This validates the schedule,"
said Janette McKenna, chief of IT internal services for Oakland County. "And our No. 1 priority is to stick with the
schedule and stay on budget."

Surviving sans PPM software

But formal PPM tools are not always the answer for many midmarket organizations -- in fact, many more medium-
sized businesses survive without them (some 83% of survey respondents don't use PPM software).

Exclusive Resorts LLC, a luxury vacation membership club, is one such company. It doesn't rely on formal PPM
software to keep projects on track and on budget, but rather agile methodologies, ScrumMaster dashboards and
scorecarding. It typically has six projects under way at any given time.

According to Charles Livingston, senior vice president of technology, Exclusive Resorts considered a more formal
PPM tool but found the available options expensive when the agile methodologies were already working well for the
200-person company.

He said the incremental projects keep the team engaged and members of management happy, because they can
easily see the continuous forward movement.

"This is healthier from all angles," Livingston said. "The person working on the project can stay focused, and others
can weigh in on the progress -- especially important as the business environment or economy changes."

In a combination of the success of the current system contributing to the bottom line and the economic situation
giving rise to prudence, Livingston said he will stick with the arrangement for now.

"If you only have a small stack of chips, you better be betting on the right investments," he said.

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 Enhancing IT performance at growing companies with more effective project management
Communication with IT project stakeholders is key to success

Communication with IT project stakeholders is key to success

By Danielle and Nelson Ruest

Projects are the lifeblood of IT -- playing a crucial role in IT Service Delivery and serving as the only way to
administer change. Why, then, do IT projects fail so often? As IT pros, we have yet to learn how to effectively
communicate with our project stakeholders.

According to research from The Standish Group International Inc., while about 32% of IT projects succeed -- finish-
ing on time, on budget and actually delivering the required features or functions -- more than 24% fail. Moreover,
44% of the IT projects analyzed were considered challenged, or projects that suffered some form of failure along
the way.

IT projects are usually temporary endeavors that organizations engage in to deliver new features, functions or
services within their computing environment. But for a project to be successful, it must begin with a clear under-
standing for the needs or requirements to which it is designed to respond.

One of the best ways to do this is to work with IT project stakeholders -- the people who will be affected in some
way, shape or form by the result of the project. There are several different types of stakeholders, each having their
own level of influence and impact on the project outcome. To fully understand how to respond to each group's spe-
cific requirements, you should group stakeholders into different categories.

Take for example, the following groupings:

Key stakeholders are individuals or groups, usually within the organization, who will have a direct impact on the
project. They have the power to control the project and will usually provide go/no-go decisions at each crucial
stage. For example, CFOs are often key stakeholders in IT projects because they control the funds.

Important stakeholders have an impact on the project but do not necessarily have the ability to control its
outcomes. For example, end-user representatives are important stakeholders because they speak for others and
can manipulate project outcomes to some degree.

Accessory stakeholders are often customers of the project. While they have some contact, they will not have direct
contact with the project team, and therefore will not have the ability to directly manipulate project outcomes. For
example, end users of a new system are accessory stakeholders because they must communicate their needs
through a more important stakeholder.

You must be able to effectively communicate with each of these groups to achieve project success. Of course,
communication is a two-way street so start by learning your stakeholders' needs and expectations. Interview key
stakeholders directly, meet with important project stakeholders as a group and poll a sample of the accessory
stakeholders to better understand their requirements. Then, work on a clear outgoing communications strategy.

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 Enhancing IT performance at growing companies with more effective project management
Communication with IT project stakeholders is key to success

Many IT projects that seem to perform well will often fall flat because the communications strategy is weak. Since
there are different levels of influence from each of the different groups of IT project stakeholders, your communica-
tions strategy should be designed to provide different levels of information for each group.

A multifaceted communications program should include regular project team meetings and reports, regular key
stakeholder meetings with direct communication lines to project management (if and when necessary), marketing
programs targeted to accessory stakeholders and group meetings or discussions with important stakeholders.

The next time you start a project, begin by creating stakeholder groups, indentifying which stakeholder belongs to
each group. Next, initiate the communications process with the main stakeholders before even launching the
project. If you don't have a solid communications link with your stakeholders, then your project is poised for failure.

Change is the only constant in IT, and IT projects drive that change. It's time we actively work to improve our
success ratio and learn to listen to the needs of our project stakeholders.

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 Enhancing IT performance at growing companies with more effective project management
Resources from CA

Resources from CA

The Attainable Goal

Enabling Smart Decision

PMO Value Survey

About CA
CA is one of the world's largest IT management software providers. Our software and expertise
unify and simplify complex IT environments-in a secure way-across the enterprise for greater
business results. We call this Enterprise IT Management (EITM)-our clear vision for the future of
IT. It's how you can manage systems, networks, security, storage, applications and databases
securely and dynamically. You can build on your IT investments, rather than replacing them, and
do it at your own pace. Our more than 5,300 developers worldwide create and deliver IT manage-
ment software that keeps our vision real. And we've taken our decades of experience solving
complicated IT problems and developed practical paths for you to get from where you are today
to where you want to be.

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