December 1st, 2008

Former inmate accused of hacking prison IT

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:28 am

Categories: Project failures, Government projects, IT issues, CIO issues, Security and privacy

Tags: Hacking, Information Technology, Prison, Access Control, Computer, Productivity, Security, Michael Krigsman

Federal authorities charged a former inmate with successfully breaking into prison computer systems during his incarceration and stealing identity information on prison personnel.  Beware: if hacking can happen under the noses of federal prison authorities, then your company is certainly not immune.

A press release from the Attorney General’s office in Boston describes the indictment:

[Francis G. Janosko, age 42,] is alleged to have obtained the password to a prison management program and to have made available to other inmates a report listing the names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, some addresses and telephone numbers of over 1,100 current and former prison personnel.

According to the release, the prison allowed inmates computer access to a system containing legal research information and “nothing else.” Janosko bypassed security by, “exploiting a previously-unknown idiosyncrasy in the legal research software:”

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November 26th, 2008

The IT ‘Devil’s Triangle’ [podcast]

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 6:07 am

Categories: Vendor relationships, Project management, Interview, IT issues, Project strategy, CIO issues, Consulting, Podcast

Tags: Software, Software Company, Information Technology, System Integrator, Brian, Podcasts, Tools & Techniques, Outsourcing, Strategy, Internet

Three roles dominate virtually every significant IT project: technology supplier, system integrator or consultant, and end-user or customer. These groups have interlocking, and often conflicting, agendas that drive many projects toward failure.

In this podcast, ZDNet colleague, Brian Sommer, shares hard-hitting insight on this IT devil’s triangle and describes its impact on project success and failure. Brian is a long-time market analyst and customer advocate with a no-nonsense style developed over years working with customers, integrators, and technology vendors.

Brian’s perspective helps explain fundamental motivations behind system integrators and their relationship with customers.

• Related: The ERP devil’s triangle

On system integrators vs. consultants:

In the past, management advisory services firms provided independent advice and counsel to clients and tended to put their clients’ interests ahead of their own. That was the golden age of management consulting.

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November 24th, 2008

SAP: Pushing against the economy

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:04 am

Categories: Vendor relationships, IT issues, SaaS, PaaS, and SOA, CIO issues, SAP

Tags: SAP AG, Leo, Software-as-a-service Threat, Software As A Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Tools & Techniques, Smb/Sme, Emerging Technologies, Management, Michael Krigsman

SAP’s Co-CEO, Leo Apotheker, hosted a panel discussion this past Friday afternoon, exploring reasons to maintain IT investment during difficult economic times.

The well-rounded panel included:

• Leo Apotheker Co-CEO of SAP
• Naomi Wyatt, secretary of administration for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and an SAP large public sector customer
• Partha Biswas, CIO of Joerns Healthcare, and an SAP customer representing the SMB market
• Andrew McAfee, Harvard Business School professor who coined the phrase “Enterprise 2.0″
• Bruce Richardson, Chief Research Office from AMR Research, who moderated the event

On the strategic side, the panel argued that technology buyers should use IT to innovate and create differentiation, especially during a difficult economy. To this point, Leo said:

Companies struggling with top line revenue must create efficiency, using technology to change processes, and then innovate.

Andrew added, “SAP builds and offers ‘process factories’ for a living. It provides the infrastructure for good ideas that you can employ, and then innovate on top of that.”

Both SAP customers emphasized their implementations went smoothly, as Larry Dignan reported:

SAP’s customers on the panel all had success stories to tell, but the general theme was that they were able to implement quickly. That’s a big message if you’re going to get folks to invest in a recession.

From an economic perspective, SAP presented specific reasons companies should invest in the software maker’s technology and products:

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November 20th, 2008

5 reasons to kill IT projects

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:55 am

Categories: Project management, IT issues, Project strategy, CIO issues

Tags: Project, CIO, Information Technology, Strategy, Management, Michael Krigsman

A survey of IT experts revealed 43 percent of their organizations had recently killed an IT project. The study, conducted by ISACA, an independent IT governance group, highlighted the top 5 reasons these organizations named for terminating projects prior to completion.

Here’s the list, with my commentary on each issue:

1. Business needs changed: 30%

There are many conditions and situations where a business legitimately changes its requirements after starting a project. If the project no longer provides meaningful value, then it’s best to stop throwing good money after bad.

On the other hand, some organizations deliberately obscure a flawed project requirements process by claiming business needs evolved. Obviously, that’s unhealthy and a true sign of failure.

2. Did not deliver as promised: 23%

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November 19th, 2008

Stepford: A vision of IT utopia

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 6:56 am

Categories: IT issues, Cultural issues

Tags: Information Technology, Vision, Strategy, Management, Michael Krigsman, Utopia, Cartoon, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Web Services, Enterprise Software

This Geek and Poke cartoon captures the spirit of relationship, alignment, and understanding between IT and business. However, to create a broader vision of IT utopia, I made a few small changes, adding an extra comment at the top and red-lining some original cartoon text.

In this ideal world, business users gratefully accept whatever techno-babble nonsense IT throws at them, with technology having become utterly divorced from any business purpose whatsoever.

Call it “Stepford IT,” where business people have (finally) been trained to carry forth IT’s bidding with flawless accuracy and pleasing smiles. Yes, this is indeed IT utopia in action.

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November 18th, 2008

Texas gov. intercedes in failing IBM project

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:19 am

Categories: Vendor relationships, Project failures, Government projects, Implementation, IT issues, Project strategy, CIO issues, Financial impact, Politics, Cultural issues

Tags: Texas, IBM Corp., Advertising & Promotion, Marketing, Michael Krigsman, Agency, State, Backups, Outsourcing, It Operations

Texas Governor, Rick Perry, ordered state agencies to stop transferring data to IBM to prevent data loss on a failing project. Texas also fined IBM $900,000 for failing to meet data backup requirements specified in the state’s $863M outsourcing contract.

This backup situation represents only tip of the iceberg with lots more failure to come. Be forewarned: as they say, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

The Dallas Morning News reported:

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November 17th, 2008

11 “Laws of IT Physics”

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 6:02 am

Categories: Government projects, Project management, IT issues, Project strategy, CIO issues

Tags: Information Technology, Law, Strategy, Management, Michael Krigsman, Project, Planning

Given high rates of failed IT projects, it’s helpful to examine first principles that underlie successful technology deployments. Even though devils live in the details, understanding basic dynamics behind successful project setup, execution, and management is important.

During testimony before Congress, in a hearing titled “The Dismal State of Federal Information Technology Planning,” Norm V. Brown, Executive Director of the Center for Program Transformation, an IT failures think tank, presented what he calls “Laws of IT Physics™.”

These “Laws” highlight hidden pitfalls the hurt many projects, and help explain why some projects succeed while others fail. They recognize that successful IT project delivery is primarily about managing people, process, and deliverables. Yes, technology is important, but the people side comes first. Here’s the list, with slight editing:

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November 13th, 2008

IT failures town hall: Boston, December 3

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 3:14 pm

Categories: IT issues, Blog annoucements, CIO issues

Tags: AMR Research, Information Technology, Boston, Strategy, Management, Michael Krigsman

Update 11/25/08: Due to an unexpected schedule conflict, we must postpone the meeting. Watch this space for the new date.

Come join top AMR Research analyst, Jonathan Yarmis, and me for an informal IT failures meetup in Boston.

Jonathan and I are taking the IT failures discussion off the blog page, and into the real world, on December 3 at AMR’s office near South Station in Boston. There’s no cost and you’ll meet other folks interested in chatting about this topic. This interactive, unconference-style session will be fun and informative; Jonathan will serve as discussion initiator to kick things off.

And maybe best of all: I’ll supply coffee and bake homemade muffins for all attendees! Yeah, I love to cook so this will be fun.

Topic: IT Failures Town Hall: Lessons to be learned so you can stay off the list

Session description:  As the economy worsens, many organizations have higher expectations, and less tolerance, for failed projects. We’ll discuss strategies for reducing failures, increasing project success rates, and demonstrating higher project ROI. Most of all, we plan to have a great time!

Discussion initiator: Jonathan Yarmis is Vice President at AMR Research, where he is responsible for the firm’s coverage of advanced and disruptive technologies. A longtime analyst, having previously covered enterprise issues for Gartner, he’s a frequent and highly in-demand conference speaker.

Date and time: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 from 8:00-9:30 AM

Location: AMR Research, located at 125 Summer St, 4th floor in Boston. Map and directions.

Cost: Free. I’m bringing coffee and baking fresh muffins.

Dress: Casual

Registration: Everyone is welcome to attend, but please register by signing up.

[Photo by Michael Krigsman.]

November 13th, 2008

Senate introduces IT failures bill: No wiggle room

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 6:26 am

Categories: Government projects, Project management, IT issues, Project strategy, CIO issues, Project portfolio management, Politics

Tags: Information Technology, U.S. Senate, Strategy, Management, Michael Krigsman, Project

The Senate introduced a bill establishing guidelines for transparency and reporting on troubled IT projects. The bill defines specific exception thresholds for measuring critical and large government IT projects. Projects exceeding these thresholds will be evaluated for remediation and possible termination.

Here’s how the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) described the bill, which is called the “2008 Information Technology Investment Oversight Enhancement and Waste Prevention Act” (S. 3384):

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November 12th, 2008

Cadillacs recalled over software bug

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 6:14 am

Categories: Project failures, IT issues, End-user impact

Tags: Software, General Motors Corp., Software Bug, Software Problem, Tools & Techniques, Management, Michael Krigsman

General Motors issued a recall for almost 13,000 Cadillac CTS vehicles, due to a software bug in the airbag sensor. Transportation-related software problems happen all the time.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) lists details:

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