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:

Read the rest of this entry »

November 3rd, 2008

Dreamforce: Salesforce and Facebook [podcast]

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:08 pm

Categories: IT issues, SaaS, PaaS, and SOA, CIO issues, Enterprise 2.0, End-user impact, Oracle, Salesforce.com, Dreamforce 2008

Tags: Salesforce.com Inc., Facebook, Sales Force Management, Podcasts, Business Structures, Sales, Internet, Finance, Michael Krigsman, Marc Benioff

Salesforce.com announced a platform partnership with Facebook today at Dreamforce, its annual user conference, that will enable Facebook developers to write and run their applications on the Force.com enterprise cloud.

During a press conference following the announcement, CEO Marc Benioff commented the partnership is intended to increase “stickiness and reduce customer attrition.” Strategically for Salesforce, this partnership is about extending its cloud in every direction, including to consumer-oriented social networking. Only time will reveal whether this combination is a marriage made in heaven or an example of what happens when worlds collide.

To learn more, I spoke with Saleforce.com’s Clara Shih, AppExchange Product Line Director, and Dave Morin, Facebook’s Senior Platform Manager. Steve Gillmor, from the Gillmor Gang and TechCrunchIT, joined me for this interview.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 24th, 2008

Managing recession: IT failures and layoffs

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:10 am

Categories: IT issues, CIO issues

Tags: Layoff, Recession, Information Technology, Worker, Workforce Management, Human Resources, Michael Krigsman

If recession hits, organizations will put failing projects under the microscope, making layoffs likely. If you’re an IT manager, there are several issues to consider when deciding which project and personnel to release. Once you’ve made these decisions, it’s important to conduct layoffs compassionately.

The first step toward IT project downsizing is deciding which projects are most valuable to the organization. For both political and practical reasons, this can be a tricky decision. On the political side, one man’s failure can be another man’s pet project; I once witnessed a CEO accuse his key vice president of “meddling,” when the junior person suggested terminating an obvious project failure. That company didn’t last long.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 16th, 2008

Android kill switch: Is Google evil?

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 6:03 am

Categories: IT issues, CIO issues, Security and privacy, End-user impact, Google

Tags: Google Inc., Telecom & Utilities, Michael Krigsman, Computer World, Dennis, Web Browsers, Handhelds, Internet, Hardware

Google’s new Android phone includes a “kill switch,” allowing the company to delete applications users purchase from the Android Market. Frankly, I don’t trust Google’s intentions.

Computer World describes the situation:

In the Android Market terms of service, Google expressly says that it might remotely remove an application from user phones. “Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement … in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion,” the terms, linked to from the phone, read.

Some Google users, including ZDNet’s Christopher Dawson, call the company a friend; others question whether Google lives up to its “do no evil” corporate mantra. For example, Dennis Howlett blogged about Google’s original license (which they later modified) for its Chrome browser:

Read the rest of this entry »

October 14th, 2008

Social CRM: Interview with Oracle SVP Anthony Lye [podcast]

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 8:06 am

Categories: Interview, IT issues, CIO issues, Enterprise 2.0, End-user impact, Oracle, Podcast

Tags: Podcast, Oracle Corp., CRM, Social CRM, Data Portability, Advertising & Promotion, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Software, Marketing, Software

Oracle’s Social CRM product combines social networking and Web 2.0 sensibilities inside a traditional enterprise software wrapper. To learn about the design goals behind this new product, I interviewed Anthony Lye, Oracle’s Senior Vice President for CRM.

Anthony offers much insight into CRM and Enterprise 2.0. Listen to this podcast if you care about social networking in the enterprise.

• Related: Oracle innovates with Social CRM; not ‘boring and lifeless’

On CRM data sources:

Anthony spoke about differences between traditional enterprise applications and Social CRM around data sources and “ownership:”

Historically, in enterprise software, one tries to own the data. Social CRM assumes we never own the data and that it’s created by independent systems. In this paradigm, aggregation from both internal and external systems, and adding social metadata, provide the value.

Since software vendors have used data ownership to prevent customers from easily switching systems, this is an important issue. In true social networking fashion, I posed the issue to over 1300 people following me on Twitter (read from bottom up):

Read the rest of this entry »

October 10th, 2008

Nine steps to IT post-mortem excellence

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 6:56 am

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

Tags: Project, Team, Information Technology, Post-mortems, Team Management, Tools & Techniques, Management, Michael Krigsman

Conventional IT wisdom holds that post-mortems are essential to ensuring future project success. Sadly, many corporate post-mortems are a waste of time, accomplishing little besides finger-pointing and assigning blame.

Here’s what StickyMinds.com says about the post-mortem issue:

Most teams don’t use postmortems. The teams that do don’t always get value from them. Frequently, postmortems have a habit of either turning into “the blame game” or whitewashing mistakes. A bad postmortem can create dissension and institutionalize mistakes.

On the other hand, well-run post-mortems help a project team create a culture of continuous improvement. Embedding a culture of ongoing, positive change inside a project delivery organization is the best way to ensure long-term success.

Post-mortems are an important link in this chain of positive improvement.

Running a successful post-mortem isn’t magic, although it does require thoughtful planning. Consultant Mike Gunderloy offers a list of nine steps to post-mortem excellence:

Read the rest of this entry »

October 9th, 2008

Robert Scoble and sexy enterprise software

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 4:16 pm

Categories: IT issues, CIO issues, Enterprise 2.0 Conference

Tags: Robert Scoble, PROJECT FAILURES ANALYSIS Robert, Enterprise Software, Software, Michael Krigsman

Big name blogger, Robert Scoble, has again forayed into enterprise software territory. This time, it appears he’s finally recognized that enterprise software is sexy.

During a previous enterprise-land journey, Robert baited the Enterprise Irregulars and created a blogging firestorm by claiming enterprise software is not sexy. He also complained that big companies foist enterprise systems on unsuspecting users:

Some CIO somewhere else made that decision and forced us all to use [insert your favorite enterprise software vendor here]. That doesn’t exactly make us warm and fuzzy about the computer sitting in front of us on the desk.

Fast forward, almost a year later, and Robert seems to be climbing on-board the enterprise train. In a recent post about enterprise email, he addresses fundamental business value issues:

I am looking for companies that solve REAL pain in enterprises and that deliver real benefits to bottom lines and productivity.

In another post, Robert discusses enterprise-class scalability and suggests a strategic business perspective:

[H]ow to build scalable and performant Web services, especially given that tomorrow’s services are probably going to be glued together from a variety of services?

Read the rest of this entry »

October 7th, 2008

Why Agile development matters [podcast]

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 10:11 am

Categories: Interview, IT issues, Project strategy, CIO issues, Podcast, Cultural issues

Tags: Developer, Information Technology, Business User, Agile, Lengthy IT Project, Agile Development, OutSystems, End-user Engagement, Podcasts, Strategy

Lengthy IT projects are more prone to fail than shorter ones. Agile development is one technique some organizations use to increase project success by shortening development cycles and rigorously enforcing closer ties, and communication, between developers and users.

To learn how Agile development improves IT project success, I met with OutSystems, which provides a software platform for helping companies run business web development projects using Agile. During the interview, CEO Paulo Rosado, and VP of Worldwide Marketing, Mike Jones, explained how Agile helps prevent IT failures.

According to Mike, Agile is an iterative process through which business users provide rapid feedback to software developers. By bringing users and developers closer than would otherwise be possible, Agile ensures that the technical team actively addresses business requirements:

Developers provide a working application at the end of a short time period, called a sprint, usually two weeks in our case, at the end of which business users can evaluate, provide feedback on, and change rapidly…. This iterative approach helps align IT and business users.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 6th, 2008

Improve your failed IT culture

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:42 am

Categories: IT issues, CIO issues, Risk, Research and statistics, Cultural issues

Tags: Team, Culture, Information Technology, Risk Management, Enterprise Risk Management, Strategy, Business Security, Business Operations, Management, Michael Krigsman

The underpinnings of IT failure lie in culture, the unspoken rules governing an organization’s style and general priorities. Since most organizations pay little attention to project culture, it’s not surprising failure rates remain high.

New research by SAS sheds light on this issue. In a survey of 316 senior financial industry executives sponsored by SAS, the Economist Intelligence Unit explored the role of culture in enterprise risk management (ERM):

Creating a culture for risk management is a challenging proposition for most firms. One of the keys to successful risk management is embedding risk management within the company culture, but for surveyed executives this was the most widely encountered challenge, cited by almost one-half of respondents.

Although a bit hard to read, the following chart clearly shows most respondent’s organizations don’t have a high-priority culture around enterprise risk management. That’s a problem, given the importance of this topic:

Read the rest of this entry »

September 29th, 2008

World’s worst IT failure report

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:26 am

Categories: IT issues, Availability and reliability, Failure 2.0, End-user impact

Tags: Information Technology, Failure, Productivity, Channel Management, Retail, Internet, Telecom & Utilities, Marketing, Michael Krigsman

Reporting failure requires balancing facts with making interpretations about why the failure occurred. Respectable bloggers and journalists temper their comments because inaccurate accusations and sensationalism unnecessarily harm the innocent and provide little value to readers.

With this in mind, yesterday I read one of the most irresponsible failure reports I’ve ever seen. Talking about B&H Photo, a major New York photography retailer, one user started this discussion on Flickr:

B&H going out of business?

[F]or days their tracking and history systems have been down, now their phone system reports they are having computer errors, so their system is down….

This is how it looks when a company is circling the drain….Seems like it’s high time for the rumors to start flying.

THE PROJECT FAILURES ANALYSIS

This report committed several cardinal sins governing responsible reporting on failures:

1. Not accurate. Several follow-ups from readers pointed out that B&H systems are working properly. A minor web glitch may have occurred, but it’s clearly not an ongoing or consistent problem.

2. Not objective. Personal soap boxing is more important to the writer than uncovering facts.

3. Clear rumor mongering. The writer explicitly wants to start negative rumors, despite the presence of facts contrary to his assertions and conclusions.

I contacted B&H’s Director of Corporate Communications, Henry Posner, who summarized the matter:

The writer took one symptom, extrapolated to the most extreme and far-fetched possible conclusion, and ran with that. Calling it “irresponsible” is an insult to things that actually are irresponsible.

My take: The writer hit a momentary glitch and nothing more. Whether or not the problem was attributable to B&H is immaterial: these things happen all the time and pass quickly. And no, B&H is obviously not going out of business.

[Image via Roslyn High School. Disclosure: As a photographer, I love B&H’s huge New York store. Check out my photos on Flickr. ]