It’s very through article on IT project management and it supports the author’s views with many books and articles. A huge amount of business investment is spent on all kind of projects.
In the US roughly $2.3 trillion per year. Still, most organizations don't have a strategy for managing projects to ensure they match the needs of the organization and capture full value.
Even worse, many organizations do not even know which investments are paying dividends and which are losing money.
The 2015 Chaos Chronicles report from the Standish Group on IT project investments says
The average project cost overrun was almost 45 percent, and
There is almost 20 percent overall project failure rate
More than half of projects were considered challenged, meaning they went over on cost, took too much time or missed on their product deliverables, or a combination of all three.
It makes sense that to see if an investment will produce a worthwhile return and deliver expected benefits after putting all the time and effort. After the project is over, you’d want to check if you've actually received those benefits which you intended to.
The first phase of the project life cycle (PLC) begins with the purpose or goal of the project defined as the project’s measurable organizational value, or MOV. At the end of the project, the MOV provides a way to evaluate whether the project was a success. So, you’ve to create very clear MOV. MOV needs to support the organization’s strategy and by supporting it, MOV supports overall vision and mission in order to provide value to the organization.
The MOV should be:
1. Measurable: 95 percent of our customers receive a shipping confirmation within two hours after placing an order.
2. Offer value to the company
3. Be verifiable/ supportable: evaluate the MOV
4. Be agreed upon: MOV may not be realistic if management sets a target that 100 percent
The strength of this approach ensures a link back to supporting the organization's strategy. And that organization's strategy acts as a key foundation component of Portfolio Management.
This is also where the MOV plays a significant role.
Example: Microsoft
Bill Gates era. "A computer on every desk and in every home"
NEW mission: To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Failed Projects:
Mobile
In 2013, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer saw an opportunity in Nokia, and purchased of Nokia for over $7B in a deal finalized in 2014.
Microsoft was late to the mobile game. Danger mobile phone company Danger Inc was created in the heady days of 2000 with execs from Apple, Phillips, and WebTV
By 2008, they’d caught the eye of Microsoft, which acquired them for an undisclosed amount, roughly $500M, after two years of development and about a billion dollars spent, a new phone rolled out in April of 2010 under the name Microsoft KIN.
Unfortunately, that phone failed so spectacularly that it’s one of the big corporate innovation fails.
The Kins 1 and 2 launched without instant messaging, calendar support, GPS, and more, and they came down after only about six weeks on the market.
Windows Vista
OS became a huge disaster because of its bloat, its slowness, its hardware and software incompatibilities, its high cost, its confusing versions, its security fumbles and other ineptitude.
Successful projects
Skype
Visio
Github
Dynamics ERP
Microsoft Azure
Information Technology MOV Project Management
