Abstract
Every year we experience IT projects from "hell" that we know will turn into an operational disaster. But do any come close to a Titanic's track-record of four years in development (1909-1912) and 4 days in operation? Titanic’s maiden voyage was a disaster waiting to happen as a result of the compromises made in the project. This book analyzes Titanic's construction project and voyage, and explains how we can take stock and use lessons learned to help business executives understand key IT (Internet) project issues to ensure success long after deployment. The book explains in layman's terms how to get involved and deliver an Internet project successfully.
Titanic Lessons for IT Projects
This book is about delivering IT projects in a world where on-time and on-budget is not enough. You need to be on-line--connecting to the Internet and dealing with the 24-by-7 expectations of your customers and partners. It will help you successfully maneuver through the ice floes of IT project management in an industry with a notoriously high project failure rate-- up to 75 percent (see Standish group "The Chaos Report" - on IT project failures).
Imagine you are in one of Titanic’s lifeboats just sighted by the rescue ship Carpathia. As you look back at the wreckage site, you wonder how such a disaster could have happened. What were the causes? How could things go so badly wrong? Why did she founder? No one had expected it.
The book explores how non-IT executives can take lessons from a nuts-and-bolts construction project like Titanic and use those lessons to ensure the right approach to developing on-line operations. Looking at this historical project as a model will prove to be incisive as it cuts away the layers of IT jargon and complexity.
Mark Nixon, Manager of the IBM Advanced Business Institute said, "As Kozak-Holland takes the reader through the Titanic's journey, he draws relevant lessons for the business executive responsible for a major systems implementation. The book gives flesh-and-blood reality to the need for honesty and integrity, the importance of creating a sensible project management process, and the general management responsibilities of delivering on-line, on-time, and on-budget systems. Kozak-Holland provides sound advice to business executives and tells a whopping good story to illustrate it and make it memorable".
Titanic’s maiden voyage was a disaster waiting to happen as a result of the compromises made in the project. In addition, the operational readiness of the ship was so poor and the overall decision making at odds with basic rules of seamanship, made the disaster inevitable. Effectively, there was no one single event or factor that caused the disaster but a combination of many.
To avoid a similar debacle in your project or on-line operation a strong executive leadership role is vital from the start, in playing the devils advocate, coaxing the team to be proactive and diligent in evaluating decisions, and asking the right kind of questions at each stage.
This book is about delivering IT projects in a world where on-time and on-budget is not enough. You need to be on-line--connecting to the Internet and dealing with the 24-by-7 expectations of your customers and partners. It will help you successfully maneuver through the ice floes of IT project management in an industry with a notoriously high project failure rate-- up to 75 percent (see Standish group "The Chaos Report" - on IT project failures).
Imagine you are in one of Titanic’s lifeboats just sighted by the rescue ship Carpathia. As you look back at the wreckage site, you wonder how such a disaster could have happened. What were the causes? How could things go so badly wrong? Why did she founder? No one had expected it.
The book explores how non-IT executives can take lessons from a nuts-and-bolts construction project like Titanic and use those lessons to ensure the right approach to developing on-line operations. Looking at this historical project as a model will prove to be incisive as it cuts away the layers of IT jargon and complexity.
Mark Nixon, Manager of the IBM Advanced Business Institute said, "As Kozak-Holland takes the reader through the Titanic's journey, he draws relevant lessons for the business executive responsible for a major systems implementation. The book gives flesh-and-blood reality to the need for honesty and integrity, the importance of creating a sensible project management process, and the general management responsibilities of delivering on-line, on-time, and on-budget systems. Kozak-Holland provides sound advice to business executives and tells a whopping good story to illustrate it and make it memorable".
Titanic’s maiden voyage was a disaster waiting to happen as a result of the compromises made in the project. In addition, the operational readiness of the ship was so poor and the overall decision making at odds with basic rules of seamanship, made the disaster inevitable. Effectively, there was no one single event or factor that caused the disaster but a combination of many.
To avoid a similar debacle in your project or on-line operation a strong executive leadership role is vital from the start, in playing the devils advocate, coaxing the team to be proactive and diligent in evaluating decisions, and asking the right kind of questions at each stage.