Gantthead
article series:
Part
1 to 20
The series was
wonderful and fit together like a puzzle. Using the Titanic as an analogy is
a great hook as well as teaching tool. (January 22, 2004)
This
is totally on the mark! (January 30, 2004 )
I
just read over all and found it excellent. Many of us have often referred to
the Titanic in working on projects, we now see how close we were. The lessons
learned from this tragedy can be applied to projects today. (September 18,
2004)
My
congratulations go to the the author on a riveting series. I was glued to the
screen, reading each part to discover ‘what happened at the end’. If [he is]
in PM, maybe [he is] in the wrong trade. An excellent read. (May 24, 2005)
"The series of articles was
wonderful and fit together like a puzzle. Using the Titanic as an analogy is
a great hook as well as teaching tool. "
allaboutbusiness - January 22, 2004
"Mark: I enjoyed your IT Titanic article (on gantthead.com)
and have passed it on to my co-workers. Especially noteworthy for me is that
a collection of errors (not a single error) sank the Titanic. Us IT folks are
guilty of looking for a single point of failure instead of a collection of
responsibilities for failure."
Thanks, Pat Harrell, PMP
Feedback
on the series
"Just a quick fan letter to say I have enjoyed your Titanic article
series on Gantthead, and have just ordered a copy of your book. Look
forward to reading it." Robert McKeeman
The Titanic as a case study
IT Project Lessons from Titanic,
Part 1
Calculating the Real Costs of Internet Projects
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Recently Published for Gantthead
Magazine
The following is a series of
articles written for www.gantthead.com, a reknowned Project Management
circulation. The series will span up 20 articles. The series examines the
more common mistakes that occur in IT project that impact an IT solution when
put into production. The series uses Titanic’s project as a backdrop.
Most people are very familiar with
Titanic’s story and the last 2 days of the voyage and the disaster itself.
But little is known about the 4 year construction project, the project
stages, and their significance in the disaster. Let us go back to 1909 and
re-examine White Star’s project to build 3 super liners (see part 1) . These
were major investments on what appeared to be a solid business case but in
fact did not cover all the risks adequately (see part 2). Titanic’s
architects had many design choices and followed a strategy of incorporating
all the latest and advanced safety technologies to provide the highest levels
of safety. However, they made compromises to these safety features because of
executive business pressure to create the ultimate passenger (first-class)
experience (see part 3). We also looked at Titanic’s sister ship Olympic and
the role she played. Significantly, White Star deemed Olympic’s track record
adequate for launching an almost identical sister ship straight into service
without extensive sea trials. However, this track record was far less than
perfect with several incidents that haunted the captain and officers (see
part 4). Director Bruce Ismay was also determined to beat Olympic’s best
crossing time in a publicity stunt to prove Titanic was technologically
better (see part 5). As Titanic’s maiden voyage commenced on April 10th the
perception existed that Titanic was invincible with the public and media.
Titanic’s owners were very much driven by the pressing economic need to move
Titanic into service. In reality, Titanic’s testing consisted of the maiden
voyage across the Atlantic fully loaded with passengers (see part 6).
Previously Published
Here are some previous articles:
WebSphere Developer's Journal: Nov, 2002, by Emily Bruner, Mark
Kozak-Holland.
The Titanic as a case study: WebSphere and the challenge of Internet
projects.
Delivering IT projects on time and
on budget is not enough in today's world. Until recently, Web and non-Web
business systems were mainly detached from each other. The IBM e-business
initiative and the WebSphere family of products enhanced the ability of
businesses to integrate their Web-based systems with their non-Web systems to
produce a single enterprise-wide system. Now that many businesses are online,
organizations are restructuring their hierarchies so that the IT organization
reports directly to the finance organization. Many CFOs are becoming
responsible for approving new projects in organizations - and therefore
ultimately responsible for the delivery of business services to customers.
MC Press: September 22,
2003, by Mark Kozak-Holland
What can you learn about project management from someone else's disastrous
mistakes?
This article examines the first
stage of Titanic's project--the business requirements--and highlights how bad
decisions in this early stage can have a detrimental effect later in
operation. In essence, this article is a case study for today's IT projects.
MC Press: November 4,
2002, by Mark Kozak-Holland
Careful planning improves your
chance of success
IT projects have always carried
high levels of risk. The explosion in "Internet" projects, or
projects in which an IT solution is integrated to the Internet, has further
increased this risk because the Internet channel not only alters customer
behavior and expectations for service but also dramatically increases the
exposure of the organization.
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