How to better manage fixed bid IT Projects?? -Part 1

"Project Management" always sparks an interest in my usually tranquil mind. Well, project management as a job was more of a serendipitous choice for me. Glimpse of my managerial skills was first spotted by my mom who used to compare me with my dad when it came to people management. She always used to think that I can manage people pretty well.

Now, let me first define the word "Project Management". It is all about managing the resources associated with the project in terms of scope, cost, quality & time. Now let's see why Project Management is so important??

“History has shown that almost half of IT projects fail & over 80% run late or over budget.” – Source “PMI”

So, all my IT brethren wake up & understand that PM is not an easy job. It requires a lot quality managerial time & acumen. In my current organization Satyam I come across so many fixed bid projects failing either in terms of running late or going over budget.

Fixed bid projects have their own challenges as the end date is fixed and we work backwards to organize the various modules/ phases in the project. Moreover having a fixed budget the profitability factor is directly related to the time spent or resources working on it.

So, where is the problem?? Let us analyse it.

• Scenario 1 - How many times have you realised that the client is asking for more functionalities that are not originally part of the scope and eventually either extra resources / extra hours being spent on the project? - Clear problem of Scope not being defined & agreed with the client

• Scenario 2 - Project has started & resources have started working. But suddenly we realise that the team does not have the necessary skills / resources to handle the technology involved. - Indication of lack of resource planning & mix which is a result of poor Document of Understanding & backup or training plan.

• Scenario 3 - The project team has the right mix of resources with high skill levels & credibility, however the project is proceeding at an alarmingly slow rate or with lots of rework. - Problem of lack of motivation / Internal politics within the team.

• Scenario 4 - The project team has the right mix of resources with high skill levels & credibility, however the work is delayed due to unidentified risks - Please do proper risk management.

• Scenario 5 - Business Metrics used for tracking the progress not being agreed to by the client as indication of the successful progress of the project. - Business metrics fall into several categories: Scope and deliverables, timeliness, budget and quality. For many organizations, developing solid business metrics often means changing the nature of the relationship with the client. So, please identify these metrics at the planning phase itself to avoid discrepancies.

• Scenario 6 - The project cost is skyrocketting due to more number of high cost resources working on the project. - This is clear case of lack of good recruitment strategy and team organization planned at the beginning of the project which creates a costly resource mix.
  

So, please ensure that these scenarios are minimised (if need be create a check list) to the extent possible to ensure a decent success rate for the projects you handle. Please feel free to add any other scenarios you might come across.

Until next... Ciao......

SONY ERICCSON (Vs) NOKIA

I had always felt that monopoly was bad for the economy. So, I realised Nokia was getting onto my nerves and wanted to try different brand next time I buy my mobile.

So, I went and bought a Sony Ericcson W810i as it was the closest competitor to Nokia in the month of February 2007. Some of the best features were:

1. Excellent sound clarity on earphones. Better than even the Nokia N series that my friend had.


2. Camera with a decent picture quality of 2.0 mega pixels. Some of the pics that I took in US with the mobile phone can be accessed from the link http://www.flickr.com/gp/69615963@N00/3dr85t


3. Cool external speakers producing fine quality music. Not so noisy and irritating like Nokia N series. I always believe that volume is not everything when it comes to playing music. It has to sound soothing.I am sure many of you would agree with this.


4. Compact on the hand and when you carry in your mobile pouch.

Well if you thought that these features were very cool and truly they were, I always think that durability is a big factor when it comes to electronic goods. And Sony Ericsson obviously looses out to Nokia.

Suddenly, beginning of this month the phone started acting weird as the screen would hang and none of the functions could be done. Initially I thought that the battery was the problem but then the techies in the Sony Ericsson service center realised that the "motherboard" had to be changed. Luckily I had a 1 year warranty and so it costs nothing. Just 6 months since I bought the phone and already the motherboard is defunct!! Bad experience I would say....

Probably I did not buy it on an auspicious time and date :-) but then there were 30 others on a Saturday complaining about their phones in the service center.(I never had any software problems with the previous Nokia mobile models that I had bought anytime!!)

So, I am not alone and Sony Ericcson probably taught me a management lesson "Jack of all trades but Ace of none!!" and Nokia has proven that specialist always remain dominant in the market and probably monopoly won this time around....

Until next... ciao...

God Bless America-part 1

Long time since I updated my blog!! It's been a 4 month wait getting a topic to write about. Yes, this is all about my experience as a true desi in the Land of Opportunities. I am talking about a 231 year old country that has grown & given opportunity for the rest of the world, popularly known as "USA"..

I am here on a business visit to work for Citicards and I stay in a very beautiful place called Florida. To be precise, I stay in the city of Jacksonville.Well, yes America is very exciting however it requires a big time maintenance to bring it to normal.

First, let me share why America is exciting. Florida with its sexy beaches, Bikes & Cars makes you wonder if you are visiting a different planet where you see prosperity all around. In Florida I first visited Daytona along with my friends. The Daytona beach and its NASCAR track makes you feel orgasmic. I had seen around 20-25 bikes which were 1000 cc Honda engines near the beach front. Well a global war is imminent when it comes to bike market in America. The Japanese & the Harley Davidsons vying for every inch of the automobile market makes you believe its a battle of pistons :-) . So when, you are all pumped and want a feast for your racing senses you know where to go. Believe me, the beaches are so clean that you would even start following the norm of "No Litter" policy. There was one of the streets that we entered which takes you to a different time zone. Yeah, the Harley Davidson bikes parked there makes you believe that there is so much tradition with the owner of each bike being over 50 years of age.So, life never is over for the people in this place as there is a inner urge to keep loving what they do and never get bored. Through out the street we saw people having beer along with their wives /girl friends, god knows the chemistry :-) The average age group was around 40 years. I am sure back in India life ends @ 45 as many of our neighbors & relaives would retire from being normal.

From Daytona, I had an opportunity to visit St.Augustine, one of the oldest towns in USA. True to its reputation, the town is so laid back and you start wondering if you have visited one of the villages in India. People suddenly seem to have all the time in the world to go boating, chill around in one of the many pubs there with their family, stroll on the beach sand, playing with their pets, swimming etc...A quick gush of laziness would certainly hit you once you step into this town. An ideal place for newly married couples to open up and get down to business :-)

The pinnacle of craziness was when I visited Panama City in Florida. Luckily it was summer break time and all the college kids were present along with their gangs. They were in their full gear when it came to their cars & bikes and in full oblivion when it came to their attires. "Truly American craziness Inc" is what you would see in Panama City. Bumper to bumper cars, honking, booing, singing, and all the stereos singing in chorus the Metallicas and the Iron Maidens of the world....being the norm. Our Pachaiyappas & Presidency college students need a big learning curve to get to this level :-) I visited La Vida, the largest night club in America along with my friends. Well, to say it was great is an under statement. I met people all around the world inside the night club.The funniest part was there was a separate entrance for teenagers less than eligible age (21 years) too...The synonym of merry making would be understood by everyone who enters La Vida.But remember to take your passports as photo identity whenever you visit this place. From La Vida, we headed to a beach side party that was full of young people who I am sure were kicked in their butt by their parents for being what they are.Even monkeys would have behaved better :-) Nobody owns nobody's girl friend inside, is what I realised as the party progressed. My friends and myself actually ended up with a culture shock treatment as we kept re-assuring that we were in our senses and "Seeing is believing" was really true.

So, being over nourished with the beaches, I decided to visit Orlando and get to see the various theme parks. I wonder if Disney owns half of America. Well, thats the feeling anybody would get once you step inside any of their theme parks. I visited Magic Kingdom along with my friends. So many acres of land that incudes resorts, lakes (they look real. but may be man made), golf corses etc makes you believe you have entered Wonderland.

Innumerable fun rides, sweet looking kids, all the disney characters of Mickey, Donald, Goofy that we saw as kids in our Door darshan Sunday cartoon feast and grandeour all around makes you feel so lost in the Wonderland. When we bought tickets we saw packages for 2 days, 5 days, 7 days & 10 days and were wondering why? This got answered once we entered the place and started to realize that "Magic Kingdom" alone needs 2 full days to cover.So, this just being one of the 4 theme parks definitely requires that much time to cover them.So anybody visiting Disney, I would definitely recommend the various fun rides around. Do not especially miss the Splash mountain, Mountain rail, Sharks and Space ranger rides. The best one I liked was the Space ranger where a fast moving rail would take you across the virtual solar system in absolute darkness, madness etc that you start feeling that you are actually floating in space. The reason I could logically think of was that since there were no lights, the people on the ride lose their point of reference and feel as if they are really travelling in space.

In my next posting I would talk about my experiences in Universal Studios, work & culture, and why this country requires a big time maintenance overhaul. Until then...

Ciao...