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Avoiding Project Disaster: Titanic Lessons for IT Execs [book]
[9781895186734] |
$44.95 |
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| Displaying 1 to 3 (of 3 reviews) |
Result Pages: 1 |
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| by PM World Today (Réné Le Bel) |
Date Added: Tuesday 20 May, 2008 |
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Avoiding Project Disaster parallels today's hubris of IT practices against the hubris surrounding the building, marketing and operation of the cruise liner named Titanic. The book is targeted at senior-level management needing a resource to understand key IT project issues. The author, Mark Kozak-Holland, a history buff and IT consultant in emerging technologies has written a user-friendly book with chapter objectives, conclusions and extensive appendices. While the publisher has targeted the book at senior-level IT management, readers with little IT experience gain insights into why IT projects get into trouble. It is an interesting and enjoyable read.
Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| by John Matlock |
Date Added: Tuesday 08 April, 2008 |
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When I first saw the title of this book I had to smile at the thought of the big IT projects with which I have been associated that subsequently sank as though they had run into an iceberg.
An example though of how this book approaches comparing the Titanic with an IT project: One way to get an advance notice of an iceberg ahead is to pull up a bucket of sea water and get its temperature -- it's colder around the iceberg. A sailor was assigned to do this. He was observed filling the bucket with tap water, as the rope he was given was too short to reach the sea. The IT meaning - set up tests, but make sure the tests are real and that the results of the tests are based on real data not what is easy to obtain or pre-determined by other means.
This book is an easy-reading, light-hearted approach to illustrating some real truths about how projects (not only IT projects) really work. You'll pick up a few ideas about why the last project was so late and over budget, and perhaps your next project will go better.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| by Reader Views (Bette Daoust) |
Date Added: Tuesday 08 April, 2008 |
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I want to start with a statement that this book, although aimed at IT executives, contains valuable information for executives in any part of an organization. Project disaster can happen to anyone at anytime. All projects should be on-time and on-budget no matter where they exist. So where do you start? You start by having a copy of this book and read it from cover to cover, make notes, and review everything with your team.
You will begin with your strategy. What industry does not need to define a strategy? Anything from stating the problem, creating a solution, resource requirements, to return on investment, should come into play no matter what the project. IT executives tend to fall into this far more often than any other executive and this book addresses a number of the issues through example. What better teacher than projects that have not made the grade.
It has been said that Edison found thousands of ways that his inventions did not work and those so called failures were the teaching tools for the successes that followed. Any IT executive that has never reached the point of failure still has a lot to learn. Kozak-Holland presents project disasters where the reader may gain experience through learning what did not work, even though the procedures were put in place to prevent disasters. Following the book to the letter will not necessarily help to avoid disaster; it simply provides a road map to guide your judgment. For example, the author talked about avoiding percentages because peak periods are not taken into consideration. If percentages are used, then disasters are more than likely to occur. Good advice!
So what does this book provide for the reader? “Avoiding Project Disaster” is a plethora of information on how problems can interfere with a project and solutions for avoiding most of those problems. The key message is to monitor the project at all times and never let down your guard. The book will guide any IT executive through the project maze. If you are at all involved with managing projects, then this book is a necessary tool for your team. Do not start your next project without it.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| Displaying 1 to 3 (of 3 reviews) |
Result Pages: 1 |
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