Profiles in leadership: recipients of the annual Project Leadership Awards serve as role models for all project managers. Here are their stories - Application Development

Michael Hicks

KAREN (BOUCHER) LARKOWSKI

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROJECT MANAGER? In Standish Group's ongoing focus groups on project management, CIOs cite the need for project leaders to possess qualities such as technology and business knowledge, good judgment, the ability to communicate well, and negotiation and organizational skills. Diplomacy and an aptitude for time management are also critical. Yet even with a checklist such as this, leadership is difficult to define. The Project Leadership Awards, given out at the annual Project Leadership Conference (PLC), help define leadership through role models.

Since its founding in 1994, the PLC has been the defining educational event for IT project executives. Last year's PLC, sponsored by Imark Communications, Natick, Mass., was held in Dallas. The Standish Group has been a major participant and sponsor of this conference in both North America and Europe, and has helped fuel the attendees' interest in improving IT project performance.

Most PLC attendees are there to learn how to improve and develop their project leadership skills. In fact, the key word in PLC is leadership. In that regard the PLC is kind of a quirky event. It does not focus on technology like most IT events. Rather, it focuses on how to be a better leader--in projects.

The PLC has been giving out awards to leaders in project management since its inception. The candidates for last year's awards were selected from over 300 nominations.

A peer submitted each nomination. The nomination form asked many questions about the candidates, such as a description of the candidate's organization, background, project(s), and leadership qualities. The Standish Group used these forms to select the winners based on Standish Group CHAOS project data as well as other project research. A three-person panel from The Standish Group chose the winners. The panel consisted of Michael Hicks, research advisor; James Johnson, chairman; and Karen (Boucher) Larkowski, executive vice president.

Here are the profiles of the top five winners, in rank order:

First Winner: John D. Caine

Organization: Chevron Information Technology Co.,

Chevron Corp., San Francisco

Business Problem: Improve service to retail outlets

Project: Chevron's Retailer Alliance

Chevron has approximately 8,000 retail outlets and 500 independent distributors. A service station could have up to 21 points of contact for retail products with several representatives. It took hundreds of person-hours each month to service the retail dealers--between telephone calls, checking status and entering orders. Chevron needed to improve service while cutting cost.

The company built an online system that allows these retail dealers a single contact via a Web portal. Users log on to the system using a standard Internet browser and obtain order information, check order status, and review new products and promotional items. They can also order products and schedule gasoline deliveries right from their PCs.

Chevron Information Technology Co. utilized the Oracle8i database from Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores, Calif., the WebLogic server from BEA Systems Inc., San Jose, Calif., and a Sun Solaris platform.

The project began in 1998, with the first phase finished one year later. The cost of development was $5 million and the total project cost was $24 million.

The main project executive sponsor was Nancy Reyda from the Chevron marketing group. She was both the visionary and the project champion. There were three user groups with a total of 36 people who provided feedback to the developers: the East Coast retail dealers association, the West Coast retail dealers association, and the independent distributors. Chevron Information Technology Co. served as the developer and project manager, with John Caine as the lead project manager.

Things Chevron Did Right:

First, the technology group formed a good working relationship with the business executives, including the executive sponsor. Second, they supplemented their staff with missing skills. Third, they adapted their methodology to a rapid application development methodology. Fourth, they formalized the user involvement with scheduled meetings and prototype reviews. And finally, they time-boxed feature sets.

Things Chevron Did Wrong:

Chevron underestimated the effort it would take to roll out the system through the dealer network. One-third of the dealers were online right away. The next third took a little longer. The last third needed incentives to buy a PC and go online. This rollout took almost two years.

Lessons Learned:

Chevron Technology Group did not include the payment processing division in the project; therefore, the dealer still had multiple points of contact. Also, Chevron overestimated its ROI, but was still happy with the payback.

Second Winner: Nancy Mulholland

Organization: State of New York

Business Problem: Paper overload

Project: New York State's Optics

The New York Workers' Compensation Board was overburdened with paper. They receive approximately 12 million pieces of new mail per year and manage over 350,000 active case folders. It took an army of workers to log, count, stack, copy, move, and file documents. The paper-based nature of this business process necessitated a serial operation, which restricted the accessibility to the documents themselves. These administrative inefficiencies contributed to adjudicatory delays in the system. Employers were also faced with increased costs for providing workers' compensation insurance coverage for their employees.

The solution was to reengineer and streamline the business process. The project was dubbed Organization, Process, and Technological Innovations in Customer Service (Optics). The Optics project was to build an electronic workflow system for workers' compensation claims. The system would hold all document images in electronic file folders and deliver them to the correct desktop for task execution. The system was an end-to-end solution, capturing claims as they entered the agency and filing them for storage when claims were concluded.

Technologies the state used for the Optics project included Lotus Notes from IBM/Lotus; the PowerBuilder RAD tool and SQL database from Sybase, Emeryville, Calif.; document management and workflow software from FileNet Corp., Costa Mesa, Calif.; and an IBM AIX platform.

The project started in June 1997 and was finished by May 1999. The total cost of labor was $35 million. The project's manager was Nancy Mulholland, currently an employee of the New York State Office for Technology.

Most of the money was spent in the implementation phase rather than the development phase. The project had five designers, 15 programmers, and eight full-time user representatives. New York Governor George E. Pataki supported the project and made workers' compensation reform a key element in his first term. The chairman of the board was also an ardent supporter.

What New York State Did Right:

The project had strong executive sponsorship, good user involvement, and a clear scope. The project addressed nearly all 10 criteria for project success as stated in Standish Group's "The CHAOS Ten"--executive support, user involvement, experienced project manager, clear business objectives, minimized scope, standard software infrastructure, firm basic requirements, formal methodology, reliable estimates, and other criteria. The team delivered the project in small increments with lots of user feedback. There was an established formal change management procedure to reduce rework. Since this was an important project to the administration, there was regular review by various control agencies. The final cost came in under the estimate.

What New York State Did Wrong:

There was not much that went wrong with this project, however, the project manager claimed there were too many tasks. At times, communication breakdown caused some delays.

Lessons Learned:

Ensure there is constant communication, have the right skills and training in place, and when possible, have the governor and agency chairman as your executive sponsors.

Note: This is one of the few projects over $10 million that falls in the success column. Standish Group's CHAOS research has shown that successful projects over $10 million equal a statistical zero--or less than one-half percent of all projects.

Third Winner: Mark Palmer

Organization: Concordia University, Austin, Texas

Business Problem: Inadequate legacy system

Project: Mainframe Replacement

Concordia University is a 75-year-old liberal arts college in Austin, Texas, and it is one of 10 colleges and universities of the Goncordia University System, an educational mission of The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod. The IT system consisted of a mainframe-based legacy administrative application, which the university decided to replace. Several factors drove this project. First, the system was not Y2K compliant and could not be used to support online or self-service admissions and registrations. Second, the university was spending $300,000 a year on database management alone. Finally, market pressures required substantially changing the business practices of the institution.

The replacement project included selecting a new application system and undertaking an IT systems modernization system-wide. The university planned and executed a thorough selection process, resulting in the selection of a financial services SQL database solution called Banner 2000 from SCT, Malvern, Pa. The platform selected was Windows NT/Windows 2000 on multiprocessor NT servers.

The project was planned and managed by the project's manager, Mark Palmer, who had the support of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (the church board of directors). The budget for the Active X/COM-based project exceeded several million dollars. There were dozens of programmers, analysts, and functional users as well as outside resources in each of the four service centers. The project involved 100 to 150 people system-wide. The project team mix included 90% in-house and 10% external staff (consultants).

The project started in the spring of 1999 with an initial rollout in July of 2001. It was completed on time and on budget with very limited resources (for example, Palmer also does the network management). While the application was purchased, it required significant SQL programming to offload the mainframe and add the bells and whisdes. The university is using SolarWinds for network management, from SolarWinds.Net Inc., Tulsa.

What Concordia University Did Right:

The project group adopted the SCT model of "train-the-trainer," and pulled a core group together to build solid sponsorship and a strong sense of ownership. Communication took place primarily through e-mail and list servers. The project also had strong user involvement, including over 100 actual users. The project had a strong ranking in Standish Group's factors for project success. While the team did not use a formal project methodology, Palmer's experience guided them through using Microsoft Project 2000. In addition, the team used Microsoft Excel for documenting, communicating, and coordinating application requirements among the team members.

Things Concordia University Did Wrong:

The project had continuing trouble with user access to data for both testing and development and also in migrating data from Chicago to Dallas. In addition, the university had trouble with some of the product's features and functions, but worked successfully with the vendor to find resolutions. The biggest problem, according to Palmer, was having multiple product managers (he was the third).

Lessons Learned:

The importance of constant communications, managing people so they follow through, and getting people involved early are lessons Palmer carried to his next project. However, he adds, "Make sure your infrastructure can handle the traffic and have local data resources [with redundancy]." Palmer says he was most proud of "seeing functional users have a positive experience with the new system," but jokingly claims the real "key to project success is candy," with which he apparently was quite generous.

Fourth Winner: Sohail Siddiqui

Organization: Emigratus Communications Inc., Lombard, Ill.

Business Problem: Labor-intensive conference system

Project: Web Customer-focused Conferencing Center

The conferencing division of a major telecommunications company needed to automate its existing labor-intensive approach to allow for a more customer-friendly environment. The system in place called for each of the company's 200 operators to establish conferencing bridges with a "hands-on" approach, dealing on a one-by-one basis with things like varying tariffs and line types from around the world. The operators determined the best route and figured out a time schedule for the customer. While this approach worked, it resulted in a 24-hour lag time for the customer. The telcom company hired Emigratus Communications, a provider of managed Web-hosting, application development, and project management services, to cut that time and automate the process.

Technologies and tools Emigratus used included: Microsoft Exchange Server from Microsoft Corp., application infrastructure management software from Quest Software, Irvine, Calif., and the JBuilder tool from Borland Software Corp., Scotts Valley, Calif.

The new system cut the 24-hour lag time down to five to 10 minutes, and the 200 operators can now focus on real customer service issues instead of setup requirements. A bonus of the approach allows billing to take advantage of the call detail records, which are fed directly to a data warehouse.

The project started in early 1999 and ended in December of that same year. The project members consisted of three designers, one system analyst, and seven programmers. In addition, the team worked with four users and a board of 12 executive sponsors. Sohail Siddiqui, Emigratus COO, headed up the project.

What Emigratus Communications Did Right:

Siddiqui attributes much of the success of this project to being very focused on working with executive management to establish clearly defined scope, objectives, and goals for the project. The group also was very strong on allocating resources and time. This was helped by clearly communicating everyone's importance to the project and making sure roles were well defined.

What Emigratus Communications Did Wrong:

While communication with executive management was strong, overall the project team felt it should have had better communication with the end users. If the team had better understood the business process, then the project could have been completed ahead of schedule.

Lessons Learned:

Subsequent projects now call for the project manager and a business analyst to sit down and understand the business process flow and for the business analyst to communicate on an ongoing basis with the end users. Project teams also have a better understanding of the problems that uninformed users can experience. They are careful to address this by showing the overall benefits to the company and how those benefits will improve their own individual skill sets and make them more marketable to the organization.

Fifth Winner: Max Thompson

Organization: Daikin America Inc.,

Orangeburg, N.Y.

Business Problem: Y2K compliance and legacy ERP

Project: ERP System

Daikin America Inc. is a Japanese-owned U.S. manufacturer of the finished chemical products required to make CAT5 cable for high-speed communication. To create these products, the company uses both batch and continuous process manufacturing using dangerous chemicals such as sulfuric acid and chloroform. Daikin America was initiated 13 years ago with the intention for it to operate as a U.S. company. The Japanese management planned things out very carefully. The original IT system consisted of a legacy maintenance management system and an ERP solution from J.D. Edwards, Denver, running on an AS400/Novell/3.1 platform.

The company decided to modernize its IT systems and replace the JDE ERP system. Several factors drove this project. The system was not Y2K compliant and the J.D. Edwards ERP application was inappropriate for the combination of batch and continuous process manufacturing in use at the plant.

The project team planned and executed a thorough technology selection process, involving representation from every group in the company, including the home office. A consultant assisted in helping the team build the selection criteria and offered potential vendors.

Selections were made among five third-party software products. The selection of the Oracle-based Adage ERP system from SGT, Malvern, Pa., resulted in a system migration to clustered NT and clustered SQL on multiprocessor Windows NT server racks provided by Data General. The maintenance management system was also replaced.

Max Thompson, director of project management, planned and managed the project, with the support of the U.S. executive team and the CIO from Japan. It was an Active X/COM-based project with a budget that exceeded $3.5 million and engaged 45 people. The project development team mix included 20% in-house and 80% external staff (consultants). The project started in July of 1998 and was completed on schedule at the end of 1999, but finished about $1 million over budget due to scope creep, underestimating the reporting requirements, and related development efforts.

What Daikin America Did Right:

The project included building solid sponsorship, a strong sense of ownership, "step-by-step" methodical planning, extensive communication from the top down, and a thorough selection process. It also had strong user involvement, including about 25 actual users. The project had a strong ranking in Standish Group's factors for project success. While the company did not use a formal project methodology, the team did use Primavera for project management, from Primavera Systems, Bala Cynwyd, Pa., and Microsoft Excel for documenting, communicating, and coordinating application requirements between the local team and the home office.

What Daikin America Did Wrong:

The project simply had "too many chefs in the kitchen." Thompson felt that there were too many consultants involved in the decision-making process, resulting in excessive communication, poor requirements gathering, and too much time to implement.

Lessons Learned:

Successful projects depend on detailed planning, strong communication, and establishing ownership. In the end, Thompson is most proud of the accomplishment of ownership.

Runner-up: Dee Pink

Organization: Modern Solutions, Reno, Nev.

Project: E-Commerce

Like many traditional companies, The Principal Financial Group, headquartered in Des Moines, approached the Internet with small steps. However, once the inherent value of the 'Net was perceived, the company discovered that the "face" that existed for the customer was not appropriate for the business. The company used Modern Solutions, an Internet solutions company in Reno, Nev., to help with their e-business alignment and Web development project. The project called for the redesign of the Principal Financial Group's Web site--tying company Internet strategies into the new design. The goals, established internally, were to enhance branding strategies and usability, and to provide a more consistent customer service look and feel.

Runner-up: Gary Shopritz,

Organization: VIP Foodservice, Maui

Project: eOrders

VIP Foodservice is a major supplier of food and consumables for hotels and restaurants on the island of Maul. VIP Foodservice needed to get its daily orders in faster, cheaper, and more accurately. The company set up a process so that clients could send in their orders electronically, allowing them to fill out their own orders and submit them when they were complete. This cur data entry rime and expense. Since clients filled out their own orders, any mistakes would be the customer's responsibility. The project took two people less than a year to complete. The success of the project is attributed to a small rapid deliverable as well as a close working relationship with the clients.

Runner-up: James P. Clancy

Organization: Xerox Corp., Stamford, Conn.

Project: Territory Configurator

Stamford, Conn.-based Xerox Corp's Territory Configurator was designed to assign salespeople to every business across the United States. The system replaced the then-current Sun workstation system with a client/server system. The project reduced annual operating expenses by 90%. The success of the project is attributed to user involvement.

Runner-up: Wayne Caya

Organization: Wachovia Operational Services, Wachovia Corp., Winston-Salem, N.C.

Project: Wachovia Connection Plus

For Wachovia Corp., Winston-Salem, N.C., the goal of the Connection-Plus project was to allow Internet access to its global cash management product. This was a very large project and, until Wayne Caya took it over, was nor going well. In 12 months Caya implemented a new process, which cut overruns and reduced errors. He used rapid small incremental deliverables with high-quality metrics to improve the process. Each project was done in 90-day cycles. Since there are three groups, Wachovia released a project every month.

Runner-up: WT Browne

Organization: Minnesota Dept. of Human Services

Project: Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System

When faced with the need to support a federal initiative to provide better access to information across the state, Minnesota had a problem. The state had no standardized way of accessing or storing information among the 84 counties, and the computer systems in place were not user friendly. The task was to create a standard way of storing and collecting data. The project set up a central database where information from each county would be stored at the end of day in order to create one point of contact to run statewide reports.

Jim Johnson (jim@standishgroup.com) is chairman of The Standish Group, West Yarmouth, Mass., which focuses on mission-critical application project management and infrastructure. Karen (Boucher) Larkowski (karen@standishgroup.com) is executive vice president there, and Michael Hicks (michael@standishgroup.com) is a research adviser.

For more information on this topic in the future, register at the following URL: www.softwaremag.com/moreinfo.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Wiesner Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group