By Carl Breunlin Director Project Office Software Architects, Inc.

1. The 4 Secrets of Project Success By Carl BreunlinDirector Project OfficeSoftware Architects, Inc. 602.776.9555 Chicago l Cincinnati l Columbus l Dallas l Denver l Fort Lauderdale l Houston l Indianapolis l Phoenix l Tallahassee l Tampa l www.sark.com

2. Premise:What you do before a project starts significantly influences the success or failure of your effort.

3. With that said, there are 4 secrets to project success AndThey are easy to implement • Focus on Feasible • Get the Numbers Right • Never Second Guess the Estimate • Don’t Loose Control

4. Focus On Feasibility FACT: You can’t determine feasibility until you know the details of a project. Based on the details you can determine: Technical feasibility Financial feasibility Schedule feasibility Organizational feasibility

5. The Easiest Way to Get the Details is to Write a System Description System Description - Table of Contents 1.0 System overview 2.0 Current system definition 3.0 New system definition 4.0 Impacts of the new system (organizationally, financially, etc.) 5.0 Advantages and disadvantages of new system 6.0 Notes SARK recommends writing a System Description as a first step in project planning.

6. Technical Feasibility Is the network OK? Do we have enough processing power? Are we pushing the state of the art? Will performance be an issue? Are there technical limitations? Has this been done before? System Description Table of Contents 1.0 System overview 2.0 Current system definition 3.0 New system definition 4.0 Impacts of the new system (organizationally, financially, etc.) 5.0 Advantages and disadvantages of new system 6.0 Notes

7. Financial Feasibility Is the total budget adequate? Is the budget per period adequate? What is the ROI? When is Break Even? Are there hidden costs? What are the intangible benefits What is the TCO? System Description Table of Contents 1.0 System overview 2.0 Current system definition 3.0 New system definition 4.0 Impacts of the new system (organizationally, financially, etc.) 5.0 Advantages and disadvantages of new system 6.0 Notes

8. Schedule Feasibility What is the drop dead date? Can the project be completed by then? When do major milestones need to be completed? Can they be completed on time? What happens if the project is late? System Description Table of Contents 1.0 System overview 2.0 Current system definition 3.0 New system definition 4.0 Impacts of the new system (organizationally, financially, etc.) 5.0 Advantages and disadvantages of new system 6.0 Notes

9. Organizational Feasibility Does the IT team have the experience for a project of this size? Do we have a world-class Project Manager? Do we have experience with this technology? How will the new system impact the organization? What impacts are there to vendors/partners, etc.? How much training is required? System Description Table of Contents 1.0 System overview 2.0 Current system definition 3.0 New system definition 4.0 Impacts of the new system (organizationally, financially, etc.) 5.0 Advantages and disadvantages of new system 6.0 Notes

10. System Description Table of Contents 1.0 System overview 2.0 Current system definition 3.0 New system definition 4.0 Impacts of the new system (organizationally, financially, etc.) 5.0 Advantages and disadvantages of new system 6.0 Notes Once feasibility analysis is complete, it is easy to put together a plan for any item not feasible or marginally feasible Feasibility Analysis Technical Financial Schedule Organizational “To be successful we need to hire a world class project manager by June who has these skills…..” Feasibility is the cornerstone of early project planning.

11. If Feasible, the Next Step is to Get the Numbers Right If the estimate is wrong, 9 times out of 10 the project is doomed. SARK has developed a world class approach to estimating that is: Totally transparent Extremely accurate Ties the estimate directly to what users want Is the basis for cost and schedule control

12. Before we discuss estimating, a few thoughts: You have to spend time up front getting requirements Only after you have requirements can you create an accurate estimate The better the requirements, the better the estimate Analysis is becoming a larger percent of total development time!

13. Suppose You Collected These Requirements and Grouped Them As Follows Requirement Design Element Shall be able to view general ledger entries in multiple currencies Shall allow viewing of general ledger entries by invoice Shall be able to select consumer accounts Shall be able to select business accounts Shall be able to create source codes Shall be able to modify source codes Shall be able to perform product catalog entry Shall be able to perform product catalog changes Accounting Order Entry Marketing Fulfillment

14. It Would Then Be Straightforward to Create an Accurate Estimate As Follow: The project estimate is based on determining how long it will take to implement each requirements based on a given life cycle. For example: Total effort to implement this requirement: 170 Hrs.

15. Your life cycle This is How SARK Creates Accurate Estimates What needs to be built How much effort is required

16. Now that we know about feasibility and estimating, there’s one more project sinking torpedo to address namely second guessing the estimate.

17. Imaging the Following Conversation Estimator/PM/Director Etc. – It’ll take $3M and 18 months to do this project. Boss/C-Level Somebody – Nope, Nope, Nope… not acceptable. Gotta have it done by year end, and by the way the budget is $1.5M. Period… Estimator/PM/Director Etc. – (after a long pause) Ok. Later alone in the office to himself/herself Estimator/PM/Director Etc. – Never going to happen!!!!! Period…. Later either alone or to some higher level boss Boss/C-Level Somebody – Boy did I do a good job managing those out of control development costs!!!! How often does this happen in your organization?

18. This is called “Second Guessing the Estimate” The idea is to somehow fit more requirements into the development effort than the budget supports. IT NEVER WORKS!

19. Instead of Second Guessing - Use SARK’s Approach to Reconcile Wants with Budget • First, double check the estimate for accuracy – be careful • Next, analyze expensive features – are they worth it? • Then prioritize expensive features – or get rid of them • If necessary schedule multiple releases – plan a multi-period roll-out to match budget with needs You can do the same if you use our estimating approach!

20. With this approach, your project is much, much more likely to succeed. But…compromises must be made. But…that’s better than having the project overrun. THE BOTTOM LINE: If the estimate is accurate… and it should be, don’t demand more for less.

21. Now We Can Turn Our Attention to the Last Secret:Don’t Loose Control • Control Cost & Schedule • Control Changes • Control Quality

22. Controlling Cost and Schedule

23. Controlling Changes A rigorous change control process assures that all changes are documented and that the impact of approved changes are reflected in the cost and schedule baseline.

24. Controlling Quality Building quality into your project from day one will significantly contribute to overall project success.

25. Summary The premise of our discussion today is that what you do before a project starts significantly influences the success or failure of your effort. We have discussed 4 easy to implement strategies to help guarantee that your project completes successfully.

26. Questions? Thank you for your time. Need More Info? Contact: Carl Breunlin cbreunlin@sark.com 602.776.9555 Software Architects Inc. is a full service software consulting firm specializing in custom application development and application integration. Please visit our web site at: www.sark.com