This is a presentation material which was presented at the AIPM National Conference in 2003, Alice Springs, Australia by Dr. Mehmet Yildiz.

1. WELCOME
Evaluating the role of eminent IT
professionals in enterprise wide IT projects
Dr. Mehmet Yildiz
IBM Certified Consulting IT Architect
IBM Global Services
Melbourne-Australia
2003
http://www.google.com/profiles/myildizmel
AIPM-2003, Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, IBM 1

2. INTRODUCTION
SCOPE AND STRUCTURE OF PRESENTATION
Based on ethnographic case studies in enterprise
wide corporate IT environments
INTRODUCTION
SECTION 1 : An overview of IT projects
SECTION 2: The role of ITPs in IT projects
SECTION 3: Lessons learnt & recommendations
CONCLUSION
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3. SECTION 1 : Overview of IT Projects
Section 1 -
Overview of IT Projects
• Key characteristics and challenges of
IT projects
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4. SECTION 1 : Overview of IT Projects
KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF IT PROJECTS
• Developmental and operational
• Produce systems, applications or processes
• Legacy transformation
• Short timeframes
• Ambitious expectations / requirements
• Service Level Agreement
• Non-IT business’ vs core IT business
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5. SECTION 1 : Overview of IT Projects
CHALLENGES OF IT PROJECTS
Complex and dynamic:
• Variations: hardware, software, data
management, networks and applications
•Geographical constraints / Globalisation
•Mergers, joint ventures, saving measures
Customer Expectations:
•Scalability demands
•High/continuous service availability with
optimum performance
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6. SECTION 2 : Role of IT Professionals in IT Projects
Section 2 -
Role of IT Professionals
• Overview of the roles played by ITPs
• Mapping roles to PMI competencies
• Considerations for each role
ITP = ITC + ITA+ ITS+ [ITPM]
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7. SECTION 2 : Role of IT Professionals in IT projects
OVERVIEW OF ROLES
Numerous titles / job specifications and confusing
to choose the appropriate resource but…
• Project Managers are ‘drivers’
• IT Consultants are ‘advisers’
• IT Architects are ‘designers’
• IT Specialists are ‘builders’ or
‘implementers’
PMs require a framework for roles and
responsibilities
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8. SECTION 2 : Role of IT Professionals in IT projects
IT CONSULTANTS (ITC)
• $$$
• ‘Conceptual’ or ‘high level’ skills rather than hands-on
technical
• Work in an unstructured environment creating and
reusing intellectual capital to solve diverse technology
related issues
• Act as effective change agents, advisors, facilitators,
leaders for their clients
• Involved in the initial engagement of the project and
assist the PMs with the establishment of the PMO
• They are not IT specialists!
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9. SECTION 2 : Role of IT Professionals in IT projects
IT ARCHITECTS (ITA)
• Educated for breadth rather than depth
• Identify properties of IT components – and their
relationships, interactions and placements
• Identify whether components should be purchased,
developed or re-used
• Typically begin life as specialists
• More technical focus than Consultants
• Formulate business requirements
• Consultancy and leadership in specialised disciplines
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10. SECTION 2 : Role of IT Professionals in IT projects
IT SPECIALISTS (ITS)
• Are the building blocks of the solutions as SME’s
• Develop and present creative solutions to clients
• Provide technical advice and guidance to project team
members, customers and sales teams
• Are dependent on the IT architects' input
• Have indepth product knowledge
• Employ formal methodologies and tools
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11. SECTION 2 : Role of IT Professionals in IT projects
MAPPING ITP ROLES TO PMI COMPETENCIES
M AP P IN G P M C O M PE TE N C IE S TO IT P R O FE S SIO N ALS S K ILLS
PM C om petencies C ontributions b y IT Professionals w ith m ajor skill areas
Integration O verall P roduct S kills, O rganisational P rocedures, Configuration
M anagem ent, Perform ance M easurem ents
Scope Estim ating, C oding structures, M athem atical analysis, S im ulations,
Variance analysis, E xpert judgem ent, C ontingency,
Q uality Benchm arking, Auditing, Q A Analysis and D esigns
R isk Sensitivity analysis, S im ulations, S ystem and product specific risk
m itigation techniques, Technical perform ance m easurem ents, R isk
response planning
Procurem ent M ake-or-buy analysis, E xpert judgm ents, C ontract type selection
assistance, screening, perform ance reporting, procurem ent auditing
Tim e Expert judgem ent, T im e estim ating, S im ulations, M athem atical
analysis, P erform ance m easurem ents, Variance A nalysis
HR Stakeholder analysis, R esource S election, Training, T eam building
C ost Alternatives Identification, Expert judgem ent, C ost M odelling,
Estim ating, Perform ance m easurem ents
C om m unication Presentations, Perform ance reporting, Stakeholder analysis,
Inform ation retrieval, P erform ance reviews, Trends and variance
analysis
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12. SECTION 2 : Role of IT Professionals in IT projects
MAPPING ROLES TO PMI COMPETENCIES
During scope management, ITPs assist PMs with estimating,
coding structures, mathematical analysis, simulations, variance
analysis, expert judgement and contingency planning:
• Simulations skills -----> Architects
• Estimating and variance analysis skills ---> Consultants
• Product & configuration management skills---> Specialists
"Contingency planning " may require all 3 types of ITPs working
in different capacities:
• Consultants from a commercial angle
• Specialists from technical requirements or components
• Architects from an integration perspective
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13. SECTION 2 : Role of IT Professionals in IT projects
ROLES FROM IT KNOWLEDGE SCOPE PERSPECTIVE
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14. SECTION 2 : Role of IT Professionals in IT projects
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS FOR ROLES
• Defining roles distinctively sets the success factors for IT
projects
• PMs need to understand the characteristics of the roles
• PMs need to know what questions to ask of the
consultants, architects or specialists
• An individual could conceivably play more than one role
• Use consultants for the knowledge of business models,
outsourcing environments and commercial implications
• Use architects for functional and non-functional
requirements
• Use specialists for designing a specific solution
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15. SECTION 2 : Role of IT Professionals in IT projects
EDUCATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR ROLES
• Well-educated & certified professionals provide the project
with skill sets that have been verified by technology
vendors
• Positive impact on the success of the project
• Curriculum related to PM education includes IT as a
distinctive discipline
• Specialised IT Project Management courses
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16. SECTION 2 : Role of IT Professionals in IT projects
CERTIFICATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR
ROLES
•ANTA competency based learning curriculum
•Singapore Computer Society’s Certified IT PM
•CompTIA’s IT Project+
•IT organisations / vendors’ internal PM certifications
Highly recommended that the characteristics of these IT
Professional roles are introduced in detail during
education/certification.
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17. SECTION 3 : Lessons Learnt & Recommendations
Section 3 -
Lessons Learnt &
Recommendations
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18. SECTION 3 : Lessons Learnt & Recommendations
KEY PRINCIPLES & RECOMMENDATIONS
BASED ON LESSONS LEARNT
• PMs need to know the roles, the environment, nature
of IT projects and characteristics of IT Professionals
• PM curriculum and certifications need to cover roles
• The concept of depth and breadth in skills must be
carefully considered
• ITPs do not just deal with technical matters but issues
related to processes & critical business requirements
• ITPs must be familiar with and capable of using &
tailoring the PM methodology
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19. SECTION 3 : Lessons Learnt & Recommendations
IMPACTS OF PRINCIPLES &
RECOMMENDATIONS
Failure to select appropriate IT Professionals to
match roles and responsibilities can result in
disastrous consequences including:
•project overrun;
•high maintenance costs; or even…
•a failed project.
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20. CONCLUSIONS
• The people aspect of Project Management
• Input of IT Professionals in IT Project Management
• Communication of IT Professionals and the PMs
• Disciplines or expertise of IT Professionals
• Role of education & certification
PMs should establish mentors in each distinctive
category of IT Professionals
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