Implications for Project Management in an uncertain Island Economy will consider how project management disciplines operate in an Isle of Man environment and how these translate from global governance models. Chris will also consider how the outlook for the Island’s IT industry and project management is affected by the current economic situation and outlook. Chris Davies is the Chief Operating Officer of Intelligence Ltd one of the Isle of Man’s largest consultancy companies. Chris has over 25 years experience of the IT industry in a variety of roles including hardware and software development, sales, marketing and project and corporate management. He has worked for both public and private companies and has a wealth of experience of projects of all sizes. Chris is currently working with the Isle of Man Government and other clients providing strategy, programme and project management consultancy.

1. Implications for Project Management in an
uncertain Island Economy
Presentation to British Computer Society (Isle of Man Section)
21st May 2009
Chris Davies
Chief Operating Officer, Intelligence Ltd.
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2. Intelligence Ltd
• Trading for 7 years on the Isle of Man
• Specialise in
– Strategic Corporate Business Consultancy
– Programme and Project Management
– Technical innovation to directly support common SME business
processes though direct enablement and content management
– Customer focussed IT Support
• Main Customer Sectors
– Government
– eGaming
– Communications
– Financial
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3. Definition of a Project
• Projects are different from ‘business as usual’ activities
because they have a number of distinguishing features:
– they bring about change
– projects may offer investment opportunities
– they have unknown elements, therefore:
– they create risk
• ‘Business as usual’ activities are recognisable
because:
– there are known policies, processes, procedures or
precedents which may be followed
– there is virtually no risk (as opposed to the problems which
often occur in meeting deadlines etc)
– the activities are not new, but repeated (albeit not
necessarily very frequently), therefore:
– they do not offer change
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4. What is Project Management?
• Business analysis • Procurement
• Planning • Communications
• Contractual negotiation • Risk management
• Team recruitment & building • Quality Management
• Organisation & delegation • Change management
• Monitoring & reporting • Relationship management
• Financial budgeting and control
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5. Project Manager Qualities
• Optimist If you can keep your head when all
• Has attention for detail about you are losing theirs…
• Innovator, problem solver You probably don’t understand the
problem!
• Risk manager
• Diplomat With apologies to Rudyard Kipling
• Motivator
• Counsellor
• Politician
• Cynic
• Human resource manager
• Trained, qualified, experienced
• Needs good sense of humour
• Thick-skinned
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6. Project Success Criteria
• Delivered within planned and permitted timescales
• Delivered within the approved budget
• Met customer and user expectations
• Achieved acceptance by users
• Delivered the expected business benefit
Project outcome summary from the Standish CHAOS reports
1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2009
Succeeded 16% 27% 26% 28% 34% 29% 32%
Failed 31% 40% 28% 23% 15% 18% 24%
Challenged 53% 33% 46% 49% 51% 53% 44%
If projects do not succeed who is ultimately responsible?
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7. Project Failures
Top ten reasons for project failure as identified by Tasmanian Government
during 2008
1. Inadequately trained and/or inexperienced project managers
2. Failure to set and manage expectations
3. Poor leadership at any and all levels
4. Failure to adequately identify, document and track requirements
5. Poor plans and planning processes
6. Poor effort estimation
7. Cultural and ethical misalignment
8. Misalignment between the project team and the business or other
organisation it serves
9. Inadequate or misused methods
10. Inadequate communication, including progress tracking and reporting
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8. The Isle of Man
• Positive
– Language and Culture
– Size & Population
– Infrastructure
– Government assistance
• Grants
• Consultancy
• Marketing
• Negative
– Transport
– Skilled labour pool
• Work permits
– Communications
• Customers
• Suppliers
• Team members
– Access to products and services
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9. Economic Challenges
• Lack of credit available to customers, suppliers and implementers
• Project types changes; more integration than implementation
• Measurable business benefits more internally focussed
• Volume of work reduces
• Customers want things faster and cheaper
• Scrutiny increases
• Increasingly competitive environment
• Isle of Man economic outlook
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10. What uncertainty?
• Despite a challenging economy, seven
out of 10 chief information officers (CIOs)
in the US say their companies will invest
in information technology initiatives in the
next 12 months. Information security
topped the list with 43 percent of the
response, followed by virtualization (28
percent) and data centre efficiency (27
percent)
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11. Conclusion
• The world has changed not ended
– Be aware of the risks and manage them
• Lets use the opportunity provided
– Review skills and capabilities
– Use resources provided by Government and others
– Maximise use of channels and technology – we are asking our customers to do
this!
• The Isle of Man can be a springboard and not a hindrance
• Project Management
– The times create a need for strong PM not diminish it
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12. And finally…
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