A Critical review of
project management success factors
in large SA ICT companies
E.J. Volschenk
Research report
presented in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Business Administration
at the University of Stellenbosch
Supervisor: Martin Butler
Degree of Confidentiality: A
March 2010
ii
DECLARATION
Hereby I, Ernest Johannes Volschenk, declare that this research report is my own original
work and that all sources have been accurately reported and acknowledged, and that this
document has not previously in its entirety or in part been submitted at any university in
order to obtain an academic qualification.
E.J. Volschenk
1 February 2010
Copyright ©2010 Stellenbosch University
All rights reserved
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to the following persons:

First and foremost to my Heavenly Father, who calls those things which are not as
though they were.

My wife, Estea, for always supporting and believing in me.

My supervisor, Martin Butler, for the patience, time and encouragement.
iv
ABSTRACT
Despite the growth and adoption of project management expertise and techniques, the
increase in organisational project-maturity and the emergence of the Web, project success
remains a challenge. A key factor leading to the continued failure in IT projects is the lack
of identification and appreciation for the key factors that influence the success of project
management success.
Therefore the researcher embarked on this study to determine the top five critical success
factors of project management in the South African ICT environment. The researcher also
determined during which phases of the project life cycle these critical success factors
occur.
In order to determine these objectives, qualitative research was conducted that included a
study of literature, available material, views from experts as well as a content analysis from
sample interviews.
South African ICT companies do not directly focus on any critical success factors, but
indirectly they do focus on certain areas that will increase the probability of project
management success. The research identified the top five critical success factors as a
comprehensive project management plan, well defined scope, skilled and experienced
project managers, user / customer involvement and top management support. The
research also identified that the focusing on the project planning and project execution and
monitoring phases of the project life cycle are the most crucial for project management
success. In addition the research identified that project managers who have a strong
technical background understand the complexities of the product better and do tend to
manage the deferent component of the projects more effectively.
v
OPSOMMING
Ten spyte van die groei en toename in projekbestuurkundigheid en -tegnieke, die toename
in organisatoriese projek volwassenheid en die uitbreiding van die Web, bly projeksukses
‘n uitdaging.
Om die rede het de navorser die studie onderneem om die vyf top kritiese suksesfaktore
van projekbestuur in die Suid-Afrikaanse ICT omgewing te bepaal.
Om hierdie doelwit te bepaal is kwalitatiewe navorsing onderneem wat ‘n literatuurstudie,
beskikbare materiaal, opinies van kundiges sowel as inhoudsanalise van onderhoude
gevoer insluit.
Suid-Afrikaanse ICT maatskappye fokus nie direk op enige kritiese suksesfaktore nie,
maar indirek fokus hulle wel op sekere areas wat die waarskynlikheid van projekbestuur
sukses sal laat toeneem. Die navorsing identifiseer die vyf kritiese suksesfaktore as ‘n
samevattende projekbestuursplan, goed gedefinieerde omvang, kundige en ervare
projekbestuurders, gebruiker/kliënt betrokkenheid en topbestuur ondersteuning.
Die navorsing het ook identifiseer dat die fokus op projekbestuursbeplanning, en
projekuitvoering en monitering fases van die projeklewensiklus die mees kritiese is vir
projeksukses. Die navorsing het ook identifiseer dat projekbestuurders wat ‘n sterk
tegniese agtergrond het die ingewikkeldheid van die eindproduk beter verstaan asook die
verskillende komponente van die projek meer effektief bestuur.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
DECLARATION .............................................................................................................. ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. iii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... iv
OPSOMMING ................................................................................................................. v
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ ixx
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... x
LIST OF APPENDICES .................................................................................................. xi
CHAPTER 1 ORIENTATION .......................................................................................... 1
1.1
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ............................................................ 1
1.2
DEFINITION OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM ................................................. 3
1.2.1
Research question ............................................................................................ 3
1.2.2
Delimitation of the study area ............................................................................ 3
1.3
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE.................................................................................. 4
1.4
DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS ..................................................... 4
1.4.1
Project management ......................................................................................... 4
1.4.2
Critical success factors ...................................................................................... 5
1.4.3
ICT..................................................................................................................... 5
1.4.4
ICT projects ....................................................................................................... 6
1.4.5
Project management success and project success ........................................... 6
1.4.6
Success criteria for project success .................................................................. 7
1.4.7
Project management methodology .................................................................... 9
1.4.8
Project stakeholders .......................................................................................... 9
1.5
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ................................................ 10
1.6
ASSUMPTIONS .............................................................................................. 13
CHAPTER 2 SURVEY OF RELATED LITERATURE .................................................. 14
2.1.
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 14
2.2.
LITERATURE LISTED CSF ............................................................................ 14
2.2.1
Top management support ............................................................................... 18
2.2.2
Skilled and experienced project manager........................................................ 19
2.2.3
User/customer involvement ............................................................................. 20
vii
2.2.4
Clear goals and achievable deliverables ......................................................... 21
2.2.5
Comprehensive project management plan ...................................................... 22
2.2.6
Break project down in smaller milestones ....................................................... 23
2.2.7
Good architecture ............................................................................................ 24
2.2.8
Make sure the resources are available to the project ...................................... 24
2.2.9
Well defined scope .......................................................................................... 25
2.2.10 Competent team .............................................................................................. 26
2.2.11 Project control ................................................................................................. 27
2.2.12 Communicate early and often.......................................................................... 33
2.3
CSF GROUPED IN PROJECT LIFE CYCLE PHASES ................................... 34
2.3.1
Project initiation ............................................................................................... 34
2.3.2
Project planning ............................................................................................... 34
2.3.3
Project execution and monitoring .................................................................... 35
2.3.4
Project closure ................................................................................................. 35
2.4
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 36
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ........................................ 37
3.1
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 37
3.2
RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................... 37
3.3
GATHERING OF DATA................................................................................... 37
3.4
SAMPLING ...................................................................................................... 38
3.5
INTERVIEWS WITH PROJECT MANAGERS ................................................. 38
3.5.1
Interview 1: Marius Beylefeld, Head Project Manager of Dimension Data....... 38
3.5.2
Interview 2: Kevin Treweek, Project Manager of Dimension Data ................... 38
3.5.3
Interview 3: Johan Stolz, Head of Project Manager Office of GijimaAst .......... 39
3.5.4
Interview 4: Vanessa Du Toit, Project Manager of GijimaAst .......................... 39
3.5.5
Interview 5: Christo Welgemoed, Project Manager of Business Connexion .... 39
3.5.6
Interview 6: William Pretorius, Project Manager of Business Connexion......... 39
3.5.7
Interview process ............................................................................................ 39
3.5.8
Discussion guide ............................................................................................. 40
3.6
DATA ANALYSIS ............................................................................................ 42
3.7
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 44
CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH RESULTS ........................................................................... 45
4.1
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 45
viii
4.2
CONTENT ANALYSIS FROM INTERVIEWS .................................................. 45
4.2.1
Interview 1: Marius Beylefeld, Head Project Manager of Dimension Data....... 45
4.2.2
Interview 2: Kevin Treweek, Project Manager of Dimension Data ................... 49
4.2.3
Interview 3: Johan Stolz, Head of Project Manager Office of GijimaAst .......... 52
4.2.4
Interview 4: Vanessa Du Toit, Project Manager of GijimaAst .......................... 54
4.2.5
Interview 5: Christo Welgemoed, Head of Project Management
Office of Business Connexion ......................................................................... 57
4.2.6
Interview 6: William Pretorius, Project Manager of Business Connexion......... 60
4.3
RESEARCH RESULTS ................................................................................... 63
4.3.1
CSFs identified in the sample interviews ......................................................... 63
4.3.2
CSFs not identified in the sample interviews ................................................... 71
4.3.3
Calculation of the top five CSFs ...................................................................... 72
4.4
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 73
CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION ..................... 74
5.1
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 74
5.2
CONCLUSIONS FROM INTERVIEWS AND THE LITERATURE STUDY ...... 74
5.2.1
The CSFs of project management in SA ICT companies ................................ 74
5.2.2
Grouping of CSFs in project life phases .......................................................... 79
5.3
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH .................................... 79
5.4
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 80
LIST OF SOURCES ..................................................................................................... 81
APPENDICES .............................................................................................................. 88
ix
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 1.1:
List of companies profiles on JSE Technology sector................................. 12
Table 2.1:
Project success factors identified from literature reviewed ......................... 17
Table 2.2:
CSF grouped in project methodology phases ............................................. 35
Table 4.1:
Top five CSFs from interview with Beylefeld ............................................... 47
Table 4.2:
Top five CSFs from interview with Treweek ................................................ 50
Table 4.3:
Top five CSFs from interview with Stolz ..................................................... 53
Table 4.4:
Top five CSFs from interview with Du Toit .................................................. 55
Table 4.5:
Top five CSFs from interview with Welgemoed .......................................... 58
Table 4.6:
Top five CSFs from interview with Pretorius ............................................... 61
Table 4.7:
Interview summary...................................................................................... 72
Table 4.8:
Research result calculation ......................................................................... 73
Table 5.1:
CSF grouped in project life cycle ................................................................ 79
x
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 1.1:
Standish Group’s 1994 – 2009 "Chaos Report" ............................................ 2
Figure 1.2:
Success Criteria for IT Projects .................................................................... 9
Figure 3.1:
Coding from text ......................................................................................... 43
Figure 3.2:
Coding from text ......................................................................................... 43
xi
LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
Appendix A: Discussion Guide ......................................................................................... 89
Appendix B: Interview 1: Marius Beylefeld, Head Project Management Office of
Dimension Data .......................................................................................... 92
Appendix C: Interview 2: Kevin Treweek, Project Manager of Dimension Data ............... 98
Appendix D: Interview 3: Johan Stoltz, Head Project Management Office
of GijimaAst .............................................................................................. 104
Appendix E: Interview 4: Vanessa Du Toit, Project Manager
of GijimaAst .............................................................................................. 110
Appendix F: Interview 5: Christo Welgemoed, Head of Project Management
Office of Business Connexion ................................................................... 115
Appendix G: Interview 6: William Pretorius, Project Manager of
Business Connexion ................................................................................. 120
xii
LIST OF ACRONYMS
ICT
:
Information and Communication Technology
IT
:
Information technology
CSF
:
Critical Success Factors
PMBOK
:
Project Management Body of Knowledge
UC
:
Unified Communication
1
CHAPTER 1
ORIENTATION
1.1
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
In today’s knowledge economy the success rate of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) related projects is surprisingly low. According to Middleton (2006), only
36% of ICT projects could be considered successful. Of 36 projects examined, 36% were
considered successful, and 34% were unknown (an even split between too early and
unable to tell). The remaining 31% were considered unsuccessful.
In a study done by the Standish Group, from 1994 to 2009, it is evident that the success
rate of IT projects has been steadily improving (Figure 1.1). The Standish Group’s original
1994 Chaos Report found that of the 365 IT managers surveyed, 31% of information
technology (IT) projects were impaired (cancelled before completion or not used), 53%
were challenged (late, over budget or failed to deliver the expected benefits) and only 16%
of IT projects succeeded (came in on time, on budget, and had what it ought to have). By
1998 the successful project rate improved to 26%, the failed and challenged rate decrease
to 28% and 46% respectively. The 2006 Chaos Report showed an even further
improvement of 36%. Only 19% of projects failed and 46% were challenged (Standish
Group: 2006). A challenged or even a failed project is not necessarily a total loss.
Challenged projects can still be judged a success by companies at the end of the day if the
results are worth the extra expense or time (Johnson, 2006).
Johnson (2006) cited the following three reasons for the improvement:
1. Better project management
2. Iterative development
3. The emerging Web infrastructure
Johnson (2006) stated that, “There is better project management expertise and technique,”
and that “Managers have a better understanding of the dynamics of a project.” Iterative
development, Johnson reported, makes it easier for people to get what they want. “Part of
the education process [for iterative development] is that people are better able to articulate
what they want out of a project.” Finally, Johnson added that the emergence of the Web
2
“plays a fairly significant role. The idea that you can get things out quickly and people can
learn it, touch it and give feedback creates a more dynamic experience.”
The results of the 2009 Standish Group report revealed a marked decrease to 32% in
project success rate and challenged and failed rate to 44% and 24% respectively. Crear
(2009) reported, "These numbers represent a downtick in the success rates from the
previous study, as well as a significant increase in the number of failures" and Crear also
added, "They are the lowest point in the last five study periods. This year's results
represent the highest failure rate in over a decade". Although the success rate decreased
in 2009, the trend over the past 25 years (Figure 1.1) still shows an improvement in the
project success.
Figure 1.1: Standish Group’s 1994 – 2009 "Chaos Report"
Source: www.standishgroup.com
In another survey done by Accenture in 2006, only 29% of IT Projects are considered
successful. The average cost overrun is 56% and the typical delay is 84%. According to
Avellanet (2006), after decades spent learning and implementing project management
methodologies, measurements and control, the success rate of IT projects is no better
than when a single computer took up an entire room.
3
Almost every individual project stakeholder (internal and external) will have a different view
of what project management success is.
For the project sponsor, successful project
management is when the project does not go over budget (resulting in more money on the
bottom line). For the operational manager it is important that the project stays within the
planned timeframe (will free up resources more quickly) while the client would want the
project to stay within the approved scope (all features and functionality).
According to Brandon (2006: 17), a key factor leading to the continued failure in IT projects
is the lack of identification and appreciation for all the major components of project
management success.
This research report will provide a critical evaluation of the
different factors that will lead to successful ICT project management. A comprehensive
model of critical success factors for ICT project management permits the development of
better management plans, processes, and metrics, particularly for risk, quality, and
performance control (Brandon, 2006: 17).
1.2
DEFINITION OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
1.2.1
Research question
In the project management context there are key factors that influence the success of
project management. These key factors will be identified and discussed on a review of the
literature. By means of personal interviews these critical success factors (CSFs) will be
tested against the South African ICT environment.
From the above discussion the research question for this research report is as follows:
What are the Project Management Critical Success Factors of large SA ICT
companies?
1.2.2
Delimitation of the study area
In order to do a proper study of the CSF in large SA ICT companies, the research
population must consist of companies with common attributes. This is a big challenge in
the IT context, particularly because the definition of ICT companies is so broad. A detailed
survey was done on all the listed IT related companies on Johannesburg Security
Exchange (Table 1.1). The criteria that were used were the following:

Geographical footprint

Business model

Provision of complete ICT services
4

National and international representation

Similar national company size and structure

Dedicated project office
Three companies that were found to have all these attributes in common, were:

GijimaAst

Dimension Data

Business Connexions
This study will therefore be done only on these three companies.
The project management success factors listed in this report are not a comprehensive list
of all the success factors of ICT projects management. The factors used for this study
were found by the author in literature and through his own experience to be of the utmost
importance for successful project management.
1.3
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to determine the top five project management CSFs in the
South African Information and Communications Technology environment. This could help
to limit the risk of not finishing within the time frame, and to ensure desired quality with
optimal use of resources within the allocated budget of the project.
The secondary objective of this study is to determine during which phases of the project
life cycle these CSFs occur.
1.4
DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS AND TERMS
1.4.1
Project management
Project management (PM) is the discipline that deals with the management of projects. In
the Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®, 2004), PM is defined as
the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet
project requirements. The PMBOK® GUIDE goes on to specify that managing a project
includes:
1. Identifying requirements
2. Establishing clear and achievable objectives
5
3. Balancing the competing demands for quality, scope, time and cost
4. Adapting the specifications, plans, and approach to the different concerns and
expectations of the various stakeholders
1.4.2
Critical success factors
Critical success factors are those things that must be done or handled properly for a
project to be successful. Rockart (1979) stated that “CSFs are the critical management
activities, quite distinct from a set of detailed requirements or specifications that define an
acceptable deliverable for a project. CSF is defined by Bullen and Rockhart (1981) as ‘‘the
limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive
performance for the individual, department, or organisation. CSF’s are the few key areas
where things must go right for the business to flourish and for the managers’ goal to be
attained”. CSFs are activities that must be successful and are necessary to achieve an
organisation's broad goals, but CSFs are not necessarily sufficient to ensure success of
any single project effort associated with these broad goals.”
The benefit of identifying and handling the CSFs properly could have the following results:
 Ensure that the project is well-focussed.
 Avoid wasting effort and resources.
 Keep the project on track towards common aims and goals.
 Help to finish the project in budget, on time and within scope.
CSFs are activities critical to overall success, but are by no means an exhaustive list. They
are merely the things that must be stressed for the project to have a high probability of
being successful.
1.4.3
ICT
The term information technology has evolved to encompass many aspects of computing
and technology. IT as defined by the Information Technology Association of America
(ITAA) is "the study, design, development, implementation, support and management of
computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer
hardware”. The information technology umbrella is very large, covering many fields. The
term IT has recently been broadened to ICT to explicitly include the field of electronic
communication. Electronic communication includes any communication that makes use of
electronics to transfer the communication. The term ICT includes unified communication
6
(UC). UC refers to a trend in business to simplify and integrate all forms of communication;
phone, e-mail, chat, voicemail, presence services and fax.
1.4.4
ICT projects
An ICT project is any project that falls under the broad umbrella of information technology
and communication. It is characterised as mostly short-term efforts to create a unique
product, service or environment, ranging from removing old servers, developing a custom
e-commerce site, creating new desktop images, merging databases to commissioning a
complete unified communication system.
Project delivery makes ICT organisations credible. When the project office manages to
deliver a project successfully the result is not only a successful project, but it also impacts
the financial results of a company and contributes in the strategic leadership of the
company.
1.4.5
Project management success and project success
The terms project management success and project success get used arbitrarily. It is
however important that differences between the two terms are clarified. De Wit (1988: 166)
defines that a project success depends on achievement of the overall objectives of the
project and project management success entails the traditional measure of performance
against cost, time and quality.
According to Baccaini (1999), "Project success tends to be measured by the big three:
Cost, Time, and Requirements being met because these are easy and timely to measure.”
For a project to be successful, these three constraints (often called the Triple Constraints
of Project Management) must be in equilibrium. If any constraint is out of balance, the
project has a high probability of not being successful. However, according to Brandon
(2006), the success of a project in the past was defined too narrowly as simply meeting
time and cost constraints for a given scope of work. He states that for an IT project to be
completely successful, the basic definition of success needs to be extended. This
extension is particular with regard to product quality, stakeholder satisfaction, security,
organisational human capital, and long-term factors such as maintainability and
adaptability. With this extended definition of success, management techniques and tools
can be extended or otherwise modified to be more effective (Brandon, 2006).
7
Putkszta (2006) claims that a project which is over budget and has scaled-down
functionality, can represent the best outcome, if the project also delivers business value.
Although Brandon (2006) and Putkszta (2006) advised that the measure of project
management success should move away from the triangle of cost, time and quality, it not
only introduces additional complexities, but also adds subjective measures to
management of the project.
Smyrk (1996) developed a two-layered management model to help manage projects more
successfully. Layer one is the Control Layer or above the line and layer two is the Work
Layer, or below the line. The model provides the distinction between the management of
the project, for example activities such as monitoring the work plan, managing risks,
changes, issues, staff, scope, reporting, quality, and the management of the work of the
project required to produce the project outputs. According to Smyck (1996), successful
management of the control layers leads to successful project management and successful
management of the work layer leads to a successful project.
According to Cook (2002), delivering project success is necessarily more difficult than
delivering project management success. Cook (2002) stated the main reason is project
success inevitably involves second order control (both goals and methods liable to
change) whereas project management success involves only first order control (hold goals
constant, and change practices to meet pre-determined goals).
1.4.6
Success criteria for project success
Success criteria can be defined as what must be done for the project to be acceptable to
the client, stakeholders and end-users who will be affected by the project.
Lim and Mohamed (1999) drew a clear distinction between success criteria and success
factors. The success criteria are a principle or standard by which anything is or can be
judged (those which define a project as successful) and success factors are any
circumstance, fact, or influence which contributes to a result (those which need to be done
correctly to ensure that a project is successful).
Willard (2006) stated, “Clearly, the old adage of on time, on budget, and (even)
conformance to requirements are not, of themselves, satisfactory success criteria”, mainly
8
because this does not deal with the issues facing the project manager under many current
business conditions.
Gottschalk (2004) developed a success criteria model for IT projects (Figure 1.2). The
model consisted of the following five success criteria:

Project performance – This is the traditional evaluation criteria for project success
which consists of time, cost and quality. According to De Wit (1988), project
management success entails the traditional measure of performance against cost,
time and quality.

Project outcome – This measurement is concerned with evaluating the information
system itself. The important dimensions include the system maintainability,
reliability, validity and information quality use.

System implementation – This criterion is concerned with successfully introducing,
installing, training, using and modifying the new information system. The important
dimensions include the actual use and user acceptance.

Benefits for the client organisation – The important dimensions include improved
efficiency and effectiveness, increased profits, achieving strategic goals and
organisational learning.

Benefits for the stakeholders – The important dimensions include satisfied users,
social and environmental impact and personal development.
Project performance and project outcome are success criteria internal to the project.
System implementation and client benefits are success criteria internal to the organisation.
Stakeholders’ benefits are success criteria external to the organisation.
9
Figure 1.2 Success Criteria for IT Projects
Source: Gottschalk (2004)
1.4.7
Project management methodology
According to Kerzner (2003), project management methodology is a set of inter-related
phases, activities and tasks that define the project process from the start through to
completion. According to the Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK®, 2004), projects move through four phases in the project management lifecycle:

Initiating

Planning

Executing and monitoring

Controlling
Each phase contains processes that move the project from idea to implementation
(Westland: 2003).
1.4.8
Project stakeholders
Each stakeholder has an essential contribution to make to the project. Contribution made
by different people to the project is the principal criteria for identifying stakeholders. For a
project to be successful all the stakeholder expectations need to be met. The five primary
project stakeholders are as follow:
10

Project manager - the head of the project. This person defines, plans, controls, and
leads the project.

Project team – they are the team members who produce the outputs (deliverables)
for the project by contributing their skills and effort to perform tasks.

Functional management – they provide company policy and resources, particularly
people who are involved in the project.

Sponsor – this person has the formal authority and is ultimately responsible for the
project. The sponsor oversees the project and acts as a liaison between the upper
management team and the project leader.

Customer - the person or group whose needs and requirements drive the project.
They receive the final output(s) that the project produces; provide product
requirements and are responsible for the funding.
This research report will focus on the first four, namely the project manager, project team,
functional manager and the sponsor. Project success is very much dependent on the
customer view, but it is not practical and out of scope of this research report.
1.5
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
The objective of this research report is to identify a set of CSFs for successful project
management in large SA ICT companies. In the project management context there are key
factors that influence the success of project management. These key factors will be
identified and discussed on a review of the literature. Once a list of project management
CSFs has been reviewed, a questionnaire will be used to test these CSFs against the
South African ICT environment.
The Information Technology Section on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)
Securities Exchange South Africa consists of four sectors:

Technology-Software & Computer Services

Technology-Technology Hardware & Equipment

Telecommunications-Fixed Line Telecommunications

Telecommunications-Mobile Telecommunications
On 14 April 2009 all the listed companies in the IT section of the JSE were compared
according to the following criteria:
11

Footprint

Geographical area

Number of employees

Core business (IT services provided), as stated on official website and official
company documentation

If company has a dedicated project office

Company size and structure
A summary of the comparison between the companies is shown in Table 1.1.
The companies’ footprint was quantified according to the following two attributes:

The amount of offices
o Small - less than 5
o Medium - between 5 and 9
o Large - more than 10

Their coverage area - national or international
For the purpose of this study and in the South African context, the size of a company was
quantified as large if it consists of all of the following characteristics:

More than 3000 employees

More than 10 offices

Offices in all the major cities in SA

International coverage area
12
Table 1.1: List of companies’ profiles on JSE Technology sector
Company profile
Footprint
Number
of
employees
Adapt IT Holdings
Ltd
Small
National
121
Business
Connexion Group
Ltd
Large
National
Bytes Technology
Group Ltd
International
Compu-Clearing
Outsourcing Ltd
Medium
National
74
ConvergeNet
Holdings Ltd
Medium
National
Datacentrix
Holdings Ltd
Medium
National
Datatec Ltd
Medium
International
3765
Dimension Data
Holdings plc
Large
International
EOH Holdings Ltd
Core business as
stated on website
Official website
Professional Services
www.adaptit.co.za
4657
Complete ICT Services
www.bcx.co.za
990
Specialist IT Solutions
www.btgroup.co.za
Outsourcing
www.compu-clear.co.za
230
Specialist IT Solutions
www.vesta.co.za
670
IT infrastructure &
Business Solutions
www.datacentrix.co.za
Professional Services
www.datatec.co.za
10600
Complete ICT Services
www.dimensiondata.com
National
1004
Business Consulting &
Applications
www.eoh.co.za
Faritec Holdings Ltd
Small
National
574
Specialist IT Solutions
www.faritec.co.za
GIJIMA AST GROUP
Ltd
Small
International,
Large
National
3290
Complete ICT Services
www.gijima.com
Paracon Holdings
Ltd
Small
National
128
Business Solutions
www.paracon.co.za
SecureData
Holdings Ltd
Medium
National
215
IT Security
www.securedata.co.za
Spescom Ltd
Small
National
289
DataVoice Service
www.spescom.co.za
Square One
Solutions Group Ltd
Small
National
140
Business Solutions
www.squareonegroup.co.za
UCS Group Ltd
Small
National
2590
Software Retail Solution
www.ucs.co.za
Mustek Ltd (MST)
Large
National
1310
Computer Hardware
distributor
www.mustek.co.za
Pinnacle
Technology
Holdings Ltd (PNC)
Medium
National
NA
Supplier of IT products
www.pinnacle.co.za
13
Telkom SA Ltd
(TKG)
Large
International
24075
Fixed line
telecommunications
www.telkom.co.za
Allied Technologies
Ltd (ALT)
Medium
International
2720
Telecommunication
services
www.altech.co.za
Blue Label
Telecoms Ltd (BLU)
Small
International
NA
Prepaid cellular services
www.bluelabeltelecoms.com
MTN Group Ltd
(MTN)
Large
International
1500
GSM cellular services
www.mtn.com
Source: http:www.standardbank.co.za
The following three large listed ICT companies were found to have common attributes:

GIJIMA AST GROUP Ltd

Dimension Data Holdings plc

Business Connexion Group Ltd
This research report focuses on determining the CSFs in the SA context and therefore the
research population will consist of the South African division of these three ICT
companies, namely:

GijimaAst

Dimension Data ZA

Business Connexions
Qualitative research will be used in the form of structured personal interviews. The
interviews will be done with the project office head and at least with the senior project
manager of each of the three selected companies.
1.6
ASSUMPTIONS
This study is based on the assumptions that the ICT companies that form part of the
research report have a similar understanding of the following:

Project success

Project management success

Project success

Success criteria

Project management methodologies
14
CHAPTER 2
SURVEY OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1.
INTRODUCTION
According to Brandon (2006: 17), a key factor leading to the continued failure in IT projects
is the lack of identification and appreciation for all the major components of project
management success. In this chapter related literature will be reviewed in order to identify
and list critical success factors to be used to test in the SA ICT environment. A
comprehensive model of critical success factors for ICT project management permits the
development of better management plans, processes, and metrics, particularly for risk,
quality, and performance control (Brandon, 2006: 17).
2.2.
LITERATURE LISTED CSF
According to Phillips (2007), there are a variety of reasons why the project management
success rate is so low. Firstly IT projects are just plain harder. Besides the usual projectmanagement challenges, such as deadlines, budget constraints and too few people to
devote to the project, IT projects also face unique technology challenges, ranging from
desktop to server hardware and software, network or database issues, to security risks,
interoperability issues, and the changes manufacturers make to their hardware and
software configurations.
Phillips (2007) also ads that IT projects fail at the beginning and not the end, mainly due to
a lack of sufficient planning. It is very important that an IT organisation considers the
resources it needs to devote to a project, the skills required and the people who need to be
involved and realistically consider the time it will take to create, test and implement the
project deliverables.
According to Phillips, in the third place, IT projects fail because they are rushed. Many
companies speed through development efforts and systems implementations in order to
be first to market new IT-based products, services and capabilities that lead to improper
planning.
15
Finally Phillips (2007) adds that the scope of IT projects is too unwieldy. A project with a
large scope can usually be better executed by breaking it down into a series of smaller,
more manageable projects.
A study done by Torp, Austeng and Mengesha (2004) found that if the critical success
factors are identified early enough in a project, it is a vital start for ensuring successful
project completions. These major factors have a considerable influence on the project
performance and if they are dealt with during planning it will enhance the successful
completion of the project. Pinto and Kharbanda (1996) further stated that identifying CSFs
will help project teams to minimise fire fighting, intuitive and ad hoc approach in managing
uncertainties and changes encountered during project implementation.
According to Rozenes, Vitner and Spragett (2006), the following factors affect the success
of a project:

Project control systems.

Project mission and goals should be well defined.

Top management support within resources and budget is essential.

A detailed project planning that covers all aspects of the project.

Client consultation and acceptance during the project life cycle.

Competent project team members that support project aims and objectives.

Technical abilities of the project team and project organisation.

Project team should have troubleshooting capabilities.

Success criteria should be agreed upon with the stakeholders before onset of
project.

A collaborative working relationship should be maintained between the project
owner and project manager.

The project manager should have the flexibility to deal with uncertainty.

The project owner should take an interest in the project performance.
Verzuh (2006) stated that the five factors for successful project are the following:
1.
All the stakeholders of the project (the team, customer and management) must be in
agreement about the goals of the project.
2.
There must be a good project plan that demonstrates what is possible, shows an
overall path and clear responsibilities. The project plan should also contain all the
16
details for estimating the people, money, time, equipment, and materials necessary
to get the job done. The plan must be used to measure the progress during the
project and will act as an early warning system.
3.
Communication among everyone involved must be constant and effective. Clear
communication will coordinate action, recognise and solve problems, and react to
changes more effectively.
4.
All the stakeholders’ expectations must be managed by means of a controlling the
scope of the project. This will ensure that everyone involved understands exactly
what can be accomplished within a given time frame and budget. A systematic
method for establishing realistic goals for deliverables, cost, schedule, and quality,
as well as techniques for keeping the goals consistent throughout the project must
be followed.
5.
The project must be supported by upper management. In order for project to keep
moving, the upper management must be guided to take timely decisions regarding
the supply of resources, making policy decisions and removing of organisational
obstacles.
Allan (2008) stated that the most common reasons for low success rate are the following:

Business unclear on project objectives

Weak project governance structures

Poor project management skills

Excessive scope creep

Requirements not properly defined

Stakeholders left isolated from project processes

Poor risk management

Labour requirements well underestimated
The Standish Group surveyed 365 IT executive managers for their opinions about why
projects succeed. They found that the three main reasons why IT projects do succeed are
user involvement, executive management support, and a clear statement of requirements.
According to them, there are other success criteria, but with these three elements in place,
the chances of success are much greater (Johnson, 1999).
17
Table 2.1 represents a concise list of some of the most common project success factors,
identified from the literature scrutinised, that are specific to project management in IT
companies. Table 2.1 does not provide an exhaustive list of all project success factors
identified during the literature review, mainly because the purpose of this report is to find
the critical success factors that influence project management success in ICT companies.
The purpose of the list was to develop a single reference in which the most common CSFs
are listed against the authors who reviewed them.
Table 2.1: Project success factors identified from literature reviewed
Project success factor
Top management support
Skilled and experienced project manager
User / customer involvement
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
Comprehensive project management plan
Break project down in smaller milestones
Author
Verzuh, 2006
Standish Group, 2009
Allan, 2008
Verzuh, 2006
Chow and Cao, 2007
Rozenes, Vitner & Spragett, 2006
Thom, 2009
Morreale, 2009
Allan, 2008
Rozenes, Vitner & Spragett, 2006
Vjekoslav, 2009
Ireland, 2002
Standish Group, 2009
Verzuh, 2006
Allan, 2008
Bentley and Rafferty, 1992
Turner, 2004
Rozenes, Vitner & Spragett, 2006
Phillips, 2007
Vjekoslav, 2009
Verzuh, 2006
Rozenes, Vitner & Spragett, 2006
Avellanet , 2006
Avots, 1969
Duncan, 1993
Gorsha,1983
Munns and Bjeirmi,1996
Good architecture
Chow & Cao, 2007
Make sure the resources are available to
the project
Phillips, 2007
Engwall & Jerbant, 2003
Well defined scope
Turbit, 2005
Rozenes, Vitner & Spragett, 2006
18
Competent team
Proficient scope control
Press, 2005
Sa Couto, 2006
Rozenes, Vitner & Spragett, 2006
Schaffer, 2009
Haugheys, 2001
Allan, 2008
Verzuh, 2006
Cook, 2002
Accurate cost management
Valerdi, 2008
Rozenes, Vitner & Spragett, 2006
Effective risk management
Allan, 2008
Rozenes, Vitner & Spragett, 2006
Good quality control
Choi, 2008
Effective change management
Marchewka, 2007
Brandon, 2006
Communicate early and often
Press, 2005
Verzuh, 2006
Feiner and Howard, 1992
Beavers, 1997
2.2.1
Top management support
Identifying sponsors and stakeholders is one of the first steps of any project and the
importance is often overlooked. According to Verzuh (2006), the project must be supported
by upper management to be successful, because it is their role to make policy decisions
and to remove organisational obstacles. The sponsors and stakeholders of the project are
the ones who will judge the success and shape the project. It is most important to
understand their expectations of the project and to understand what issues are most
important to them. Determine early on which of your stakeholders are most important in
terms of both organisational and political terms and get their support.
The Standish Group International already reported in 1999 the importance of choosing the
right executive sponsor. They depicted that the executive sponsor provides the vision for
the project and often also provides the funding and some of the major resources to the
project. According to Chow and Cao (2007), strong executive support is one of the most
important critical success factors. When choosing a sponsor, it is crucial that the executive
has a vested interest in a successful outcome. According to the CHAOS University, an
executive sponsor should have the following attributes:
19

A visionary - The executive sponsor should have a global view of the project, how it
supports corporate goals and benefits the organisation.

A project champion - In the course of project bureaucratic hurdles, resistance from
department managers, and getting cooperation from people with their own set of
priorities have to be conquered. When all diplomacy fails the senior management’s
support will have a positive impact on the project.

A Fall Guy – the executive should claim total ownership of the project, this includes
blame if the project fails.

A strong decisive leader – the executive sponsor should be able to make tough
decisions.

Not be project, function manager or technical officer – the executive sponsor should
not get involved in the management aspects and details of the project. This could
lead the executive sponsor losing the vision of the project.
2.2.2
Skilled and experienced project manager
Thom (2009) stated “A project manager is usually responsible for the success or the failure
of the project. A successful project manager is one who can envision the entire project
from start to finish, and have the ability to comprehend this vision.” Overall, the project
manager is responsible for the delivery of the assigned project on schedule, within budget
and meeting the expectations of the client. Morreale (2009) added that successful project
management is a combination of approximately 20% hard skills and 80% soft skills. The
hard skills relate to the actual processes, procedures, tools and techniques including
planning, organising, monitoring and controlling, while the soft skills relate to the project
manager’s attitudes and behaviours comprising good negotiation skills, energy, selfmotivation, passion and a commitment to excellence and success. In order to keep up with
the ever changing business and IT environment, project managers need to not only make
their management practices more flexible, but also need to make decisive decisions
quickly.
Avots (1969), Duncan (1993) and Gorsha (1983) claimed that project management is an
important part in project success. Avots (1969) argued that failure could be avoided by
paying careful attention to the project management factors which caused failure. According
to Munns and Bjeirmi (1996), these factors would suggest that successful project
management requires the following:

Planning with a commitment to complete the project.
20

Careful appointment of a skilled project manager.

Spending time to define the project adequately.

Correctly planning the activities in the project.

Ensuring correct and adequate information flows.

Changing activities to accommodate frequent changes on dynamic.

Accommodating employees' personal goals with performance and rewards.

Making a fresh start when mistakes in implementation have been identified.
According to Thom (2009), in order to successfully manage a project, a project manager
needs to handle the following tasks:

Integration Management - This is developing and managing the direction of the
project.

Scope Management - This includes planning, defining and managing the scope of
the project.

Time and Cost Management - This covers developing a schedule, allocating
resources and managing funds for the project.

Quality Management - This involves taking care of the quality of the process in
question such that it meets or even exceeds various quality parameters set earlier.

Human Resource Management - A manager needs to take care of his team,
encourage and motivate them and make sure the team moves in the right direction.

Communication Management - The manager needs to prepare a communication
plan and make sure that there is a healthy communication, both horizontally and
vertically.

Risk Management - Various risks involved in a project should be identified and a
mitigation and contingency plan needs to be developed to ensure that the project is
not derailed at any point.

Procurement Management - Various materials needed during the project need to be
procured and managed with the vendors and suppliers for successful completion of
the project.
2.2.3
User/customer involvement
Vjekoslav (2009) stated,” IT projects are difficult, but not because there is something
inherently difficult in developing or implementing the project. What is difficult is that
customers don’t understand the process, and sometimes don’t seem to care.” Vjekoslav
21
(2009) further stated that it is not the customer’s business to understand how projects work
and customers are experts in their industry and typically not in project management.
Vjekoslav (2009) also added that customers, who don’t understand how projects work,
often report their projects as having failed.
According to Vjekoslav (2009), “project success is a strange animal. It’s mostly in the
hands of the customer, but if you don’t explain to them how exactly they can (and should)
influence the success, they might not know. It’s you who should teach them how.”
Ireland (2002) stated that "Project Startup Workshops is the gateway to Project Success."
The users are the people who use the systems everyday and know them the best. They
know exactly how the systems should function and perform. They should be involved from
the planning phases of the project, by means of workshops, right through to the project
closure phases.
2.2.4
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
Verzuh (2006) stated that the number one factor for project success is that all the
stakeholders must be in agreement about the goals of the project. Neal (1995) and Reiss
(1994) added the importance of having clear objectives, including deliverables, and scope
in project management is sometimes overlooked. Randolph (1994) added, “Scope and
objectives are the guiding principles that direct the efforts of the project team”, and “they
will determine a project's success or failure” (Ward, 1995).
According to Verzuh (2006), it is common for people to hype up the benefits and scope of
their projects to secure more funding and improve their profile. Verzuh (2006) says it is
important to be honest with the sponsors and stakeholders about the reality of the project.
Work with the sponsors to set realistic project milestones and specific project phases.
Make sure the deliverables are set in stone, so they don't constantly change, expand, or
shift over time (Verzuh, 2006). This is especially important for IT projects, because of the
complexity of the project, goals can move and cause large overruns on budget, time and
costs.
According to Bentley and Rafferty (1992), if the objectives are clearly defined and all the
project stakeholders have a common understanding and agree on them, the project will
become goal and results-oriented, rather than activity-based. Having a few key objectives
22
focuses the team on the target and creates commitment and agreement about the project
goals (Randolph & Posner, 1994). According to Richardson (1995), the result is that the
progress of a project can be monitored effectively. Ultimately, its success will be measured
more easily because the objectives are clearly stated at the outset of the project.
2.2.5
Comprehensive project management plan
According to Schaffer (2009), “Setting up the project plan can take some time, but it will
pay dividends many times over the course of the initiative.” Phillips (2007) stated that IT
projects fail at the beginning and not the end, mainly due to a lack of sufficient planning.
According to Vjekoslav (2009), it is essential to write a good project management plan to
prevent project failure. Vjekoslav (2009) also added that a sure way to ensure success is
to workshop the project management plan with the customer and always communicate any
changes to the customer.
According to Vjekoslav (2009), a good plan provides the following benefits:

Clearly documented project milestones and deliverables.

Allows accurate cost forecasting.

Allows a valid and realistic time-scale.

Detailed resources requirements planning.

Can act as an early warning system.

Keeps every project member focussed and informed.
The project management plan as defined by the PMI, describes how the project work will
be performed. It is the primary source of information for how the project will be planned,
executed, monitored, controlled and closed. The development of the project plan is an
iterative process. The content varies, based on the project scope and complexity of the
project. According to the PMI, the project management plan should include the following:

The completion date of each milestone or major activity and the owner of each.

The project management processes selected by the project management team.

The level of implementation of each selected process.

The descriptions of the tools and techniques to be used for accomplishing those
processes.

How the selected processes will be used to manage the specific project.

How work will be executed to accomplish the project objectives.
23

How changes will be monitored and controlled.

How configuration management will be performed.

How integrity of the performance measurement baselines will be determined and
used.

The need and techniques for communicating among stakeholders.

The selected project life cycle and, for multi-phase projects, the associated project
phases.

Key management reviews for content, extent, and timing to facilitate addressing
open issues and pending decisions.
The PMI also added that a project plan is not a one-time deliverable that remains static
throughout the project; it should be amended during the entire project life time.
According to Clark (1999), in order to ensure that a project is completed successfully, the
project plan should be updated regularly. Clark (1999) however advises that a project plan
should not be too detailed as every time some aspect of the project changes, the plans will
need to be updated to reflect that changes, even though the outcomes or objectives may
be unaffected. “Keeping the plans simple, with the right level of detail, can encourage a
project to be reviewed regularly and easily” (Clark, 1999). This makes the project
management plan a useful communication tool and an effective monitoring device for the
project.
2.2.6
Break project down in smaller milestones
According to Phillips (2007), if the scope of IT projects is too unwieldy, it can be difficult to
manage. Phillips (2007) advised to break down a project with large scopes into a series of
smaller more manageable projects which will result in better execution and control.
Lewis (1996) and Bates (1994) also added that breaking large projects down into subprojects or work packages is regarded as one of the most important tasks in new or
development projects. According to Lewis (1996), it has the following advantages:

It ensures greater ownership by all those owning a portion of the project.

It spreads the responsibilities and accountability across a greater number of people.

It eases the project management in the following ways:
o Delegates responsibilities to the project team.
24
o Enables monitoring against the objectives.
o Enhances the communicating progress.
o It identifies problems upfront.
o Makes modifications to the project easier (changes may affect only one work
package rather than the whole project).
According to Avellanet (2006), breaking down project into smaller milestones will have the
following five benefits:
1.
Requirements are simplified – The requirements will be easier to understand, have
clearer connections between them and should be easier to complete.
2.
A crystal clear focus – A clearer focus is easier achieved when working on smaller,
simpler phases.
3.
A succession of success – A succession of success can be built by rapidly delivering
smaller project phases, because people can see what that they are getting for their
money, time and effort.
4.
Simpler to manage – Smaller phases are not only simpler to manage, but it is also
easier to perform quality checks, fixes, tweaks or debugs.
5.
2.2.7
Easily paused – Phased projects are easier to pause, if business conditions change.
Good architecture
Pursuing a simple design is fundamental for project success (Chow & Cao, 2007).
Complex IT projects often exceed budget due to the fact that the system architecture is not
carefully designed to meet the specific demands of the project. This happens, in particular,
in large, complex projects running over a long period and engaging a large number of
engineers and developers.
The overall architecture depicts how the system should be structured, from hardware and
software to networking and interfaces. A detailed architecture also specifies fundamental
data structures and resource management, by providing important guidance for upcoming
design decisions during the system development stage.
2.2.8
Make sure the resources are available to the project
According to Phillips (2007), IT projects fail at the beginning and not the end, mainly due to
a lack of sufficient planning. It is very important that an IT organisation considers the
resources it needs to devote to a project, the skills required and the people who need to be
25
involved and realistically consider the time it will take to create, test and implement the
project deliverables.
Many IT projects are handed to technical resources who already have full time
responsibilities. This causes them not to focus on the project. One needs to make sure
that the resources that are allocated to the project are available for the full duration of the
project (Phillips, 2007).
2.2.9
Well defined scope
According to Turbit (2005), defining the scope is a neglected area in most projects. Turbit
(2005) stated that defining the scope is important because getting it wrong will result in
everything else to be wrong. According to the PMBOK® Guide, project scope definition is
a detailed scope statement that defines what work will and will not be part of the project
and will serve as a basis for all future project decisions. According to Marchewka (2007),
project scope is the foundation on which the schedule, budget and resource plans are built
and getting it wrong could have a serious impact on the success of the project.
LaPlante (1995) added that without a well defined scope, the project objectives can
become fuzzy and people may start to lose sight of what they are trying to achieve. The
scope needs to be defined at the start of the project and this will ensure that the project
stays within its intended boundaries and does not expand to include more than originally
planned (Orr & McKenzie, 1992). A well defined scope means also that there is less
likelihood of a vital part of the project being missed.
It is not only important to agree on what is out of scope, but also what is in scope as
stakeholders will often have different ideas regarding what is supposed to be in the project
and what is not. According to Turbit (2005), scope changes that usually cause problems
are those where the perception of what was in and out of scope was different between
various parties. In order to accurately determine the amount of work which needs to be
performed, it must be decided up front what is in or out of scope. Once the scope has
been defined the stakeholders need to review and agree to it. A shared understanding can
be achieved through workshops with all the all stakeholders. Turbit (2005) stated, “Unless
you get the scope right, the project will never be under control and scope creep will likely
cause the project to be considered a failure.”
26
2.2.10 Competent team
Press (2005) stated, "Successful IT projects are built by people, for people,”. He added,
"It's all about teamwork”, the team delivering the solution needs to work well together and
also work in sync with the client's team receiving the solution. Press (2005) also said the
people aspect and the "soft" side of project management tend to be swept aside in favour
of an all-important technology focus. All too often IT focuses predominantly on technology
and how best to implement it and forgets that in order to get the most out of any project,
the team needs to follow processes that focus on the people directly involved, the
implementers and the users. IT projects, no matter how small or extensive, whether
ongoing or as once-off implementations, have people at their core and without a
successful team at the helm, they're on a sure road to failure.
The project manager should select team members who complement each other. The
project manager should then teach them to work together until they have a great team of
great people. According to Wayne Press (2005), 80% of management is having the right
people. Press (2005) stated “Getting this right can make your job a lot easier” and he gave
following guidelines when selecting a project team:

Members should have excellent technical skills and experience.

Members should have good interpersonal skills.

Members should be able to work well together, and require minimum supervision.

Members should be able to self manage. The project manager should give them
clear goals, the tools to do their job, and then get out of their way.
Sa Couto (2006) stated for effective project management the project management team
should understand and use knowledge and skill from the following five areas of expertise:
1. The Project Management Body of Knowledge
2. Application area knowledge, standards and regulations
3. Understanding the project environment
4. General management knowledge and skill
5. Interpersonal skills
Successful projects are achieved by successful teams working together to achieve a
common goal.
27
2.2.11 Project control
The Association of Project Management (APM) takes a broad view of what is meant by the
word control (APM, 2000). The control cycle includes planning, measuring, monitoring, and
taking corrective action. Projects, typically use a control system, which monitors the
difference or gap between the planning variables and the actual results. Project control
systems indicate the direction of change in preliminary planning variables compared with
actual performance (Rozenes, Vitner & Spragett, 2006).
According to Globerson and Zwikael (2002), the successful performance of a project
depends on appropriate planning. The PMBOK® Guide defines the use of 21 processes
that relate to planning, out of the 39 processes required for proper project management
(Globerson & Zwikael, 2002). Execution of the project according to the predefined project
plan can be achieved through a control methodology.
The design of a project control system is an important part of the project management
effort (Shtub, Bard, & Globerson, 2005). Furthermore, “it is widely recognised that planning
and monitoring plays a major role as the cause of project failures. Despite the continuous
evolution in the project management field, it appears evident that the traditional
approaches still show a lack of appropriate methodologies for project control” (De Falco &
Macchiaroli, 1998). Many articles have supported the importance of control in the
achievement of the project aims and objectives. Project performance can be improved if
more attention is given to the issue of control (Avison, Baskerville & Myers, 2001).
Rozenes, Vitner and Spragett (2006) and Marchewka (2007) identified the following
control tools are important for success:

Scope control

Cost management

Risk management

Quality control

Change management
28
2.2.11.1
Proficient scope control
According to the PMBOK® Guide, one such control tool is project scope management,
which defines the procedures whereby the project content may be altered (PMI, 2004).
PMBOK® defines scope control as a defined process for managing changes to project and
product scope and the impact of those changes to the project’s schedule and budget. This
system includes various managerial tools designed to control changes. According to
Meredith and Mantel (2003), changes result mainly from the stakeholders’ desires,
technology developments, increased knowledge base, and changes in project processes.
Due to the complexity of IT projects it is not always easy to define the exact scope of the
project. If the scope of a project is not properly defined, documented and controlled, scope
creep can occur. Scope creep refers to uncontrolled changes in a project's scope. Schaffer
(2009) stated that scope creep arises because of an assumption that everyone was in
agreement, when in reality they were not. Typically scope increase consists of either new
products or new features of already approved product design, without corresponding
increases in resources, schedule, or budget (Schaffer, 2009). As a result, the project team
risks drifting away from its original purpose and scope into unplanned additions. As the
scope of a project increases more tasks have to be completed within the same original
budget and schedule designed for a smaller set of tasks. Thus scope creep can result in a
project team overrunning its original budget and schedule (Schaffer, 2009). Haugheys
(2001) added that scope creep is one of the most common reasons projects run over
budget and deliver late. Haugheys (2001) added that customers will forget the extra work,
effort, time and money that were put into the project and that they will insist the original
deliverable be met within the original budget and time frames. If the budget and schedule
are increased along with the scope, the change is usually considered an acceptable
addition to the project.
According to Cook (2002),changes to the scope of a project should only be allowed
through a mature scope change control process. This will allow for scope change to be
done in a planned manner and minimises the risk for time and budget overruns.
2.2.11.2 Accurate cost management
PMI defines cost as "the monetary value or price of a project activity." According to Valerdi
(2008), for a project to be successful, it must deliver on all aspects of a project which
29
include both the client’s specifications and the allotted budget. It is a great challenge to
successfully deliver on one of these aspects and it is often the case that only the client’s
specifications are met (Valerdi, 2009).
According to Marchewka (2007), project budget is determined by the project schedule, the
cost of resources assigned to each of the activities and additional indirect costs.
In
addition, a PMBOK® area called project cost management focuses on the processes,
procedures, and techniques to develop and manage the project budget. According to
PMBOK®, project cost management includes the following:

Cost estimates – An estimate can be developed, based upon the project activities,
the time estimates and resource requirements.

Cost budgeting – An overall cost estimate for the entire project can be done once
the time and cost of each activity has been estimated. After the estimates have
been approved it becomes the project budget.

Cost control – Ensuring that proper processes and procedures are in place to
control changes to the project budget.
One of the first critical steps in costs management is to make appropriate estimates
(Valerdi, 2009). According to Valerdi (2008), organisations need to systematically estimate
the cost or effort of their systems engineers. Valerdi (2008) added that organisations fail in
their estimations due to disturbed development, unfamiliarity with the product and low
process maturity.
2.2.11.3 Effective risk management
According to PMBOK® Guide, risk monitoring and control is an ongoing process that
consists of keeping track of identified risks, monitoring residual risks and identifying new
risks, ensuring the execution of risk plans, and evaluating their effectiveness in reducing
risk to facilitate project success. Miller and Lessard (2001) proposed that managing and
controlling risk reduces the probability of project failure. Jones (1994) stated that, “it is
unfortunate that many project do not follow a formal risk management approach.” It is often
fatal to the success of the project when unexpected risks, which have not been assessed
or planned for, arise (Jones, 1994). These risks then have to be dealt with on an
emergency basis, rather than in a prepared and measured manner. According to Miller
and Lessard (2001), early in the preparation and planning stage, it is crucial that potential
risks are identified, categorised and evaluated. The risks must be categorised
30
systematically in order to identify the risks and to provide a foundation for awareness,
understanding and action. Related risks and potential actions must then be documented in
the risk management plan and discussed at all the key stages as the project progresses
(Rozenes, Vitner & Spragett, 2006).
Jones (1994) suggested that effective and successful project risk management requires
the following:

Commitment by all stakeholders – to be successful, project risk management by all
project stakeholders is essential, but in particular the sponsor or client, senior
management, project management and project team.

Stakeholders’ responsibility – It is important that each risk has an owner that will
take responsibility for monitoring, taking action and reporting to the project.

Different risks for different types of projects – Jones (1994) found that patterns of
risk for each type of project are different, the implication is that each project has its
own unique risk considerations.
The PMBOK® Guide outlined the following processes for risk management:

Risk management planning – Determining how to approach and plan the project
risk management activities.

Risk identification – Deciding which risk can impact the project.

Qualitative risk analysis – Focusing on a qualitative analysis concerning the impact
and likelihood of the risks that were identified.

Quantitative risk analysis – using a quantitative approach for developing a
probability model for understanding and responding to the risks identified.

Risk response planning – Developing procedures and techniques to reduce the
treats of risks, while enhancing the likelihood of opportunities.

Risk monitoring and control – Providing an early warning system to monitor
identified risks and any new risks.
2.2.11.4 Good quality management
Verzuh (2006) and Rozenes, Vitner and Spragett (2006) identified quality management as
an important factor for project success. All the concepts and philosophies of quality are
integrated into the discipline or knowledge area called project quality management (PQM).
According to PMBOK® Guide, “PQM processes include all of the activities of the
31
performing organisation that determine quality policies, objective and responsibilities so
that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken.”
PMBOK® defined the major quality management processes as the following:

Quality planning – Determining which quality standards are important to the project
and deciding how these standards will be met.

Quality assurance – Evaluating overall project performance regularly to ensure that
the project team is meeting the specified quality standards.

Quality control – Monitoring the activities and results of the project to ensure that
the project complies with the quality standards.
Choi (2008) quoted the business philosopher and innovator, Philip B. Crosby’s, definition
of quality as, “the conformance to requirements." Choi (2008) stated, “It is therefore
important to control the quality of each deliverable. Constantly review quality to ensure that
the quality of the solution meets the customer's needs.” According to Choi (2008), one can
ensure value by focusing on the quality at the following three levels:
1.
Technical level - trace requirements, design checking and testing throughout the
project to reduce errors.
2.
Project level - work to prevent error, then find and eliminate the errors that slipped
through. Do as much testing as early as possible. Allow time for rework and retesting
to ensure errors have been eliminated without letting new ones to creep in.
3.
Business level - includes customers in testing and remember that the goal is to meet
the customer requirement first and then only to added value.
Substandard levels of quality can be viewed as waste, errors or the failure to meet the
project sponsor’s or client’s needs, expectations, or system requirements (Kloppenborg &
Petrick, 2002). According to Rozenes, Vitner and Spragett (2006), rework due to sub
standard levels of quality is expensive and time consuming. On the other hand, if too much
focus is placed on the quality of certain deliverables, quality on those deliverables will be
overachieved. This could have negative consequences on availability project resources to
the rest of the project and will have a negative impact on other project objectives
(Rozenes, Vitner & Spragett, 2006).
32
2.2.11.5 Effective change management
According to Marchewka (2007), organisations cannot afford to mismanage change
initiatives. Marchewka (2007) added that while it is important for the development of the
project to be managed well, it is also important to ensure that the project’s product is
transferred successfully and accepted by the organisation with minimal adverse impact.
According to Marchewka (2007), acceptance by the users is especially important and
special care needs to be taken to ensure that the organisation is prepared properly before
the system is implemented.
The area of IT project management that helps smooth the transition and implementation of
the new IT solution is called change management. The Gartner group defines change
management as, “the transformation of the organisation so it is aligned with the execution
of a chosen corporate business strategy. It is the management of the human element in a
large-scale change project.”
The key to any organisational change is to plan for and manage the change and
associated transition effectively (Marchewka, 2007). In order to address the human side of
change effectively, a change management plan is required. According to Bridges (1991),
the mere existence of a change management plan can send the message through the
organisation that management cares about the people, listens to their needs and takes
their issues seriously.
According to Kerzner (2003), a change manager must facilitate assessments, create a
change management strategy and develop change management plans. Kerzner (2003)
added that a change manager is not the only one involved in managing change, the
following groups are also involved:

Project team

Senior leaders

Managers and supervisors

Employees
Brandon (2006) stated that the primary tasks of the change management team are the
following:

Assess change readiness of the organisation.
33

Prepare change management plans.

Communicate the business reasons for change.

Communicate impact of change.

Build a coalition of leaders to drive the change.
2.2.12 Communicate early and often
Communication, trust, flexibility and buy-in are critical factors for project success. Press
(2005) stated "Getting the basics right is important, and proving this focus to the client from
the start is fundamental. Communication is the foundation on which the entire working
relationship is built, and this has to happen from day one."
According to Feiner and Howard (1992), successful communication needs to be focused
rather than broad-brush and timing is of crucial importance. Beavers (1997) added when
used effectively, it can reduce non-productive effort, avoid duplication and help eliminate
mistakes. Lanfer, Kusek, and Cohenca-Zall (1997) also added that it can help to manage
uncertainty, may lead to problems being identified sooner or may generate ideas that lead
to better solutions. Gannon (1994) furthermore added that it will encourage team-work,
increase motivation and ensure the involvement of all key players.
Good communication is the effective exchange of information between the parties
involved. Good lines of communication need to be incorporated into the project plan. Good
communication involves good listening and responding appropriately, and this builds trust.
Trust between stakeholders is vital and eliminates negativity and encourages transparency
during the duration of the project. Press (2005) stated, "To build trust you need honesty,
reinforced by repeated delivery of success and the guarantee of good business value."
Press (2005) also added, "Buy-in from the users is one of the cornerstones of project
success. Mutual commitment can only be achieved if the users feel they're involved with
and benefiting from the project. Introducing new systems can often make users feel their
job security is threatened, resulting in negativity and resentment. Without buy-in the project
will be a failure. Even though the technology may be in place as planned, successful
delivery is reliant on the proper usage of the solution." Ongoing communication, trust,
flexibility and buy-in are fundamental for both parties to achieve success and build a strong
relationship on which further business can be built.
34
The following guidelines could be used to create an effective communications plan (Press,
2005):

Make sure everyone knows what they need to know to make decisions and get
work done.

Analyse status information to create status reports.

Be prompt and decisive.

Use feedback at all four levels.

Teach workers to stay in lane and on schedule.

Communicate and ensure delivery of milestones.

Communicate and manage project risk.

Communicate and manage project change.

Watch out for continuing problems that indicate a serious planning error, such as
lack of attention to one of the nine areas or a poor architectural decision.

Keep the stakeholders and sponsors informed regularly of your progress.

Communicate timeline and expectations to the business units and departments the
project will affect.
2.3
CSF GROUPED IN PROJECT LIFE CYCLE PHASES
This research report will group the CSFs identified in the literature study (Table 2.1) into
the four phases of the project life as defined in the Guide to Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK®, 2004). The four phases are the following:
1.
Project initiating
2.
Project planning
3.
Project executing and monitoring
4.
Project controlling
2.3.1
Project initiation
Project initiation is the first phase in the project life cycle and mainly contains starting up
the project. Initiating a project involves defining its purpose and scope, the justification for
initiating it and the solution to be implemented. It also involves the recruitment of a suitably
skilled project team, setting up a Project Office and performing an end of phase review.
2.3.2
Project planning
The project planning phase is a very detailed process which involves creating a suite of
planning documents to help guide the team throughout the project delivery.
35
2.3.3
Project execution and monitoring
The project execution and monitoring phase is the stage in which the deliverables are
physically built and presented to the customer for acceptance. While each deliverable is
being constructed, a suite of management processes are undertaken to monitor and
control the deliverables being output by the project. These processes include managing
time, cost, quality, change, risks, issues, suppliers, customers and communication.
2.3.4
Project closure
The final phase is project closure and consists of releasing the final deliverables to the
customer, handing over project documentation to the business, terminating supplier
contracts, releasing project resources and communicating project closure to all
stakeholders. The last step is to undertake a post implementation review in order to
identify the level of project success and note any lessons learned for future projects.
Table 2.2: CSF grouped in project methodology phases
Project success factor
Top management support
Skilled and experienced project manager
User / customer involvement
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
Comprehensive project management plan
Break project down in smaller milestones
Good architecture
Make sure the resources are available to
the project
Well defined scope
Competent team
Proficient scope control
Accurate cost management
Effective risk management
Good quality control
Effective change management
Communicate early and often
Project
initiation
Project
planning
Project
execution and
monitoring
Project
closure
36
2.4
CONCLUSION
In this chapter related literature was reviewed to identify and list critical success factors of
project management in the ICT environment. In the literature 16 CSFs were identified and
these CSFs will be tested against the SA ICT environment.
37
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1
INTRODUCTION
In the previous chapter related literature was reviewed and as this study is based on the
critical success factors of project management in South Africa ICT companies, it was
imperative to gather current project managers’ points of views regarding key elements
addressed in the literature review.
In this chapter the researcher will explain how the research for the study was conducted
overall. The researcher will also explain how the sampling and discussion guide will be
used to gather information. The research design is of a qualitative nature as available
textual data is combined with primary data (the outcomes of interviews). The analysis of
the data was done by means of context analysis.
RESEARCH DESIGN
3.2
The research included the conducting of interviews with the head of the project
management office as well as senior project managers of the three ICT companies
selected in Chapter 1. As a result mainly qualitative methods were used to determine the
CSFs of project management in the South African ICT companies. The mode of
observation was semi-structured interviews combined with the use of information from
current documents. The data analysis will be qualitative. The strength of this research
method is that the researcher is able to gain a rich understanding of the research problem
and context (Henning, 2005: 36-37).
GATHERING OF DATA
3.3
The researcher conducted one-on-one interviews with six project management experts of
the respected ICT companies. Furthermore both secondary and primary data will be
investigated. The following methods were used:

Theoretical study of various textbooks, the Internet, articles and other literature
related to applicable concepts.

Sampling – Interviews with key project managers from successful South African ICT
companies.
38

3.4
Content analysis of these interviews.
SAMPLING
In order to gather more information relating to the research problem, the researcher will
draw a sample from the ICT industry. As a result current views relating to CSF of project
management success will be obtained. This type of sampling is also widely referred to as
purposive sampling where typical areas or people are included in a sample. According to
Henning (2005: 71), the purposive sampling procedure includes elements of theoretical
sampling, which looks for people who can help to build a substantive theory further.
3.5
INTERVIEWS WITH PROJECT MANAGERS
The researcher selected six applicable project managers from the three selected ICT
companies who were experienced and knowledgeable in the project management field.
The discussion below outlines the different interviewees, the ICT companies which
interviewees work for, as well as the reasons why the company and the individual were
selected.
3.5.1
Interview 1: Marius Beylefeld, Head Project Manager of Dimension Data
Marius Beylefeld has 12 years of experience in the IT industry. He started his project
management career at Sanlam, where he worked as a project manager for five years. He
next moved to BSW data where he worked for four years as a project manager on mainly
software development type projects. He next moved to Dimension Data as a line manager
in the networks department. He managed the network, server and security engineers. In
this position he gained a lot of experience in especially technical solutions. For the last four
years he has been managing the Western Cape Project Office and Professional services
business unit.
3.5.2
Interview 2: Kevin Treweek, Project Manager of Dimension Data
Kevin Treweek has more than 20 years experience in the IT industry. Treweek started his
career in field engineering and worked his way up to Sales Vice President of the Western
Region USA Nortel Carrier Sales. Treweek has more than five years experience in project
management work for Dimension Data in South Africa.
39
3.5.3
Interview 3: Johan Stolz, Head of Project Manager Office of GijimaAst
Johan Stolz has have been working in the IT industry for the last 20 years. Stolz’s
experience ranges from account management, product management and also service
delivery management. Stolz has been working for the past 10 years as a project manager.
3.5.4
Interview 4: Vanessa Du Toit, Project Manager of GijimaAst
Vanessa Du Toit has been working in the IT industry for the past seven years. Du Toit
started her career as a service desk administrator and next moved to the project office as
a project office administrator. Du Toit has been involved in the project office for the past six
years of which the last three years have been as a project manager.
3.5.5
Interview 5: Christo Welgemoed, Project Manager of Business Connexion
Christo Welgemoed has 25 years experience in IT, ranging from technical to management.
Welgemoed started his career as a systems engineer and moved over to service manager
later before moving to project management. Welgemoed has been doing project
management for the last 15 years, ranging from project manager to project office manager.
Welgemoed has done the theoretical training and entry exams for Prince 2.
3.5.6
Interview 6: William Pretorius, Project Manager of Business Connexion
William Pretorius has 22 years experience in the IT industry of which the past nine years
have been in project management. Pretorius successfully completed the Prince 2
certification.
3.5.7
Interview process
After identifying the interviewees and the researcher was satisfied that each individual
would add value to the study, they were contacted telephonically and a 60 minute one-onone interview was scheduled. The objective of the interview was explained to the
interviewees as being part of a research report on the CSFs of project management in
order to complete an MBA degree. The researcher also explained that interviews will be
recorded. The individuals were also made aware of the fact that the interview would be
semi-structured and that a discussion guide relating to the topic of the study would be
brought along and that they would be asked questions according to the discussion guide.
40
3.5.8
Discussion guide
A list of questions relating to the study topic was conducted before the physical interviews.
The discussion guide included questions that were based on the topics and areas covered
in the literature review. The discussion guide was designed by keeping the literature as
well as the research problem in mind and was constructed in such a way that it logically
steered the thinking of the interviewees to a place where they would be able to answer
questions relating to positioning in a more holistic way. The detailed discussion guide with
questions is attached as Appendix A.
The researcher constructed the discussion guide according to the following rationale and
sections:
1.
Background of the interviewee
The purpose of this section was to put the interviewee at ease and also to serve as an
introduction and background of the interviewee to the researcher. Although research
regarding the spokespeople was conducted before the sample was selected, these
questions also affirmed the applicability of the person to the population.
2.
Organisation’s definition of project management and project success factor
These questions were included in the discussion guide to lead the interviewee to look at
the differences and similarities between project management and project success factors.
These questions were also developed to measure the interviewee's and organisation’s
perception of these project management and project success factors. Additionally the
interviewer used this section to get an understanding of the organisation’s measurement of
these two success factors.
In this section it was also asked which project management methodology was used in the
organisation.
3.
Importance of CSFs in the organisation
In the interview the interviewer wanted to get an understanding of how important CSFs are
to the organisation and if the organisation uses CSFs in their project management.
41
4.
Classify and review the CSFs in the organisation
This section of the discussion guide focused on the main aim of this research report which
is to identify and review the CSFs of project management in ICT organisations. The
interviewee was firstly asked to quantify the importance of each CSF identified in the
literature review and secondly to identify and rank the five most important CSFs in their
respected organisations. After the top five CSFs had been identified, specific areas of the
discussion guide were used to review these areas.
5.
Closing
In closing an open question was asked where the interviewees were given an opportunity
to express themselves freely regarding additional CSFs in project management in the ICT
environment.
Henning (2005: 72) referred to a discussion guide constructed by Kathy Charmaz who
divided her discussion guide into the following sections:

Initial open-ended questions

Intermediate questions

Ending questions
The above same approach was followed in the construction of the discussion guide.
Pre-testing the discussion guide implies that the researcher only finalises the questions in
the discussion guide after it has been tested, i.e. pre-testing will indicate whether the
questions of the discussion guide are clear to respondent(s). Whenever pre-testing
indicates that questions or terminology are unclear to the respondent(s), the researcher
should adapt by adjusting the questions before finalising the discussion guide (Herbst,
2008).
The researcher did find some unclear definitions and overlapping questions when pretesting the discussion guide. An example of a question that was adjusted is the following:
How does your organisation classify success? This question was replaced by the following
clearer and more direct questions:
42
How does your organisation define and measure project success and how does your
organisation define and measure project management success?
The result was a more honest and open response in which the respondents elaborated on
their organisation’s factors without thinking that they are giving away their competitive
advantage and intellectual property.
3.6
DATA ANALYSIS
All the interviews were electronically recorded and transcribed by the researcher himself.
Throughout the theoretical analysis and during the verbal interviews and the typing of the
interviews, a number of conclusions and recommendations were summarised on blank
pieces of paper. This included drawing a mind map of the model as well as dotting down
conclusions.
The final analysis of the gathered data was done through content analysis techniques.
According to Henning (2005: 102), qualitative content analysis can involve any kind of
analysis where communication content (interviews, speech and written text) is categorised
and classified.
As a result of the categorisation of the discussion guide to certain themes relating to the
primary research objective, each interview was coded. These codes can be seen as a
label for a unit of meaning (Henning, 2005: 104). Correlations were then drawn between
the codes and categories of meaning to summarise concepts within the sample as a whole
to derive at the conclusions. Codes, categories of meaning and the conclusions were
identified while keeping the primary research objective in mind.
The above-mentioned content analysis process was derived from the figures formulated by
Henning (2005: 104) as illustrated in Figure 4.1 and Figure 4.2.
43
Transcribed text of single
interview. Read set of data
to form impression of context
Segment units of meaning –
in one or more sentences or
phrases. Use a marker to
show the end of a unit.
of single utterances.
Label a unit of meaning in
more than a single word.
Write this label in the margin
with an arrow pointing to the
text.
Look for possible groupings of the codes.
Make a list of all the codes and the read the whole text again to see whether the codes
make sense and whether there is some coherence. Also make sure that codes can be
related to the research question.
Figure 3.1: Coding from text
Source: Henning 2005: 104
Codes, e.g.:
Frustration about
chores
 Commitment to
family
 Lack of planning
work on weekends
 No real leisure time
 Too many
appointments
 Stress about
unfinished tasks
Possible category:
Limited management of
weekend activities leads
to stress
Possible category:
Conflict between
perceived commitment
and lack of leisure time
Figure 3.2: From codes to categories in qualitative content analysis
Source: Henning, 2005: 106
44
The result is summarised in the conclusions and recommendations. All the conclusions
and results from the content analysis are included in the research results (Chapter 4).
3.7
CONCLUSION
In this chapter the researcher explained how the research will be conducted. The
researcher also expanded how the sampling was done and how the discussion guide will
be used to gather information. It was furthermore explained how content analysis will be
used for analysing the data.
45
CHAPTER 4
RESEARCH RESULTS
4.1
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter all the data will be analysed. Content analysis will be used, as discussed in
previous chapter, to analyse the gathered data. Once all the data have been analysed the
top five CSFs identified during the interviews will be calculated.
4.2
CONTENT ANALYSIS FROM INTERVIEWS
After transcribing all interviews the researcher read through all interviews to once again
get an overall impression of the data gathered. Each of the interviews was then studied
and analysed by assigning codes (units of meaning) and categories of meaning to it.
4.2.1
Interview 1: Marius Beylefeld, Head Project Manager of Dimension Data
4.2.1.1 Background of interviewee
Marius Beylefeld has more than 12 years experience in the IT industry. Marius Beylefeld
started his project management career at Sanlam, where he worked as a project manager
for five years. Next he moved to BSW data where he worked for four years as a project
manager, working mainly with software development projects. Next he moved to
Dimension Data as a line manager in the networks department, where he mostly managed
the network, server and security engineers. In this position he gained valuable experience
in especially technical solutions. For the last four years he has been managing the
Western Cape Project Office and Professional services business.
Marius Beylefeld completed a numerous project management methodology courses,
including Prince, System Corp. and Mid P. He also recently completed his Project
Management Professionals (PMP) certified. Before his project management career he
studied Human Resource management at the Free State University. Marius also
completed the Management Development Programme (MDP) at the University of
Stellenbosch.
46
4.2.1.2 Organisation’s definition of project success
DD do project management to make money, to be profitable. DD primarily uses budget
and time to measure project success. Under this fall other items such as implementing the
solution according to the project management plan, according to process, etc. DD uses
time and budget as the measurement for successful projects; because if anything else
slips it will influence these two. For instance if a project runs over time DD loses money in
the form of opportunity costs due to project managers and engineers that are tied up for
longer than scheduled and this means they can’t be assigned to other projects.
4.2.1.3 Organisation’s definition of project management success
DD measures project management success by means of the KPIs of each project
manager and engineer. For instance, under the KPIs for project managers they get
measured according to how they do resource planning as this influences how the line
manager should in turn do resource capability planning. Project management success also
gets measured according to how much of the process specified in Primer has been
followed throughout the project. The idea with the KPIs is to install certain behaviour in the
project managers from which project management success will result. Some of the KPIs of
the senior project managers are mentoring and couching of junior or other project
managers who have not done project management in a specific line of business before.
4.2.1.4 Project management methodology
Dimension Data uses an in-house developed methodology called Primer. It is used
internationally throughout Dimension Data. Primer is based on the nine primary knowledge
areas of PMBOK. Primer is developed especially for the Dimension Data business
environment.
4.2.1.5 Importance of CSFs in the organisation
Dimension Data does not specifically focus on CSFs directly, but indirectly there are
certain areas of project management that, if focussed on, will increase the probability of
project management being successful.
4.2.1.6 Classify and review the CSFs in the organisation
Due to the time constraints of the interviews and the availability of the interviewees, only
the top five CSFs were listed, ranked and further investigated. Table 4.1 describes the top
five CSFs from the interview with Beylefeld (The full interview is attached as Appendix B).
47
Table 4.1: Top five CSFs from interview with Beylefeld
CRITICAL SUCCESS
FACTORS
1. Top management
support
KEY POINTS
 Strategically top management support is critically important
 Organisation has a project management mindset
 Top management supports all projects
 The project must be in line with the business strategy
 Top management uses their authority to influence a project when
needed
 Top management needs to lead by setting the example by
supporting the project office
 The whole origination needs to have a project management
mentality and it is only possible with top management support
 Comprehensive project management plan
2. Skilled and
experienced
project managers
 It is of critical importance that the PM is skilled and experienced
 The PM is the single person that has a view on all of the activities
of all the project resources
 The PM is responsible to control and monitor each activity
 The PM is also responsible to control all the other items such as
cost, risk and the communications of the project
 A project manager must be able to envision the entire project
from start to finish, and have the ability to comprehend this vision
 PM needs to keep the sponsors updated and informed
 DD have begin in house training on Primer
 PMs are motivated and advised to do Project Management
Professionals (PMP) certification
 Senior project manager are responsible to do knowledge transfer
to junior project manager
 DD does resource management together with all other business
units
 It is not always possible to schedule certain project managers for
certain type of project
 Most of the time DD selects project managers on availability of
PM with specific skill set
 If no one is available with that specific skill set, a capable PM is
selected and mentor assigned to assist PM
 PM is responsible for the all the control and management
functions on a project
 PMs are also involved during the presales stage of the proposal,
because the project manager must help to determine whether the
deliverance of the project is possible
48
3. Comprehensive
project
management plan
 A comprehensive management plan is extremely important
 A comprehensive project management plan includes the following
CSFs: clear goals and achievable deliverables, break project
down in smaller milestones, well defined scope, proficient scope
control, accurate cost management, effective risk management,
good quality control, effective change management and
communicate early and often
 DD does not focus on any of these areas specifically, DD focuses
on the PMP as a whole
 The PMP consists of project definition and the governance of it
 The governance of the project includes all the various control and
management areas
 Projects are classified according to their size and complexities
 Projects fall into one of two categories, transactional and full
blown projects
 The project management concepts are the same, but everything
is not documented
 Transactional projects are small projects that typically involve the
installation of only a few devices. The only items included in the
PMP are the financials and the delivery specifications
 Full blown projects include all the elements of the PMP
 The PMP is used as a control tool
 DD has a share point system that is updated regularly and any
project stakeholder has access to the project’s portal
 DD does this in order to get a unified view on the project
4. Competent team
 With a competent team risks are lower and project management
is more successful
 The project manager works with the line of business manager to
agree on which level of skill is needed to do the work as
determined in the work breakdown structure
 The line of business manager is responsible to do resource
planning according to the projected utilisation of the project team
members
4.2.1.7 Closing
For successful project management it is not necessary for a project manager to have a
strong technical background, but it definitely helps the project manager to understand the
different components of a project better. It also definitely helps in delivering ICT projects
successfully. In projects where the role of the project manager is purely to manage the
project management process and the documentation that goes with this, for instance
construction type projects, it is not necessary to have a strong technical background. On
49
the other hand, it is dangerous for a project manager to have too much technical skill,
especially technical configuration know-how, because they then stand the risk to get
technically to involved.
4.2.2 Interview 2: Kevin Treweek, Project Manager of Dimension Data
4.2.2.1 Background of interviewee
Kevin Treweek has more than 20 years experience of the IT. He started his career in field
engineering and moved through the ranks to Sales Vice President of the Western Region
USA Nortel Carrier Sales. For the past five years he has been working as a project
manager for Dimension Data in South Africa.
4.2.2.2 Organisation’s definition of project success
A project is successful if it meets the customers’ requirement. A lot of the projects are
driven on cost savings to the customer and customers typically classify a project as
successful if they can see those cost savings.
4.2.2.3 Organisation’s definition of project management success
Dimension Data uses the typical criteria of in time, on budget and within cost to measure if
the project management of the project was successful. In addition, Dimension Data also
measures successful project management by the final delivered product. If all the required
deliverables were met, project management is deemed as successful.
4.2.2.4 Project management methodology
Dimension Data uses Primer as their project management methodology. Primer is an inhouse developed methodology and it is based on like PMBOK.
4.2.2.5 Importance of CSF in the organisation
Dimension Data do not directly manage projects on CSFs, but we do focus on some areas
more than others.
4.2.2.6 Classify and review the CSFs in the organisation
Due to the time constraints of the interviews and the availability of the interviewees, only
the top five CSFs were listed, ranked and further investigated. Table 4.2 describes the top
five CSFs from the interview with Treweek (The full interview is attached as Appendix C).
50
Table 4.2: Top five CSFs from interview with Treweek
CRITICAL SUCCESS
FACTORS
1. Resources
KEY POINTS
 It is extremely important for the success of the project
 It is important because if the resources are not available the
project falls behind its schedule
 It is always a challenge to secure resources to the project
 Resources not dedicated to only the project
 Resources are shared by operations
 Operational tasks get priority over project tasks
 Engineers do not get the proper time to prepare for the project
work
 This leads to mistakes and costly rework
 It is business as usual for the project resources and they need to
keep their SLAs to their clients
2. User / customer
involvement
 Customers frequently involved; they are involved on a daily,
weekly and monthly basis
 The customers are ultimately the sponsor for the project
 A customers needs to be involved from the beginning to the end
 The more the customers are involved, the more they understand
the solution and the easier they understand when there are
issues on the project
 Relationships are built
 The goalpost will move during the project and it is imperative that
the customers are involved during the whole process
 In-house training programme for Primer
 Done most of our training through Universities and self study
 We also focus on shadowing and other on the job training
3. Skilled and
experienced
project manager
 We use project managers that are familiar with the environment
and client
 We use project managers that have done a project of that kind or
at least someone who has some experience in that field
 Without an experienced and skilled project manager the project
will never be successful
 A project manager is responsible for the delivery of the assigned
project on schedule, within budget and meeting the expectations
of the client
 The amount of detail included in the documents depends on the
type of project and it depends on the solution ultimately
 For complex project I include more detail
 I do not use a project management plan as a control tool
51
 I found it too cumbersome and I do not have the time to spend on
for instance chant charts
 I will do it only if the customer requests it
 I work from action logs and dash board
 People generally do not read and that they prefer to receive only
updates
 Not all stakeholders always sign off the PMP before the project,
but it depends on the size of the project
4. Communicate
early and often
 Communication is critical for project management success
 If the project manager communicates effectively and on a
regularly basis, the stakeholders are far more relaxed
 The stakeholders build up trust in the project manager
 Most of the project communication is done by email
 If people put things in writing they generally mean it and tend to
stick to it
 This is also done for record purposes
 Due to the fact that the customers are involved and updated as
often as possible, it is not always necessary to have weekly
update sessions
 The update sessions are truly just update sessions and not
lengthy sessions in which everything is discussed in detail
 The project manager is responsible for communication
5. Define Scope
 It is exceptionally important to define the scope of the project
before it actually starts
 Without a well defined scope the project simply does not have
boundaries and it is very difficult to get closure
 Project scope is the foundation on which the schedule, budget
and resource plans are built
 Getting it wrong could have a serious impact on the success of
the project
 As much detail as possible is included in scope definition
 During scoping sessions as much detail as possible is gathered
 It is not always easy and possible to get everything out of all the
stakeholders
4.2.2.7 Closing
A project manager needs to have a very good technical know-how in order to understand
the complexities of the solution he delivers. In some industries it might be true that project
managers do not need a technical background, but definitely not the IT industry. If the
project manager understands the solution he will be able to manage the different
52
components more effectively. Project managers that come through the ranks before
becoming a project manager are more successful, especially in delivering more complex
solutions.
4.2.3
4.2.3.1
Interview 3: Johan Stolz, Head of Project Manager Office of GijimaAst
Background of interviewee
Johan Stolz has been working in the IT industry for the last 20 years. His experience
ranges from an account manager to product manager and also a service delivery
manager. He has been working as a project manager for the past 10 years.
4.2.3.2
Organisation’s definition of project success
A project is successful if the quality of the end product is acceptable to the client. During
the scoping process at the start of the project a comprehensive scope of work is agreed on
by all the stakeholders. This scope is altered with the proper scope changing process
during the project. If the project is delivered according to the updated scope of work it is
considered as a successful project.
4.2.3.3
Organisation’s definition of project management success
GijimaAst do not directly measure project management success, but I would say if all the
milestones are achieved within the agreed quality, project management was successful.
4.2.3.4
Project management methodology
GijimaAst uses PMBOK as their project management methodology.
4.2.3.5
Importance of CSFs in the organisation
GijimaAst do not directly concentrate on certain CSFs, but indirectly there are certain
factors or areas of project management in our projects that we concentrate more on. The
focus also shifts slightly for specific type of projects.
4.2.3.6
Classify and review the CSFs in the organisation
Due to the time constraints of the interviews and the availability of the interviewees, only
the top five CSFs were listed, ranked and further investigated. Table 4.3 describes the top
five CSFs from the interview with Stolz (The full interview is attached as Appendix D).
53
Table 4.3: Top five CSFs from interview with Stolz
CRITICAL SUCCESS
FACTORS
1. Well defined
scope
KEY POINTS
 Always include as much detail as possible in the scope definition
 Workshop scope with all stakeholders to get their inputs
 Depends on type of project, but mostly focus on features and
functionality in scope definition
 Draw up functional document from workshops
 Scope definition includes project inclusions and exclusions
 Stakeholders sign off scope definition
 Scope determines the boundaries of the project
2. Comprehensive
project
management plan
 The amount of documentation done depends on the type of
project and size of the project
 Use project management process as planning and scoping tool
 Go through project management process for each project, but do
not necessary document everything
 The more detail you add in the project management plan, the
easier it is to execute the project successfully
 Use project management plan as a control tool, especially for
larger projects
 Easier to keep track of the progress of each activity if you use the
project management tool as a control tool
 Not all stakeholders sign off the project management plan, this
could lead to scope creep
 Company does not always follow the proper project management
methodology and processes
 Company does not see the value in spending the time on
planning
 In general the company’s project management plans do not have
enough depth and detail
3. Communicate
early and often
 Weekly update sessions with all the stakeholders involved on the
project
 The project manager is responsible for all the communication
 All the stakeholders channel all communication through the
project manager
 Communication is extremely important for project management
success
 The project sponsor must be kept up to date with the high level
progress of the project
 Issues should be escalated to the project sponsor quickly
54
4. Effective risk
management
 Everybody involved in the project is responsible for identifying
risks
 The project manager is responsible for controlling the risk
 The project manager works in conjunction with the steering
committee assess the risk and draw up action plans in order to
mitigate the risks
 The project manager often relies on the project resources’
expertise to identify risks and help control the risks
 It is important to identify risks early and escalate them in order to
get action and resolution quickly
5. User / customer
involvement
 Users/Customers are involved throughout the project
 The more you involve the customer the better the customer
understands the solution and the easier it is to get sign off
 This way the customer understands exactly what is included and
more importantly, excluded from the project scope
 Involve the customer as much I can during testing
 Involving the customers helps to resolve issues quicker and more
efficiently and leads to the project being more profitable
 According to me, GijimaAst do to put enough emphasis on user
involvement during the project
 They only involve the customers in the beginning scoping
sessions
4.2.3.7
Closing
In other industries it is not always necessary for the project manager to understand the
technical aspects, but in the IT industry it is necessary. In other industries the project
manager simply follows the project management methodology.
4.2.4
Interview 4: Vanessa Du Toit, Project Manager of GijimaAst
4.2.4.1 Background of interviewee
Vanessa Du Toit has been working in the IT industry for the past seven years. She started
her career as a service desk administrator and next moved to the project office as a
project office administrator. She has been involved in the project office for the past six
years of which the last three years has been a project manager.
4.2.4.2 Organisation’s definition of project success
A project can be regarded as successful if it falls within time; cost; resources are managed
effectively and efficiently; communication is managed effectively; risks are identified and
mitigated. However the relationship with the stakeholders of the project is of utmost
55
importance. A project can meet all the above criteria but be seen as a failure to the
stakeholders. Developing a respectful relationship with the client and ensuring that their
best interest is taken to heart can also affect the success of a project.
4.2.4.3 Organisation’s definition of project management success
GijimaAst’s project manager success is defined and measure in their KPIs.
4.2.4.4 Project management methodology
GijimaAst uses PMBOK as their project management methodology.
4.2.4.5 Importance of CSFs in the organisation
GijimaAst do not directly concentrate on certain CSFs.
4.2.4.6 Classify and review the CSFs in the organisation
Due to the time constraints of the interviews and the availability of the interviewees, only
the top five CSFs were listed, ranked and further investigated. Table 4.4 describes the top
five CSFs from the interview with Du Toit (The full interview is attached as Appendix E).
Table 4.4: Top five CSFs from interview with Du Toit
CRITICAL SUCCESS
FACTORS
1. User / customer
involvement
KEY POINTS
 It is of utmost importance for project management success that
the customer is as much as possible part of the project
 This will help to manage the issues during the project and will
help to have successful project management
 Users/Customers are involved mostly during the scoping
sessions
 This helps the customer to understand exactly what the project
entails
 The customer also agrees to what is included and excluded from
the project scope
 The users are also involved during the testing phases
2. Top management
support
 Top management must always support the project
 Top management support is of critical importance for successful
project management
 They help to make the project selection for the organisation
 They also give high level guidance and support to the project
 Top management are also part of the project steering committee
56
 Top management use their authority to influence a project
 The rest of the project team show more commitment when they
know that top management is monitoring their actions
 The project team are also more responsive when issues are
escalated to them
3. Competent team
 With competent team members the risks to the project are
generally lower
 Competent team members know how to handle difficult issues
and situations before they get to be real problems
 Most projects share resources with operations
 Engineers must be able to manage time properly
 Engineers must escalate issues before they become problems
 The project manager will indicate what type and how many
resources are needed for each activity
 Each business unit’s line manager will then allocate resources
from their available resources that have the right skill set
4. Clear goals and
achievable
deliverables
 Clear goals and achievable deliverables are important, because if
the deliverables are not clear it opens the door for grey areas
 It is very difficult to deliver a project successfully if you are not
sure if it is even going to work
 Not all stakeholders always agree on the goals of the project
 It is difficult to get everybody’s agreement, but with most projects
when the project sponsor agrees, the project will continue
 Great care is taken to ensure that all the project deliverables are
achieved during the presales or proof of concept phases
 Issues that arise during the project need to be addressed quickly
before they impact the project
5. Communicate
early and often
 Without good communication to the customer, he will get the
impression that the project team do not have enough focus and
urgency
 It is especially important to communicate effectively when working
on issues
 GijimaAst are always clear and transparent during our projects
and this is done by communication to everybody throughout the
project
 GijimaAst generally have weekly update sessions with the client,
but it depends on the size, phase and complexity of the project
 The project manager has daily update sessions with each project
resource in order to accurately monitor each activity
 All communication is channelled through the project manager
 Project manager is responsible to communicate to everybody
57
4.2.4.7 Closing
A strong technical background helps to understand the deliverables of the project. It is not
necessary that the project manager must have a technical background.
4.2.5
Interview 5: Christo Welgemoed, Head of Project Management Office of
Business Connexion
4.2.5.1 Background of interviewee
Christo Welgemoed has more than 25 years of experience in the IT industry; ranging from
technical to management. He started as a systems engineer, moved over to service
manager later before moving to project management. He has worked as a project
manager for the past 15 years and his responsibility has ranged from project manager to
project office management. He has done the theoretical training and entry exams for
Prince 2.
4.2.5.2 Organisation’s definition of project success
A project can be regarded as successful if it falls within time; cost; resources are managed
effectively and efficiently; communication is managed effectively; risks are identified and
mitigated. However the relationship with the stakeholders of the project is of utmost
importance. A project can meet all the above criteria but be seen as a failure to the
stakeholders. Developing a respectful relationship with the client and ensuring that their
best interest is taken to heart can also affect the success of a project.
4.2.5.3 Organisation’s definition of project management success
BCX measures project success according to budget, time and within scope.
4.2.5.4 Project management methodology
BCX works according to the Prince 2 methodologies.
4.2.5.5 Importance of CSFs in the organisation
BCX does a business case before the project and the factor identified in the business case
gets priority and is monitored throughout the project.
4.2.5.6 Classify and review the CSFs in the organisation
Due to the time constraints of the interviews and the availability of the interviewees, only
the top five CSFs were listed, ranked and further investigated. Table 4.5 describes the top
58
five CSFs from the interview with Welgemoed (The full interview is attached as Appendix
F).
Table 4.5: Top five CSFs from interview with Welgemoed
CRITICAL SUCCESS
FACTORS
1. Well defined
scope
KEY POINTS
 Project scope of work and high level design gets done during the
presales stage of the sales cycle
 Further work will then be done to develop the project charter for
the project
 BCX puts a lot of emphasis on defining and developing the
project scope
 Scope sets the boundaries of the project and without this it
impossible to deliver a successful project
 The Prince 2 methodology includes a lot of documentation
 BCX have very detailed documentation
2. Comprehensive
project
management plan
 The project management plan is very important
 A lot work goes into developing a comprehensive plan
 Due to the Prince 2 methodology a lot of documentation involved
 The project plan starts developing in the sales phase together
with the sales and presales team
 The amount of detail included depends on three criteria; the
financial size of the project, how much departments / outside
companies are involved and how many resources are needed for
the project
 All the project management plans include risk management,
change management, communication management and financial
management
 During project start up the project gets registered and loaded on a
central database
 The database gets used as a control tool to monitor and analyse
each project activity
 All the project stakeholders have access to the database
 The database gets updated on a weekly basis
 All the stakeholders do not always sign off on the project plan
 With some projects it is not always easy to get all the
stakeholders buy in and approval on all items and issues during
the project
 Stakeholders sometimes choose to respond to only items that
they want to
 In some cases it is necessary to get the sponsors involved to
resolve issues
59
3. Break project
down in smaller
milestones
 Project gets broken down into smaller projects
 It is especially important to break down big complex projects into
smaller sub projects
 It is important because this way you minimise the risk, because it
easier to control and manage smaller projects
 There are fewer things that can go wrong
 Prince 2 defines your finale deliverable as a product
 The product is broken down into smaller milestones
 By focussing on each smaller sub project it is easier to achieve a
successful end product
 BCX do identify ownership of each of the smaller sub projects
4. Effective risk
management
 Effective risk management is very important
 If risks are not properly managed it will have a negative impact on
the project, it could cause costly delays and could ultimately
cause the project to be unsuccessful
 BCX identify the risk, determine the impact, determine the
probability that this might take place and from this the impact
factor is determined
 The impact factor is calculated on a scale of 0 to 20
 Any impact factors of 7 and less are classified as low and are
managed by the project manager
 Anything between 8 and 12 is medium impact
 Anything more than 12 is classified as a high impact and is
managed together with a project board on a daily basis
 The project manager is responsible for controlling the risks
5. Competent team
 Competent team members lower the risks to the project
 Competent team is ultimately responsible for the success of the
project
 The project does share resources with operations
 Resources do sometimes get pulled from the projects in order to
resolve high priority operational tasks
 This is always communicated properly and is managed
thoroughly by both the project manager and the line of business
manager
 The project manager works with the resource manager to plan
the amount of resources that will be needed for the project
 Next the respective line managers are responsible to identify and
assign the correct resources to the project
60
4.2.5.7 Closing
It is necessary for complex projects to have a project manager who have a strong
technical background. It helps to understand and identify the risk associated to the project
more accurately.
4.2.6
Interview 6: William Pretorius, Project Manager of Business Connexion
4.2.6.1 Background of interviewee
William Pretorius has 22 years experience in the IT industry of which the past nine years
have been in project management.
4.2.6.2 Organisation’s definition of project success
A project is successful if the product is delivered within the customer’s requirements and
within time and budget. The functionality of the end product is very important and BCX will
even make a loss in order to deliver the correct functionality.
4.2.6.3 Organisation’s definition of project management success
BCX measures project management success by means of KPIs. Each one of the
resources on the project has their own KPIs that are specific for their function against
which they get measured.
4.2.6.4 Project management methodology
BCX works according to the Prince 2 methodologies.
4.2.6.5 Importance of CSFs in the organisation
BCX does not directly focus on critical success factors when managing a project.
4.2.6.6 Classify and review the CSFs in the organisation
Due to the time constraints of the interviews and the availability of the interviewees, only
the top five CSFs were listed, ranked and further investigated. Table 4.6 describes the top
five CSFs from the interview with Pretorius (The full interview is attached as Appendix G).
61
Table 4.6: Top five CSFs from interview with Pretorius
CRITICAL SUCCESS
FACTORS
KEY POINTS
1. Skilled and
experienced
project manager
 A skilled and experienced project manager is one of most
important CSFs
 The project manager is the only person that has a view over all of
the activities
 The project manager is responsible for controlling and monitoring
each activity
 BCX project managers do project management courses at the
University of Stellenbosch
 All project managers are encouraged to do the Prince 2
certification
 BCX encourages self development
 The project manager is selected for a project based on their skill
and experience level
 The project manager is also chosen based on customer
preference
 If no one is available with the right skill level someone is chosen
who is available with the nearest skill and experienced levels
 A coach is also assigned to give guidance and advice
 The project manager is responsible for managing scope, risk,
communication and financials
 The project manager is responsible for all the management and
control functions associated with the project
2. Clear goals and
achievable
deliverables
 Clear goals and achievable deliverables are very important for
project management success
 Otherwise the project manager will never know how to plan each
activity and the project management success will not be
successful
 No, not all the stakeholders agree on all the goals of the project
 It is not always viable to get all the stakeholders agreement
 During presales all the functionality is researched before it is
proposed
 All the uncertainty is tested during a proof of concept
 It still happens that some of the deliverables are not always
achievable
3. Comprehensive
project
management plan
 The project management plan is especially important for
successful project management
 If all the components of a project management plan are done
thoroughly it usually means that the proper planning has been
done for the project
 With smaller projects the project management plan is used as a
62
planning tool
 With smaller projects all the documentation is not always included
 The amount of details included in the documentation depends on
the following:
 Size of the budget
 The number of resources involved from BCX
 The number of outside companies involved
 The project management plan always includes:
o
risk management
o
change management
o
communication management
o
financial management
 The project plan gets used as a control tool
 BCX have a central database that gets updated on a weekly basis
 The central database is used as a control tool for the project
 All the stakeholders have a view to the database and can monitor
the project status
 All the stakeholders do not always sign off on the project plan
 I personally try and get as many stakeholders to sign off the scope
of the project
4. Well defined
scope
 Without a well defined scope the projects do not have boundaries
and it is difficult to close get closure
 A project without a well defined scope often has scope creep and
ends up running over time and budget
 The project office is involved from the beginning of the proposal
 During the presales the scope for the project is already done
 The scope as well as all the inclusions and exclusions of the
project are documented
5. Good quality
control
 Quality control is important, because the project must adhere to
the functional specifications as defined in the project plan
 Over achieving is not financially viable for the company
 Under achieving means that the project is not delivering according
to what was agreed upon
 BCX focuses on delivering the exact quality that was defined in
the scope and functional specification
 The engineers on the project are responsible to ensure that the
quality is adhered to
 BCX also use systems engineers, who are responsible for the
project as a whole
 The systems engineers ensure and verify the quality of each
63
deliverable and end product
 The quality of the project is controlled with systems assessment
tests which are documented and signed off by the systems
engineer and the customer
4.2.6.7 Closing
In the IT industry it is necessary for the project managers to have good technical
knowledge in order to successfully manage complicated projects. Project managers with
good technical knowledge better understand the different components and the risk
associated with each activity. If a very detailed architectural plan is done it is not always
necessary for the project manager to be that technical.
4.3
RESEARCH RESULTS
The following conclusions are applicable to the literature study as well as relative CSFs in
successful project management in SA ICT companies and were derived from the content
analysis depicted in Tables 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6. From the 16 CSFs identified in
the literature study, the top five CSFs were ranked by each interviewee and analysed by
the researcher by means of guided discussions. In the sample interviews 12 CSFs were
identified and are discussed in section 4.3.1. The four CSFs that were not identified by the
interviewees are discussed in section 4.3.2. For easy reference the conclusions were
divided and summarised into sections and are to be viewed in context relative to the top
five CSFs of each interviewee.
4.3.1
CSFs identified in the sample interviews
The 12 CSFs identified by the interviewees are discussed below.
4.3.1.1 Top management support
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:

Top management support is of critical importance for successful project
management.

Strategically top management support is essential.

Organisation should have a project management mindset.

Top management should support all projects.

The project should be in line with the business strategy.

Top management use their authority to influence a project when needed.
64

Top management should lead by setting the example by supporting the project
office.

The whole origination should have a project management mentality and it is only
possible with top management support.

Top management help making project selection for the organisation.

Top management also give high level guidance and support to the project.

Top management are also part of the project steering committee.

The rest of the project team show more commitment when they know that top
management is monitoring their actions.

The project team are also more responsive when issues are escalated to them.
4.3.1.2 Skilled and experienced project managers
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:

It is of essential for project management support that the project manager (PM) is
skilled and experienced.

A PM must be able to envision the entire project from start to finish, and have the
ability to comprehend this vision.

The PM is the single person that has a view of all of the activities of all the project
resources.

The PM is responsible to control and monitor each activity.

The PM is also responsible to control all the other items such as cost, risk and the
communications of the project.

PM needs to keep the sponsors updated and informed.

In organisations PMs are motivated to do training and certification.

Most organisations recommendation Project Management Professionals (PMP)
certification.

Senior project managers are responsible to do knowledge transfer to junior project
manager.

Companies do resource management in conjunction with their other business units.
65

It is not always possible to schedule certain project managers for certain types of
project.

Most of the time companies select project managers on availability of PM with
specific skill set.

If no one is available with that specific skill set, a capable PM is selected and
mentor assigned to assist PM.

The project manager is also chosen on customer preference.

PM is responsible for the all the control and management functions on a project.

PMs are also involved during the presales stage of the proposal, because the
project manager must help to determine whether the deliverance of the project is
possible.
4.3.1.3 Comprehensive project management plan
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:

A comprehensive management plan is exceptionally important for project
management success.

A comprehensive project management plan includes the following CSFs: clear
goals and achievable deliverables, break project down into smaller milestones, well
defined scope, proficient scope control, accurate cost management, effective risk
management,
good
quality
control,
effective
change
management
and
communicate early and often.

Most companies do not focus on any of these areas specifically, they focus on the
PMP as a whole.

The PMP consists of project definition and the governance thereof.

The governance of the project includes all the various control and management
areas.

Projects are classified according to their size and complexities.

Most companies use two to three categories of classification; transactional and full
blown projects.
66

For each, the project management concepts are the same, but everything is not
documented.

Transactional projects are small projects that involve typically the installation of only
a few devices, the only items included in the PMP are the financials and the delivery
specifications.

Full blown projects include all the elements of the PMP.

The PMP is used as a control tool.

Companies have a share point system that is updated regularly and any project
stakeholder has access to the project’s portal.

Companies do this in order to get a unified view on the project.
4.3.1.4 Competent team
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:

With a competent team risks are lower and project management is more successful.

The project manager works in conjunction with the line of business manager to
determine the skill level needed for the work as determined in the work breakdown
structure.

The line of business manager is responsible to do resource planning according to
the projected utilisation of the project team members.

With competent team members the risks to the project are generally lower.

Competent team members know how to handle difficult issues and situations before
they get to be real problems.

Most projects share resources with operations.

Engineers must be able to manage time properly.

Engineers must escalate issues before they become problems.
4.3.1.5 Resources availability
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:
67

The availability of project resources is extremely important for the success of the
project.

It is important because if the resources are not available the project falls behind its
schedule.

In all companies it is a challenge to secure resources to the project.

Resources are not dedicated to only one project at a specific time and are shared
by operations.

In most companies operational tasks get priority over project tasks.

Due to workload, engineers generally do not get the proper time to prepare for the
project work.

This leads to mistakes and costly rework.

It is business as usual for the project resources and they need to keep their SLAs to
their clients.
4.3.1.6 User / customer involvement
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:

Customers are frequently involved in the project, they generally are involved on a
daily, weekly and monthly basis.

The customers are ultimately the sponsor for the project.

A customer should be involved from the beginning to the end.

The more the customers are involved, the more they understand the solution and
the easier they understand when there are issues on the project.

By involving customers on a more frequent basis, better and stronger relationships
are built.

The goalpost will move during the project and it is impeccable that the customers
are involved during the whole process in order to communicate this to them.

It is not always easy and possible to get everything out of all the stakeholders.
68
4.3.1.7 Communicate early and often
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:

Communication is critical for project management success.

If the project manager communicates effectively and on a regularly basis, the
stakeholders are far more relaxed.

The stakeholders build up trust in the project manager.

Most of the project communication is done by email.

If people put things in writing they generally mean it and tend to stick to it.

This is also done for record purposes.

Due to the fact that the customers are involved and updated as often as possible, it
is not always necessary to have weekly update sessions.

The update sessions are truly just update sessions and not lengthy sessions in
which everything is discussed in detail.

The project manager is responsible for all communication.

All communication is channelled through the project manager.
4.3.1.8 Well define scope
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:

It is exceptionally important to define the scope of the project before it actually
starts.

Without a well defined scope the project simply does not have boundaries and it is
very difficult to get closure.

Project scope is the foundation on which the schedule, budget and resource plans
are built.

Getting it wrong could have a serious impact on the success of the project.

As much detail as possible is included in scope definition.

During scoping sessions as much detail as possible is gathered.

Scope definition includes project inclusions and exclusions.
69

Most organisations use the scope definition workshops to draw up functional
documents.

Scope will probably change during the life of the project, but if the change is
planned and managed, scope creep can be avoided.
4.3.1.9 Effective risk management
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:

Everybody involved in the project is responsible for identifying risks.

The project manager is responsible for controlling the risk.

The project manager works in conjunction with the steering committee to assess
risk and draw up action plans to mitigate the risks.

The project manager often relies on the project resource expertise to identify risks
and help control the risks.

It is important to identify risks early and escalate them in order to get action and
resolution quickly.

Most companies rely heavily on the steering committee in their risk management
process.

Issues that arise during the project need to be addressed quickly before they impact
the project.

If risks are not properly managed it will have a negative impact on the project, it
could cause costly delays and could ultimately cause the project to be
unsuccessful.

Companies identify the risk, determine the impact, determine the probability that
this might take place and from this the impact factor is determined.

The impact factor is quantified in order to determine how the risk should be
managed.
4.3.1.10
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:
70

Clear goals and achievable deliverables are important, because if the deliverables
are not clear it opens the door for grey areas.

It is very difficult to deliver a project successfully if you are not sure if it is even
going to work.

Not all stakeholders always agree on the goals of the project.

It is difficult to get everybody’s agreement, but with most projects when the project
sponsor agrees, the project will continue.

Great care is taken to ensure that all the project deliverables are achieved during
the presales or proof of concept phases.
4.3.1.11
Break project down in smaller milestones
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:

Project does get broken down in smaller projects.

It is especially important to break big complex projects down into smaller sub
projects.

It is important because this way you minimise the risk, because it is easier to control
and manage smaller projects.

Prince 2 defines the finale deliverable as a product.

The product is broken down in smaller milestones.

By focussing on each smaller sub project it is easier to achieve a successful end
product.

Companies do identify ownership of each of the smaller sub projects.
4.3.1.12
Good quality control
The following is an amalgamation from the interviews conducted:

Quality control is important, because the project must adhere to the functional
specifications as defined in the project plan.

Over achieving is not financially viable for the company.

Under achieving means that the project is not delivering according to what was
agreed upon.
71

Companies focus on delivering the exact quality that was defined in the scope and
functional specification.

The engineers on the project are responsible to ensure that the quality is adhered
to.

Companies should also uses systems engineers, who are responsible for the
project as a whole.

The systems engineers ensure and verify the quality of each deliverable and end
product.

The quality of the project is controlled with systems assessment tests which are
documented and signed off by the systems engineer and the customer.
4.3.2
CSFs not identified in the sample interviews
In addition to the 12 CSFs identified and discussed in the sample interviews, the literature
review also identified good architecture, proficient scope control, accurate cost
management and good quality control.
The literature study (paragraph 2.2.11) Rozenes, Vitner and Spragett (2006) and
Marchewka (2007) identified scope, cost, risk, quality and change management as project
control tools that are important for successful project management. A comprehensive
management plan encompasses all of the above which indicates that when focusing on
the project management plan as a whole it also covers proficient scope control, accurate
cost management and good quality control.
It is the opinion of the researcher that good architecture forms part of the presales
technical phase and should not be seen in context of project management and is not a key
factor that influences the success of project management.
In Table 4.7 each interviewee’s top five CSFs are summarised:
72
Table 4.7: Interview summary
Researchee
Marius
Beylefeld
1st CSF
Top
management
support
2nd CSF
Skilled and
experienced
project manger
Kevin
Treweek
Resources
availability
User / customer
involvement
Johan Stolz
Well defined
scope
Vanessa Du
Toit
User /
customer
involvement
Comprehensive
project
management
plan
Top
management
support
Christo
Welgemoed
Well defined Comprehensive
scope
project
management
plan
Skilled and
Clear goals and
experienced
achievable
project
deliverables
manager
William
Pretorius
4.3.3
3de CSF
Comprehensive
project
management
plan
Skilled and
experienced
project manager
Communicate
early and often
4th CSF
Competent
team
5th CSF
Not
applicable
Communicate
early and
often
Effective risk
management
Well define
scope
Competent
team
Clear goals
and
achievable
deliverables
Effective risk
management
Communicate
early and
often
Well defined
scope
Good quality
control
Break project
down into
smaller
milestones
Comprehensive
project
management
plan
User /
customer
involvement
Competent
team
Calculation of the top five CSFs
The method used to calculate the top five CSFs of project management in the SA ICT
companies was an adapted weighted multi-criteria decision analysis. First the 16 CSFs
identified in the literature and the research results of each interviewee were listed in a
matrix (Table 4.8). Next the results from each sample interview were given a weight out of
five, five being the highest weight. Next the sum of each CSF was calculated.
According to the analysis, the top five CSFs are as follows:
1.
Comprehensive project management plan
2.
Well defined scope
3.
Skilled and experienced project manger
4.
User / customer involvement
5.
Top management support
73
Table 4.8: Research result calculation
Top management
support
Skilled and
experienced
project manger
User / customer
involvement
Clear goals and
achievable
deliverables
Comprehensive
project
management plan
Break project
down into smaller
milestones
Good architecture
Resources are
availability
Well defined scope
Competent team
Proficient scope
control
Accurate cost
management
Effective risk
management
Good quality
control
Effective change
management
Communicate
early and often
4.4
Marius
Beylefeld
5
Kevin
Treweek
4
3
4
Johan
Stolz
Vanessa
Du Toit
4
Christo
Welgemoed
5
1
5
4
4
4
6
3
14
3
5
5
5
2
3
2
5
1
2
2
3
1
13
6
4
1
2
12
10
3
1
Total
9
2
3
William
Pretorius
1
6
CONCLUSION
In this chapter the researcher extracted applicable information from the conclusions
derived from the interviews. The 16 CSFs that were identified in the literature study were
tested and ranked by a representative sample of project managers of SA ICT companies.
Next the CSFs found in the interviews were quantified in order to determine the top five
CSFs of project management of SA ICT companies. The researcher found that the
conclusions derived from the interviews support the literature study.
74
CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
5.1
INTRODUCTION
In the project management context there are key factors that influence the success of
project management. These key factors were identified and discussed on a review of the
literature. By means of personal interviews these CSFs were tested against a
representative sample of project managers of SA ICT companies. The research question
for this research report is the following:
What are the Project Management Critical Success Factors of large SA ICT
companies?
The objective of this study was to determine the top five project management CSFs in the
South African ICT environment. This could help to limit the risk of not finishing within the
time frame, and to ensure desired quality with optimal use of resources within the allocated
budget of the project.
The secondary objective of this study was to determine during which stages of the project
methodology these CSFs occur. This could ultimately contribute to a higher project
management and project success.
5.2
CONCLUSIONS FROM INTERVIEWS AND THE LITERATURE STUDY
The conclusion of this research report is sub divided into the two research objectives. The
first objective is to review the top five CSFs in SA ICT environment. The second objective
is to identify which phases of project methodology are most crucial for project
management success.
5.2.1 The CSFs of project management in SA ICT companies
The researcher found that the literature study and the interviews, which consisted of
theories and views from a number of SA ICT representative project managers, supported
each other in several ways.
75
The project methodologies of three reviewed ICT companies are PMBOK, Prince 2 or a
methodology adopted for their unique business environment.
The three reviewed ICT companies define and measure project success in similar
manners. A project is classified as successful when the product is delivered within the
customer’s requirements and within time and budget. The functionality of the end product
is very import and great emphasis is placed on delivering an end product with the correct
specifications and functionality. Project management success is defined and measured by
means of the KPIs of the project managers.
South African ICT companies do not directly focus on any CSF, but indirectly they do focus
on certain areas that will increase the probability of project management success. The
research identified the following top five CSFs:
1.
Comprehensive project management plan
2.
Well defined scope
3.
Skilled and experienced project manger
4.
User / customer involvement
5.
Top management support
The results from the research of each CSF are reviewed below.
Comprehensive project management plan
The literature review (paragraph 2.2.1.5), as well as the feedback from the sample
interviews (paragraph 4.3.3), defined that the project management plan consists of a
project definition and the governance of the project. According to the PMI, the governance
of the project includes all the various control and management areas. The literature study
(paragraph 2.2.1.5) and the feedback from the sample interviews (paragraph 4.3.3) both
stated that a comprehensive project management plan includes clear goals and
achievable deliverables, breaking projects down into smaller milestones, a well defined
scope, proficient scope control, accurate cost management, effective risk management,
good quality control, effective change management and good communication. The focus is
not on any particular area, but rather on the project management plan in its entirety.
The literature study (paragraph 2.2.1.5) and the feedback from the sample interviews
(paragraph 4.3.3) both support that the amount of documented detail in the project
76
management plan is determined by the category of project. The project category is
classified according to the financial size, the number of internal and external resources
and the risks associated with the project. The project management concepts and
methodology are the same for the all the different project categories. According to the
interviewees, the probability of a successful project increases when more detail is added to
the project management plan.
The project management plan is used as a control tool. It is used for tracking and
monitoring each activity. This is especially important when managing large and complex
projects. A central database is used for tracking and monitoring project progress. All the
project stakeholders have a view to the project dashboards through a database portal.
According to the interviewees, the project management plan acts as an early warning
system when it is used as a control tool.
Well defined scope
The research conducted in the literature (2.2.1.9) and the sample interviews (paragraph
4.3.8) proved that it is exceptionally important to define and sign off project scope before
the project actually starts. Project scope is the foundation on which the schedule, budget
and resource plans are built. Both the literature review (paragraph 2.2.1.9) and the sample
interviews (paragraph 4.3.8) stated that getting it wrong could have a serious impact on
the success of the project. Without a well defined scope the project simply does not have
boundaries and it is very difficult to get project closure. According to the interviewees,
projects without a well defined scope often have scope creep and end up running over
time and budget. Research conducted in the literature (paragraph 2.2.1.9) and the
interviews (paragraph 4.3.8) illustrated that when the scope definition was done during
presales it is more accurate, especially from a budgeting perspective. Companies include
as much detail as possible in scope definition and the scope as well as all the inclusions
and exclusions of the project must be documented.
Scope workshops must be done with all stakeholders in order to get their inputs. The end
result will be a functional document that the engineer can use as a baseline. It is not
always easy and possible to get all the requirements out of all the stakeholders, but the
key stakeholders and the sponsor must agree and sign off the project scope definition.
Project scope is most likely to change during the life of the project, but if the change is
planned and managed, scope creep can be avoided. According to the research, if changes
77
to the scope of a project go through a mature scope change control process, it will allow
for scope change to be done in a planned manner and will minimise the risk for time and
budget overruns.
Skilled and experienced project manger
The research conducted in the literature (paragraph 2.2.1.2) and the sample interviews
(paragraph 4.3.2) both identified a skilled and experienced project manager as imperative
to the successful implementation of a project. A project manager must be able to envision
the entire project from start to finish, and have the ability to comprehend this vision. A
project manager is responsible for the delivery of the assigned project on schedule, within
budget and meeting the expectations of the client. The project manager is ultimately the
one person that controls and monitors all the individual activities and tasks. The project
manager is responsible for integration, scope, time and cost, quality, human resource,
communication and risk management.
Project managers are encouraged to ensure self development, but they also get
sponsored to do official certification. Senior project managers are responsible for
knowledge transfer and for mentoring their junior colleagues.
Project resource management is done in conjunction with other business units. Project
managers are selected according to skill and experience levels. If no project manager is
available for the specific project, the next best available skilled and experienced project
manager is selected. A mentor, with the right skill set, is then assigned to give guidance
and support. Clients prefer and sometimes insist on project managers that are familiar with
the environment and customer base.
The sample interviews identified that there is a strong focus on involving project mangers
earlier in the sales cycle. Project managers are getting involved during the presales stage
of the proposal in order to assist in determining the deliverables and costing of each
activity.
User/customer involvement
The literature research (paragraph 2.2.1.3) and the sample interviews (paragraph 4.1.3)
both stated that it is of utmost importance for project management success that the
customer is part of the project and project processes as much as possible. Customers
78
should be involved from the planning phases of the project, by means of workshops right
through to the project closure phases. Customers need to know exactly how the systems
should function and perform. This will help with problem management and it will also help
the customer to understand exactly what the project entails. The customer also needs to
agree to the inclusions and exclusions from the project scope. The researcher identified
that the more customers are involved during a project the better the customer understands
the solution and the easier it is to get sign off. The customers are ultimately the sponsor of
the project and need to be treated that way.
Top management support
The perceptions of the interviewees coincided with that of the available literature (for more
details see paragraph 2.2.1.1 of the literature study and paragraph 4.3.1 of the research
results from the interviews). Both depicted that strategically top management support is of
critical importance for successful project management and that the project must be in line
with the business strategy, otherwise there is no benefit to the company. According to the
research, when top management is very sales orientated the project office will suffer. The
whole origination needs to have a project management mentality and it is only possible
with top management support. Top management needs to lead by setting the example.
The role and responsibility of the top management include making policy decisions,
removing organisational obstacles, doing project selection and also giving high level
guidance and support to the project.
Top management uses their authority to influence the project. The top management, the
project sponsors, the project manager and some other senior key stakeholders form part
of the project steering committee. The primary purpose of the project steering committee is
to provide overall guidance and direction to the project. The steering committee also need
use their authority and influence to quickly and effectively help resolve certain type of
problems.
Open ended question
In closing, an open question was asked where the interviewees were given an opportunity
to express themselves freely regarding the necessity for ICT project managers to have a
strong technical background for successful management of ICT projects.
79
The overwhelming response, five of the six project managers interviewed, was that it is
necessary. In other industries it is not always necessary for the project manager to
understand the technical aspects, but in the IT industry it is necessary. In other industries
project managers simply follow the project management methodology, but due to the
complexities of ICT projects, project managers need to have a very good technical
knowhow in order to understand the complexities of the solution. The project managers
that understand the solution, do manage the different components more effectively.
5.2.2 Grouping of CSFs in project life phases
Top management support and skilled and experienced project managers span over all four
phases of the project life cycle. User / customer support spans over the first three phases
and comprehensive project management plan and well defined scope span over the
project planning and project execution and monitoring phases. This indicates that the
project planning and project execution and monitoring are the most crucial for project
management success (Table 5.1).
Table 5.1: CSF grouped in project life cycle
Project success factor
Project
initiation
Project
planning
Project execution and
monitoring
Project
closure
Top management support
Skilled and experienced
project manager
User/customer involvement
Comprehensive project
management plan
Well defined scope
5.3
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
This research focused on identifying the CSFs in SA ICT companies. The researcher
suggests that further research can be conducted in methods which will result in an
increase in the project management success for ICT projects by focussing on the identified
CSFs in this study.
80
5.4
CONCLUSION
In the project management context there are certain key factors that influence successful
project management. These key factors were identified and discussed during a review of
the literature. The key factors found in the literature review were tested against the South
African ICT environment by means of personal interviews. Identifying the critical success
factors was done in order to limit the risks of not finishing within the time frame of the
project, and to help ensure that the desired quality with optimal use of resources within the
allocated budget of the project was achieved. The aim of the study was ultimately to
identify the CSFs in order to increase the project management success.
The objective of this study was to determine the top five project management CSFs in the
South African ICT environment. The secondary objective was to determine during which
phases of the project life cycle these CSFs occur.
South African ICT companies do not directly focus on any CSF, but indirectly they do focus
on certain areas that will increase the probability of project management success. The
research identified the top five CSFs as a comprehensive project management plan, well
defined scope, skilled and experienced project managers, user / customer involvement
and top management support.
The research also identified that the project planning and project execution and monitoring
phases of the project life cycle are the most crucial for project management success.
In addition the research identified that project managers who have a strong technical
background understand the complexities of the product better and do manage the different
components of the projects more effectively.
The researcher suggests that further research can be conducted in methods which will
result in an increase of the project management success for ICT projects by focussing on
the identified CSFs in this study.
81
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APPENDICES
89
APPENDIX A
DISCUSSION GUIDE
The following question will be used during the structured interviews:
1.
Please give a short synopsis of your working background, positions held and main
experience.
2.
Please state your current position and the core function of this position?
3.
How does your organisation define and measure project success?
4.
How does your organisation define and measure project management success?
5.
What project management methodology does your organisation follow?
6.
Does your organisation concentrate on critical success factors when managing
projects?
7.
What are these critical success factors (use questions below as guidelines)? During
the literature review the following 16 CSFs were identified (not in order of
importance):
1. Top management support
1. Do top management support all your projects?
2. Do they use their authority to influence your projects?
3. How do they influence your projects?
4. How important is top management support for project management
success in your organisation and why is it important?
2. Skilled and experienced project manager
1. What training does your project managers do?
2. How do you select your project managers for certain projects?
3. What roles and responsibilities do PMs have, for instance do they
manage scope, risks, communication, etc?
4. How important is a skilled and experience project manager for project
management success in your organisation and why is it important?
3. User / customer involvement
1. How much is the user / customer involved during the different stage of the
project?
2. How important is user/customer involvement for project management
success in your organisation and why is it important?
4. Clear goals and achievable deliverables
1. Do all the project stakeholders always agree on the goals of the project?
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2. Is all the project deliverables always achievable?
3. How important is clear goals and achievable deliverables for project
management success in your organisation and why is it important?
5. Comprehensive project management plan
1. How much detail do you include in your project management plan?
2. Do you use the project management plan as a control tools?
3. Do all the stakeholders sign off the project management plan before the
project starts?
4. How important is a project management plan for project management
success in your organisation why is it important?
6. Break project down in smaller milestones
1. Do you break the project down in very small sub projects?
2. Do you identify ownership of the sub projects?
3. How important is breaking the project down in smaller milestones for
project management success in your organisation and why is it
important?
7. Good architecture
1. How important is good architecture for project management success in
your organisation and why is it important?
8. Make sure the resources are available to the project
1. How difficult is it to secure resources for projects?
2. Do resources often get pulled of projects?
3. How important is to make sure the resources are available to the project
for project management success in your organisation and why is it
important?
9. Well defined scope
1. How much detail do you include in your scope definition?
2. How important is it to define scope for project management success in
your organisation and why is it important?
10. Competent team
1. How is the project team selected?
2. How important is a competent team for project management success in
your organisation and why is it important?
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11. Proficient scope control
1. What method does your organisation use to manage the scope of the
project?
2. How important is proficient scope control for project management
success in your organisation and why is it important?
12. Accurate cost management
1. What methods does your organisation use to control the costs of the
project?
2. Who is responsible for controlling the costs?
3. How important is accurate cost management for project management
success in your organisation and why is it important?
13. Effective risk management
1. What is your organisation’s project risk management methodology?
2. Who is responsible for controlling the risks?
3. How important is effective risk management for project management
success in your organisation and why is it important?
14. Good quality control
1. Does your organisation focus on delivering quality as defined in the scope
or do you deliver more than what was agreed upon?
2. Who is responsible for controlling the quality of the deliverables?
3. How important is quality control project management success in your
organisation and why is it important?
15. Effective change management
1. What is your organisation’s project change management methodology?
2. How important is change management for project management success
in your organisation and why is it important
16. Communicate early and often
1. What is your organisation’s project communication methodology?
2. Who is responsible for communication during the project?
3. How important is communication for project management success in your
organisation and why is it important?
8.
What is the order of importance of these CSF in your organisation?
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APPENDIX B
INTERVIEW 1:
MARIUS BEYLEFELD, HEAD OF PROJECT OFFICE,
DIMENSION DATA
Researcher: Please give a short synopsis of your working background, positions
held and main experience.
MB: I have 12 Year experience in IT industry. Started my project management career at
Sanlam, where I worked for as a project manager for 5 year. I next move to BSW data
where I worked for 4 years as a project manager working mainly with software
development. Next I moved to Dimension Data as a line manager in the networks
department. I mostly managed the network, server and security engineers. In this position I
gained a lot of experience in especially technical solutions. For the last four years I have
been managing the Western Cape Project Office and Professional services business.
I did a few project management methodology courses, including Prince, System Corp. and
Mid P. I also recently completed my Project Management Professionals (PMP) certified.
Before my project management career I studied Human Resource management at the
Free State University. I completed the Management Development Program (MDP) at the
University of Stellenbosch.
Researcher: Please state your current position and the core function of this
position?
MB: I’m head of the Project Office of Dimension Data, as well as the Professional Services
business.
Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project success?
MB: DD do project management to make money, to be profitable. DD primarily uses
budget and time to measure project success. Under this fall other items as implementing
the solution according to the project management plan, according to process, etc. DD uses
time and budget as the measurement for successful projects; because if anything else
slips it will influence these two. For instance if a project runs over time DD loses money in
the form of opportunity costs due to project managers and engineers that are tied up for
longer than scheduled and this means they can’t be assigned to other projects.
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Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project management
success?
MB: DD measures project management success by means of the KPIs of each project
manager and engineer. For instance under the KPIs for project managers they get
measured according to how they do resource planning as this influence how the line
manager should on their turn do resource capability planning. Project management
success also gets measured according to how much of the process specified in Primer
have been follow throughout the project. The idée with the KPIs are to install certain
behaviour in the project managers in with project management success with result from.
Part of the KPIs of the senior project managers are mentoring and couching of junior or
other project manager who have not done project management in a specific line of
business before.
Researcher: What project management methodology does your organisation
follow?
MB: Dimension Data uses an in house developed methodology called Primer. It is used
internationally throughout Dimension Data. Primer is based on the 9 primary knowledge
areas of PMBOK. Primer is developed especially for the Dimension Data business
environment.
Researcher: Does your organisation concentrate on critical success factors when
managing projects?
MB: Dimension Data do not specifically focus on CSF directly, but indirectly there are
certain areas of project management that if focussed on will increase the probability of
project management being successful.
Researcher: Please list and rank the top 5 CSF in your organisation from the
following list?
1.
Top management support
2.
Skilled and experienced project manager
3.
User / customer involvement
4.
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
5.
Comprehensive project management plan
6.
Break project down in smaller milestones
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7.
Good architecture
8.
Make sure the resources are available to the project
9.
Well defined scope
10. Competent team
11. Proficient scope control
12. Accurate cost management
13. Effective risk management
14. Good quality control
15. Effective change management
16. Communicate early and often
MB: Order of importance
1.
Top management support
2.
Skilled and experienced project manger
3.
Comprehensive project management plan
4.
Competent team
Researcher: Do top management support all your projects?
MB: Absolutely, we will not go ahead with a project if top management do not support the
project. The project must be in line with the business strategy, otherwise it will be dropped.
There is no benefit to the company if the project is not in line with the company’s strategy.
If top management is very sales orientated the project office is going to suffer.
Researcher: Do top management use their authority to influence your projects?
MB: Top management do use their authority to influence a project when it is needed. Top
management needs to lead by setting the example by supporting the project office. The
whole origination needs to have a project management mentality and only with top
management support this is possible.
Researcher: How do they influence your projects?
MB: Top management uses their authority to influence projects. It is the project manager’s
responsibility to escalate any issues to top management and they need to react. Top
management can react in various ways but first and at most importance they motivate and
show support to the project team and organisation.
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Researcher: How important is top management support for project management
success in your organisation and why?
MB: Strategically top management support is critical important. If the business wants to
make a decision top management will contact me and ask this is in order with the project
office and I say that it is fine they will go with the suggestion and support the project office.
DD have a project management mindset, it is not what I think it should be but we are
getting there.
Researcher: What training does your project managers do?
MB: We have just begun to do in house training on Primer. The entire senior manager
team also had the opportunity to do the Project Management Professionals (PMP)
certification. Many of them recently successfully completed the PMP. We also do a lot of
shadowing in the project office. Whenever there are a certain type of project that a senior
project manager is involved in it is his responsibility to do on the job practical training to
more junior or less experienced project managers. It is part of their KPI, so they actually
get measure according to it.
Researcher: How do you select your project managers for certain projects?
MB: We do resource management as all the other business units in DD do. Due the fact
that the duration of most of the large projects are for an extended period, it is not always
possible to schedule certain project managers for certain type of project. Most of the time
we select project manager on who is available that have knowledge of such a type of
project. If there are nobody available with that type of skill, someone is selected that will be
able to manage the project and a mentor is assigned to him.
Researcher: What roles and responsibilities do PMs have, for instance do they
manage scope, risks, change, communication, etc?
MB: A project manager must be able to envision the entire project from start to finish, and
have the ability to comprehend this vision. The project manager is responsible for the all
the control and management functions on a project. This includes risk, scope, financial and
communication management. The project managers are also involved during the presales
stage of the proposal. We are focusing on this more, because the project manager must
help to determine with the deliverance of the project is possible.
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Researcher: How important is a skilled and experience project manager for project
management success in your organisation and why?
MB: It is of critical importance that that the project manager is skilled and experienced. The
project manager is the single person that has a view on all of the activities of all the project
resources. The project manager is responsible to control and monitor each activity. He is
also responsible to control all the other items as cost, risk and the communications of the
project. He needs to keep the sponsors updated and informed.
Researcher: How much detail do you include in your project management plan?
MB: In DD the project management plan is the definition of the project and the governance
of it. The governance of the project includes all the various control and management
aspects of the project. Projects are classified according to their size and complexities and
fall into one of two categories:
1.
Transactional projects – this is a small project that involves typically the installation of
only a few devices, the only items included in the PMP are financials and delivery
specifications. The project management concepts are the same, but everything is not
documented.
2.
Full blown projects, this includes all the elements of the project management plan
Researcher: Do you use the project management plan as a control tools?
MB: DD absolutely uses the PMP as a control tool. DD has a share point system that is
updated regularly. Any project stakeholder can go to the database and use it to monitor
the progress of each activity.
Researcher: Do all the stakeholders sign off the project management plan before
the project starts?
MB: Yes all stakeholders’ sign off the project management plan before the projects start.
We do this in order to get a unified view on the project.
Researcher: How important is the project management plan for project management
success in your organisation and why?
MB: A comprehensive management plan is extremely important. A comprehensive project
management plan includes the following CSFs: clear goals and achievable deliverables,
97
break project down in smaller milestones, well defined scope, proficient scope control,
accurate cost management, effective risk management, good quality control, effective
change management and communicate early and often. At DD we do not focus on any of
these areas specifically, we focus on the PMP which include all the areas.
Researcher: How is the project team selected?
MB: The project manager work together with the line of business manager to agree on
which level of skill in needed to do the work as determined in the work breakdown
structure. The line of business manager is responsible to do resource planning according
to the projected utilisation of the project team members.
Researcher: How important is a competent team for project management success in
your organisation and why?
MB:
With a competent team risks are lower and project management are more
successful.
Researcher: Do you think that a strong IT technical background contributes to a
successful ICT project manager?
MB: In my case it definitely helps understand the project better, especially when it comes
to bigger more complex projects. I definitely think that a technical background helps in
delivering ICT projects successfully. This might be the case in projects where role of the
project manager is purely just to manage the project management process and the
documentation that goes along with this, for instance construction type projects. It is on the
other hand dangerous for a project manager to have too much technical skill, especially
technical configuration know-how, he then stand the risk to get technically to involved.
98
APPENDIX C
INTERVIEW 2:
KEVIN TREWEEK, PROJECT MANAGER, DIMENSION DATA
Researcher: Please give a short synopsis of your working background, positions
held and main experience.
KT: 20 plus years in IT from Field Engineering to Sales Vice President of the Western
Region USA Nortel Carrier Sales. 0ver 5 years experience in PM work in South Africa
Researcher: Please state your current position and the core function of this
position?
KT: Project Manager for mostly one of our clients, Sanlam projects.
Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project success?
KT: A project is successful if it met the customers’ requirement. A lot of the projects are
driven on cost savings to the customer and customers typically classify a project as
successful if they can see those cost savings.
Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project management
success?
KT: We use the typical criteria of in time, on budget and within cost to measure if the
project management of the project was successful. Additionally we also measure
successful project management by the final delivered product; was all required
deliverables met.
Researcher: What project management methodology does your organisation
follow?
KT: We use Primer, but ultimately most methodologies, like PMBOK and Prince2 have a
lot of similarities.
Researcher: Does your organisation concentrate on critical success factors when
managing projects?
KT: Not directly, but we do focus on some areas more than others.
99
Researcher: Please list and rank the top 5 CSF in your organisation from the
following list?
1.
Top management support
2.
Skilled and experienced project manager
3.
User / customer involvement
4.
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
5.
Comprehensive project management plan
6.
Break project down in smaller milestones
7.
Good architecture
8.
Make sure the resources are available to the project
9.
Well defined scope
10. Competent team
11. Proficient scope control
12. Accurate cost management
13. Effective risk management
14. Good quality control
15. Effective change management
16. Communicate early and often
KT: Order of importance
1.
Resources
2.
User / customer involvement
3.
Skilled and experienced project manager
4.
Communicate early and often
5.
Define Scope
Researcher: How difficult is it to secure resources for projects?
KT: It is always a challenge to secure resources to the project, because resources are not
dedicated to only the project. A project usually gets resources that are shared by
operations and operational tasks gets priority over project tasks. It is only the really big
projects that get dedicated resources and that also not for the whole duration of the
project. This does not only cause headaches and frustration to just the project manager it
also cause the engineers to stress. They do not get the proper time to prepare for the
project work and this leads to mistakes and costly rework. The cost incurred for the rework
100
is not just the wasted engineering hours, but mostly for the disruptions and delays caused
to business.
Researcher: Do resources often get pulled of projects?
KT: The resources often get pulled from the project, because the resources are shared by
operations and operational work gets priority over project tasks. It is business as usual for
the project resources and they need to keep their SLAs to their clients, but at the same
time the project manager must stick to the project deadlines and are placed under
pressure if tasks take longer than planned to complete.
Researcher: How important is to make sure the resources are available to the
project for project management success in your organisation and why?
KT: It is extremely important for the success of the project. It is business as usual for the
project resources and they need to keep their SLAs to their clients, but at the same time
the project manager must stick to the project deadlines and are placed under pressure if
tasks take longer than planned to complete. It is important because if the resources are
not available the project fails behind its schedule.
Researcher: How much is the user / customer involved during the different stages
of the project?
KT: They are frequently involved. They are involved in a daily, weekly and monthly basis. I
include them as much as possible during the whole life of the project. The customers are
ultimately the sponsor for the project and without their involvement and buying it the
project will simply not be possible. A customer needs to be involved from the beginning to
the end.
Researcher: How important is user/customer involvement for project management
success in your organisation and why?
KT: The more the customer are involved, the more they understand the solution and the
easier they understand when there are issues on the project. Relationships are built that
makes the project manager’s job easier. It is also easier to escalate issues to them.
Generally the customers are also more understanding. The goalpost will move during the
project and it is impeccable that the customer are involved during the whole process
otherwise the project will simply not be successful.
101
Researcher: What training does your project managers do?
KT: We are starting an in house training program for Primer, but up to date we have done
most of our training through Universities and self study. We also focus on shadowing and
other on the job training. This is not always possible, but as far a time and availability
permits this.
Researcher: How do you select your project managers for certain projects?
KT: We try and use project managers that are familiar with the environment and client. We
also try aim to use project managers that have done a project of that kind or at least
someone who have some experience in that field.
Researcher: What roles and responsibilities do PMs have, for instance do they
manage scope, risks, communication, etc?
KT: A project manager is responsible for the delivery of the assigned project on schedule,
within budget and meeting the expectations of the client. The PM is responsible for
managing scope, risks, communication and all other project roles.
Researcher: How important is a skilled and experience project manager for project
management success in your organisation and why?
KT: Without an experienced and skilled project manager the project will never be
successful. A project manager is ultimately the one person that controls and monitors all
the individual activities and tasks on a project.
Researcher: How much detail do you include in your project management plan?
KT: The amount of detail included in the documents depend on the type of project, it
depend on the solution ultimately. I evaluate this on a case by case basis. For complex
project I include more detail. For instance on projects that the risk to the business is high,
we will include detail risk analysis plans, with will encompass detailed roll back plans.
Researcher: Do you use the project management plan as a control tools?
KT: No I do not use a project management plan as a control tool, because I found it
cumbersome and I do not have the time to spend on for instance chant charts. I will do it
only if the customer requests it. I work from action logs and dash board, that are typically
in excel format, because I can work it. I have found that people general do not read and
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that they prefer to receive only updates, which understand and to which they can react. I
used to do detail project management plan for every project, but this lead to me being
burnout and I found out the hard way that this actually not always necessary.
Researcher: Do all the stakeholders sign off the project management plan before
the project starts?
KT: Not all stakeholders always sign off the PMP before the project. I do get sign off from
the stakeholders that I have control over. It also depends on the size and complexity of the
project.
Researcher: How important is the project management plan for project management
success in your organisation and why?
KT: The PMP is important for the project management success, but for me it is more
important to us the process as a planning tool, than to end up with a bunch of document
that nobody read.
Researcher: What is your organisation’s project communication methodology?
KT: We do most of our communication by email; I have found that if people put things in
writing they generally mean it and tend to stick to it. This is also done for record purposes.
Due to the fact that I keep the client involved and updated as much as possible, I found
that it is not that necessary to have weekly update sessions, but I still do it, but just to bring
everybody on the same page. The update sessions are truly just update sessions and not
lengthy sessions in which everything is discussed in detail.
Researcher: Who is responsible for communication during the project?
KT: The project manager is responsible for communication.
Researcher: How important is communication for project management success in
your organisation and why?
KT: Communication is critical for project management success. I have found that if the
project manager communicates effectively and on a regularly basis, the stakeholders are
far more relaxed. The stakeholders build up trust in the project manager.
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Researcher: How much detail do you include in your scope definition?
KT: I include as much detail as possible. I have scoping sessions in which I try and get as
much detail as possible. It is not always easy and possible to get everything out of all the
stakeholders.
Researcher: How important is it to define scope for project management success in
your organisation and why?
KT: It is exceptionally important to define the scope of the project before it actually starts.
Project scope is the foundation on which the schedule, budget and resource plans are
built. Getting it wrong could have a serious impact on the success of the project. Without a
well defined scope the project simply do not have boundaries.
Researcher: Do you think that a strong IT technical background contributes to a
successful ICT project manager?
KT: This may be true for some industries, but definitely not the IT industry. Project
managers need to have a very good technical know-how in order to understand the
complexities of the solution he delivers. If the project manager understands the solution he
will be able to manage the deferent component more effectively. In my experience the
project managers that come through the ranks before becoming a project manager are
more successful project manager, especially in delivering more complex solutions.
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APPENDIX D
INTERVIEW 3:
JOHAN STOLTZ, HEAD OF PROJECT OFFICE, GIJIMAAST
Researcher: Please give a short synopsis of your working background, positions
held and main experience.
JS:
I have been working in the IT industry for the last 20 years experienced. My
experience range from a account manager, product manager and also a service delivery
manager. I have been working for the past 10 years as a project manager.
Researcher: Please state your current position and the core function of this
position?
JS:
Project manager and head of project managing office
Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project success?
JS: A project is successful if the quality of the end product is acceptable to the client.
During the scoping process at the start of the project a comprehensive scope of work is
agreed on by the al the stakeholders. This scope is altered with the proper scope changing
process during the project. If the project is delivered according to the updated scope of
work it is as a successful project.
Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project management
success?
JS: GijimaAst do not directly measure project management success, but I would say if all
the milestones are achieved within the agreed quality, project management was
successful.
Researcher: What project management methodology does your organisation
follow?
JS: PMBOK
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Researcher: Does your organisation concentrate on critical success factors when
managing projects?
JS: GijimaAst do not directly concentrate on certain CSF, but indirectly there are certain
factors or areas of project management on our projects that we concentrate more on. The
focus also shifts slightly for specific type of projects.
Researcher: Please list and rank the top 5 CSF in your organisation from the
following list?
1.
Top management support
2.
Skilled and experienced project manager
3.
User / customer involvement
4.
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
5.
Comprehensive project management plan
6.
Break project down in smaller milestones
7.
Good architecture
8.
Make sure the resources are available to the project
9.
Well defined scope
10. Competent team
11. Proficient scope control
12. Accurate cost management
13. Effective risk management
14. Good quality control
15. Effective change management
16. Communicate early and often
JS: Order of importance
1.
Well defined scope
2.
Comprehensive project management plan
3.
Communicate early and often
4.
Effective risk management
5.
User / customer involvement
Researcher: How much detail do you include in your scope definition?
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JS: I always include as much detail as possible in the scope definition of any project. After
determining the deliverables I get all stakeholders involved to further identify any items that
need to be added. It depends on the type of projects, but mostly features and functionality
are two items I focus on most. By the time the project gets to the project office the
technical solution has already been specified and has already passed through the presales
and architecture stages. The presales and architecture team must put to getter the
functional specification document. The functional specification document is used to
workshop the scope definition with the client and user in order to determine the scope of
the project. The scope is documented as well as all the inclusions and exclusions of the
project. Before work on the project starts the scope definitions must be signed off by al the
stakeholders of the project.
Researcher: How important is it to define scope for project management success in
your organisation and why?
JS: Scope determines the boundaries of the project. In my experience if the scope is not
well defined the project drags on and eats into the profitability of the project. Users start
play with the newly installed equipment and found new features and if the scope is not well
defined, they demand that these features be implemented as part of the project. Due to the
complexities and uncertainties of IT solutions it is not always possible to determine all the
features before hand and it might be necessary to change the scope to accommodate
these features. In order to avoid scope creep it is impeccable that proper change control
possesses are in place.
Researcher: How much detail do you include in your project management plan?
JS: The amount of documentation done depends on the type of project. For smaller
projects I normally do not document everything, otherwise you end up spending more time
updating the project management plan, than executing each event. For each project I go
through the whole project management process, in order to properly plan each activity and
all the resources needed to complete each activity. I believe that the more detail you add,
the easier it is to execute the project successfully. I always start with the work break down
structure, followed by the projected time spend and resources needed on completing each
activity which determine the responsibility matrix.
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Researcher: Do you use the project management plan as a control tools?
JS: I use the project management plan as a control tool, especially for the larger projects.
For the larger projects with a lot of tasks running in parallel, it is not always easy to keep
track of the progress of each activity, if you do not use the project management plan as a
control tool.
Researcher: Do all the stakeholders sign off the project management plan before
the project starts?
JS: All the stakeholders do not always sign off the project management plan before the
project starts. The result is that the scope is not always signed of and this leads to scope
creep.
Researcher: How important is the project management plan for project management
success in your organisation and why?
JS: GijimaAst do not always follow the proper project management methodology and
processes. They do not see the value in spending the necessary time on planning and as
a result their project management plans have little detail. They tend to concentrate more
on the execution phases.
Researcher: What is your organisation’s project communication methodology?
JS: We have weekly update sessions with all the stakeholders involved on the project.
Researcher: Who is responsible for communication during the project?
JS: The Project Manager is responsible for all the communication. All the stakeholders
channel al communication through the project manager.
Researcher: How important is communication for project management success in
your organisation and why?
JS: Communication is extremely importance for project management success. Without
good communication time and resources are wasted. It is also important that the project
sponsor be kept up to date with the high level progress of the project. Issues should be
escalated to the project sponsor quickly. This will ensure that issues are resolved quickly
and efficiently.
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Researcher: What is your organisation’s project risk management methodology?
JS: Everybody involved in the project is responsible for identifying risks. The steering
committee assess the risks and draw up an action plan in order to mitigate the risks.
Researcher: Who is responsible for controlling the risks?
JS: The project manager is responsible for controlling the risk. The project manager works
in conjunction with the steering committee to assess and mitigate the risks. The project
manager often relies on the project resources expertise to identify risks and help control
the risks.
Researcher: How important is effective risk management for project management
success in your organisation and why?
JS: It is very important to identify risks early and escalate them in order to get action and
resolution quickly. GijimaAst rely heavy on the steering committee in their risk
management process.
Researcher: How much is the user / customer involved during the different stage of
the project?
JS: Users/Customers are involved throughout the project. In my experienced I have found
that the more you involve the customer the better the customer understand the solution
and the easier it is to get sign off. I involve the customer in all my scoping sessions. This
way the customer understands exactly what are included and more important excluded
from the project scope. I also involve the customer as much I can during testing. I have
found that this helps tremendous with them accepting the deliverables and deferent
components to it. Involving the customers helps to resolve issues quicker and more
efficiently and lead to the project begin more profitable.
Researcher: How important is user/customer involvement for project management
success in your organisation and why?
JS: According to me GijimaAst do to put enough emphasis on user involvement during the
project. They only involve the customers in the beginning scoping sessions of the project.
In many project the customer do not understand the deferent components of the solution
and when they this leads to delayed sign off and overruns not only on time, but also on
cost.
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Researcher: For successful project management is necessary for a project manager
to have a strong technical background?
JS: In other industries it is not always necessary for the project manager to understand the
technical aspects, but in the IT industry it is necessary. In other industries project manager
simply follows the project management methodology.
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APPENDIX E
INTERVIEW 4:
VANESSA DU TOIT, PROJECT MANAGER, GIJIMAAST
Researcher: Please give a short synopsis of your working background, positions
held and main experience.
VDT: I have been working in the IT industry for the past 7 years. I started my career as a
service desk administrator and next moved to the project office as a project office
administrator. I have been involved in the project office for the past 6 years of which the
last 3 years was a project manager.
Researcher: Please state your current position and the core function of this
position?
VDT: Project manager for mainly deployment of networks.
Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project success?
VDT: A project can be regarded as successful if it falls within time; cost; resources are
managed effectively and efficiently; communication is managed effectively; risks are
identified and mitigated. However the relationship with the stakeholders of the project is of
utmost importance. A project can meet all the above criteria but be seen as a failure to the
stakeholders. Developing a respectful relationship with the client and ensuring that their
best interest is taken to heart can also affect the success of a project.
Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project management
success?
VDT: Project Manager is defined and measure in our KPIs.
Researcher: What project management methodology does your organisation
follow?
VDT: PMBOK
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Researcher: Does your organisation concentrate on critical success factors when
managing projects?
VDT: Not directly
Researcher: Please list and rank the top 5 CSF in your organisation from the
following list?
1.
Top management support
2.
Skilled and experienced project manager
3.
User / customer involvement
4.
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
5.
Comprehensive project management plan
6.
Break project down in smaller milestones
7.
Good architecture
8.
Make sure the resources are available to the project
9.
Well defined scope
10. Competent team
11. Proficient scope control
12. Accurate cost management
13. Effective risk management
14. Good quality control
15. Effective change management
16. Communicate early and often
VDT: Order of importance
1.
User / customer involvement
2.
Top management support
3.
Competent team
4.
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
5.
Communicate early and often
Researcher: How much is the user / customer involved during the different stage of
the project?
VDT: Users/Customers are involved mostly during the scoping sessions. This helps the
customer to understand exactly what the project entails. The customer also agrees to what
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are included and excluded from the project scope. The users are also involved during the
testing phases.
Researcher: How important is user/customer involvement for project management
success in your organisation and why?
VDT: It is of utmost importance for project management success that the customer is part
of the project. The customer must be involved as much as possible. This will help to
manage the issues during the project and will help to have successful project
management.
Researcher: Do top management support all your projects?
VDT: Top management must always support the project. They need to make the project
selection as well as give high level guidance and support to the project. Top management
are also part of the project steering committee.
Researcher: Do top management use their authority to influence your projects?
VDT: Top management uses their authority to influence a project. The rest of the project
team show more commitment when they know that top management is monitoring their
actions. The project team are also more responsive when issues are escalated to them.
Researcher: How important is top management support for project management
success in your organisation and why?
VDT: Top management support is of critical importance for successful project
management.
Researcher: How is the project team selected?
VDT: The project manager will indicate what type and how much resources are needed for
each activity. Each business unit’s line manager will them allocate resources from their
available resources that have the right skill set.
Researcher: How important is a competent team for project management success in
your organisation and why?
VDT: With competent team members the risks to the project are generally lower, because
they know how to handle different issues and situations before they get to be real
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problems. Do to the fact that most projects share resources with operations it does take an
engineer that can do proper time management and who knows when and how to get
additional help.
Researcher: Do all the project stakeholders always agree on the goals of the
project?
VDT: Not all stakeholders always agree on the goals of the project. It is difficult to get
everybody’s agreement, but with most projects when the project sponsor agrees the
project will continuous.
Researcher: Is all the project deliverables always achievable?
VDT: Great care is taken to ensure that all the project deliverables are achieved during the
presales or proof of concept phases, but sometimes during the project certain issues arise.
We then need to address these issues, before they impact the project success.
Researcher: How important is clear goals and achievable deliverables for project
management success in your organisation and why?
VDT: Clear goals and achievable deliverables are important, because if the deliverables
are not clear it opens the door for grey areas. It is very difficult to deliverable a project
successfully if you are not sure if it is even going to work.
Researcher: What is your organisation’s project communication methodology?
VDT: We are always clear and transparent during our projects and this is done by
communication to everybody throughout the project. It depends on the size, phase and
complexity of the project, by we generally have weekly update sessions with the client.
The project manager has daily update sessions with each project resource in order to
accurately monitor each activity.
Researcher: Who is responsible for communication during the project?
VDT: All communication gets channelled thought the project manager and the project
manager is responsible to communicate to everybody.
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Researcher: How important is communication for project management success in
your organisation and why?
VDT: Without good communication the customer will get the impression that the project
team do not have enough focus and urgency. It is especially important to communicate
effectively when working in issues during the project.
Researcher: For successful project management is necessary for a project manager
to have a strong technical background?
VDT: I think that a strong technical background helps to understand the deliverables of the
project. It is not necessary for success full project management that the project manager
must have a technical background
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APPENDIX F
INTERVIEW 5:
CHRISTO WELGEMOED, PROJECT MANAGER,
BUSINESS CONNEXION
Researcher: Please give a short synopsis of your working background, positions
held and main experience.
CW: 25 years of experience in IT ranging from technical to management. I started as a
systems engineer moved over to service manager later before moving to project
management. Have been doing project management for the last 15 years ranging from
project manager to project office management. I have done the theoretical training and
entry exams for Prince 2.
Researcher: Please state your current position and the core function of this
position?
CW: Project manager working for BCX
Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project success?
CW: Work according to methodologies of Prince 2. We basically measure project success
according to budget, time and within scope.
Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project management
success?
CW: Each project has a gross margin and if you reach your gross margin and you have
your also reached your customers satisfaction you score point on KPI.
Researcher: What project management methodology does your organisation
follow?
CW: Prince 2
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Researcher: Does your organisation concentrate on critical success factors when
managing projects?
CW: We do a business case before the project and the factor identified in the business
case do get priority and are been monitored throughout the project. We do focus on CSF
indirectly.
Researcher: Please list and rank the top 5 CSF in your organisation from the
following list?
1.
Top management support
2.
Skilled and experienced project manager
3.
User / customer involvement
4.
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
5.
Comprehensive project management plan
6.
Break project down in smaller milestones
7.
Good architecture
8.
Make sure the resources are available to the project
9.
Well defined scope
10. Competent team
11. Proficient scope control
12. Accurate cost management
13. Effective risk management
14. Good quality control
15. Effective change management
16. Communicate early and often
CW: Order of importance
1.
Well defined scope
2.
Comprehensive project management plan
3.
Break project down in smaller milestones
4.
Effective risk management
5.
Competent team
Researcher: How much detail do you include in your scope definition?
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CW: Any project’s scope of work and high level design gets done during the presales
stage of the sales cycle. Further work will then be done to develop the project charter for
the project. BCX puts a lot of emphasis on defining and developing the project scope.
Scope sets the boundaries of the project and without this it impossible to deliver a
successful project. The prince 2 methodology includes a lot of documentation and because
we follow the methodology we have we detailed documentation.
Researcher: How important is it to define scope for project management success in
your organisation and why?
CW: BCX puts a lot of emphasis on defining and developing a comprehensive scope
together the sales and presales personnel. Scope sets the boundaries of the project and
without this it impossible to deliver a successful project. BCX puts a lot of emphasis on
defining and developing the project scope.
Researcher: How much detail do you include in your project management plan?
CW: The amount of detail included depends on three criteria; the financial size of the
project, how much departments / outside companies are involved and how much resource
are needed for the project. The amount of detailed documentation gets determinant on
these factors, but the basis things like risk management, change management,
communication management and financial management are always included in the project
plan.
Researcher: Do you use the project management plan as a control tools?
CW: Before the project starts the project must be registered and during this phase the
projects gets loaded on a central database to which all the project stakeholders have
access to. This gets updated on a weekly basis and is used as a control tool for the
project.
Researcher: Do all the stakeholders sign off the project management plan before
the project starts?
CW: All the stakeholders do not always sign off on the project plan which includes the
scope and all other components. With some project, it is not always easy to get all the
stakeholders buy in and approval on items and issues during the project, because they
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choose to respond to only items that they want to. In cases as this it is necessary to get
the sponsors involved.
Researcher: How important is the project management plan for project management
success in your organisation and why?
CW: The project management plan is very important. A lot work goes into developing a
comprehensive plan and this plan gets updated and is used as a control tool during the life
of the project. Due to the Prince methodology there a lot of documentation involved. The
project plan starts developing from the start together with the sales team. This took some
time to settle in the organisation, but after the sales and project management team saw
the benefits, they focussed on making it work.
Researcher: Do you break the project down in very smaller projects?
CW: Yes we do break projects down in smaller projects. Prince 2 defines your finale
deliverable as a product. The product is broken down in smaller milestones. By focussing
on each smaller sub project it is easier to achieve a successful end product.
Researcher: Do you identify ownership of the sub projects?
CW: We do identify ownership of each of the smaller sub projects.
Researcher: How important is breaking the project down in smaller milestones for
project management success in your organisation and why?
CW: It is especially important to break down big complex project down into smaller sub
projects. It is important because this way you minimise the risk, because it easier to control
and manage smaller projects. There are fewer things that I go wrong.
Researcher: What is your organisation’s project risk management methodology?
CW: We first identify the risk, next we determine the impact that it might have and then we
determine the probability that this might take place. From this we determine the impact
factor on a scale of 0 to 20. Any impact factors of 7 and less is classified as low and is
managed by the project manager. Anything between 8 and 12 is medium impact and
anything more than 12 is classified as a high impact and is managed and a project board
on a daily basis.
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Researcher: Who is responsible for controlling the risks?
CW: The project manager is responsible for controlling the risks.
Researcher: How important is effective risk management for project management
success in your organisation and why?
CW: Effective risk management is very important. If risks are not properly managed it will
have a negative impact on the project, it could cause costly delays and could ultimately
cause the project to be unsuccessful.
Researcher: How is the project team selected?
CW: The project manager work together with the resource manager to plan the amount of
resources that will be needed for the project. Next the respective line managers are
responsible to identify and assign the correct resources to the project.
Researcher: How important is a competent team for project management success in
your organisation and why?
CW:
Competent team members lower the risks to the project and ultimately are
responsible for the success of the project. The project does share resources with
operations and they do sometimes get pulled from the projects in order to resolve high
priority operational tasks. This is always communicated properly and is managed
thoroughly by both the project manager and the line of business manager.
Researcher: For successful project management is necessary for a project manager
to have a strong technical background?
CW: In my experience it is necessary for complex projects to have a project manager who
have a strong technical background. I have found that it helps me to understand and
identify the risk more accurately.
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APPENDIX G
INTERVIEW 6:
WILLIAM PRETORIUS, PROJECT MANAGER,
BUSINESS CONNEXION
Researcher: Please give a short synopsis of your working background, positions
held and main experience.
WP: I have 22 years experience in the IT industry of which the past 9 years was in project
management.
Researcher: Please state your current position and the core function of this
position?
WP: Project manager for any type of IT project.
Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project success?
WP: A project is successful if the product is delivered within the customer’s requirements
and within time and budget. The functionality of the end product is very import and the
organisation would even make a loss in order to deliver the correct functionality.
Researcher: How does your organisation define and measure project management
success?
WP: The organisation measure project management success by means of KPIs. All the
resources are been measure each with their own KPIs that are specific for their function.
Researcher: What project management methodology does your organisation
follow?
WP: Prince2
Researcher: Does your organisation concentrate on critical success factors when
managing projects?
WP: We do not focus directly on critical success factors.
121
Researcher: Please list and rank the top 5 CSF in your organisation from the
following list?
1.
Top management support
2.
Skilled and experienced project manager
3.
User / customer involvement
4.
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
5.
Comprehensive project management plan
6.
Break project down in smaller milestones
7.
Good architecture
8.
Make sure the resources are available to the project
9.
Well defined scope
10. Competent team
11. Proficient scope control
12. Accurate cost management
13. Effective risk management
14. Good quality control
15. Effective change management
16. Communicate early and often
WP: Order of importance
1.
Skilled and experienced project manager
2.
Clear goals and achievable deliverables
3.
Communicate early and often
4.
Well defined scope
5.
Good architecture
Researcher: What training does your project managers do?
WP: We do project management courses at the University of Stellenbosch. The company
works according to Price 2 methodology and all project managers are required to do the
Prince 2 certification. The company encourage self development.
Researcher: How do you select your project managers for certain projects?
WP: The project manager is selected on their skill and experienced level. The project
manager is also chosen on customer preference. If no one is available with the right skill
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level someone is chosen who is available with the nearest skill and experienced levels. A
coach is also assigned to give guidance and advice.
Researcher: What roles and responsibilities do PMs have, for instance do they
manage scope, risks, communication, etc?
WP: The project manager is responsible for managing scope, risk, communication and
financials. The project manager is responsible for all the management and control
functions associated to the project.
Researcher: How important is a skilled and experience project manager for project
management success in your organisation and why?
WP: A skilled and experienced project manager is one of most important CSF. The project
manager is the only person that has a view over all of the activities and he is responsible
for controlling and monitoring each activity.
Researcher: Do all the project stakeholders always agree on the goals of the
project?
WP: No, not all the stakeholders agree on all the goals of the project. It is not always
viable to get all the stakeholders agreement on all the goals of the project.
Researcher: Is all the project deliverables always achievable?
WP: During presales all the functionality is researched before it is proposed. For all the
uncertain functionality or items a proof of concept is first done, but it still happens that
some of the deliverables is not always achievable.
Researcher: How important is clear goals and achievable deliverables for project
management success in your organisation and why?
WP: Clear goals and achievable deliverables are very important for project management
success. If this is not the case, the project manager will never know how to plan each
activity and the project management success will not be successful.
Researcher: How much detail do you include in your project management plan?
WP: The amount of details included in the documentation depends on the size of the
budget, the amount of resources involved from BCX and how many outside companies are
123
involved. The project management plan always includes risk management, change
management, communication management and financial management.
Researcher: Do you use the project management plan as a control tools?
WP: The project plan does get used as a control tool. BCX have a central database that
gets updated on a weekly basis and is used as a control tool for the project. All the
stakeholders do have a view on this and can monitor the project status.
Researcher: Do all the stakeholders sign off the project management plan before
the project starts?
WP: All the stakeholders do not always sign off on the project plan. I personally try and get
as much stakeholders to sign off the scope of the project.
Researcher: How important is the project management plan for project management
success in your organisation and why?
WP: The project management plan is especially important for successful project
management. If all the components of a project management plan is done thoroughly it
usually means that the proper planning have been done for the project. With smaller
projects I use the project management plan as a planning tool. With smaller projects I do
not always include all the detail in the documentation.
Researcher: How much detail do you include in your scope definition?
WP: In BCX the project office is involved from the beginning of the proposal and during the
presales the scope for the project is already done. The scope is documented as well as all
the inclusions and exclusions of the project. Without a well defined scope the projects do
not have boundaries and it is difficult to close get closure.
Researcher: How important is it to define scope for project management success in
your organisation and why?
WP: Without a well defined scope the projects do not have boundaries and it is difficult to
close get closure. In my experience a project without a well defined scope often have
scope creep and ends up running over time and budget.
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Researcher: Does your organisation focus on delivering quality as defined in the
scope or do you deliver more than what was agreed upon?
WP: We focus on delivering exact quality as defined in the scope.
Researcher: Who is responsible for controlling the quality of the deliverables?
WP: The engineers on the project are responsible to ensure that the quality is adhered to,
but during and after the project we also get systems engineers to ensure and verify the
quality of each deliverable and end product. This is done with systems assessment testing
which is documented and signed off by the systems engineer and the customer.
Researcher: How important is quality control project management success in your
organisation and why?
WP: Quality control is important, because the project must adhere to the functional
specifications as define in the project plan. Over achieving is not financially viable for the
company and under achieving means that the project is not delivering according to what
was agreed upon.
Researcher: Do you think that a strong IT technical background contributes to a
successful ICT project manager?
WP: In the IT industry it is necessary for the project managers to have good technical
knowledge in order to successfully manage complicate projects. Project managers with
good technical knowledge are able to better understand the different components and the
risk associated with each activity. With projects that a very detailed architectural plan is
done, it is not always necessary to be that technical.