Revolutionizing IT: The Art of Using Information Technology Effectively

Rating:
Summary: Not revolutionary, but good book ...
Review: Although there is really nothing revolutionary about "Revolutionizing IT", this is a good book for seasoned and war-torn IT professionals as well as end-users frustrated with their IT departments. It offers some *evolutionary* ideas on how to improve project and support methodologies based on the experience of the Andrews Consulting Group.

Several principles put forth are those many of us already knew but never mentioned out loud.

+Despite how much time, money, and attention given at the outset of the project, it is impossible to create a complete plan and cost estimate for an IT project.
+Any complex design will be imperfect.
+Scope control, although unpopular, is absolutely critical.
+There will never be enough resources available to build the optimum solution.

Some insightful tenets I took away.

+Those most familiar with an existing system/design are in a poor position to lead the recommendation of a new one (because of a bias)
+IT professionals like complexity and by their nature tend to bring more complexity into projects.
+Endusers should be 100% accountable for projects.
+Time is a project's worst enemy - as more time passes between approval and deployment, the number of things that can go wrong and the number of assumption that can change increases.

The authors discuss their "RITE Approach", which again is not revolutionary ... or contradictory to other methodologies, but rather offers some common sense best practices that complement waterfall, Agile, and RUP methodologies. The authors self-admittedly bash the waterfall paradigm but then come back and confess that the waterfall is the foundation of all PM methodologies.

Good book to read to insure you're on the right track...

Rating:
Summary: Book Review from leadingtoday.org
Review: Don't let the title of this book fool you. Even if you are not an Information Technology professional, this book might be for you. The authors state that the primary audience for the book is managers and knowledge workers within organizations that depend heavily on Information Technology (IT). That covers almost all managers and knowledge workers today! If you manage any complex task, are involved in improving how information is used within your organization, or are involved in any form of project management, this book is a worthy read.

The book is intentionally written in a nontechnical style for managers as well as IT professionals-from programmers to Chief Information Officers (CIOs). The authors present numerous profound principles that can be applied to project management in general, as well as the management of IT projects in particular.

The fundamental concept behind the book is that "managers do not have to become experts in technology to make effective use of it." However, managers do need a new way of thinking about projects and need to learn new patterns of behavior. Half or more of IT projects fail due to what the authors call "IT project disease." Symptoms of this "disease" include project abandonment, missed schedules, cost overruns, and delivery of less than what was expected. The authors offer a new view of this organizational affliction and present a philosophy and approach to cure it.

This new approach to IT project management is called the RITE approach. RITE stands for Revolutionizing IT Effectively. This approach is an integrated collection of observations and principles which provide guidelines to those making decisions regarding IT projects. Some of the fundamental issues addressed by the RITE approach include:

How organizations should think about, organize, and carry out projects.
Who should be accountable for the success of a project?
What is reasonable to expect from a project.
How project success should be defined.
Why limits need to be set on the scope of the project.

You will notice that none of these issues relate solely to IT projects. That is the beauty of this book. Although the authors bring many decades of IT experience to the table, they have distilled principles that apply to any complex task or project.

It should be pointed out that the RITE approach is not a new methodology. It is not sufficient by itself to manage an IT project. As the authors state, "management principles do not take the place of good development practices." In fact, the RITE approach advocates adherence to a strong, disciplined methodology. The book even briefly reviews the latest thinking in methodologies, including the "Agile" methodologies and Extreme Programming (XP). However, the primary focus of the book is on a higher level of thinking which addresses attitudes, assumptions, approaches, and the organizational culture that creates the environment in which projects are managed. "The culture of each organization includes its way of approaching problems and opportunities for improvement. Too often that approach sets up projects for failure."

This book provides a realistic approach for dealing with highly complex and unstructured projects by addressing issues such as scope control, accountability, the reuse of proven ideas, and the need for balance. It also addresses the political realities of implementing the RITE approach. The book discusses how some will want to maintain the status quo, seeing that a change in philosophy and culture might threaten their power and prestige.

IT professionals are in the business of managing complex tasks and projects. Considerable learning has taken place since the publication of the excellent book, The Mythical Man-Month, over 20 years ago. David Andrews and Kenneth Johnson are true IT veterans, and distill their wealth of experience in this easily read book. Although the title of the book might lead you to think it is a technical book written only for IT professionals, I suggest that the principles presented are universal and, if applied, can have a powerful impact on any organization.

(Review by Dr. J Howard Baker)

Rating:
Summary: Practical, Powerful and Clear
Review: Even though much of Mr. Andrews' excellent book focuses on information technology projects, I believe his ideas and advice can benefit almost any kind of project. As a retired Vice-President from Cap Gemini Ernst and Young's consulting practice, I spend much of time as a volunteer working with nonprofit organizations. I believe that Andrews' concepts of: strong leadership, clear objectives and accountability, tight scope control and delivery in "bite sized" pieces are just as important for an organizational change project in a non-profit as they are for an MRP implementation in a Fortune 500 company.

A core message in the book is that senior management has to get close enough to the details of a project to make intelligent decisions about scope, staffing and funding. Many executives don't focus on the details because they are "too technical". The author's advice on this one issue could save American business billions of dollars every year.

Rating:
Summary: IT project management done right
Review: This book tells you in clear, concise language how to make your IT project successful and keep sane at the same time. How does it work? By focusing on continuous incremental improvement instead of the antiquated "waterfall" approach used by so many money-hungry consultants. By dividing up your project and letting time determine scope you will deliver short-term wins and immediate benefits to your organization. You will also quickly gain respect among your peers and upper management.

If you're a business manager responsible for implementing technology in your organization, buy this book. If you're an IT professional who truly cares about your profession, buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Homerun
Review: This is a clear, concise guide to properly managing IT projects. It is revolutionary, but soundly based on good common sense and over 30 years of experience. Anyone who has been invovled in large-scale IT projects for a number of years will recognize the soundness of Andrews' approach -- the RITE Approach. A very good read with strong practical application.

Rating:
Summary: Expectations not met
Review: This is a very,very basic book talking about project impmentation and not how to really transform IT for business. This si the kind of material that should be available as a pdf off a site instead of getting people to pay for it.

move onto the next book.

Rating:
Summary: Practical Information for my entire IT department
Review: This is one of the most practical books on the topic I have read, and I have been following and participating in this field, and following writing on the subject, since Fred Brooks taught us fledgling programming managers in IBM about the mythical man-month and other programming project realities.

This book is being routed throughout my IT department -- managers, developers, infrastructure and support people. I suggest they read the last chapter first as it is an excellent summary and reference checklist of the points Andrews and Johnson bring to the reader.

Key reminders and points made and expanded upon, for me, include:
1) Just do it -- the perfect solution is never available.
2) Know what goes wrong and what goes right and manage accordingly.
3) Control scope creep, probably the greatest weakness of all of us IT managers who want to be loved by our customers.
4) Managing programmers -- "junior programmers run the world" making those detailed, seemingly low level decisions that can compromise a project implementation.

This is not only a great read but an excellent reference manual for experienced and new IT managers alike -- one of those books we should each read every year! Well done, guys.

Rating:
Summary: Great for Business Students also
Review: You have to like any book that is what it claims to be, and Revolutionizing IT is exactly what it claims to be. After reading this book and recently completing a 10 week course based on its contents I can say happily that it will "change the way you think about the management of any complex task, especially if it involves Information Technology."

Written for a non-technical management audience, its best attribute is the multitude of genuinely useful examples that illustrate the principles of the authors' RITE approach in detail for serious understanding. Unlike many books, especially college textbooks, these concrete examples keep the book, which is filled with good project management theory, from becoming merely a set of entertaining but impractical and vague remarks on IT as some books are.

Of course, while these qualities are helpful for the non-IT managers at whom this book is aimed, I found it to be invaluable for college students planning on entering the business world upon graduation with aspirations toward higher management. Not only does this book help future mangers understand IT, an important task in and of itself, but more importantly it's simply good advice for anyone who will be managing people and major projects in the future.

In my personal experience, Revolutionizing IT has made me very aware of the risks, and how to manage them, involved in any change to an organization that will fundamentally alter the way current staff will be doing their jobs. While this is a good reminder for experienced managers (who should be aware of this already), this advice both on how to look out for and how to deal with potential resistance and hostility toward business process changes is invaluable for future business executives. In fact, as I read the book I found myself wishing I had read it before I embarked on a particularly difficult internship which involved my writing an efficiency audit report for a department within the organization. The report ultimately culminated in the firing of the department manager.

This is a great book, easy to read and full of wisdom hard won through the experience of its authors. Put it into the hands of non-IT managers, especially the ones who are uncomfortable with IT. But first put it into the hands of young business people, even the ones who think they understand computers, because they will need the advice on project and people management.

Justin Swift
Principia College