Typical issues and mistakes in management and interaction with the IT function in organizations. Part 4

A.3. PROJECT PORTFOLIO AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT TIPS AND MISTAKES TO AVOID

Organizations do not exist without changes to processes, and as a result, to automated systems and infrastructure. However, if the IT infrastructure solves almost all issues, then the situation with the development and implementation of new systems and the improvement of existing ones is radically different.

Here, many different business, operations, finance and other related departments such as risk management and security are involved. The resources of the IT department and these other departments are limited and cannot be increased instantaneously, so there is always a need for prioritization and resource management "on the fly".

Figure 1 below shows the full range of the organization's initiatives for change. The entire set of changes can be divided into two categories: "Large" and "Small". At the same time, the size of initiatives is relevant to the organization.

Small initiatives are those that, at the current stage of an organization's development and the level of internal expertise, can be successfully executed without the need for a dedicated process and resources to manage, coordinate and monitor them. Normally they are the ones that could be managed at the business analyst or developer level. Large initiatives, on the other hand, are typically managed through a dedicated process known as a project methodology, which involves project managers, administrators and complicated set of financial and execution controls.

The task of a "conscious organization", importantly, not only IT, is to manage the overall composition of initiatives, their priorities, as well as all allocated resources, in a single pool, since the more projects are undertaken without attracting additional resources, the fewer resources are available for small changes (SRs). The common challenge here is that while the large projects are psychologically perceived by management as important and worthy of attention, then small changes (CRs) are usually left to chance or at the mercy of the IT director.

If the IT director is the only one who is responsible for the CRs priority and resource management than suddenly organization management gets disappointed of the unfulfilled execution expectations of the small, mostly non - business related, regulatory initiatives. The holistic view on the most common mistakes in managing initiative portfolios is summarized in Table 4 below.

In the next article we will discuss an 'A4.IT cost optimization' approaches and pitfals topic from the area scope listed in the table below.