How Can Agile Methodologies Be Used to Enhance the Success of Information Technology Projects?

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dothang Truong ◽  
Thawatchai Jitbaipoon
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Project Success ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Information Technology Projects ◽  
Pilot Survey ◽  
Business Environments ◽  
Agile Methodologies ◽  
Indirect Impacts ◽  
Practical Implications

Dynamic and unpredictable business environments in the information technology (IT) sector have led to a rapid growth of agile methodologies. Organizations claim that using agile methodologies can enhance the success of IT projects in such environments. However, fluctuating patterns of successful and failed agile IT projects recently raise a question about a path to successful IT projects using agile methodologies. The purpose of this research is to examine agile driven factors and relationships between them and IT project success. Data collected from a pilot survey of agile practitioners were used to confirm important agile driven factors: Agile Team Capability, IT Development Agility, and Agile Culture. The research also tested a structural model that examined indirect impacts of IT development agility and agile culture on project success via a mediation of agile team capability. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

scholarly journals Requirements for developing a culture of small information technology projects among university students in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

2022 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-314
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abdel Salam Mohamed Mahmoud El Balshi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
University Students ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Information Technology Projects ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
The University

The current study aimed to develop mechanisms for developing the culture of small information technology projects among university students in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by integrating the development of the culture of small information technology projects in the university’s vision, objectives and strategy, and localizing it in the university environment, activating it in the university’s teaching and learning processes, and strengthening the university’s partnership and the outside community to achieve this. The study used the descriptive approach, and the researcher applied a questionnaire consisting of (37) phrases distributed over (4) axes, and the sample amounted to (136) university professors from (5) Egyptian universities. The study found: The need for the university to emphasize in its objectives the teaching of students to build and manage small information technology projects through the development of knowledge and awareness of it, consolidating the values ​​and beliefs that support them, and that the university is interested in formulating a strategy that supports innovation and creativity among faculty members and students, and that the promotions of teachers and assistant professors be linked to their supportive activities for educating students with small IT projects, and to provide paper or digital brochures on opportunities to build small IT projects in the surrounding environment, and to support the practice of cultural activities, and spread the culture of patent in the information technology sector among its students, and that the university’s learning outcomes target the need for graduates to possess positive attitudes and values ​​towards them. and pay attention to educating students about the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on small IT projects, and that the university link the teaching and learning processes, building and managing small information technology projects, and directing its faculty members towards linking the contents of the curricula with the skills of building and managing small information technology projects, with the need to achieve partnership with the external community through the establishment of exhibitions and platforms for marketing information technology projects, and hosting businessmen in seminars or meetings to inform students of their successful experiences.

Reasons Behind IT Project Failure

2013 ◽  
pp. 188-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emad Abu-Shanab ◽  
Ashraf Al-Saggar
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Time Cost ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Project Failure ◽  
Technology Changes ◽  
It Project ◽  
It Project Failure ◽  
Future Work

Information Technology (IT) projects have high failure and escalation rates because of the nature of domain and the rapid technology changes. It is important to understand the factors causing IT project success or failure. This chapter reviews the literature related to project failure and escalation and concludes with 17 important factors that cause IT projects to fail and 10 factors that contribute to the escalation of projects in time, cost, or scope. The concluded factors are utilized in an empirical study to explore the Jordanian environment and check the rank of these factors as perceived by Jordanian specialists. Conclusions and future work are stated at the end of this chapter.

Managing Information Technology Projects Using Agile Methodology

2021 ◽  
pp. 123-146
Author(s):  
Alice S. Etim ◽  
Chandra Prakash Jaiswal ◽  
Marsheilla Subroto ◽  
Vivian E. Collins Ortega
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Project Management ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Information Technology Projects ◽  
Agile Methodology ◽  
It Project ◽  
Product Delivery ◽  
Sub Saharan

The management of information technology (IT) projects has experienced a shift from predictive and traditional project management methodology to more adaptive practices like Agile. Agile method and its developmental stages are a response to current business-changing trends and computing needs of society. The process assists in accelerating product delivery with rapid feedback and cost-conscious, consecutive iteration, distinguishing it from other traditional practices like the waterfall method. This chapter contributes to the existing literature by discussing agile project management for IT projects, with a specific case of the Africa IT project – the Books for Africa Project (hereafter called, Book Project). The first part of the chapter is used to review the literature on Agile IT projects. The Book Project as a case is an IT project, and it is discussed in detail in the chapter. The chapter concludes with transferable lessons for projects in developing countries, specifically those located in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Empirical comparison of traditional plan-based and agile methodologies

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 400-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Ahimbisibwe ◽  
Urs Daellenbach ◽  
Robert Y. Cavana
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Time Budget ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Agile Methodologies ◽  
Project Objectives ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Aligning the project management methodology (PMM) to a particular project is considered to be essential for project success. Many outsourced software projects fail to deliver on time, budget or do not give value to the client due to inappropriate choice of a PMM. Despite the increasing range of available choices, project managers frequently fail to seriously consider their alternatives. They tend to narrowly tailor project categorization systems and categorization criterion is often not logically linked with project objectives. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a contingency fit model comparing the differences between critical success factors (CSFs) for outsourced software development projects in the current context of traditional plan-based and agile methodologies. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model and 54 hypotheses were developed from a literature review. An online Qualtrics survey was used to collect data to test the proposed model. The survey was administered to a large sample of senior software project managers and practitioners who were involved in international outsourced software development projects across the globe with 984 valid responses. Findings Results indicate that various CSFs differ significantly across agile and traditional plan-based methodologies, and in different ways for various project success measures. Research limitations/implications This study is cross-sectional in nature and data for all variables were obtained from the same sources, meaning that common method bias remains a potential threat. Further refinement of the instrument using different sources of data for variables and future replication using longitudinal approach is highly recommended. Practical implications Practical implications of these results suggest project managers should tailor PMMs according to various organizational, team, customer and project factors to reduce project failure rates. Originality/value Unlike previous studies this paper develops and empirically validates a contingency fit model comparing the differences between CSFs for outsourced software development projects in the context of PMMs.

scholarly journals Lessons for Effective Government IT Outsourcing

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 80-91
Author(s):  
Scott Winnard
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Change Management ◽  
Transaction Costs ◽  
Project Success ◽  
It Outsourcing ◽  
Contract Management ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Government Functions ◽  
Long Line

Information technology (IT) tends to be viewed as ancillary to core government functions. Consequently, IT is often outsourced to the private sector. Unfortunately, there is a long line of failed outsourced projects. This article uses two New Zealand case studies, the particularly public failure of the recent school payroll system and the successful introduction of electronic immigration processing, to examine how the design and governance of outsourced government IT projects could be improved. It concludes that an awareness of historic trends is important for project success, that governments need to be more active in combating market based transaction costs and that contract management becomes a core government competency when projects are outsourced. It also argues that better change management and cognisance of design-reality gaps would positively impact the outcomes of future projects.

Assessment of Risk on Information Technology Projects Through Moments of Translation

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Petronnell Sehlola ◽  
Tiko Iyamu
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Return On Investment ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Risk Identification ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Information Technology Projects ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Investment Projects ◽  
Infrastructure Networks

Many of the IT solutions in an organisation are employed through IT projects. Based on the reliance on IT solutions, organisations’ investment on IT projects has increased tremendously in the last two decades. This is informed and triggered by the premises that IT will help them to yield solutions that will fulfill or exceed their expectations, thereby make the organisation realise the required return on investment. Projects are a means to yield solutions through technological artefacts such as infrastructure (networks included), applications, databases or a combination of these. The technological artefacts do carries or are associated with foreseen or unforeseen risks. Hence proper risk identification and management on IT projects is necessitated to ensure that the organisation reaches its desire state. Unfortunately, risks are never easy to identify or manage. Using one case, the study employed actor-network theory in the analysis of the data to understand the factors which manifest themselves into risks during the deployment of IT projects in the organisation.

WHAT CHARACTERIZES SUCCESSFUL IT PROJECTS

2005 ◽  
Vol 04 (04) ◽  
pp. 525-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAN TERJE KARLSEN ◽  
JEANETTE ANDERSEN ◽  
LIVE S. BIRKELY ◽  
ELISE ØDEGÅRD
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Project Success ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Competitive Power ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Success Criteria ◽  
Satisfied Users

This paper presents empirical research aimed at studying what characterizes successful information technology (IT) projects. There are often doubts about what characterizes project success and who actually defines it. In this paper, we have reviewed the literature and present significant contributions to the discussion of what characterizes successful IT projects. Furthermore, a survey was conducted in Norway to collect data on successful IT projects. Research results show that the five most important success criteria are: (1) the IT system works as expected and solves the problems, (2) satisfied users, (3) the IT system has high reliability, (4) the solution contributes to improved efficiency and competitive power, and (5) the IT system realizes strategic, tactical and operational objectives.

Assessment of Risk on Information Technology Projects Through Moments of Translation

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 32-43
Author(s):  
Petronnell Sehlola ◽  
Tiko Iyamu
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Return On Investment ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Risk Identification ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Information Technology Projects ◽  
Investment Projects ◽  
Infrastructure Networks ◽  
The Past

Many of the IT solutions in an organisation are employed through IT projects. Based on the reliance on IT solutions, organisations’ investment in IT projects have increased tremendously in the past two decades. This is informed and triggered by the premise that IT will help yield solutions that will fulfill or exceed expectations, thereby making the organisation realise the required return on investment. Projects are a means to yield solutions through technological artefacts, such as infrastructure (networks included), applications, databases, or a combination of these artefacts. Technological artefacts are associated with foreseen or unforeseen risks. Hence, proper risk identification and management of IT projects is necessary to ensure that the organisation reaches the desired state. Unfortunately, risks are not easy to identify or manage. Using one case, the study employed actor network theory in the analysis of the data to understand the factors which manifest themselves into risks during the deployment of IT projects in the organisation.

Agile Maturity

2018 ◽  
pp. 233-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Marnewick ◽  
Josef Langerman
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Failure Rates ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Organizational Strategies ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Maturity Models ◽  
It Project ◽  
Way Of Thinking

Information technology (IT) projects are not adding value to organizational strategies. This is due to the high failure rates of these projects. Agile is perceived as a possible solution to this dilemma and preliminary evidence indicates that this is actually the case. To enhance the success rates of IT projects, agile principles need to be adopted and this can only be done through a process of maturity. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the importance of agile in IT project success and to show how agile maturity can be achieved through the application of maturity models. Agile maturity models themselves are not the answer as organizations themselves should be agile mature. This is achieved through a new way of thinking and working. The conclusion is that there should be a new way of managing IT projects in order to achieve value.

Proposing Knowledge Sharing as a Mediator Between Positive Gossip and Success of IT Projects

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 40-49
Author(s):  
Habiba Shah ◽  
Syed Danial Hashmi ◽  
Iram Naz
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Informal Networks ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Critical Success ◽  
Data Collection Technique

Using evolutionary perspective of gossip and knowledge-based view, the study proposes knowledge sharing behaviour as the underlying mechanism that helps in establishing the relationship between positive workplace gossip and success of IT projects. The study used multi-source and multi-layered data collection technique; data were collected from 304 employees working in information technology (IT) projects within Pakistan. The study used peer reports for knowledge sharing behaviour, while gossip and project success were self-reported. Results of the study show that positive workplace gossip has a positive relation with project success. The study also found support of partial mediation of knowledge sharing behaviour between positive workplace gossip and project success. These results have crucial implications for policy makers and project managers of IT projects. The findings reveal the importance of informal social networks of project team members towards project success. Managers shall device such mechanisms that allow for propagation of informal networks and knowledge sharing. Keywords Critical Success Factors, Information Technology Projects, Knowledge Sharing Behaviour, Positive Workplace Gossip, Project Success.

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