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Manging People In It Organisations

Abstract

Before software projects become operational and successful, they are faced with a diverse set of difficulties during both the development and acquisition phases. Some of the challenges comprise poor communication, ineffective requirements definition, inadequate management support and human related failures. These problems are then translated into discontented end users, inflated and unexpected costs, time wastage, delays and maintenance problems. The thrust of this paper is to draw attention to a number of identifiable and controllable human resource factors that can assist in the seamless implementation of impartial software projects assessment criteria that can act as a yardstick with regard to putting into operation efficient performance-based management of software-intensive projects.

Introduction

According to Kern and Johnson (1997) people are a major contributing factor to organisational problems facing IT and software related projects due to their disparity in training, culture, mentoring, diversity, organisation and satisfaction. The Chaos report (1994) states that the rate of failure in Information Technology (IT) related projects rates have climbed to 66 percent due to various political, economical, technological and social related factors. Consequently, many software organisations are directing large proportions of their resources towards enhancing software processes and practices. It is also increasingly becoming clear that long-term progress in these software projects goes hand in hand with changes in human resource development and management. As stated by Paton (2006) numerous IT related projects fail because firms concentrate mainly on setting up the technology and neglect considering how it will alter the way their personnel work. Metcalfe (2007) on the other hand notes that the lack of proper communication is another key factor in many IT related project failures as it creates disparity and lack of cohesion. There is a dire need...