Large IT Research Articles

Large Scale IT Projects: Study and Analysis of Failures and Winning Factors

ABSTRACTThe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) embarked on developing a case management software project titled “The Virtual Case File (VCF)” in 2000 to facilitate the FBI agents in progress in active investigations and connects them with each other. But FBI ultimately discarded the project in April 2005. This study demonstrates why the project titled “Virtual Case File” failed and analyses the reasons behind this failure. This meticulous analysis thoroughly examines the VCF project and suggests a few effective pointers to identify a dwindling IT project. This analytical study also explores the exclusivity of this project failure. This study discusses about a few effective suggestions that could have saved this huge IT project failure and future large IT projects. A dedicated chapter in this paper explains the possible winning factors for an IT project success. Finally, a selective chronology of the over-hyped VCF project has been illustrated in the final part of this paper.

Research on Large Exhibition Venue Operation Management Integrated IT System

As started late, China's large exhibition venue industry lags behind the developed countries in the exhibition venue construction and management concepts, and lacks of integrated management over the full cycle of large exhibition venue projects, therefore, decision-making, implementation and operational phases are disjointed with each other and all sorts of drawbacks exist, meanwhile, the overall optimization of social, environmental and economic benefits and win-win situation between stakeholders are unable to be realized. This paper takes large exhibition venue project full cycle integrated management model as object of research and discusses the reason mechanism, connotation, organizational methods and information system of the integrated management. Focusing on large exhibition venue project operation, this paper makes a research and analysis on venue project full cycle integrated management information system demands, and proposes information integration transformation models (including integration relationship model, integration element model and integration mapping model) and comprehensively designs the system basic function framework, hierarchical framework and overall running framework, and also proposes key technologies used to realize the system.

Improving IT incident handling performance with information visibility

In large internal information technology IT organizations, multiple teams are often involved in handling incidents, so these teams come to depend on one another. We hypothesize that the knowledge these teams have of the agreed upon and realized incident handling performance of themselves and other teams will impact their performance. We tested this hypothesis at a large financial institute, using log data from the IT service management application and a survey to measure the knowledge of teams. We found 1 a significant positive correlation between incident handling performance of a team and the knowledge a team has of its own performance; 2 no correlation between the knowledge of agreed upon performance and realized performance within a team; 3 that teams have very little knowledge of agreed upon or realized performance of other teams; and 4 that improving the knowledge a team has of the agreed upon and realized performance of that team and dependent teams results in higher incident handling performance. The results show that increasing information visibility within and across teams in large IT providers is one way to improve incident handling performance. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Tetrad Influences

The Software Configuration Management (SCM) process with its origin in hardware development was first applied to the software development environment in the 1950's. Since then many IT dynamics associated with this process have evolved, such as, software development methodologies, software process improvement standards, computing environments, and organizational needs. Through the observation of these IT dynamics, which the researchers called “the tetrad influences”, it is now apparent that there is a need to look into new adaptable approaches to apply the SCM process for traceability and governance. In this paper, we will present a conceptual framework highlighting the tetrad influences on the SCM process and will propose a Software configuration Adaptable Lean Agile Management “SALAM” model as a solution. We contribute a case study of a large Australian IT project where hybrid project teams delivered a consolidated software product in a hybrid cloud computing environment.

The Determinants of Currency Hedging in Indian IT Firms

This paper explores the factors which determine the usage of currency derivatives by Indian IT companies. It has taken a total of 18 large IT firms in India. Those have disclosed the currency derivative data in their financial reports from 2011 to 2013; this study uses cross-sectional panel data and applies a multiple regression model. For this reason, the firm-specific features such as financial distress cost, underinvestment cost, multinationality, firm size, Taxation and Liquidity are regressed against the notional amount of currency derivatives reported for hedging activities. Finally result found that Size (Total assets) and Underinvestment (PE ratio) is the major determinant factors of the currency derivative usage in large Indian IT firms.

The Generalized Requirement Approach for Requirement Validation with Automatically Generated Program Code

Introduction Gathering business requirements can be a difficult process, especially when the final product requirements are dictated by a known client. Business requirement validation in cases where the requirements are gathered using text and graphics can be slow, error prone, and expensive. Misunderstandings and omitted requirements force additional revisions and increase a project's costs and delays. When issues related to the requirements are discovered later in the project, there are even greater costs and delays. Discovering or modifying requirements in the Design Phase can be three to six times more expensive, in the Coding Phase up to ten times more expensive, and in the Development Testing Phase between fifteen and forty times more expensive. In the Acceptance Phase, modifications can be thirty to seventy times more expensive, and in the Operation Phase it could be as high as forty to a thousand times more expensive (Dragon Point Inc., 2008). Architecture and design depends significantly on the Requirement Specifications. Misunderstandings or misinterpretations of the requirement can lead to wrong architectural and design decisions, as well as the propagation of failure into coding and latter project phases. One of the worst-case scenarios is when wrongly implemented requirements are discovered after deployment on the production platform. A research study reported that more than a quarter of completed projects contain only 25% to 49% of the originally specified features and functions (The Standish Group, 1995). The IBM Project Management presentation used the Meta Group study to illustrate that 70% of large IT projects failed or did not meet customer expectations (IBM, 2007). This paper proposes a new approach to the software development process to the improve requirements negotiation process and enable requirement validation during the requirement negotiation process. In the Generalized Requirement Approach (GRA), requirement validation is accomplished using automatically generated source and executable code without manual programming. The source code and executables are generated by the Generic Programming Units (GPU), the basis of the GRA Framework. The GRA Framework, which is the implementation of the GRA, provides guidelines for documenting and specifying requirements, methods, and libraries that are used to generate source code and executables. The questions that are part of the GRA Framework are guidelines for specifying a sufficient level of requirement detail to generate sources and executable code for requirement demonstration. Besides requirement documenting, tracking, and validating, this method addresses common requirement management syndromes, including a specification of an insufficient level of detail (Bulajic, Stojic, & Sambasivam, 2013a), the IKIWISI (I'll know it when I see it) Syndrome, the Yes, But Syndrome (That is not exactly what I mean), and the Undiscovered Ruins Syndrome (Now that I see it, I have another requirement to add). This paper is organized in the following sections: 1. Introduction--this section 2. 3. 4. Software Development Method 5. Generalized Requirement Approach 6. Generalized Requirement Approach Framework 7. Retail Store Example Application 8. Summary of GRA Features and Comparison to other Approaches 9. Conclusion 10. References The section Background discusses the Software Development Methodology and compares sequential and iterative software development processes. The section Literature Survey presents software development methods that have contributed to the software development process. This presentation is limited to the major methods that are currently used for software development. The section Traditional Software Development Method (SDM) is an overview of the current software development process structure that is common for the software development methods presented in the Section 3 Literature Survey. …

Hybrid Fuzzy-ontological Project Framework of a Team Work Simulation System

The aim of this article is to present the project framework for constructing a Software Process Simulation Modeling (SPSM) system. SPSM systems can be used as a virtual environment for the selection of methods and tools of project management in IT support organizations. The constructed system simulates the Scrum methodology, including the management processes and the project roles. For the implementation of Scrum processes, the Scrum ontology is proposed and for the competences of the roles of project team members, a fuzzy-logic representation. As a result we present the hybrid fuzzy-ontological system. The framework of the design processes proposed in the article was verified on the basis of real courses of project management processes in a large IT company.

A New Model for Multicriteria Risk-Based Tender Evaluation

Tender evaluation is a critical process for selecting the most appropriate tenderer which potentially increase the probability of IT projects success and ensuring tenderer to deliver the project accordingly.This is in relation to the fact that large IT projects nowadays are founded challenged with several potential risks that lead to poor project progress.Thus, tender evaluation should be evaluated with multi criteria and risk factors to provide more accurate result.This paper discussed the identified multi criteria for tender evaluation. The mapping of standardized multi criteria and risk factors were prepared through content analysis.As a result, there are eight criteria for tender evaluation which includes offered price, contractor credibility, processing time, contractor capability, contractor support service, employee capability, technical solution and document completeness.The risk factors were also defined by determining the risks that might have influence on project success. The risks criteria are user, technology, requirement, project planning and control, project team and organization environment. These mapping of aim to structuring the decision making framework for risk based multicriteria tender evaluation.

Boundary Spanners and Client Vendor Relationships in IT Outsourcing: A Social Capital Perspective

IT outsourcing success depends on efficient management of client-vendor relationships, wherein, boundary spanners play a crucial role. Boundary spanners are individuals, who operate at the periphery or boundary of an organization, performing organizationally relevant tasks (Leifer & Delbecq, 1978). Boundary spanners function either as information exchange agents between the organization and its environment (Leifer & Delbecq, 1978), or as an external representative for the organization (Ancona & Caldwell, 1990, 1992). In this research we use a qualitative case research method to address the research question “How do boundary spanners influence client- vendor relationships in IT outsourcing engagements?” In order to explore “how” a boundary spanner could influence IT outsourcing relationships, especially in an external representative function, we have used the Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) classification of social capital. We have conducted an in-depth case based study of a boundary spanner in a large Indian IT vendor organization, and his relationship with his client, one of the largest banks in Australia. The social capital classification guides inductive analysis in this study. The contribution of this study is three fold. Firstly, it helps develop propositions regarding how boundary spanners operate. Secondly, it empirically validates the elements of social capital of Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) framework in an IT outsourcing context. Thirdly, it extends the existing social capital framework by trying to disentangle the constituent elements and develop a sequence of these elements for social capital formation.

Organization development throughad hocproblem solving

Purpose– The purpose of this research is to study thead hocproblem of developing capabilities for knowledge transfer between various constituencies of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation project. The paper studies how an ERP project develops ability to network, link, and integrate its various knowledge resources over time.Design/methodology/approach– The paper conducted a case study of an ERP project, from its initiation in 2008 to its completion in 2011.Findings– The case demonstrates the dynamics of development of knowledge transfer capacities throughad hocproblem solving. The paper identifies five mechanisms used in this case for the development of knowledge transfer capacities.Practical implications–Ad hocproblem solving mechanisms demonstrated in this paper can be intentionally planned and utilized in similar projects to enable interaction, integration, and institutionalization.Originality/value– Even thoughad hocproblem solving as a model for change is prevalent in many organizations, studies ofad hocproblem solving capabilities as a mechanism for change are not extensive. This case describesad hocmechanisms that foster change and development of knowledge transfer capacities during large IT project implementations.

Information Security Management (ISM) Practices: Lessons from Select Cases from India and Germany

The increasing dependence of businesses over information and the changing ways of information usage with modern IT/ICT tools and mediums, have created an unavoidable need of information security in organizations. Earlier, the technical measures were used to fulfill this need; however, it has been realized that technology alone is unable to address the challenges of information security management (ISM) in organizations. Management and behavioral aspects are pivotal to build an ISM system in organizations. This paper makes an attempt to understand and examine the current ISM practices of two large size, global IT and management services and consulting orga- nizations, one from India and another from Germany. In a case design, the study adopts qualitative research route and semi-structured interviews were conducted across hierarchy in both the organizations. Observations from interviews are portrayed using descriptive analysis meth- odology. Further, to draw learning from the cases, SAP- LAP method of inquiry was used to understand the present status of ISM practices in both the organizations. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of the findings and scope for the future research.

Social network analyses in organizations: challenges and approaches for studying work networks

In the past years, social network analysis (SNA) techniques got disseminated to a large number of fields, such as, disease spread, animal group behaviour, organization dynamics, and the like. A particular use for SNA is to help in understanding how organizations work. It focuses not only on issues relative to how to manage organizations, but how people accomplish their work and share their knowledge by means of their work networks. Understanding how people actually work in an organization helps managers to diagnose gaps in communication and collaboration, and consequently improve work efficiencies and effectiveness. In this paper we present some challenges in using SNA techniques to understand how work is done in a large IT service delivery organization. Using SNA it is possible to attain a better understanding of the working environment as well as diagnose some of the issues workers face everyday. Some major technical and methodological challenges are: to define the importance of each media and that there are a few SNA algorithms that can work with multi-edges or weighted graphs. Thus, a computational challenge in organization data rests on how to merge the different media available and how to measure the importance and consequently give value for e-mail, instant messenger, traces of work, hierarchical structure, collaborative documents, intern communities, and face-to- face communications, for example. In sum, this paper discusses some of these challenges that emerged in our exploration of work networks, and suggests a few techniques and approaches to tackle them.

When agile meets the enterprise

ContextWhile renowned agile methods like XP and Scrum were initially intended for projects with small teams, traditional enterprise environments, i.e. environments where plan-driven development is prevalent, have also become attracted by the promises of a faster time to market through agility. Agile software development methods emphasize lightweight software development. Projects within enterprise environments, however, are typically confronted with a large and complex IT landscape, where mission-critical information is at play whose criticality requires prudence regarding design and development. In many an organization, both approaches are used simultaneously. ObjectiveFind out which challenges the co-existence of agile methods and plan-driven development brings, and how organizations deal with those challenges. MethodWe present a grounded theory of the challenges of using agile methods in traditional enterprise environments, based on a Grounded Theory research involving 21 agile practitioners from two large enterprise organizations in the Netherlands. ResultsWe organized the challenges under two factors: Increased landscape complexity and Lack of business involvement. For both factors, we identify successful mitigation strategies. These mitigation strategies concern the communication between the agile and traditional part of the organization, and the timing of that communication. ConclusionAgile practices can coexist with plan-driven development. One should, however, keep in mind the context and take actions to mitigate the challenges incurred.

Knowledge sharing in information systems development projects: Explicating the role of dependence and trust

This study provides empirical evidence for the role of dependence and trust in knowledge sharing in information systems projects. As critical antecedents of dependence and trust among team members, four constructs are included in the study—environmental complexity, domain expertise, similarity of project value, and communication frequency. Partial least square analyses are conducted, using data collected from 135 project teams in two large IT firms. The results confirm that dependence and trust maintain a strong impact on knowledge sharing, leading to good team project performance. This study uses a cross-sectional survey as a research method. Longer term exploration seems necessary to further explore how trust and dependence are actually formed among team members. Findings indicate that team members share their knowledge when they trust their partners and when they feel dependent. Feelings of dependence and trust are influenced by the communication frequency, perceived similarity of the project's value, and the perceived expertise. Project managers need to pay attention to these variables in order to increase the level of knowledge sharing among team members especially in information systems development projects where primary tasks are critically knowledge-intensive.

Dynamic power management for QoS-aware applications

Reducing the power requirement of large IT infrastructures is becoming a major concern. Energy savings can be achieved with hardware and/or software solutions; in particular, modern CPUs can operate at different power levels that can be selected by software: low power modes reduce energy consumption at the cost of lowering also the CPU processing rate. In this paper we address the problem of reducing energy consumption of a large-scale distributed application subject to Service Level Agreements requiring a maximum allowed response time. Specifically, we propose Energy Aware reconfiguration of software SYstems (EASY), an on-line algorithm for dynamically adjusting the processing speed of individual devices such that the average system response time is kept below a predefined threshold, and the total power consumption is minimized. EASY uses a queueing networks performance model to proactively drive the reconfiguration process, so that the number of individual reconfiguration actions is reduced. We formulate the energy conservation problem as a Mixed Integer Programming problem, for which we propose a heuristic solution technique. Numerical experiments show that the heuristic produces almost optimal results at a substantially lower computational cost. Therefore, EASY can be effectively applied on-line to make a large system energy-proportional.

Maturity for Sustainability in IT

Large scale IT usage harms the environment during its life-cycle and this results in a threat to sustainability. This research provides an approach to help IT organizations recognize and prioritize appropriate measures. A green ontology consisting of suggestions to improve IT sustainability is introduced based on earlier work. Then, to be able to judge where sustainability impacts the IT of an organization, the dimensions Govern, Source, Make, and Return as derived from the Supply Chain Operations Relationship model are applied within a sustainability context. Furthermore, four maturity levels are defined for IT sustainability based on the available sustainable development literature: Cleaning up the waste, Preventing waste, Product reengineering, and IT as an opportunity. Finally, the resulting Maturity for IT Sustainability (MITS) model is presented which categorizes all ontology measures appropriately within the two MITS dimensions.

A Green Software Development Life Cycle for Cloud Computing

Cloud computing's recent proliferation has received attention from green crusaders hoping to mitigate the carbon footprint of large datacenters and IT infrastructures, but what about the software? A new framework for a greener cloud focuses on energy-efficient software development.

Case Study on Effectiveness Evaluation of Buisiness Procedure Reengineering: BPR for Local Government in Saga Prefecture, Japan

Case study on validation of effeteness of Business Procedure Reengineering: BPR for local government in Saga prefecture, Japan is conducted. As the results, if it found that BPR is effective. The local government, environment established a government CIO room introduction of a number system was a long-cherished wish is determined in 2013, it is possible to promote e- government and e-municipality and the banner of great incredibly plan called "world-leading creative nation" is being put into place some. We would like you to realize the municipality a cloud can be enhanced administrative services to pour our best to take this opportunity, give the impression to the residents as possible; the operational efficiency of the civil service, the foundation is reduced large flower IT costs

Scrum adoption and architectural extensions in developing new service applications of large financial IT systems

Abstract The use of modern agile software development methods in large organisations requires tailoring agile development to the organisations’ needs. This study concentrated on studying integrating software product line and agile application development in the context of large and complex financial IT systems. The study was conducted by interviewing a wide representation from the case organisation’s personnel developing in-house software for the company’s own use. The results indicate that the guidelines of the Scrum method for agile project management are valid also for the studied company type. However, each project in the studied company should acknowledge the constraints set by other projects and the complex technical infrastructure, data security issues and system portfolio in the organisation’s product line platform. In order to promote re-use and avoid risks, means and mechanisms are needed to coordinate and synchronise multiple projects and their releases on business level, the project’s compatibility with its constraints on system architecture level and the direction of software architecture on project team level.

Artificial intelligence in the service of system administrators

The LHCb online system relies on a large and heterogeneous IT infrastructure made from thousands of servers on which many different applications are running. They run a great variety of tasks: critical ones such as data taking and secondary ones like web servers. The administration of such a system and making sure it is working properly represents a very important workload for the small expert-operator team. Research has been performed to try to automatize (some) system administration tasks, starting in 2001 when IBM defined the so-called “self objectives” supposed to lead to “autonomic computing”. In this context, we present a framework that makes use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor and diagnose at a low level and in a non intrusive way Linux-based systems and their interaction with software. Moreover, the multi agent approach we use, coupled with an “object oriented paradigm” architecture should increase our learning speed a lot and highlight relations between problems.