One particular project sticks out in my mind.   The names of the company and the employees have been changed to protect the innocent.

Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes

I was brought in as the functional lead for a Manufacturing implementation at the Spaghetti Western Factory.  I was the only full time resource assigned to the project, internal or external.   Clint, a.k.a. Blondie, was the director….I mean project manager.  He was allocated 10% of the time to the project.  He had several other projects he was assigned to.  One day I asked him why he spent so little time on the Manufacturing project.  That was a mistake!  He glared at me and snarled, “go ahead, make my day….ask me again.”  Then there was the business analyst, a guy by the name of Eli, a.k.a. Tuco.  He was a funny little guy, who spent only about 25% of his time on this particular project.  I’m not sure what other schemes…I mean projects, Tuco was working on but he had little time for the Manufacturing project.   Another character, excuse me, project member was Lee, a.k.a. Angel Eyes.   He was our technical resource.  He was not very personable, kind of aloof, but very efficient.  He was good at his job, but again, had other things in his sights.

The primary issue with this project was the lack of commitment on the part of the client.   They were not willing to make the necessary resources available for this project.  I don’t blame the client folks working on the project.  They were burdened with too many other projects, limiting their availability for the Manufacturing project.

The lack of resources on the project resulted in a list of requirements that didn’t address the necessary level of detail.  This in turn caused negative downstream effects in the form of a functional design that didn’t meet the needed functionality of the business community.  That forced us to backtrack and readdress requirements and then modify the functional design.

In addition, some programs had to be recoded to address the new functional design.  If we had a full time business analyst on the project, we in all likelihood would have come up with a comprehensive list of requirements to begin with.  Had there been a project manager committed to the project there would have been an individual to appropriately monitor the deliverables and enforce the necessary level of quality control.   Although our technical resource was very good at his job, the fact that he had many other assignments on his plate limited his availability for the Manufacturing project and pushed the completion of the development effort beyond the allocated time frame in the project plan.  The result of our resource shortage was delays to the project and cost overruns.

In summary, if a company wants to reduce risk of failure and increase the likelihood of a successful project then they must make the commitment in terms of resources.  This includes human resources.  You must have the right resources, internal and external, allocated to the project in levels that will enable a successful implementation or upgrade.  By successful, I mean not only in terms of on time and within budget but a system that meets the business requirements of the firm.