Deadlines and Duct Tape: How to Manage the I.T. Function from a Business Perspective

If you are a business manager who is not sure how to coordinate and work with your Information Technology providers, then this book was written for you. You will learn how business managers can understand and control Information Technology to avoid the implementation of solutions that hamper the organization's agility. You may be astonished by the true stories of how Information Technology detrimentally operates when under the pressure of management deadlines.

Coverage includes:

--- Why duct tape solutions are sometimes needed in the short term, but should not be retained as a future solution.
--- How measuring only deadlines and budget can result in poor solutions.
--- How computer applications have made the work of Information Technology invisible to business management.
--- How the architectural approach of Service-Oriented Architecture and Business Process Management can give business management visibility into the organization's computing resources.
--- Why Information Technology development needs to move from a construction metaphor to that of a continuously running factory.
--- Why estimating Information Technology efforts can be so difficult and how it can be done better.
--- How to avoid the sluggishness of monolithic solutions.
--- Why the transition to this new approach will require a major culture shift for both business management and Information Technology.
--- The basics of Information Technology planning.
--- The need to be aware of the changing technology environment being driven by the Internet.
--- A manifesto of actions to understand and take control of Information Technology.
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Apollo 13, scheduled to be the third lunar landing, was launched at 1:13 P.M. Houston time on Saturday, April 11, 1970. This mission introduced another phrase into our culture, "Houston, we have a problem." This phrase was given by James Lovell, the commander of the mission. An explosion had taken place that would deprive the crew of oxygen.

The Apollo missions required two spacecrafts to go to the moon, the Command Module and the Lunar Lander. The astronauts could only return to earth in the Command Module, but the Command Module of Apollo 13 had been damaged and needed oxygen from the Lunar Lander. This problem has been described as placing a square peg in a round hole because the Command Module connector was square and the Lunar Lander was round. The engineers on the ground working with the astronauts came up with an adapter devised of plastic bags, cardboard, and tape. How important was the tape? It held the entire air duct together and saved the lives of the crew.

This book is not about the heroic use of tape; it is about the aftermath of the events that drive us to use duct tape when there are deadlines. For the astronauts, there was a clear and well-defined deadline. When the oxygen ran out, they would die. This was a time of sur-vival, a time for innovation, a time to defy the odds. But what happened on the Apollo missions that followed? Did they double the amount of tape carried on board? Did they begin to manufacture adapters made of plastic bags, cardboard, and tape? Of course not, NASA is better than that and so are you.

NASA investigated the root cause of the catastrophic event and made corrections before the next mission. As great as the innovation was, it was only for immediate survival, not a long term solution. There was no spin-off company designing adapters.

Have you spoken with your IT providers lately about their adapters?
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This book is about following the principles to survive in the short term without getting so wrapped up in duct tape that the business loses its agility in the future. It is about managing the IT function from a business perspective. How much do you know about IT? Do you have independent IT audits? Do you understand the principle of technical debt? Are you running a business or a technology art show? These are some of the questions that are addressed in this book.

The Manifesto of Actions: Business Management will:

1. Provide the business leadership for IT.
2. Keep the organization agile to meet the changing business environment by identifying and avoiding duct tape solutions.
3. Direct the development and continuous improvement of end-to-end business processes that utilize sub-processes and business services.
4. Require the visualization of all IT-developed or purchased services and processes within the context of the business model.
5. Follow a manufacturing approach to the design of the development and production factories.
6. Set deadlines only after acquiring a complete under-standing of solutions and estimates weighing the potential use of duct tape against future agility.
7. Require the packaging of all automated services to be within the business domains and sub-domains rather than packaging as specific applications.
8. Recognize that culture change will be difficult for the entire organization.
9. Provide the planning and governance to assure that IT operates within the high-level plan by jointly developing the plan and by approving all projects and exceptions to the plan.
10. Pay close attention to the revenue opportunities driven by the growing community acceptance of the new Internet technologies (Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Business Process Management (BPM)).