Revolutionizing IT: The Art of Using Information Technology Effectively [Hardcover]

David H. Andrews (Author), Kenneth R. Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2002

A guide for making information technology work for any company

Often corporate IT projects fail because the underlying assumptions about a program are unrealistic. Revolutionizing IT helps organizations find success for their IT projects by showing them how to create and reach realistic goals. A combination of real case histories and examples helps show how this strategy controls both expectations and costs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"?if only chief executives and top civil servants would pause to read this book, a lot of money and grief might be saved?"(The Financial Times, 28 October 2002)

From the Inside Flap

Why is it so hard to gain concrete business benefits from Information Technology (IT)? Why do so many IT projects overrun budgets, miss schedules, and fail to meet expectations? How can your organization ensure the success of its next IT undertaking? This book provides a simple yet profound set of management principles that will completely change the way you think about the management of technology.

Most managers instinctively know that IT projects shouldn't be as complex as they always seem to become. They just don't know what to do to keep it from happening. With the help of this easy-to-understand and nontechnical guide, you can master a unique and proven way to manage IT projects. The name Revolutionizing IT...Effectively, or the RITE Approach, has been given to these simple yet powerful principles that enable you to plan success into every project. Real case histories from both successful and failed IT projects bring each concept to life, and detailed examples illustrate proven methods for putting each principle into action. You'll learn how to:
* Let time determine the scope of your project
* Succeed through continual incremental improvements
* Let projects mimic evolution
* Recycle proven concepts
* Demand progress, not perfection
* Make end users fully accountable

Information technology is a product of science, but using IT effectively to increase efficiency, competitiveness, and profitability is truly an art. Revolutionizing IT gives you the management principles and understanding you need to realize the full potential of your information systems.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 237 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (September 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471250414
• ISBN-13: 978-0471250418
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,611,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great advice for any project, November 7, 2002

By 

Bill McGinnis (Toledo, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Revolutionizing IT: The Art of Using Information Technology Effectively (Hardcover)

Even though much of Mr. Andrews' excellent book focuses on information technology projects, I believe his ideas and advice can benefit almost any kind of project. As a retired Vice-President from Cap Gemini Ernst and Young's consulting practice, I spend much of time as a volunteer working with nonprofit organizations. I believe that Andrews' concepts of: strong leadership, clear objectives and accountability, tight scope control and delivery in "bite sized" pieces are just as important for an organizational change project in a non-profit as they are for an MRP implementation in a Fortune 500 company.

A core message in the book is that senior management has to get close enough to the details of a project to make intelligent decisions about scope, staffing and funding. Many executives don't focus on the details because they are "too technical". The author's advice on this one issue could save American business billions of dollars every year.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Homerun, October 17, 2002

By 

"wgewehr" (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Revolutionizing IT: The Art of Using Information Technology Effectively (Hardcover)

This is a clear, concise guide to properly managing IT projects. It is revolutionary, but soundly based on good common sense and over 30 years of experience. Anyone who has been invovled in large-scale IT projects for a number of years will recognize the soundness of Andrews' approach -- the RITE Approach. A very good read with strong practical application.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Business Students also, April 4, 2003

By 

Justin Sterling Swift (Wayland, Massachusetts United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Revolutionizing IT: The Art of Using Information Technology Effectively (Hardcover)

You have to like any book that is what it claims to be, and Revolutionizing IT is exactly what it claims to be. After reading this book and recently completing a 10 week course based on its contents I can say happily that it will "change the way you think about the management of any complex task, especially if it involves Information Technology."

Written for a non-technical management audience, its best attribute is the multitude of genuinely useful examples that illustrate the principles of the authors' RITE approach in detail for serious understanding. Unlike many books, especially college textbooks, these concrete examples keep the book, which is filled with good project management theory, from becoming merely a set of entertaining but impractical and vague remarks on IT as some books are.

Of course, while these qualities are helpful for the non-IT managers at whom this book is aimed, I found it to be invaluable for college students planning on entering the business world upon graduation with aspirations toward higher management. Not only does this book help future mangers understand IT, an important task in and of itself, but more importantly it's simply good advice for anyone who will be managing people and major projects in the future.

In my personal experience, Revolutionizing IT has made me very aware of the risks, and how to manage them, involved in any change to an organization that will fundamentally alter the way current staff will be doing their jobs. While this is a good reminder for experienced managers (who should be aware of this already), this advice both on how to look out for and how to deal with potential resistance and hostility toward business process changes is invaluable for future business executives. In fact, as I read the book I found myself wishing I had read it before I embarked on a particularly difficult internship which involved my writing an efficiency audit report for a department within the organization. The report ultimately culminated in the firing of the department manager.

This is a great book, easy to read and full of wisdom hard won through the experience of its authors. Put it into the hands of non-IT managers, especially the ones who are uncomfortable with IT. But first put it into the hands of young business people, even the ones who think they understand computers, because they will need the advice on project and people management.

Justin Swift
Principia College