Customer Reviews

IT Success!: Towards a New Model for Information Technology

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We all like to complain about the lack of success in the IT industry. But if we can't increase success, there's clearly something wrong with our current frameworks with which we look at IT. This book provides an excellent analysis that explains current traps. For example, the IT industry likes construction analogies (everybody in IT wants to become an architect nowadays). I wholeheartedly agree with the author: an IT-system is not the same thing as a building, so stop comparing these two worlds.
One of the other problems in IT is that we don't manage demand effectively, we more or less just supply. Both demand and supply need to be managed and to do this, the book touches on the topic of portfolio management and prototyping. It also introduces basic financial constructions in the IT-department.
I can agree with many of the observations the author makes and the book is a great read. The book does not provide all the answers though. In my opinion, the needed mechanisms are introduced but need more elaboration if you want them to work in large, complex (and more political) IT-environments. This books provides the start of a much needed debate on effective IT paradigms, but is by no means the end.

I've worked in IT software project management for 10+ years and found some great ideas that resonate with my experiences. The concept of partnering on an iterative approach is great advice. Easy to read, makes logical sense, and contains practical application.

This was a good book if you are in the IT area. It does make you think about why so many IT projects are late (or seem to be).As the author alludes to many items that do take place in a large company. From these you can see why the projects are either late or off target. He makes several very good points and you can learn a lot from his experience.