How important were the NYCAPS and CityTime projects for New York City? What were their objectives? What would have been their business benefits?
- In term of improving efficiency and cutting cost, both project was extremely important for New York City. The goal of the NYCAPS project was to create a modern, automated system for managing and updating personal information for the City’s workforce, including employee benefit information. The City was using individual Citywide system, 200 individual agency system, and a maze of paperwork.
- The CityTimes project depended on pen and paper to record overtimes payments city workers. It was hoped the system would automate that and improve accountability through the government.
Evaluate the key risk factors in both projects.
- The key risk factor in both project were out-of-control time and cost, lower quality of project output and problem that so far have prevented either project from being complete. All of this risk factor were heightened by lack of qualified project management.
Classify and describe the problems each project encountered as the NYCAPS and CityTime systems were being implemented. What management, organization, and technology factors were responsible for these problems?
- Management: A lack of qualified and responsible oversight, a lack of management and a lack of leadership led to failure of both project. The NYCAPS project was controlled by government officials. Therefore, missing many opportunities to lower develop costs. The City Times project was managed by the City’s budget direct whose background was in law, not project management or technology.
- Organizations: The NYCAPS project monitor reported chronic mismanagement, cost overrun and general waste plaguing the project. But the city continued ahead with the project without making any significant changes. Next, other city government branches left the project mostly to him. Moreover, the City Comptroller never audited the project despite numerous warning about the project from staffers.
- Technology: The technology requirement, on the surface, were sound automate manual system. This system provided ways to audit input and output, reduce cheating and fraud through better technology and replace outdated legacy system with newer technologies. Besides that, even though one of the objective of the NYCAPS system was to updates it. In additional, the newer system was designed to run on the same old legacy system used in the previous patch work system
What were the similarities and differences in the management of both projects?
- Similarities and difference in the management of both project is used hourly billing versus fixed cost payments at one times or other. Besides that, along with improper management and oversight, invites fraud, waste and abuse. Neither project had an experienced project manager at the top that was qualified and that had the proper authority to effectively control the project.
- In additional, the NYCAPS project was totally controlled by one company, Accenture. The CityTimes project was controlled by one contractor, but used a lot of subcontractors to complete the work. To complete the work must have a lot of accountability even worse. The term of the project’s contract was constantly changing.
What was the business impact of these botched implementations? Explain your answer.
- Firstly, new system improves efficiencies, reduce cost, reduce fraud and waste. This system can provide executive, manager, and employees with better information on which to make better decisions. None of these business benefits was met because of the botched system implementations.
Describe the steps that should have been taken to prevent negative outcomes in these projects.
- Managing technical complexity: Managing technical complexity mean the project leaders need both heavy technical and administrative experience. The must be able to anticipate problem and develop smooth working relationship among a predominantly technical team.
- Formal planning and control tools: Formal planning tools and formal control tools for documenting and monitoring project plans are an absolute. Besides that, Gantt charts and PERT chart are very helpful for monitoring plans and allowing manager to determine early on when the project is veering off course. These tools can help manager identify bottlenecks and determine the impact that problem will have on project completion times.
- Increasing user involvement and overcoming user resistance: External Integration tools consist of ways to link the work of the implementation team to user at all organizations levels. Moreover, project with relatively little structure and many undefined requirements must involve users full at all stage.
