Information Systems Deployment, aka "What NOT To Do", and hopeful publication

Our discussion topics for this week were IS deployment, specifically dealing with the following questions:

• What are the key components of project management? (Answer: Scope (the outcome), Sponsorship and Management (the people), Management Methodology (the process), Reporting (communications), Control (the quality), and Value (business value and technology support)).
• What role does a project's sponsor need to play in the technology implementation process? (Answer: Providers and clients both have responsibilities to fulfill if a project is to succeed.  More than anything, this boils down to an issue of clear communication)
• What are the key managerial authorities a project manager needs to succeed? (Answer: power over who's on the project's team, the power to make assignments, and the power to provide performance consequences)
• What questions does the project sponsor need to ask a project manager?  (I found this chapter in the book to be one I marked as useful in a managerial position of any type.  Again, it all boils down to communication skills)
• Whys is it important to explicitly state the intended business result of an IT project?  How should this be done? (This chapter discussed "MOPS"--measure of performance, as consisting of intended goals and expected constraints.  A book was mentioned, Robert F. Mager's "Goal Analysis: How to Clarify Your Goals So You Can Actually Achieve Them", and it looks as though our university library has it, so I'm going to pick it up on Monday for some leisure reading.  Hey, I have plenty of goals that need to be achieved, so it's worth a shot).

Finally, we discussed a classic What NOT To Do case regarding Maine's failed Medicaid system.  It's a good example of how decisions that seem to make sense at the time, can really snowball and backfire.

We've been assigned a research paper, and I've chosen the topic of Business Intelligence Implications for Nonprofits.  I've seen nonprofits of various sizes use data mining for many different jobs...everything from gathering metrics to justify certain projects, to hone in on donor targets, to refine events and outreach programs.  I'm not sure yet if I'll be crafting a survey to send out to some random nonprofits, but it's an option.  The professor has mentioned that he'd be more than happy to help us with publication, and I'm going to opt for that track as time permits.