A Note on IT Reviews 

While sitting on the corporate board one of the World's largest IT Agencies doing budget reviews, I realized decision makers didn't have reliable information on most of their programs. Sure, we knew something about the top few programs, but we knew almost nothing about the 200+ smaller projects. All we knew was from a line item in the budget and a few sentences in a briefing from someone several levels up their management chain. It was frustrating. I knew that with my experience in state-of-the-art system development all I needed was a chance to sit down with the program or project leads. In a few hours I could get a pretty good feel for whether they were worthwhile or not, and identify their major risk areas.

Shortly thereafter a friend of mine asked me for a favor. He wanted me to take a look at the system they were developing to manage the assembly line machinery he manufactured. I went over the details of the project with him and his programmer for an hour or so. It soon became clear they were making many of the common mistakes of a smart programmer working independently. I pointed out their strengths and weaknesses, and we talked about how they could improve their software architecture and development processes. By the end of the meeting they decided to bring on another programmer to help document and maintain the current system, formalize their CM and testing, and free up their developer to start work on the next generation. It showed me that, indeed, a comprehensive assessment by a seasoned expert could get to the core issues of a program in a single afternoon.

Over the next few years I took advantage in my academic training in survey techniques to develop a fast, economical and effective approach to conducting those assessments. Based on a comprehensive half day structured interview of the PM and Chief Engineer, this technique has been tested in over 100 assessments. It has been proven effective in identifying risks and helping programs reduce them. In the process we have helped our customers save Millions of Dollars by: 1) helping managers identify and mitigate risks, 2) identifying high risk programs that should be terminated, 3) revealing redundant efforts, and 4) identifying testing and development capabilities that could be developed once at the corporate level, instead of reinvented by each program.

The process is quick, easy, and cost effective. I specifically designed this approach to give you the unbiased information you need and not make extra work for the program staff. Other than filling out a quick self assessment there is no time consuming paperwork or training involved. I am not a proponent of any particular tools or development philosophy and will not try to sell you proprietary solutions, training or certifications. You can be sure of an honest unbiased assessment that will give you the high quality information you need to make the right decisions for your organization.

Mark A. Archer