Why is the success rate of projects so dismal? There are several reasons, the top of which are:

1. Lack of user involvement.
2. Improper or changing requirements and specifications.
3. Lack of resources.

I’ve written before on how you can improve the success rates of your IT projects by engaging your end users. Now, I’ll speak about a foundational aspect that can address all areas of IT project challenges.

Many projects are often implemented ad-hoc, except within organisations with a dedicated project office that oversees major projects.

However, any organisations can benefit from similar processes, even if they lack the project management expertise or credentials.

All IT projects can be defined in clear processes that you can map inputs, activities, and deliverables to.

An IT project will have the four basic stages:

1. Plan – At this stage, the project is initiated, and requirements are analysed and documented. A scope of work and/or a high-level design is created on what is to be implemented.

2. Design – The requirements and high-level design are used to create lower level technical design documents that detail the hardware, software, and configuration changes required. Implementation and test plans are also created to ensure quality.

3. Implement – Low-level designs and implementation plans are then used to install the new hardware, software, and configuration changes required in the environment. The test plans are used to ensure quality. Documentation is created, along with training if necessary, to use the new systems implemented.

4. Deliver or Operate – The documentation and training is used to continue to operate and maintain the new infrastructure. The project is then closed.

There is an overarching phase of management of both project activities and quality assurance.

The system has been used by many companies, all calling it something different and even splitting out parts to create many parts.

Many software and hardware vendors use a derivation of this in their “infrastructure lifecycle” methodologies, such as the Cisco PPDIOO Network Lifecycle and the Microsoft Operations Framework. These are all similar, with phases either split off or joined and each with its own special flavours, but the activities are pretty much the same.

I refuse to call it a lifecycle, which gives the idea that these projects go on in perpetuity. Instead, I leave it linear and at the end say that there is some sort of “continuous improvement” taking place, which may then spawn other projects.

This is shown diagrammatically in the figure below along with the associated inputs, activities, and outputs of each phase.

The benefits of using such a structure in your projects are many:

• It gives tangible deliverables at the end of each stage so that everyone knows what to expect.
• It develops a deliberative style to thinking about the designs and the possible challenges they will face.
• It determines the resources required for each stage as you progress.
• It reduces failure of parts, as each proceeding phase develops from the preceding phase.
• It allows a process of deeper thinking as you progress through the project.
• It allows division of labour, so you can hire people with certain skills to handle specific parts where you lack the expertise.
• Teams are a part of the process and share in the learning.
• End-users play their part in the process and can be updated on the progress.
• It makes financing easier since you can determine costs as you progress through each stage, helping you to manage cash flow.
• Quality assurance is built in, helping a project to meet its objectives and reduce risks.
• Project management methodologies can be easily integrated with the process.

Can you see how using such a process will help address those top issues that cause failures of IT projects?

Using an implementation methodology will allow any IT project to be implemented with greater success and bring greater returns to any business. This is the same process that I use to successfully deliver all of my projects, and it will work for you too.

If you would like to know more about how you can use this methodology in your business, please contact me.

Original article: Improve the outcomes of your IT projects by using a design and implementation methodology

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.

There are two ways to have a mobile friendly site – a mobile website or a mobile responsive site. Believe it or not, there is an argument among web-developers as to the merits of each.

A Mobile Site

This type of website is the earliest type of mobile sites. This is a different site with content specifically designed for mobile viewing alone. It would often have its own URL such as m.domain.com, while the full site will be at www.domain.com. Companies like Yahoo! utilised sites like these. This site may have a totally different look and feel from the original website, unless a lot of care was taken to create both sites similarly.

A mobile site tends to load faster because the content is specifically designed for mobile devices. You also have full control of the elements of the design so you can have the look and layout specifically the way you want it, regardless of what the main website has.

The drawback to the mobile site is that you have two different sites, with different code-bases. If you need to make changes to the main site, then the developers may also need to make changes to the mobile site, and in some cases, the developers may be different. You may end up having different experiences on both because of that. Also, it becomes more costly the more changes that are required.

A Mobile Responsive Site

A mobile responsive site is a website that automatically adjusts parameters to suite the device viewing display size. So you may have code within the main site that adjusts the layout of your dividers and size of your fonts as the screen size goes down.

A responsive site has the same look and feel as the main site, because it is the main site; it’s the same design elements, only formatted for a different screen. Because of the adaptive nature, the screen can be adjusted for multiple screen sizes, so one layout for desktop, another for mobile, and another for in-between devices such as tablets. Maintenance is easy because it’s only one code base that is being maintained, and only one developer is usually required.

The disadvantages of the responsive site are that is takes longer to load than a mobile site, and more expensive to develop initially. The site takes longer because it’s the main site being loaded and then resized and laid out on the screen. And because a responsive site takes more time to develop, the cost may be higher, but it will be cheaper to maintain.

Another disadvantage is that you have less control of the layout for different screens. For example, if you have a search for your side in your sidebar for a desktop display, on a mobile the search bar may be at the bottom, which may not be effective.

The Skinny

This website has a mobile site. If you view it on a mobile screen, it’s totally different to the main site. To be honest, I only found out about the mobile responsive site when redesigning my personal website – www.sachinganpat.com. If you view that site on a mobile, you will see it looks almost the same, just all the elements one under the other. If you re-size the browser you will see how the elements move to fit it.

So what should you do?

If you cater mainly to mobile users, then it may be worthwhile to have a mobile site, however, given the breadth of devices browsing the web now, plus the bandwidth speeds and capabilities of these devices, having a mobile responsive site is the best way forward.

It’s also important to note that Google has stated that mobile responsive sites should be the preferred choice of web designers. So if you’re into Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), then that’s added motivation.

If you can’t change your site right now, don’t make it a problem. Most mobile browsers try as best as possible to allow web content to be viewed. It’s still a good practice to check how your website is displayed on the different screens.

Your website is your image, and you want to look good no matter what.

Original article: Two options to pick from.'">Choosing your mobile web site? Two options to pick from.

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.