Troubled IT Projects
Prevention and turnaround

John M Smith, IBM

The Institution of Electrical Engineers
Professional Application of Computing Series 3

2001, ISBN 0 85296 104 9

In this useful book John Smith has combined his significant experience in engineering, defence and technology with an excellent commercial sense to produce a very comprehensive project health checking volume. He simultaneously manages to entertain and yet present essential project structure material, not usually known for its entertainment value. This is achieved with a fair number of anecdotes and pertinent allusions to the real world, all done with the occasional understated wit and a sprinkling of pertinent pieces of IT industry history and commercial perspective.

The book is in four sections; Why Projects Fail, Preventing Troubled Projects at the Planning Stage, Reviewing Troubled Projects in Delivery and finally, Project Turnaround and Organisational Learning. It starts with a definition of a troubled project and presents 40 root causes of troubled IT projects drawn from research and the author's own practical experience. These 40 root causes are clearly tabulated and subsequently used as the basis of analysis in a variety of contexts to add insight to the business of problem identification and rectification.

The book will most appeal to vendors of IS and IT services, although buyers of such may also find it a useful insight, if nothing else, by seeing into the sales processes of the services provider. In fact Section 2 on Prevention of Troubled Projects at the Planning Stage starts with a chapter entitled 'A Professional Services Sales Primer'. The book will nevertheless be of interest to internal IS and IT departments and internal project management. It clearly and strongly addresses the importance of a well-defined specification, which is as pertinent to in-house projects as it is to Vendor/Customer situations. It also focuses strongly on the subject of roles, responsibilities and reporting lines; vital in whatever Vendor/User/IT Departmental structure may be in effect.

Highly comprehensive, the book contains many fulsome checklists and ends each chapter with a summary. In the chapters themselves there are many tables as well a variety of mini case studies to keep it all practically focused. Each chapter also ends with a few exercises which the author points out are intended to ensure the reader gets value, which I believe will undoubtedly be the case.

For those who seek to improve revenue or gross profit from the industry the author is evidently experienced in nurturing the essential relationship between vendor and buyer and gives many useful tips in that area for maximizing the value of that union although noticeably leaning towards the vendor's interests.

The aspects pertaining to project management covered in the book should be of interest to all readers. Techniques covered include the use of Function Points to help quantify the tasks in hand; Risk Management to open the reader's mind to the need to recognise that risks often (maybe always) accompany a major project, whether it be I.T....or building the GWR railway nearly two centuries ago - a very topical case study (ask Mr Byers)! The author also recognises the advantages of the 'less is more' concept of delivering basic functionality in a highly useable and robust system, early on.

Finally, following Section 3 on the review of troubled projects in delivery, the Project Turnaround material comes a little later than I would have preferred but is nevertheless welcome. I would also like to have seen a little more on IS/IT project success criteria being based on more than 'on time, budget and to user requirement' since user satisfaction appears increasingly to be a non bipolar entity. However, in all, my feeling is that John M Smith has several more interesting books up his sleeve for the IS and IT communities and I look forward to the next being not too far away.

David P Jacobs
Director
Profit from Information Ltd
"Maximising business value from information systems"

This is a great book, betraying in-depth experience of IT and project management. The thing I like most about it is the large number of checklists, hints and tips, which help you to apply the content of the book to your own situation and really make a difference. I thoroughly recommend this book if you are involved in a bid for a major IT project, or if you are taking on a challenging PM role and want to maximise your chance of success.

I have just finished reading my copy of this book and would thoroughly recommend it to all IT project managers.

Most projects of any substance that I have been involved with seem to fit the 'troubled IT projects' tag defined in the book, and the author presents a clear strategy for avoiding problems before and once they occur. I was particularly interested in the discussion of getting the initial proposal right before proceeding which is where, in my experience, problems often occur and we are then trying to catch up throughout the rest of the project.

I wouldn't say that the book necessarily taught me anything I didn't already know and to a large extent the material covered is really just common sense. However it is really useful and illuminating to see it all encapsulated in the one book.

This is a really fun little graphic novel, loaded with great artwork and a decent storyline. I wouldn't recommend it as a first-time read for anyone unfamiliar with the X-Men - taken out of context from the overall series - it might be a somewhat confusing introduction. But for those who know the characters and have a general idea of what is going on, believe me, this one delivers the goods.

In the past, I have generally hated the X-Men's adventures in the Savage Land, or whenever they would go to outer space or get into really super sci-fi type situations. I always felt the X-Men stories worked much better when they were grounded in very normal, down-to-earth settings, because it made the X-Men themselves stand out and seem that much weirder. But this book is an exception to the rule. It's a big, crazy, larger-than-life adventure, part of which takes place in the prehistoric Savage Land, and part of which gets hyper technological, and it works out OK.

The artwork is tough and gritty. Jim Lee draws a mean, shadowy, ugly Wolverine who kills lots of villains and looks like he needs to take a shower very badly.

And Lee's women - whoa. This book contains more gratuitous cheescake shots than any X-Men graphic novel I've seen, but it's all very pleasing to the eye. Especially the scenes with Rogue, whose bare skin can kill anyone she touches and thus, understandably, was always the one major female character who kept herself completely covered at all times. This was the first storyline in the series where they finally drew her as a scantily-clad, sexy heroine. A real treat for male Rogue-fans who'd been reading the series patiently for years.

This storyline also chronicles the transformation of innocent young Psylocke into a mature woman trained in the art of Ninjitsu, and she becomes an ultra-violent, sexy bad girl. And then there are cameo appearances by other Marvel superheroes, namely Captain America (from the Avengers series) and The Black Widow (from the Daredevil series). All in all, it's a satisfying, action-packed, well-drawn, crowd-pleasing comic book in trade-paperback format.

X-Men Visionaries Jim Lee trade paperback Is a great X-Men graphic Novel by Jim Lee! the book reprints Uncanny X-Men issues #248,#256-258,#268-269,#273-277 are reprinted together in this wonderful Marvel book collection! This book contains the early Uncanny X-Men issues that made Jim Lee famous! All the issues are written by Chris Claremont with artwork by Jim Lee. These issues lead to the popular Claremont/Lee colaboration on X-Men#1 in 1991. Most of the artwork was done by Jim Lee. Uncanny X-Men #273 was done by various artists. Buy this book if your fan of X-Men and Jim Lee. Highest Possible Recommendation!

This is a great X-Men: Visionaries Jim Lee graphic Novel! This is Jim Lee's early work on the Uncanny X-Men series! This Marvel Tradepaperback reprints Jim Lee's early years when he was the comic book artist on Uncanny X-Men. In this book reprints Uncanny X-Men#248,#256-258,#268-269, #273-277. His early work on the Uncanny X-Men in the early 1990s, lead to to the critically aclaimed Clarmont/Lee work on X-Men #1 in 1991. All the Uncanny X-Men issues are written by Chris Claremont. Most of the artwork is drawn by Jim Lee. Unncany X-Men#273 is drawn by various artist. Buy this book if your a big fan of X-Men and Jim Lee. Highest Possible Recommendation.

It's a small book just shy of 100 pages. I honestly haven't read enough 4th way material to really judge this based on it's accuracy of the work. For those interested in the history of the 4th Way line Mr. Fuchs drops a few names of those whom he has studied under like Cynthia Pearce and Madame de Salzmann. The book seems to be a pocket size version of the 4th way written from the perspective of an instructor which will give those outside the movement a rare glimpse to the inner world of the work.

In a spiritual school, there is much said publicly about the cosmology or the belief system of the teaching, but practical instructions are often given only one-on-one from teacher to student. In this short book, John Fuchs, leader of Gurdjieff study groups in Denver for many years, presents practical suggestions for work on oneself in the tradition of G.I. Gurdjieff. With a personal honesty and openness which makes the book very readable, Mr. Fuchs talks about his own experiences and observations and gives suggestions for efforts the reader can make to bring this work of awakening into his or her daily life.

Each chapter is short, about 3-5 pages, and focuses on some aspect of the Work: e.g., attention, anger, tensions, the sitting. He includes excerpts of observations and experiences from his own journal. In the final chapter there is Mr. Fuchs' own version of an exercise to be done daily called "A Spiritual Accounting."

People interested in joining a Gurdjieff group often wonder what happens in a group, what sort of tasks and exercises are given. Mr. Fuchs gives us a glimpse into the actual transmission of the Gurdjieff teaching with illustrations from his own life as a student in the Work as well as from his meetings and personal instructions to students.

If one is a spiritual searcher just looking into Gurdjieff, "Forty Years" is a good introduction, although the next step would be to read something which gives a fuller, more organized accounting of Gurdjieff's teaching, such as Ouspensky's "In Search of the Miraculous." If one is already involved in the Work, "Forty Years" will offer help and an affirmation of the path they are already on. I still pick it up from time to time just for the support and encouragement it gives my own efforts.

The 'Building of Castle Howard' is a sometimes amusing and consistently fluid account of the conception and construction of the Third Earl of Carlisle's estate in Yorkshire. The patron, from a 'high-handed' and cocky young Whig to a dour but sincere father of miscreant and ungrateful offspring [...] is addressed in the opening chapter, and the rationale behind the demolition of a provincial village to build an architectural showpiece is traced. The architects - Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor - are examined in similar contexts.

However, a descrition of Sir Thomas Robinson's incongrous alterations to the splendid mausoleum (1729 - 1745, though Summerson suggested 1742 as the date of completion) is not a sufficient account of his activities at the estate: the northern range of the house features several rooms completed under Robinson's supervision, but these are simply not mentioned.

The author combs out an icongraphical programme in Pelligrini's ceiling paintings in the domed hall (ie, the 'Fall of the Phaeton'), but a similar analysis with respect to the garden monuments draws different conclusions. Carlisle's changing position as a patron and politician accounts for this: the estate shifts, in Saumarez Smith's opinion, from being a an opulent panorama to an introverted retirement home for the earl, whom, in his dotage and increasingly unhappy free time, commenced autonomous study in matters of contemporary religious thought. This, therefore, effected his decision to build a grand mausoleum rather than allow his remains to fall into the hands of what his lengthy (and only) poem preserved at Castle Howard, described as corpulent and corrupt Anglican clergmen. As an explanation for the development of the garden buildings, this is not as simplistic as my description might phrase it: the book's account is entirely convincing. I do not imagine that 'The Building of Castle Howard' - an inexpensive but well-illustrated gem - will be in print much into the future. However, its interest is broader than simply an account of architectural patronage. Unlike other studies of 18th Century British art which read as prosaic 'case-studies' (especially in the case of portrait painting, all of which make the same point), Saumarez Smith's book is an autonomous and compelling analysis of specific buildings and their conception, not a dour treatise from which established generalities are laboriously combed out.

this book is soo good, (apart from its prise), it describes how were castles built and different types of castles. For the price, ive expected more, but the book is still good.

The essential Conan is a collection of the first 25 issues of the Conan the Barbarian comics released by Marvel back in the early seventies. Although this book is in black and white, a format which seems to have gone out of style, this book often manages to capture the spirit of the original Conan stories. The plots aren't usually too dumb, and as the book advances the comics go from a bunch of individual stories to big story-arcs, making it more readable and giving it more of a sense of continuity.

While this book doesn't always stick to the Conan stories continuity-wise, for the most part it fits in, filling little gaps in between those stories. Also, several of howard's better stories are adapted to comic format here; Tower of the Elephant, Frost Giant's Daughter, and Rogues in the House to name a few. We get the first comics' appearance of Red Sonja as well.

Overall, this is a fun, quick read, and although it's only in B&W, for the sheer amount of materiel included herein it's definitely worth the cover price.

I remember when Barry Smith drew his first comic for Marvel Comics. It was an issue of the X-Men that we all thought was THE WORST DRAWN COMIC BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. It turned out that Smith, newly arrived from England, drew the issue on park benches in NYC. When the first issue of Conan the Barbarian arrived it was clear he was not that bad. By the time his run as artist on "Conan" ended it was even more clear he was something special and the fact that the illustrative style that had evolved in those two-year span was not feasible within the demands of producing monthly issues of a comic book was a depressing irony.

Barry Windsor-Smith has long been my favorite "comic book artist," and this collection traces his evolution as such quite admirably. Indeed, not other collection could better serve that purpose. A simple comparison of the covers from Conan #1 and Smith's swansong issue #24 ("The Song of Red Sonja") evidences the transformation from artist to illustrator. For that matter you can also consider Smith intermediary style (e.g., #13 "Web of the Spider-God"). This transformation is as impressive because of how quickly in took place while he was drawing Conan as it is for the artistic growth. But even in his work today you can see how it is grounded in the style he developed while working on this comic.

These reprinted stories are presented in black and white, which is certainly better than nothing, but I look forward to Smith's work being presented in color as it originally appeared. I notice this most particularly in the Epilogue to Conan #20, "The Black Hound of Vengeance," which was originally presented in muted tones of gray, blue and brown. Smith abandoned panels in an interesting change of pace that underscored the emotional impact of the sequence. Without color that impact is most decidedly lost. One of the things that is still discernable is the increase in the number of panels per page from issue to issue through Smith's tenure as he became more comfortable with using art rather than dialogue to advance parts of the story. The best example of this is the hanging sequence on page 14 of Conan #10.

From a writing stand point it should be noted that there is a nice balance between stories adapted from Robert E. Howard's Conan work and original stories by Roy Thomas. For the former "The Tower of the Elephant" (#4) is usually considered the high point. The appearance of Michael Moorcock's Elric in issues #14-15 seems a bit forced, while the Fafnir character (original a quick tribute to Fritz Leiber's famous pair of thieves) becomes a wonderfully integrated character into an ongoing story line.

Of the 25 issues included in this collection not all are drawn by Smith. Several issues are drawn by Gil Kane because Smith had missed a deadline or took a hiatus from working on Conan. Thomas' ability as a storyteller capable of crafting bigger and longer storylines would continue to grow, and while John Buscema's artwork on Conan was quite excellent (especially when inked by Ernie Chan), Barry Smith's work will always stand on a plateau. Jim Steranko cracked open the door on stylized illustration in color comics, but Barry Smith was the one who gets credit for busting all the way through.

Ethnicity by Anothony SMith is amazing. He is a wonderful professor, scholar and author. His other books are more detailed than this one, but overall there is no one who can compare to him when it comes to the topic of Nationalism.

This book was an amazing aide in the writing of my research paper. It was great to get the ideas and point of view of som many different anthropologists.

This drug book is organized extremely well for easy use. You can obtain dosaging information quicker than other veterinary drug books with a convenient formulary in the front of each section. It is nice that the doses are separated for large animal vs small animal. The only drawback of this book lies in the drug descriptions in that they are not complete. The specific drug descriptions will provide a general idea of the drug's uses and major side effects and available sizes, but not some of the more comprehensive information that is sometimes necessary.

This book contains three sections; small animals, large animals and exotics, with each section being split into drug dosages, antimicrobials/anthelmintics and descriptions of drugs.

Each sub-section is alphabetically ordered making it quick and easy to find whatever drug you are looking for, and there is a comprehensive index in the back containing both generic and trade names as well as some diseases and therapies! The down side of this is that the trade names relate to Canada and USA so some of the British drugs aren't listed by trade name. I haven't found this to be too much of a problem, but sometimes it is difficult to find drugs if you only know the trade name.

I found the drug dosages sections very useful as not only does it give the dose but also it gives the different doses for different indications and administration routes. I especially liked the exotics section since it gives you detailed information on rodents, rabbits, ferrets, reptiles and birds; subjects on which data is usually difficult to come by.

The size of the book makes it very handy to keep in your bag for reference during lectures and it is small enough to fit in your pocket when on clinics.

This book provides the usefulness of a formulary and the convenience of dosage charts, all combined into one pocket-sized handbook. It has been a great aid to my studies and I highly recommend it to vet students on either side of the Atlantic.

Any lover of the Adirondacks,especially of the Northville/Lake Placid trail will have many fond memories re-opened of days spent in beutiful country. In addition, the real Noah is revealed thru the words of a real friend and fellow trapper. You will put this book down with the thought that Noah was not a buffoon to be paraded by the Env. Conservation office. He showed that one could survive in the wild if he had a reverance for life and a love of nature. Richard Smith does honor to Noah . Thanks to Jay for the intimate glimpse of the Hermit of Cold River. Hope to go back there again someday. If I do, I will say a thank you to Noah, Richard and Jay.

Noah John Rondeau was a special man in a special place at a special time in history. His life and lifestyle were, at the very least, iconoclastic, although he welcomed visitors, as the Mayor of Cold River City, population 1.

Think of it: He never earned a college degree or a patent; never held political or corporate office; never had a telephone or paid any utility bills; never had a credit card or an automobile; never owned any real estate or made any contributions to the arts. Yet here we are, 33 years after his death and nearly 50 years after his departure from the wilderness as a hermit, writing and reading books about him.

Recently, there was a program given at the Adirondack Museum, by Jay O'Hern, in March of 1999. The place was packed and spanned multiple generations, to witness a one hour plus, slide presentation and talk on The Hermit of Cold River, Noah John Rondeau.

In August of 1999, this reviewer took a 40 mile hike into the Cold River Country of the High Peaks Wilderness in the Adirondaks, to meet the spirit of Noah John head-on, along the Northville-Placid Trail. I walked in his footfalls, slept in his woods and fished in his beloved Cold River for the native brook trout.

The trip was a watershed experience and a rite of passage for any hiker or backpacker. His spirit remains in the High Peaks Wilderness to all who have the inclination to venture there.

Jay O'Hern has, with this book, kept Rondeau "alive" for those who would read these pages. More than that, he has helped keep a special time in history fresh and relavent.

Highly recommended.

Anyone interested in the beloved Morrissey will enjoy this book. I am a Moz and Smiths fan, and found that the topically divided quotes help to define his personality, point out how disparaging he is of himself, and that he is a true chameleon. It is fascinating. The only criticism I have is that the quotes are quite dated now, and as Moz is always ungoing rebirth, they may not represent him and his career now.

Excellent book of quotes from the always witty singer of the Smith's Morrissey. This book sheds life on his opinions of topics raging from: his past, politics, sex, his lyrics, and Magaret Thatcher. This book Chronicles his visions of the band before they took off to stardom going as far back as May 1983 to 1988. Great book, I refer to it all the time.

Although I do not always agree with his views, I quite like Maynard Smith, so I rushed to buy this book which at its price seemed a real gem. Well, just to caution the reader that while it is classic Maynard Smith, the book is now quite old (1975). One can say that Darwin's 1859 classic, or "Selfish Gene" (1976) is also old, but these books were a milestone at the time. This book had less impact as a classic, so if one just needs latest information in a fast moving topic, there are more up-to-date works around. Even Maynard Smith's own (1998) "The Origins of Life" would be better value. You have to use your own judgement about this one.

This summary of evolutionary theory by the dean of the British school is essential reading for those who would understand the issues argued by Dawkins and Gould. It is an engrossing read, but is not trivially easy, despite having the appearance of a popularization. I would recommend it to anyone wanting more than a cursory overview of the most important theme of modern biology.