IPMA Home | IPMA News IPMA News : July 2004 Edited By Mary Ellen Bradley and Dennis Jones

Project Management Framework Nears Completion And A New Challenge Emerges

-- by Jim Albert, IPMA Board Member, and Andy Hix, DIS

Last year Jim Albert reported about a Customer Advisory Board initiated effort to establish a set of best business practices for managing technology projects; see: http://www.ipma-wa.com/news/2003/200307.htm#pm. The resulting Project Management Framework is a simple, eloquent, and straightforward tool that is broken down into the four basic project phases of Initiation, Planning, Execution, and Closure. The Initiation and Planning phases were released some time ago. We're now pleased to report that the Framework is nearing completion with the upcoming release of the Execution phase, followed closely by the Closure phase next month. There will also be bonus material on project Maintenance and Operations in the upcoming release. The PM Framework development has become a labor of love for a dedicated group of expert Project Management volunteers who have given their Friday afternoons to meeting on the Framework. These folks have all made outstanding contributions to the Framework by writing, reviewing, and publishing the content that makes up the PM Framework site. Regular contributors to the Framework include folks from DSHS, L&I, DOC, WSP, DOR, DOP, ESD, DIS, MIL, OFM, DOL, WSDOT, CTED, and the AGO. The Department of Information Services has sponsored the project and has provided project management, web hosting, and site development services throughout the project.

To date the PM Framework has generated unanimously favorable responses. While it is designed specifically for use by Washington State agencies, government agencies ranging from the State of Pennsylvania to the US Mint to a local department in Australia have requested permission to adopt and adapt it to their own projects. I encourage anyone involved with managing technology projects to access the PM Framework at http://www.wa.gov/dis/pmframework/index.htm and use it as the base content for their agency's PM methodology.).

Additions, corrections, comments, and contributions to the site content are welcome and should be directed to the Project Management Framework project manager, Andy Hix at: AndyH@dis.wa.gov or 902-3431.

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end…

The Information Services Board has elevated its interest in solutions to the project delivery problems that have plagued many of the State's large information technology projects. There is general recognition that many of the problems with IT projects have their root causes in improper, incomplete, or missing project management business practices.

In his last hours, on his last day as a Washington State employee, departing DIS Deputy Director Roy Lum threw out this challenge to the PM Framework team.

"The Board is eager for the development of guidelines, standards, and a policy on IT project management that will be something that agencies can use and that everyone can live with."

Lum went on to say, "This is a golden opportunity that literally could save the State millions of dollars" …by producing a workable set of guidelines, standards, and project management policy that… "ensures project management discipline and that has the flexibility to allow an agency to do what needs to be done."

The emerging PM Framework is a natural starting place for the establishment of a 'guideline' for suggested best business practice in State IT project management. Project management 'standards' and 'policy' are trickier to develop since, by their very nature, they require mandated business practices. Additionally, new IT governance practices may be needed to bring this vision to fruition.

A New Project?

Give a bunch of project managers a challenge and what do you get? If you said "a project", you haven't been following the Framework. The first thing you'd get is a business case and a feasibility study. The current PM Framework project team would like to meet with ISB members and other 'potential' project stakeholders to gather requirements and to determine the feasibility and alternative approaches that a 'potential' project could and should take.

The current PM Framework project team will be concentrating on wrapping up the PM Framework project before it begins tackling this new proposal. However, it's not too early for agencies to begin thinking about how they would like this effort to develop and how they can become involved and contribute to its success.

If your agency is interested in participating in the development of a Project Management guideline, standard, and policy, please contact Andy Hix at: AndyH@dis.wa.gov or 360-902-3431.

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News from the Past

5 Years Ago -- July 1999 IPMA Newsletter

10 Years Ago -- July 1994 IPMA Newsletter

15 Years Ago -- July 1989 IPMA Newsletter

20 Years Ago -- July 1984 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter

25 Years Ago -- July 1979 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter

30 Years Ago -- July 1974 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter
(Note: This was the first issue of the ADPM Newsletter!)

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News from Other Sources

Washington places second in 2004 Digital States Survey

On July 13, 2004 the Center for Digital Government announced the results of the 2004 Digital States Survey in which Washington placed second behind Michigan.

In announcing the survey results, the Center for Digital Government noted that "Washington state's second-place finish reflects continuing leadership and innovation in digital government. It was first recognized in 1997 as the nation's original digital state - a distinction it maintained for three consecutive years."

"Our participation and consistent high ranking in the Digital States Survey points to the leadership, dedication and hard work of our state agencies to deliver the best possible online service to the citizens of Washington," said Washington Gov. Gary Locke. "We are committed to a future that uses technology to make government more efficient, cost-effective and user-friendly."

See the full story.

Susan Hettinger appointed as DIS Deputy Director

On July 14, Mike McVicker announced the appointment of Susan Hettinger as Deputy Director of MOSTD in the following e-mail message to all DIS staff:

It is my pleasure to announce that Susan Hettinger has been appointed Deputy Director of the Management and Oversight of Strategic Technologies Division (MOSTD), effective August 10.

Many of you may remember Susan from her years at DIS as Assistant Director for the division now known as the Management Service Division. Susan possesses extensive knowledge of business and IT planning and consultation, knowledge of IT acquisition and vendor contract management, understanding of the impact of technology on service, structure, public policy and opinion, the ability to produce results, knowledge of the legislative process and several years of senior management experience.

As the Deputy Director for MOSTD, Susan will serve as advisor to the DIS Director, and liaison to the Information Services Board (ISB). She will be responsible for strategic and tactical coordination, planning, oversight, communication and implementation of statewide information technology policy. She will serve as the agency's representative to the public sector IT community through the DIS Customer Advisory Board (CAB), and facilitate the exchange of information among federal, state and local agencies, universities, national policy bodies, and reviewers of state government performance.

Please join me in welcoming her back to DIS!

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Summary of June 10, 2004 IPMA Board Meeting

Members Present: Jim Albert, Thomas Bynum, Phil Grigg, Sheryl Hall, Dennis Jones, Dennis Laine, Andy Marcelia, Christy Ridout, Darrel Riffe, and Shelagh Taylor. Phil Coates, CFO, and Jim Andersen, Forum Events Manager, were also present.

Christy Ridout, IPMA Chair, opened the June 2004 meeting of the IPMA Board of Directors at 7:41 a.m.

Reports

Secretary/Treasurer: The minutes from the May 2004 Board meeting were approved.

The Board approved the May 2004 financial status and activities reports.

Business Planning: No Report

Forum 2004: Jim Andersen presented the status report.

1. Vendors: Forty-seven booths were available
   
   
   1. Collected fees for 49 booths (two vendors cancelled after the refund deadline)
      
      
   2. Forty-six fees have been paid. The other three report that the check is in the mail.
      
      
2. Corporate Sponsors:
   
   
   1. Twenty-six vendors have committed to be sponsors for the 2004-2005 event year.
      
      
   2. Twenty-one fees have been paid. They are due by the end of June.
      
      
3. Executive Lunch, May 18: The speaker was Carl Claunch, Research VP for Gartner, Inc. We had approximately 142 guests. Carl's presentation was well received. The estimated cost of the event is approximately 150 (the guaranteed attendance) x $9.50 = $1,425.00 plus the speaker expenses of $1,000.
   
   
4. Forum attendance: We had 650 registered attendees on Tuesday and 237 on Wednesday. Overall the foot traffic in the vendor area was down but we did have quite a few uninspiring booths. It's felt that the vendors need to work harder at making their booths more interesting and entertaining. A quick glance at the demographics information captured on registrations this year, show that 55-60% of attendees are in applications development. Final demographics data will be available at the July board meeting.
   
   
5. New Corporate Sponsor Appreciation Lunch - June 3: The appreciation lunch was held on June 3rd at Saint Martin's College. Thirty-three guests representing 21 of the 26 sponsors attended the lunch. Jim Andersen, Allen Schmidt and eight IPMA board members were also in attendance. Estimated cost is approximately 50 x $10.50 = $525.
   
   
6. Forum Income: Final Forum revenue for sponsors and vendors is:
   
   

   Twenty-four sponsors at $825	$19,800
   Forty-five vendor booths at $825	37,125
   Four booths for state agencies at $425	1,700
   Total	$58,625

   
   
7. Forum Expenses: Forum expenses are estimated to be approximately $49,000. Forum now makes a profit.
   
   
8. Department of Personnel: DOP has offered their mailing lists for next year and to be a member of the Forum 2005 planning committee. In exchange for their support and participation, DOP would want a "free" booth. Should Forum place more emphasis on being a training and exposition event? The board agreed that emphasizing the training aspect of the Forum is a good idea. The board also agreed to provide a booth to DOP in exchange for their support and participation.
   
   There was a suggestion that free booths be provided to state agencies that request them. Jim Albert suggested that the Forum planning committee develop proposed criteria for free booths and present it to the board for consideration. The board approved that suggestion.
   
   
9. Forum planning committee: The committee members meet at noon today to do a post Forum review.
   
   
10. GES: Again this year, there were complaints about expensive charges for moving boxes, etc. Most of the charges associated with the complaints were voided. Some vendor charges were a result of vendors not following published rules and procedures.
    
    
11. Speaker session attendance: Corporate sponsors want to retain the two track format for vendor specific sessions.

Executive Seminar 2004: Phil Grigg reported that planning for the Executive Seminar is proceeding on schedule. Announcements are being mailed out within the next few days. There was a discussion about how to generate interest from managers of agencies that have traditionally not participated in the Executive Seminars. It was agreed that board members would contact these managers and promote and personalize the invitation to attend. Phil asked that the board members make sure their own reservation and payments are taken care of as soon as they receive their invitation.

With the help of several board members, Phil and Darrel have finalized the agenda. It is as follows:

2004 Executive Seminar - September 20-22, 2004

Theme: Redefining the Enterprise During Transition

Topics:

Monday
1:30 p.m. Chang Mook Sohn - Economic Forecast
3:30 p.m. The Future of the Nation's original Digital State - Paul Taylor
Dinner Speaker, Jay Witherbee, the Mayor of Chelan

Tuesday
8:30 a.m. Beyond HRMS - Deloitte
10:30 a.m.  Collective Bargaining - Gary Moore
1:30 p.m. DIS Perspectives - Mike McVicker
Dinner Boat cruise - perhaps an Ethics Board presentation

Wednesday
9:00 a.m. IT Performance Metrics - Mercer
(A double session)

Jim Albert reported that several of the board members met with Brian Malarky of the Executive Ethics Board at the Forum and unofficially discussed various ethics issues related to IPMA events. The IPMA was given a clean bill of health based on the give and take of the discussion. When asked if a dinner boat cruise as part of the Executive Seminar would be problematic, Brian indicated that it would not, as long as it was part of the published agenda for the event. Jim suggested that it might be a good idea to have Brian attend and be the speaker for the dinner cruise or the Monday dinner. The board agreed that having Brian as one of the speakers should be pursued.

Professional Development: Sheryl Hall reported that the June 23rd seminar titled "VoIP 'Convergence' - Voice Applications on the Data Network" is on track, although registrations seem to be a bit slow.

The contract with Molly Gordon, the speaker at the August lunch/seminar, has been signed. Sheryl will coordinate several phone conversations between board members and Molly so she can gather some background in preparation for the seminar.

Communications: Dennis Jones reported that the June issue of the IPMA News was posted on the web on June 7th. Jim Albert is responsible for the article for the July IPMA News.

Other Business:

Mid-Management Development Program: Dennis Jones reported that the planning committee had conducted the CIO focus group and are looking for a few more names of mid-managers to invite to the mid-manager focus group to be held later in June.  The program development is a little behind schedule, by about 2-3 weeks.

Board Member Vacancies: Christy noted that several of the board members with terms expiring in January have indicated that they would not be seeking re-election. She suggested that the board position vacated by Mike McVicker be left vacant and be filled as part of the normal recruitment and selection process that takes place in November. The board concurred.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 a.m.

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