The success of a project starts before the project is ever even close to beginning. As explained in Chapters 4 and 5, a lot of the fate of the project is really determined in the identification, selection, initiation, and planning phases (which all fall within the larger planning phase). Identification can come from many sources, whether it be the steering committee or from bottom-up like user departments. Before projects are selected they should be evaluated for benefits, risks, size/duration and other factors. They should also line up with the overall strategic plan of the organization. Before a project is started, a business case needs to be put together. That is a justification of the project in terms of tangible and intangible benefits, costs, and feasibility. There are many feasibility factors, but I think two of the most important are economic feasibility and technical feasibility. Economic feasibility can be analyzed by calculating project costs and benefits over time. The end results can be a break-even analysis, return on investment, or something else that shows whether the project will be profitable over time. Technical feasibility has to do with whether the system can actually be built or integrated into the current environment. All these things are important so that a project has less risk of being abandoned, wasting money. It’s better to determine before the project begins that it is not one your organization wants to pursue than realizing that six months into it.
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