Are "Best Practices" Best?

Paper Summary:

The paper defines a best practice as representing a specific technique for managing an IT project that has the best chances of success. The paper discusses how best practices provide a roadmap for a project but cautions that one can become too dependent on the processes. The paper concludes that best practices are an effective tool when they are developed with the specifics of the organization in mind. However, they cannot replace the talent of the organization.

Outline:
Why Use Best Practices?
How Realistic is the Best Practices Approach?

From the Paper:

"Best practices in the IT field developed largely from failures (Kay, 2002). They were the result of IT projects that did not meet customer expectations or perform as intended. Managers wanted some assurance that future projects would have better results than previous ones. Therefore, they develop a process that would include several different phases, with attention to each phase at its proper time and place. There are many different versions of "best practices" to be used for IT projects. Some are merely reiterations of others, while others were borrowed from other fields and adapted to the IT field."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Kay, R. (2002). System Development Life Cycle. Computerworld. March 14, 2002. Retrieved March 22, 2007 from http://www.computerworld.com/developmenttopics/development/story/0,1080 1,71151,00.html
• State of Arkansas. (2003) Best Practices for Managing State Information Technology Projects. September 1, 2003. Office of Information Technology. Document Number: BP33-001. Retrieved March 22, 2007 from http://www.techarch.state.ar.us/domains/business_process/best_practices/BP-33- 001_Proj_Mgmt.pdf
• Visitacion, M. (2003). Project Management Best Practices: Key Processes and Common Sense. Giga Information Group, Inc. January 30, 2003 Retrieved March 22, 2007 from http://www.gigaweb.com.

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