Research
Objectives
One of the biggest challenges that most of the
companies operating in the United Emirates Arab (UAE) are inability to
implement their technology related projects successfully, such as
implementation of new information technology systems in their operations. To
address this problem, the main objective of this research will be;
i)
Determine the effectiveness of using waterfall
project methodology in implementing information technology systems in UAE
companies.
On the other hand, to gain a deeper an
understanding of how the technology project implementation problems can be
addressed in the UAE companies, the research will aim to achieve the following
specific objectives;
i)
Determine what the concept of waterfall
project management methodology entails.
ii)
To find out the advantages that are
associated with the use of waterfall project management methodology and how it
can be beneficial during designing and implementation of information technology
systems project in UAE companies.
Research
Problem
According to Dulaimi et al. (2010)
implementation of most of the IT projects that involve public and private
partnership end up failing in the UAE. The failure of these projects results in
huge financial resources between lost by the institutions involved in their designing
and implementation. The biggest challenge where most of the IT related projects
fails in the majority of the organizations is poor planning and failure to
follow certain critical steps during the designing, development as well as
implementation of certain information systems for particular organizations. For
example, failure to understand the organizational needs automatically result in
the failure of any IT system developed to help deal with certain elements of a
firm's operations. Therefore, most of the IT related projects in the UAE ends
up ignoring critical courses of actions during the designing and implementation
phases.
The failure of any project is costly to an
organization as there is a loss of human capital and financial resources in the
long-term (Turner, 2015). This means that there is need of coming up with
strategies that can be used in enhancing the success of project management, in
IT related projects within the UAE companies. Some of the critical issues
related to project management that can aid in addressing the current challenges
are projected methodologies that have been designed to help ensure there is
effective implementation of projects of the organization. Thus, this research
will try to address the current problem facing IT projects in the UAE by making
use of the waterfall project methodology.
Research
Methods
Qualitative research methods were used in
completing this research. The qualitative research methodology involved the
participants describing the experiences they have concerning IT project
implementation and the factors that contribute to the failure of these types of
projects within the UAE economy. The sources of data used in this study were
mainly primary and secondary data (Taylor,
Bogdan, and DeVault, 2015). The primary data helped in collection of
information related to challenges that companies in the UAE face when it comes
to the implementation of the IT related project. The secondary data involved
review of the existing literature on the use of waterfall as project management
methodology; especially its use in IT related projects. The research design
used in this research was descriptive design, whereby, the participants
explained their respective experiences as far as implementation of IT projects
in their respective organizations was concerned.
The target population of the study was senior
managers in the UAE companies, especially those in the banking sector. The
banking sector makes use of information technology in a great way in the UAE,
hence providing a good source of information as to why IT project fails. A
sample size of ten participants was selected. The sampling technique employed
in the research was purposive sampling approach. Due to limitation of the time
resource available, the data collection approach employed was telephone
interviews. The selected participants were interviewed using telephone calls
which took around five to ten minutes to complete. The data collected was
analyzed using theme coding approach. In this approach, the data was categorized
regarding themes, such as challenges associated with implementation and
benefits of using the waterfall methodology (Taylor, Bogdan, and DeVault, 2015).
Enablers
and Inhibitors of Best Implementation of IT Projects
There
are various factors that facilitate the implementation of IT related projects
within the banking sector in the UAE or generally in any given organization.
One of the key factors that enable IT related projects to succeed is
involvement of the key stakeholders in the planning as well as implementation
process (Ferreira and Kuniyoshi, 2015).
The stakeholder involvement is concerned with need analysis and communicating
with them on the reasons why the organization needs to implement a particular
project. Also, stakeholder involvement is concerned with training the employees
on how to use the introduced systems in an organization. On the contrary,
failure to engage the major stakeholders in the project implementation and
planning process is a major inhibitor to the success of the IT related projects
in the UAE (Dulaimi et al. (2010). Failure to engage stakeholders to result in
the IT systems being implemented that are not in line with the needs of the
organization, lack of support from the stakeholders or the employees lacking
skills needed to work in an environment where there is introduction of new
technology.
Additionally, proper planning and designing
are critical to the success of any IT related project. Baker, Murphy, and
Fisher (2008) note that proper planning and designing ensures that an
organization provides all the resources needed to complete the implementation
of the project at hand. For example, the appropriate designing takes into
consideration of all the organization needs and structure, thereby, making the
implementation of an IT system a success. However, poor planning and designing
a major hindrance to the success of the IT related projects. Poor planning
results in the project team lacking adequate resources and designing contribute
to the needs and organization structure not being considered leading to
development and implementation of a poor IT system that is not in line with the
needs of a firm.
Furthermore, adequate scheduling is
a major factor that contributes to the success of any project. The scheduling
plays a major role in ensuring that the project will be completed on time
(Turner, 2014). The scheduling process ensures that the project team and
employees understand when certain tasks are supposed to be completed. For
example, in the case of IT projects, scheduling helps in ensuring that the
teams understand when the designing will be completed and testing. Nonetheless,
in the UAE lack of proper scheduling is a major inhibitor of the completion of
the IT projects on time leading to high costs being incurred than initially
planned. On the other hand, adequate budgeting and cost estimation are
instrumental when it comes to helping an organization to successfully
implements a project (Turner, 2014). In any given project it is appropriate for
the project team to first estimate the required costs and ensure the finances
are availed on time. Failure to carry out appropriate cost estimation results in
a project stalling due to lack of resources when it is on a certain
implementation stage. Also, having a budget is critical in dealing with cost
controls, which at times leads to project failure. It is critical to note that
lack of proper cost estimation, as well as budgeting, is a big inhibitor as far
as completion of IT projects in the UAE is concerned. Some organizations fail
to undertake proper cost estimations before engaging in implementation of any
IT project and this result in project stalling due to lack of financial
resources.
Lastly, in engineering, associated projects
failure to carry out sufficient preliminary investigations is major inhibitor
project success. The preliminary investigations aim at understanding the
existing alternative sources of IT systems that an organization can use to met
its needs. It is aimed at assisting the management in making a decision
concerning whether to outsource an IT system or to go for an in-built house
system (Ferreira and Kuniyoshi, 2015). Therefore, carry out a preliminary
investigation to understand the needs of the firm and available alternatives
that can help to address the needs is critical in making sure any IT project
end up being a success.
Suggestions for Improvements
The inhibitors experienced during
the implementation of the IT projects in the UAE organizations can be addressed
by applying the waterfall methodology. One of the project implementation
methodologies that can be used by companies in the UAE to enhance the success
of their IT projects is waterfall methodology, which is also known as the
traditional project management methodology. According to Turner (2014),
waterfall methodology tends to be non-iterative or sequential design process,
applied mainly in information system development processes, whereby, the
progress of the project is seen as flow from one phase to another. This
methodology provides some stages that information system projects should
undergo so that they can be successfully implemented within an organization. These
stages include conception, initiation phase, analysis phase, design stage,
construction and testing stage, production or implementation stage as well as
the maintenance phase.
Failure to carry out preliminary engineering
analysis is one of the inhibitors of successful IT project implementation in
UAE companies. However, the use of waterfall model in project management
ensures preliminary analysis is carried out in the conception, analysis and
initiation phases (Turner, 2014). This
would help in ensuring that there is improvement as far as need analysis is
concerned, leading to development and implementation of IT systems that are in
line with specific needs of the UAE companies in the future. Also, the
utilization of the waterfall methodology would help in ensuring that there are
appropriate designing and planning of any IT projects, especially software
development as well as implementation in the UAE companies. The move will be
critical in helping the success, as poor planning, as well as designing, is a
major inhibitor in implementation of IT systems within UAE companies. Finally,
the use of waterfall methodology would assist in ensuring that appropriate
scheduling is put in place, by making sure that a systematic flow of activities
is followed, such as completing the designing phase first before embarking on
system testing.
Arguments
Different arguments in the scholarly
and software development industry have been put forward concerning the use of
waterfall methodology in project implementation. There are those who strongly
oppose the use of waterfall methodology arguing that it has some inherent
weaknesses and others support its uses due to numerous advantages associated
with it. According to Turner (2014), one of the arguments provided in support
of the use of waterfall model in project management is that this methodology is
simple as well as easier to understand. Hence, during the project
implementation, it is easier to use it, especially in making plans of the
sequences that are to be followed to successfully implement an IT project
involving development of systems in an organization.
Additionally, Kerzner (2013) points out that
the use of waterfall methodology allows for easier management of an IT project,
as there as specific variables that are supposed to be attained in each and
every phase. Thus, the model provides allow for easier monitoring of the
progress of the project, especially costs and risks, as each and every phase is
undertaken separately. Therefore, the use of waterfall model by UAE companies
will be instrumental in enhancing the effectiveness of project management,
particularly in costing and time components. This will aid in eliminating cost
estimation and risk management inhibitors that limit project control, leading
to them failing in the long-run. Kerzner (2013) indicates that use of waterfall
model in project management helps in avoiding overlapping of various phases,
which might end up inhibiting the progress of an IT project at the required
pace. Hence, the application of the model by the UAE companies will help in
eliminating the problem of activity of overcalling, enhancing the probability of
information technology projects succeeding.
Nonetheless, there are some
arguments that are provided to the use of waterfall model while undertaking IT
projects. According to Turner (2014), the rigidity of this approach makes it
difficult to make changes in the project implementation process, especially
where weaknesses are noted. Therefore, it may hinder companies from making
changes during the IT systems testing phase, if some problems are realized, and
this eventually would result in loss of financial resources invested in the
project. Also, the use of this methodology creates uncertainty in projects.
Meredith and Mantel, (2011) notes that during project management it is
appropriate for managers to avoid uncertainty as this create confusion and
levels of risks resulting in project failure. The application of the waterfall
methodology in the UAE companies when implementing IT projects might create
uncertainty, and this can be a major challenge that can result in project
failure.
Conclusion
The use of waterfall methodology can be
instrumental in helping UAE firms in the future to overcome some of the major
inhibitors to successful implementation of IT projects. The use of this
methodology would allow for proper control of costs and schedules, ensuring
that cost related and time management challenges are fully avoided (Turner,
2014). However, the use of the methodology presents the challenge of
uncertainty. In conclusion, despite the weaknesses of associated with the
methodology, it can play a major role in eliminating most of the factors that
contribute to the failure of IT projects in UAE companies.
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