AnInvestigationoftheProcessandCharacteristicsusedbyProjectManagersinIT

ConsultingintheSelectionofProjectManagementSoftware

EikeMeyer

AthesissubmittedinpartialfulfilmentoftherequirementsofEdinburgh

NapierUniversity,fortheawardofDoctorofBusinessAdministration

June2018

i

Declaration

IdeclarethatthisDoctorateofBusinessAdministrationthesis ismyown

work and that all sources literary and electronic have been properly

acknowledgedasandwhentheyoccurinthebodyofthetext.

EikeMeyer

Date:25thOctober2017

ii

Acknowledgements

TheacademicjourneyIembarkedonthroughmyparticipationoftheDBAprogramme

would not have come to a conclusion, would it not have been for the support of

supervisors, colleagues, friends and family. First and foremost, I want to thank my

supervisor at Edinburgh Napier University Dr. Janice McMillan for her advice and

feedback.Equally,IthankProf.ChristianGreinerfromtheMunichUniversityofApplied

Sciences, for thehelpfuldiscussions. Iwouldalso like toexpressmygratitude tomy

managersinIBM,whoallowedmetogoonthisacademicadventure:FrankReich,Dr.

BorisPasternakandStefanThamm.

TheDBAprogramwouldnothavebeenthesamewithoutmycohort:DavidKlotz,Fay

Townsend-Jackson,NicoFörster,NorriMoane,PaulineGordon,Dr.StefanButtschardt,

TimPreinlandTobiasKnuth.Ourdiscussionshaveinspiredandmotivatedmetokeep

going.Onafinalandmostimportantnote,Iwouldliketothankmywife.Withoutyour

patience,adviceandongoingsupport,thiswouldnothavebeenpossible.

iii

Abstract

As projectmanagement (PM) and information technology (IT) evolved over the last

decades, an increasing number of project management software products have

emerged.ProjectmanagersinITconsultingcanimprovethesuccessofprojectsthrough

theutilizationof such software.However, thediversity of software available cannot

sensiblybegraspedbyasingleindividual.

Basedonthiscontext,thestudyaimstoexaminethekeyconsiderationsintheselection

of project management software in IT consulting from the project managers’

perspective.AliteraturereviewidentifieskeyaspectsofITconsultingprojectsthatmay

berelevanttothesoftwareselection.Noevidencewasfoundthatprovidedaviewon

theprocessoftheselectionofPMsoftwareinITconsultingitself.Thereviewalsounveils

thelackofcommonterminologyinregardtoPMsoftware.

Thestudyaddresses thesegapsbyutilizing interpretativephenomenologicalanalysis

(IPA)tounderstandtheexperiencesmadebyprojectmanagers.Togatherdata,17semi-

structured interviewswere conductedwith experiencedprojectmanagers. Thematic

analysiswas used to develop an understanding of the process employed by project

managersinthesoftwareselectionandtheconsiderationstheymakealongtheway.

Thefindingsweresynthesizedtocreateaprocessguide,supportedbyachecklistand

theworkingdefinitionofkeyterminology.

This study adds a broader perspective to the field of PM software through the

applicationofqualitativemethodologyinanotherwisequantitativelydominatedfield

iv

ofresearch.Itaddressesthelackofexistingknowledgeontheperspectiveoftheproject

managerintheselectionprocessthroughthegenerationofa6-stagedprocessguide.

The detailed considerations of project managers were compiled into a checklist of

selection criteria. These two also contribute to practice by providing a structured

approachtoPMselectionforpractitioners.Thethirdoutputisaworkingdefinitionof

project management software as used in practice, which simplifies an exchange of

knowledgebetweentheoryandpractice.

v

SummaryofContents

Declaration.................................................................................................................i

Acknowledgements...................................................................................................ii

Abstract...................................................................................................................iii

SummaryofContents................................................................................................v

TableofContents.....................................................................................................vi

IndexofFigures.......................................................................................................xii

IndexofTables........................................................................................................xiv

Introduction.............................................................................................1

Chapter2: LiteratureReview.............................................................................13

Chapter3: ResearchMethodology.....................................................................51

Chapter4: Findings............................................................................................80

Chapter5: Discussion.......................................................................................125

Chapter6: Conclusion......................................................................................169

References............................................................................................................188

Appendix...............................................................................................................198

vi

TableofContents

Declaration.................................................................................................................i

Acknowledgements...................................................................................................ii

Abstract...................................................................................................................iii

SummaryofContents................................................................................................v

TableofContents.....................................................................................................vi

IndexofFigures.......................................................................................................xii

IndexofTables........................................................................................................xiv

Introduction.............................................................................................1

1.1 ResearchRationale...............................................................................................1

1.1.1 TheAuthorasaResearcher....................................................................................2

1.1.2 ScopeoftheStudy..................................................................................................3

1.2 AimandObjectives...............................................................................................6

1.3 ResearchContext..................................................................................................8

1.3.1 Methodology..........................................................................................................8

1.3.2 StructureoftheThesis.........................................................................................10

1.4 Summary............................................................................................................11

Chapter2: LiteratureReview.............................................................................13

2.1 Introduction........................................................................................................13

2.1.1 TheLiteratureReviewProcess.............................................................................13

2.1.2 IdentifyingrelevantLiterature..............................................................................14

2.2 TheITConsultingSector......................................................................................15

2.2.1 WhatisITConsulting?..........................................................................................15

vii

2.2.2 HistoryofITConsulting........................................................................................16

2.2.3 ITConsultingToday..............................................................................................17

2.2.4 KeyIssuesandChallengesintheITConsultingSector.........................................19

2.2.5 LocatingtheResearchProblemwithintheITConsultingSector..........................21

2.3 TheHistoryofProjectManagement....................................................................21

2.3.1 ProjectManagementResearch............................................................................24

2.4 AreasofInvestigationrelatedtothisStudy.........................................................25

2.4.1 DecisionMaking...................................................................................................27

2.5 ProjectManagementSoftwareSelection............................................................27

2.5.1 Terminology..........................................................................................................27

2.5.2 WhatisProjectManagementSoftware?..............................................................29

2.5.3 TheUsageofProjectManagementSoftware.......................................................30

2.5.4 FunctionalitiesofProjectManagementSoftware................................................32

2.6 ProjectSuccessandProcesses.............................................................................34

2.6.1 SuccessFactors.....................................................................................................34

2.6.2 Terminology:ProcessesvsPractices....................................................................35

2.6.3 ProjectManagementProcesses...........................................................................36

2.7 ProjectManagementinInformationTechnology................................................37

2.7.1 TrendsinITProjectManagement........................................................................40

2.7.2 AgileProjectManagement...................................................................................41

2.7.3 TrustandLeadershipinAgileProjectManagement.............................................42

2.8 ResearchQuestions.............................................................................................44

2.8.1 ResearchQuestion1.............................................................................................46

2.8.2 ResearchQuestion2.............................................................................................46

2.9 Summary............................................................................................................49

Chapter3: ResearchMethodology.....................................................................51

viii

3.1 Introduction........................................................................................................51

3.2 ResearchPhilosophy...........................................................................................53

3.2.1 Terms&Definitions..............................................................................................53

3.2.2 OverviewofdifferentPhilosophies......................................................................55

3.2.3 DefiningthephilosophicalStance........................................................................56

3.3 ResearchApproach.............................................................................................57

3.4 ResearchDesign..................................................................................................59

3.4.1 GroundedTheory.................................................................................................59

Phenomenology.................................................................................................................60

3.5 DataCollectionTechnique..................................................................................63

3.5.1 OverviewofqualitativeMethods.........................................................................63

3.6 Sampling.............................................................................................................66

3.7 EthicalConsiderations.........................................................................................69

3.8 ThePilotStudy....................................................................................................71

3.9 ProcessofconductingtheStudy..........................................................................71

3.9.1 BeforetheInterview.............................................................................................72

3.9.2 DuringtheInterview.............................................................................................72

3.9.3 Transcription.........................................................................................................73

3.10 Analysis..............................................................................................................73

3.10.1 ThematicAnalysis.............................................................................................74

3.10.2 InductiveversusTheoreticalThematicAnalysis...............................................74

3.10.3 DifferentStagesofThematicAnalysis..............................................................75

3.11 Coding................................................................................................................76

3.12 Summary............................................................................................................78

Chapter4: Findings............................................................................................80

4.1 Introduction........................................................................................................80

ix

4.2 ParticipantCharacteristics..................................................................................80

4.2.1 DemographicAttributes.......................................................................................81

4.2.2 QualificationsandExperience..............................................................................82

4.2.3 SeniorityofParticipants.......................................................................................84

4.3 OverviewofFindingsCategories.........................................................................85

4.4 Terminology........................................................................................................88

4.5 TheSelectionProcess..........................................................................................88

4.5.1 InvolvedRolesintheSelectionProcess................................................................89

4.5.2 RoleoftheContract..............................................................................................96

4.5.3 AligningProcessesandSoftware..........................................................................99

4.5.4 GatheringAdvice................................................................................................101

4.6 DriversintheSelectionProcess.........................................................................101

4.6.1 Team...................................................................................................................101

4.6.2 Processes............................................................................................................104

4.6.3 Leadership..........................................................................................................106

4.7 BarrierstotheSelectionProcess.......................................................................106

4.7.1 ResistancetoSoftware.......................................................................................106

4.7.2 EconomicLimitations..........................................................................................107

4.7.3 TechnicalBarriers...............................................................................................109

4.7.4 Processes............................................................................................................110

4.7.5 DataSecurityandPrivacy...................................................................................110

4.8 SelectionCriteria...............................................................................................112

4.9 Functionalities..................................................................................................114

ITConsulting.................................................................................................................116

4.9.1 CollaborationwiththeClient..............................................................................116

4.9.2 LimitedStandardization......................................................................................117

4.9.3 AligningStatusReporting...................................................................................119

x

4.9.4 TechnicalRestrictions.........................................................................................120

4.9.5 WorkingwiththirdParties..................................................................................122

4.10 TheImportanceofProjectManagementSoftwareSelection.............................123

4.11 Summary..........................................................................................................123

Chapter5: Discussion.......................................................................................125

5.1 Introduction......................................................................................................125

5.2 WhatistheWorkingDefinitionofProjectManagementSoftware?...................128

5.2.1 Terminology........................................................................................................128

5.2.2 TheScopeofProjectManagementSoftware.....................................................129

5.3 TheSoftwareSelectionProcess.........................................................................130

5.3.1 ProcessOverviewandActivities.........................................................................132

5.3.2 TimeoftheSelection..........................................................................................132

5.3.3 GatheringInformation........................................................................................134

5.3.4 PreparingtheDecisionProcess..........................................................................134

5.3.5 InformingrelevantRoles....................................................................................145

5.3.6 TheDecision.......................................................................................................146

5.3.7 ImplementationandRollout...............................................................................150

5.3.8 Outcome:The6-stagedProcessGuide...............................................................153

5.4 SelectionCriteria–KeyConsiderationsforProjectManagers............................154

5.4.2 ChecklistofSelectionCriteria.............................................................................162

5.5 SectorPerspective:ITConsultingandProjectManagementSoftwareSelection164

5.5.1 WorkingwithClients..........................................................................................164

5.5.2 ConductingITProjectswithClients....................................................................165

5.6 Summary..........................................................................................................167

Chapter6: Conclusion......................................................................................169

6.1 Introduction......................................................................................................169

xi

6.2 MainResults.....................................................................................................170

6.2.1 Objectives...........................................................................................................170

6.2.2 AnsweringtheResearchQuestions....................................................................172

6.3 ImplicationsofthisStudy..................................................................................173

6.3.1 ContributiontoTheory.......................................................................................173

6.3.2 ContributiontoPractice.....................................................................................176

6.4 Strengths&LimitationsofthisStudy................................................................178

6.4.1 ThequalitativeApproach...................................................................................179

6.4.2 TheAuthorasaPractitioner...............................................................................179

6.4.3 Sector-specificApproach....................................................................................180

6.4.4 PracticalRelevance.............................................................................................180

6.5 RecommendationsforFutureResearch.............................................................181

6.5.1 ResearchbasedontheLimitations.....................................................................181

6.5.2 ProjectManagementSoftware..........................................................................183

6.5.3 ITConsulting.......................................................................................................184

6.6 RecommendationsforPractice.........................................................................185

6.7 Summary..........................................................................................................186

References............................................................................................................188

Appendix...............................................................................................................198

AppendixI:InterviewSchedule.....................................................................................198

AppendixII:FormofInformedConsent.........................................................................199

AppendixIII:NVivoProjectStructureSnapshot.............................................................200

AppendixIV:SoftwareProducts....................................................................................201

xii

IndexofFigures

Figure1-1:OutcomesandChapters...............................................................................11

Figure1-2:ResearchStructure.......................................................................................11

Figure1-3:Aim&Objectives..........................................................................................12

Figure2-1:LiteratureReviewProcess............................................................................13

Figure2-2:TechnologyandITConsultingServices(Consultancy.uk,2017b)................16

Figure2-3:ConsultingIndustryMarketSize(Consultancy.uk,2017a)...........................18

Figure2-4:Top5BusinessChallengesforConsultingFirms(Frederiksen,2016)..........19

Figure2-5:AreasofInvestigation..................................................................................26

Figure2-6:DefinitionofToolsandSoftwarebasedonBesnerandHobbs’(2012)

Interpretation.........................................................................................................28

Figure2-7:Classificationsofprojectmanagementcharacteristics(Stepanek,2005)....38

Figure2-8:Theliteraturegap.........................................................................................45

Figure2-9:ResearchquestionsRQ1&2..........................................................................49

Figure2-10:OverallResearchStructure........................................................................50

Figure3-1:MethodologicalStructure............................................................................52

Figure3-2:PhilosophicalStance.....................................................................................57

Figure3-3:Sample,inclusion/exclusioncriteria(Robinson,2014)................................67

Figure3-4:AdaptedmethodologicalStructure..............................................................78

Figure4-1:ExcerptfromtheNVivoHierarchyChart......................................................86

Figure5-1:ResearchStructure.....................................................................................125

Figure5-2:FindingsSummary......................................................................................126

Figure5-3:DiscussionStructure...................................................................................127

Figure5-4:SelectionProcessElements........................................................................131

xiii

Figure5-5:SelectionProcessGuideStageone............................................................133

Figure5-6:SelectionProcessGuideStagetwo............................................................134

Figure5-7:SelectionProcessGuideStagethree..........................................................135

Figure5-8:SelectionProcessGuideStagefour............................................................146

Figure5-9:SelectionProcessGuideStagefive............................................................147

Figure5-10:6-stagedProcessGuide............................................................................151

Figure5-11:6-stagedProcessGuideonPMSoftwareSelection.................................154

Figure6-1:OverallResearchStructure........................................................................169

Figure6-2:6-stagedProcessGuideonPMSoftwareSelection...................................170

Figure6-3:ResearchResults........................................................................................187

xiv

IndexofTables

Table2-1:DefinitionsofITConsulting...........................................................................16

Table2-2:PMsoftwarefunctionalitiesbasedonBesnerandHobbs(2012).................32

Table2-3:SubsystemsandfunctionsbasedonPellerinetal.(2013)............................33

Table2-4:SoftwareLifecycleProcesses;adoptedfromChadlietal.(2016).................37

Table2-5:Listofpotentialselectioncriteria..................................................................48

Table3-1:ResearchPhilosophies...................................................................................55

Table3-2:DataCollectionMethods...............................................................................65

Table3-3:Stagesofaface-to-faceInterview(Wilson,2014).........................................71

Table3-4:StagesoftheplannedInterviews(Wilson,2014)..........................................72

Table3-5:PhasesofthematicAnalysis(Braun&Clarke,2006).....................................76

Table3-6:CodingTechniques........................................................................................77

Table4-1:AgeGroups....................................................................................................81

Table4-2:GenderDistribution.......................................................................................81

Table4-3:Nationalities..................................................................................................81

Table4-4:Participants’Experience................................................................................82

Table4-5:FormalPMQualifications..............................................................................82

Table4-6:TechnologicalFocus......................................................................................83

Table4-7:EducationalQualifications.............................................................................83

Table4-8:FieldofEducation..........................................................................................84

Table4-9:Experiencewithdistributed/agile/internationalProjects.........................84

Table4-10:SeniorityGroups..........................................................................................85

Table4-11:DistributionamongstseniorityGroups.......................................................85

Table4-12:FindingsCategories.....................................................................................87

xv

Table4-13:Team-involvementindecision-making.......................................................92

Table4-14:ClientInvolvement......................................................................................94

Table4-15:InvolvedleadershipRoles1.........................................................................96

Table4-16:ContractTypeandResponsibility................................................................99

Table4-17:Criteria.......................................................................................................112

Table4-18:Criteria(continued)...................................................................................113

Table4-19:Functionality..............................................................................................114

Table4-20:Functionality(continued)..........................................................................115

Table5-1:OverviewofRoles.......................................................................................137

Table5-2:InvolvedGroupsandRoles..........................................................................138

Table5-3:FunctionalitiesfromtheLiteratureReview.................................................161

Table5-4:CompiledListofselectionCriteria...............................................................163

Table5-5:Sector-specificAspects................................................................................166

1

Introduction

Theaimofthisstudy istoexaminethekeyconsiderations intheselectionofproject

managementsoftwareinITconsultingfromtheprojectmanagers’perspectiveinorder

to develop guidance to support practitioners in software selection and enhance the

academicunderstandingofthisphenomenon.

1.1 ResearchRationale

Projectmanagementsoftwarehasbeenfoundtocontributetothesuccessofprojects.

So,itisnosurprise,thatitisutilizedinmanyprojectstoday.Also,thereisavarietyof

software on the market to meet this demand. With this multitude of project

management software available and the challenges of IT projects, how can project

managersinITconsultingselecttherightsoftwarefortheirproject?Somestudieshave

investigated and compared features of software (Besner & Hobbs, 2012; Pellerin,

Perrier,Guillot,&Léger,2013).Otherresearchhasreviewedtheapplicationofasingle

product (BorštnarMirjana&Pucihar,2014;Riņģis&Bērziša,2016). Fromapractical

standpointhowever, itmaybe sensible tonot just try to seewhataproduct canor

cannotdo.Insteadoneshouldevaluatetheselectionfromtheperspectiveofthosethat

want toutilize it in projects. Theprojectmanager is theperson leading theproject.

Basedonhisroleheisalsoresponsiblefortheoverallprojectsuccess.Thus,hehasa

key interest in the benefits derived from project management software. From an

academicperspective,littleisknownabouttheprocessofsoftwareselectionandthe

considerations taken throughout this process, especially in regard to the project

managersrole.Henceinvestigatingthiskeyroles’perspectiveispartoftheaimofthis

study.

2

ITconsultanciespredominantlydelivertheirservicesintheformofprojects.Thisisalso

reflected in the way that consulting organizations are set up in project- and client-

oriented structures. Thus, consultants and especially project managers in IT

consultancieshaveoftengained richexperiencewithprojects. This experience likely

alsoextendstoprojectmanagementsoftware.AstheintentionofaDBAistonotonly

to contribute to theory, but also have a strong link to practice, it was a conscious

decisiontolocatethisstudyinthesectorofITconsulting.Thisemphasizesthepractical

focus and increases the chance of generating practically relevant results. It is also

sensible from an academic perspective, as one should be mindful that project

management isapplieddifferentlydependingon thesector (Besner&Hobbs,2012).

Following this thought, the focus on a single sector promotes the chances to distil

findingsofgreaterdepthandrelevance.LimitingtheresearchtoITconsulting,whichis

theauthors’fieldofpractice,wouldalsoallowtoutilizeone’sownexpertiseandprovide

easieraccesstopractitionersandthusdata.

1.1.1 TheAuthorasaResearcher

I have been a practitioner in IT consulting for over 9 years.During this time, I have

workedindifferentrolesasamethodsandtoolsconsultant,projectmanagerandhead

ofadepartmentofITconsultants.Workingasaconsultantmeansconductingproject

workfordifferentclientorganizationsinvaryingsectors.AllprojectsIhaveseenwithin

thistimeusedsomeformofprojectmanagementsoftware,rangingfromself-madeMS

Excel sheets to complex integrated software stacks. I observed that the software

productschosenwereutilizedtovaryingdegreesofsuccess.Insomeprojects,theusers

regularly complainedabout the complexityof the software. Inothers, only very few

3

peoplewouldactuallyuseit,andagaininothers,therewouldbedifferentproductsused

by different teams within the same project. What seemed to be the result is that

projectswerestrugglingtobenefitfromtheprojectmanagementsoftwaretheyused.

On the other hand, I have also come across projects whichwere successfully using

projectmanagementsoftwarewithintheirprojectforyears.Thus,understandingwhat

projectmanagers do to select a such software and understand their considerations

becameacentralideaforthisresearch.Iassumethatidentifyingthedriversandbarriers

inthisprocessandthedecisionsthatprojectmanagersmake,willlikelybenefitother

projects.Theobservationofthisphenomenoninpracticewasthestartingpointforthis

thesis.ThroughtheDBAprogrammeitwaspossibletoinvestigateitfromanacademic

perspective.

1.1.2 ScopeoftheStudy

AstheauthorofthisstudyisaprojectmanagerwithinthefieldofITconsulting,itwas

deemedbeneficialtolocatetheresearchinthesamefield.Thisdefinedthescopeofthis

research,whichbecamethebasisforthetitleofthestudy:

Title:AnInvestigationoftheProcessandCharacteristicsusedbyProjectManagersinITConsultingintheSelectionofProjectManagementSoftwareBuildingontheproblemasobservedinpractice,areviewofexistingliteratureprovided

further insights on the phenomenon from an academic perspective. As previously

mentioned,theprocessandcharacteristicsusedbyprojectmanagersintheselectionof

projectmanagementsoftwareshouldbeinvestigatedinthesectorofITconsulting.The

investigation into the literaturebroughtno such studies to light. Thus, this research

utilizestheworksofotherauthorsonrelatedtopicstocreateanunderstandingofthe

4

academiccontextasabasisforinvestigatingthephenomenonofprojectmanagement

softwareselectioninITconsulting.

Turner,AnbariandBredillet (2013)mentionthe increasingstandardizationofproject

management, which is specifically supported through the implementation of

organizations such as the ProjectManagement Institute (PMI), UK’s Association for

ProjectManagement (APM), theAustralian InstituteofProjectManagement (AIPM),

andtheInternationalProjectManagementAssociation(IPMA).Theirstandardsanda

lotofprojectmanagementliteratureavailableareoftenbusiness-orientedratherthan

ofacademicorigin.Thismeans,thatanyclaimsmadebasedonsuchsourcesshouldbe

reviewedcriticallyinlightofacademicresearch.

Aninitialreviewofliteratureonprojectmanagementsoftwareshowed,thatfewstudies

areavailable,manyofwhichareoveradecadeoldandthuslimitedintheirapplicability

today.Thosethatexistoftendeviateintheirapproachtocentralterminology.Theterms

ofprojectmanagementsoftware(Ali,Anbari,&Money,2008),tools(Chadlietal.,2016)

andinformationsystems(Caniëls&Bakens,2011)werefoundtobeusedsometimes

interchangeably and at times alsowith deviatingmeanings in the context of project

managementsoftware.Asthereisnoconsensusintheliteratureontheterminology,it

ledtothequestionontheviewofpractitioners. Investigatingtheterminologywould

allow to clarify the definitions based on practical application and thus promote the

futureinterlockbetweenacademiaandpractice.

5

While no academic literature was found on software selection in the context of IT

consulting, there arepublicationsonprojectmanagement software and its usage.A

central dependency that Raymond and Bergeron (2008) identified was the positive

impactofprojectmanagementsoftwareonprojectsuccess.Accordingtothem,thisis

however depending on the actual usage of the software. When reflecting this, it

becomes clear that factors influencingandpromotingusageofprojectmanagement

softwarewouldthuslikelyberelevantforthesuccessoftheproject.Thefindingsofthis

thesispromotetheconceptofusageasakeyconsiderationalsofromprojectmanagers’

perspective,whichwillbeelaboratedinthelaterchapters.

Authors have investigated projectmanagement software based on its’ features and

functionalities (Besner & Hobbs, 2012; Pellerin et al., 2013). These may also be of

potentialrelevancetoprojectmanagersintheselectionprocess.Butaretheyactually

keyconsiderationswhenprojectmanagersdecidewhichsoftwaretouse?Andarethey

ofrelevanceinthecontextofITconsulting?AspreviouslymentionedthecontextofIT

consultingalso likely influencestheselectionprocess. ITconsulting is relatedto IT in

general, it is reasonable to also review the specifics of IT projects. Thesehavebeen

foundtoposecertainrestrictionsonprojectmanagementanditsapplication(Stepanek,

2005),whichinturncould influencesoftwareselection.Asnoresearchwasfoundto

haveinvestigatedprojectmanagementinthecontextofITconsulting,thisstudytriesto

providesomeinsightsintothisfield.Additionally,theprojectmanagers’wayofworking

within this context in regard to the software selectionwillbeof interestandhow it

relatestotheirperceptionsandconsiderations.

6

Theareasuncoveredthroughtheliteratureresearchareusedtoevaluatetheresearch

aimandobjectivesandinformtheempiricalresearchprocessbydevelopingresearch

questions. The relation of empirical findings and existing theory is also part of the

discussionthatlaterevaluatestheoverallresearchprojectandprovidesasynthesisof

theinformationuncovered.

1.2 AimandObjectives

This study was initiated based on challenges related to the selection of project

management software by project managers in IT consulting. It aims to incur an

understandingofthispracticalphenomenonthroughacademicresearch.Astheproject

managersarethekeyactorswithinthisprocess,itseemssensibletofocusprimarilyon

theirperspective.Thus,developinganunderstandingofhisorherconsiderationsseems

tobetheappropriateaimtobeabletocreateguidancethatboth,explainsthetheory

behindtheprocess,butalsoshowsthepracticalbenefitsofadeeperunderstanding.

Thus,theaimofthisstudyis:

Aim: Examine the key considerations in the selection of project managementsoftwareinITconsultingfromtheprojectmanagers’perspective.This leads to the underlying objectives, that detail the aim of this research project

further.Theyfocusontheaspectsthattheresearchneedstocovertoachieveits’aim.

Followingtheoutcomesasdescribedintheprevioussection,atfirstanoverviewofthe

relevantacademicliteratureneedstobeattained.Thiswillacknowledgeandcritically

review existingworks in relation to the aim. It will also help to shape the research

questionsthattheempiricpartofthisstudyneedstoanswer.Thus,thefirstobjective

willbe:

7

Objective 1: Provide an overview of the literature relevant to the field of projectmanagementsoftwareselectioninITconsulting.Secondly, there is the overarching phenomenon of project management software

selection from the project managers’ perspective that this research wants to

understand.Thisalsotranslatesintoanobjective,asitwillneedtotieintotheresearch

questionsandtheresultsofthisstudy:

Objective 2: Gain an understanding of the phenomenon of project managementsoftwareselectioninpracticefromtheperspectiveofprojectmanagers.Basedonthisframe,thefurtherdetailswerespecified.Whatisexactlyrelevantwithin

the process? Which aspects could drive or hinder the process? And what are the

considerationsintheseregardsfromtheperspectiveofpractitioners?Thisalsolinksto

thecriteriathatprojectmanagersapply inpracticeandhowthispotentiallyties into

existingfunctionalitiesofsoftwareasinvestigatedbyotherresearchers.

Objective3: Examine thekey considerations forprojectmanagers in the softwareselectionprocess.A DBA thesis is both, a contribution to practice and knowledge. Based on the

understandingthatisgeneratedthroughthepursuitoftheobjectivesonetothree,an

academiccontributioncanbemade.Thus,itshouldthenbethenextconsequentialstep

toalsoensureapracticalcontribution,whichwouldbuildontheinformationgained.

Thus,thefinalobjectiveis:

Objective 4: Develop guidance for project managers in IT consulting around keyconsiderationsintheselectionprocessofprojectmanagementsoftware.

8

The research questions that evolve from the objectives are developed through the

literaturereviewinchaptertwo.Thesequestionswillthenbethebasisfortheempiric

study,whichinturnprovidesthedataforthediscussionofthefindingsinchapterfive.

1.3 ResearchContext

1.3.1 Methodology

Aspreviouslyoutlinedtheaimofthisstudyistoexaminetheconsiderationsofproject

managers.Sincenoevidencewasfoundofauthorsinvestigatingthisphenomenonfrom

asimilarperspective,itseemedsensibletotakeaqualitativeapproachandtrytocome

toageneralunderstandingofwhatisoccurringinpractice.Thissectionwilloutlinethe

keymethodological elements of this research,which is further explained in chapter

three:methodology.

Oneinitialconsiderationtobetakenisthatofresearchphilosophy.AccordingtoBryman

andBell(2015),theepistemologicalviewportraystheviewonwhatcanbeconsidered

as acceptable knowledge. This implies which methods can be acknowledged as

reasonable.Whiletheunderlyingbeliefofthisstudyisthatscientificmeasureableand

generalizableapproachesfromnon-socialfieldscanprovide insights intophenomena

occurring in a social environment, they can only gain limited understanding of the

contextoftheseastheylimitthemselvestoquantifiablymeasureabledata.Fromthis

perspectiveonknowledge,thedecisionwasmadetoemployaqualitativeapproachto

understand the wider perspective and underlying considerations in the software

selectionthatcouldpotentiallygobeyondmeasurablecriteria.Thisisinlinewiththe

philosophical approach of interpretivism (Burrell & Morgan, 1979; Williams, 2000).

9

Thus,thequalitativeapproachtakenissupportedbytheresearchphilosophythatthis

studyfollows.

Building on this, this research employs a qualitative research design utilizing

interpretivistphenomenology,astheintentionofthisstudyistounderstandtheprocess

andconsiderationsofprojectmanagersbasedontheirpracticalexperience.Thus,this

study is utilizing information gathered from experienced project managers in an IT

consultingorganization.Itwasdecidedtofocusonasingleorganizationtoimprovethe

depthofdatathatcouldbeattainedduetothetrustedrelationshipamongpeers.The

researchisconductedinlinewiththeethicalconsiderationsadvisableinsocialresearch

(L.Smith,1992).Thedatagatheredfrompractitionerswillbeanalysedandtheemerging

patternsthepatternswillbeclusteredintorelevantthemes.Thesearelaidoutfurther

inthefindingschapter.

Basedonthesefindings,theresultsofthisstudywillberefinedthroughthediscussion.

The intention is to create a process guide, which provides an understanding of the

phenomenonofprojectmanagementsoftwareselectionfromanacademicperspective

and allows practitioners to utilize it to make informed decisions throughout the

selection process. This research also aims to develop an understanding of the

considerationsandcondensetheseintorelevantcriteria.Furthermore,theresearchwill

look for the working definition of project management software as used by

practitioners,tofosteracommonunderstandingofterminology.

10

1.3.2 StructureoftheThesis

Toprovideanunderstandingofthestepstaken,anoverviewwascreatedthatrelates

thechapterswithinthethesisstructureandtheirindividualcontributiontotheresearch.

Thethesiscontainssixmainchapters.Thisintroductionprovidesageneraloverviewof

theresearchproject.Itdevelopstheresearchcontextandrationaleanddevelopsthe

aimandobjectives.Inchaptertwo,theliteratureinrelationtothisstudywillbecritically

discussedandtheresearchquestionswillbedeveloped.Chapterthreethendefinesthe

methodologyusedfortheempiricalresearchandgivestherationaleforthedecisions

made. In the findings chapter, the data relevant to the aim of this researchwill be

presented,andchapterfiveprovidesthediscussionwheretheempiricalandtheoretical

datawillbeinterpretedandalignedtothekeyresultsofthisstudy.Theconclusionin

chaptersixsummarizestheresearchandits’results,outlinesthelimitationsofthisstudy

andshowstheimplicationsonpracticeandfutureresearch.

The following summary of the outcomes at different stages of the study shows the

progress of the research across the chapters of this research. Based on the overall

researchidea,anaimfortheresearchwasrefined.Thisissupportedbytheobjectives

ofthisresearch,whicharepartoftheinitialdefinitionoftheresearchproject.Theseare

thengroundedinacademictheorythroughtheresearchquestions.Aftertheconducted

studyandanalysis,thesearethenansweredbytheresultsofthisstudy.Therelation

betweentheoutcomesineachchapterandoverallresearchprogressisshowninthe

diagrambelow:

11

Figure1-1:OutcomesandChapters

Thisstructureisusedtodevelopandsummarizetheaim,objectives,researchquestions

andresultsthroughoutthethesistoallowatraceabilityacrosstheresearchprocess.The

aimandobjectivescannowbeaddedtotheresearchstructureastheywerepreviously

defined.Thisleadstothefollowingview,whichwillbecompletedoverthecourseof

thisstudy.

Figure1-2:ResearchStructure

1.4 Summary

Inpractice,projectmanagersinITconsultingoftenneedtodecidewhichPMsoftware

shouldbeusedinaproject.Aninitialinvestigationshowedthattheprocessofproject

12

managementsoftwareselectionhasnotbeeninvestigatedthroughacademicresearch.

Italsoshowedavariationinhowterminologywasapplied.Thissupportedtheideaof

investigating the phenomenon of project management selection as it occurs in IT

consulting.Thisleadtothedevelopmentoftheoverallaimandobjectives:

Aim:Examinethekeyconsiderations in theselectionofprojectmanagementsoftwareinITconsultingfromtheprojectmanagers’perspective.Objective1:ProvideanoverviewoftheliteraturerelevanttothefieldofprojectmanagementsoftwareselectioninITconsulting.Objective2:Gainanunderstandingofthephenomenonofprojectmanagementsoftwareselectioninpracticefromtheperspectiveofprojectmanagers.Objective 3: Examine the key considerations for project managers in thesoftwareselectionprocess.Objective4:DevelopguidanceforprojectmanagersinITconsultingaroundkeyconsiderationsintheselectionprocessofprojectmanagementsoftware.

Figure1-3:Aim&Objectives

The next chapter describes the literature review and the information that academic

literature contributed to the course of this study. It also gives an insight into the

backgroundofthefieldsthatareunderlyingthisstudy.

13

Chapter2: LiteratureReview

2.1 Introduction

Thereisavarietyofmorethan300projectmanagementsoftwaresolutionsavailable

(Schwalbe,2015).Asthepersonresponsiblefortheproject,projectmanagersneedto

takethedecision,whichsoftwaretheywanttoemploy.Tounderstandthisprocess,itis

anobjectiveofthisresearchtoexaminethekeyconsiderationsinselectionofproject

management software in IT consulting from the projectmanagers’ perspective. This

reviewwillaimtoshowthegapinacademicknowledge,thattheempiricalpartofthis

studywill need to address. Additionally, the implications of recent research and its

relevance to the study at hand are discussed. More information on how this was

achievedwillbegiveninthenextsection,whichgivesastructureoftheliteraturereview

process to provide an understanding of this and the subsequent sections (Starbuck,

1999).

2.1.1 TheLiteratureReviewProcess

According toWebster andWatson (2002) as a first step the overall process of the

literature review should be defined and described. This is detailed in the following

diagram,anddiscussedinthesubsequentparagraphs.

Figure2-1:LiteratureReviewProcess

DefinetheLiteratureResearchProcess

UnderstandtheContext:ITConsulting

Sector

UnderstandtheHistory:ProjectManage-ment

IdentifyAreasof

Investigation

AnalyzeeachAreaof

Investigation

ConsolidateInformationrelevanttotheStudy

SummarizeImplications

oftheFindingsontheempirical

Study

14

TheresearchinvestigatesaphenomenonwithinthesectorofITconsulting.Thisisakey

aspectofthisresearchprojectasithasbeenfoundthatthesectorhasastrongimpact

on the adoption of projectmanagement (Shenhar, 2001). Thus, an overview of the

contextwillbegiven,asitinfluencesthedecisionsmadealongtheresearchprocess.In

addition,itisessentialtogainanunderstandingofprojectmanagementsoftwareand

projectmanagement.Thisgeneralunderstandingisattainedthroughaninvestigation

intothebackgroundandhistoryofprojectmanagement.Suchanapproachalsohelps

togaininsightintotherecentdevelopmentswithinhisfieldofstudy.

Basedon the areas of investigation thatwere identified, theworks and concepts of

authorswithin each areawere critically analysed in regard to their relevance to the

currentstudy.Theseconceptswereconsolidatedtorefinethescopeofthisresearch

andlaterbeabletolinktheempiricaldatatotheexistingtheory.

2.1.2 IdentifyingrelevantLiterature

To identify relevant areas, the author first sought and categorized topics found in

practice.FollowingthesuggestionsofMcCambridge,McAlaneyandRowe(2011) the

nextstepwastoidentifytheirrelevanceinacademicliteraturethroughasearchusing

keysearchterms,followedbyforwardandbackwardsearchesusingbibliographiesand

citationindices.Throughthisinvestigation,connectedelementsandaspectsrelatedto

thisstudyemerged,whichtheninformedfuturesearchcycles.Thisapproachisaligned

withtherecommendationsproposedbyauthorssuchasWebster&Watson(2002)and

Levy&Ellis(2006)andtheiremphasisontheiterativenatureofaliteraturereview.The

startingpointsforthesesearcheswerebothacademicjournalssuchastheInternational

15

Journal of ProjectManagement and library databases such as the Napier university

librarysearchortheABI/INFORMdatabase.Thenextsectionswilldiscussthekeytopics

foundinrelationtothisresearchstartingwithanoutlineofthesectorofITconsulting.

2.2 TheITConsultingSector

2.2.1 WhatisITConsulting?

The definitions of IT consulting commonly found among the literature can be

categorized into two types.One is presentedbyDjavanshir andAgresti (2007),who

describetheITconsultants’roleasworkinginareassuchasideageneration,designand

project management support in IT. It is aligned with the view from Gartner (2013)

definingITconsultingservicesasadvisoryservicesfocusedonhelpingclientswiththe

assessment and alignment of technology strategies. This definition emphasizes the

advisoryaspectsoftherolewithoutinvolvementinthetechnicaldeliveryofprojects.

Thisapproachiscontrastedbyasecondone,whichshowsaperspectivegoingbeyond

advisory activities. As Joshi, Kuhn, & Niederman (2010) point out, IT consulting

encompasses providing services across the entire scope ofmanagerial and IT tasks,

coveringalsotheimplementationofnewITsystemsandapplicationsandtheprocesses

supported by them. Thus it often expands to systems development and integration

(Reineke,2007)orbuilding,managingandoperatingandmaintaininginformation(M.

Boehm,Stolze,Breitschwerdt,Zarvic,&Thomas,2011;Valacich,Schneider,&Jessup,

2012).Whenlookingattheseservices,exampleswouldbesecurity,dataanalysisand

systemsintegrationwhicharepresentedaskeyserviceswithinthefieldofITconsulting

(Consultancy.uk,2017b).Thisisvisualizedinthefigure2-2below.

16

Figure2-2:TechnologyandITConsultingServices(Consultancy.uk,2017b)

The range of these definitions from mainly advisory to strongly delivery oriented

demonstratethatthereisnounanimouspositioninacademia.Thismaybeduetothe

limitedamountofacademicliteratureonconsultinginthefieldofIT.Thefollowingtable

summarizesthesedistinctlydifferentdefinitions:

ScopeofITConsulting AuthorsAdvisoryservicesfocusedonITstrategy Djavanshir&Agresti(2007)

Gartner(2013)Advisory,implementationandoperationsservicesacrossallITactivities

Boehmetal.(2011)Joshi,Kuhn,&Niederman(2010)Reineke(2007)Valacich,Schneider,&Jessup(2012)

Table2-1:DefinitionsofITConsulting

Withoutfurtherinquiry,alltheaforementionedfieldscouldbedeemedrelevanttothe

roleoftheprojectmanagerinITconsulting.Inrelationtothisstudy,abroaderdefinition

willsupporttheexplorativenatureofthisresearch.Thus,ITconsultingwillbeassumed

toencompassadvisory,implementationandoperationsservicesacrossallITactivities.

2.2.2 HistoryofITConsulting

TodayITconsultingisanimportantaspectoftheconsultingindustry(Nissen,2007).The

firstconsultingservicesaresaidtohaveemergedinthelatenineteenthcenturyinthe

form of individuals providing advisory services around engineering, accounting and

advertising (Kipping,1999).McKenna (1995)claims that the first consulting firmwas

17

founded in 1890 by Arthur D. Little. As he states, it provided advisory services on

technical research and management engineering. In 1914 the first management

consultancybythenameBoozAllenHamiltonwasfounded,asMcKenna(1995)points

out.Thisissaidtohavebeentheblueprintforpuremanagementconsultingfirmslike

McKinsey which arose soon after and shaped the development in the sector

(O’Mahoney,2010).AccordingtoMcKenna(1995),aftertheeconomywashitbythe

regressioninthe1920s,theGlass-SteagallBankingActin1933enforcedtheseparation

ofbanksfromanynon-bankingactivities.Hereasonsthistobethecauseofthesteady

growthofconsultingactivitiesfromthe1930sonward.AsstatedbyCiumara(2014)this

developmentwasasaturningpointthatchangedthefocusofconsultingfromtechnical

aspectsandproductiontobroaderstrategicandorganizationalapproaches.

While IT consulting is sometimes associated with management consulting, its

developmentgoesbacktothe1950s(Kipping&Clark,2012).Fromthistimewheremost

of the first consultancies have maintained their focus on strategy consulting, the

growingdemandforexpertiseinimplementation,ITandoutsourcinghashelpedother

companiestogrowintotheconsultingbusiness,likeIBM,Deloitte,PWCandAccenture

(O’Mahoney,2010).

2.2.3 ITConsultingToday

BytodaytheITconsultingsectorhasencounteredasteadygrowthoverthelast4years

and has grown beyond the size of the original strategy consulting in market size

(Consultancy.uk, 2017b). Figure 2-3 shows this development in comparison to other

typesofconsultingalongsidetheoverallannualgrowthoftheconsultingindustryof4,1

%peryear.

18

Figure2-3:ConsultingIndustryMarketSize(Consultancy.uk,2017a)

The IT consulting sector is driven by the developments in information technology

(Schwalbe,2015).Recenttopicsandtechnologiessuchascloudcomputing,mobileor

socialmediaareposingnewareasofinnovationandgrowthforcompanies(Rahimi,Ren,

Liu, Vasilakos, & Venkatasubramanian, 2014). Following the authors thought,

technologiesunderlyingthis,sometimesalsoreferredtoasthesocialmobilecloud,can

create new business opportunities if adapted in a purposeful manner. Based on

Sheltons’research(2013),tosuccessfullyformulateandimplementastrategybasedon

thenewtechnologies,manycompaniesrelyonITconsultancies.Heseesthisasoneof

thedriversoffurthergrowthintheITconsultingsector.

Inaddition,withthecapabilitiesofinformationtechnologydataisacentralresourcefor

companies (Levitin & Redman, 1998). With todays’ technology, it has become

increasinglyeasytogatherdataoncustomersandtheirbehaviour(Kemper,Mehanna,

19

&Unger,2004).Incombinationwiththedataavailablefromexternalsourcesandsocial

mediaplatforms,thisposesnewchancesformarketingandsales(Zeng,Chen,Lusch,&

Li,2010).Thetechnologicalbuzzwordoftenheardinthiscontextisbigdataandhow

datachangesthewaybusinessesaretransformed(Mayer-Schönberger&Cukier,2013;

S.J.Walker,2014).ITcompanieshavecreateddifferentproductstosupportthistrend,

buttousetheproductsinameaningfulwayandbuildupastrategythatbenefitsfrom

thenewpossibilities,ITconsultanciesareoftencalledinasenablersasstatedbyYaqoob

etal.(2016).Astheymention,oncethestrategyisdefined,theactualimplementation

canoften result inprojectsofhigh complexity.Basedonwhat Schwalbe (2015) said

aboutdriversforITconsultancies,suchproductswilllikelybeconductedincooperation

withanITconsultancy.

2.2.4 KeyIssuesandChallengesintheITConsultingSector

WhilenotnecessarilycompletelythesameforITconsultancies,areportbyFrederiksen

(2016)onchallengesformanagementconsultingfirmsshowedthatthekeychallenge

wastoattractanddevelopnewbusiness.EspeciallyinITconsulting,thisisoftenequal

to identifying thenext trendearlyon,buildupskillandexpertise in theseareasand

establishastrongpositionbeforeanycompetitorsdo.

Figure2-4:Top5BusinessChallengesforConsultingFirms(Frederiksen,2016)

20

To be able to provide services for innovative technologies, IT consultancies need to

maintainahigh-performancecultureandemployhighlyskilledemployees(Djavanshir

&Agresti,2007).Thisposeschallengestopeoplemanagementespeciallyasindividuals

oftenworkonclientsite,whereitisdifficulttoestablishandpromotetheconsultancies

workingculture(James,2015).

Anadditionalchallengecanalsobeattractingtheyoungergenerationsasemployees.

AccordingtoDowning(2006)millennials,bornbetween1980and1995,areageneration

many IT consulting firmshave identified as ideal hires to build up skill in innovative

technologiesrelatedtomobile,cloudandsocialmedia.Heseesthatformanyatthis

age, technology has already been a central part of their lives. Consultancies are

competing for these talents not only amongst themselves, but also with other

technology companies that often offer a modern working culture adapting to the

prioritiesofmillennials(Bolshaw,2014).

Cultureandattractingtalentarenottheonlychallengesthatcompaniesmustface.With

theincreasingemphasisoninnovationandflexibilitydrivenbyIT,thetraditionalwayof

working in linear, phase-oriented projects has givenway tomore versatilemethods

(Bustard, 2012). Thus, as Bustardmentions,many companies have introduced agile

methodsandprinciples.Heseesentirecompaniesadaptingagilenotonlyasproject

managementmethods,butalsoastheiroverallculture.This,hestates, isoftentimes

seenasanattempttomimicthebehaviorsofstartupsandsuccessfulITcompaniessuch

21

asGoogleorAmazon.Thetrendofagileprojectmanagementwillbefurtherdiscussed

aspartoftheliteraturereviewonprojectmanagementandITtrendsinalatersection.

2.2.5 LocatingtheResearchProblemwithintheITConsultingSector

VandenBrink(2010)hasdescribedthelifeofaprojectmanagerinconsultinginapaper,

that seems to relyprimarilyonhisownexperienceasa consultingprojectmanager.

Accordingtohim,muchoftheworkconductedbyconsultanciesiseitheraprojector

related to a project. Hementions that the consultants areworking in these project

environmentswheretheyarefacedwiththechallengeoftwodifferentorganizations:

theclients’organizationandtheirown.Whilehispaperindicatesthistobeanimportant

elementofconsulting, it is limited in itsacademicapplicabilityas it lacksdata-based

evidencetosupportthisstatement.IncontrasttoVandenBrink(2010),thisresearch

project employs empiric research methods to investigate the area of project

management in ITconsulting. Italso focusesonthe investigationontheselectionof

projectmanagementsoftwareasasub-aspectofprojectmanagementinITconsulting.

In regard to thesectorof IT consulting, thiswill likelyalsoprovide further insightas

academicresearchwithinthisareaislimitedtothisday.

2.3 TheHistoryofProjectManagement

Thefirststeptowardsaninvestigationintoprojectmanagement,oneshouldfirstreview

thedefinitionofprojectitself.Oneofthemostcommondefinitionsofaprojectisalso

promoted by the Project Management Institute (PMI) (2013), which describes the

projectasuniqueendeavouroftemporarynature.Theuniquenessdifferentiatesitfrom

continuous organizational processes. A project, in contrast to a program, also has a

definedbeginningandend (ProjectManagement Institute,2013). This isbuildingon

22

Turners’ (1996,p.6)definitionofprojectmanagementbeing the“artandscienceof

converting vision into reality”. In comparison, PRINCE2, another common project

managementmethod,proposesthatprojectsaredefinedbyfivecharacteristics:they

drivechange,includealevelofuncertainly,aretemporaryanduniqueinnature,and

requirecross-functionalteams(Bentley,2010).

When now looking at project management, the PMI (2013) states that project

management is theapplicationof knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques toproject

activities tomeet the project requirements. As this definition is widely accepted in

practice, it canbeassumed to foster the communicationwithpractitionersover the

courseof the research. For this reason, itwill be takenas the coredefinition for all

projectmanagementrelateddiscussionswithintheresearchathand.

Whennowlookingatthisterminology,onewillquicklyconcludethatprojectsaccording

to this definition were conducted long before the term was even debated within

academics.Historicalendeavoursliketheconstructionofthecoliseumorthepyramids

forexamplearelargeconstructionprojectsbythisdefinitionandmilitarycampaignsat

thetimealsofacedahighcomplexityinplanningandexecution(Seymour&Hussein,

2014;D.H.Walker,2008).Assuch, thecoordinationof theseprojectswasalreadya

formofprojectmanagement(Kwak,2005).

Early occurrences of techniques that are often related to the first steps in modern

projectmanagementareforexampletheinventionoftheGanttchartbyHenryGanttin

1917, which utilizes the visualization of network dependencies (Chiu, 2010;Morris,

23

1994).Interestingly,Marsh(1975)foundthattheelementsofGanttchartswerealready

invented previously by the Polish engineer Karol Adamiecki as work-flow network

diagrams called “harmonograms” in 1896. TheGantt chart can still be foundwithin

popularprojectmanagementsoftwaresuchasMSProjecttoday.

Inthefirsthalfofthelastcentury,theseprojectmanagementtechniqueswereapplied

withinthemilitaryandindustrialareatosteerandcoordinatelogisticalandproduction

projects(Hall,2012).Thetermandprofessionofprojectmanagementthenbecamean

areaofinterestinitselfinthelate1950s,whenitwasintroducedandexpandedtoutilize

theprogramevaluationandreviewtechnique(PERT) intheUSmilitaryandchemical

industry (Garel, 2013; Kwak, 2005). Garel mentions that since then, project

managementhasbeendevelopedandrefinedaccordingtothefieldsofapplication.He

foundthat throughthis,projectmanagementstartedoutwithastrongemphasison

holistic planning capabilities as it originated from applications on projects where

outcomeandtheprocesstowardsachievingitcouldbepredefinedrelativelywell.This

iswhatHall(2012)callsdeterministicprojects,examplesofwhichwouldbeconstruction

orlogistics.

Onemajordevelopmentwithin the fieldwas thestandardizationof terminologyand

processes,which has been fostered since the 1980s through the implementation of

organizations such as the ProjectManagement Institute (PMI), UK’s Association for

ProjectManagement (APM), theAustralian InstituteofProjectManagement (AIPM),

and the International ProjectManagement Association (IPMA) (Turner et al., 2013).

AccordingtotheProjectManagementInstitute(2017),theyareanorganization,which

24

aimstostandardizeandpromoteprojectmanagementandallowsforprojectsmanagers

to testandcertifyasprofessionalsaccordingto itsstandards.Withagrowthofover

1000%inmembershipssince1996,thereisacleartendencyofgrowthwithinthearea

ofstandardizedprojectmanagement(Hall,2012).

Throughtheresearchoftheprojectmanagementjournal,ajournalpublishingfivetosix

articlesonaquarterlybasis,RivardandDupré(2009)foundthatfrom1970to1986only

onearticlewasrelatedto informationsystemsprojectmanagement.Since2000, the

applicationofprojectmanagementinfieldslikeresearchormodernindustriessuchas

information technology also became increasingly common, which also changed the

focus from concrete to more abstract project outcomes (Hall, 2012). According to

Stepanek (2005), this levelofabstraction isalsooneof themajor challengeswith IT

projects,asitincreasesthelikelihoodofchangesthroughoutaproject.Trendslikethe

introductionof agile projectmanagement in 2001have tried to provide ameans to

workingwiththisincreasinglevelofchangewithintheprojectbypromotingastronger

focusonflexibility,earlierresultsandcontinuousimprovement(Kerzner,2015).Kerzner

debatesthatthroughthis,anyuncertaintiesinplanningduetotheabstractnatureof

softwareandITcanbebroughttolightearlierinprojects.

2.3.1 ProjectManagementResearch

With thedevelopmentof projectmanagement in practice, the research intoproject

managementhasevolvedaswelloverthelasttwodecades(Turner,2010).AsTurner

mentions,aspartofthisgrowth,ithasalsomaturedfromapurelypractitioneroriented

focus to an academic fieldof study, a statementwhich is supportedby theworkof

25

Rivard&Dupré(2009).Healsoarguesthat,asprojectmanagementisaratherrecent

fieldofstudymanyaspectswithinithavenotyetbeenacademicallycovered.

Theemphasisofmoststudieshasbeenplacedonquantitativeresearch,whichprovides

insights into project management from a positivist perspective (Floricel, Bonneau,

Aubry,&Sergi,2014).Whilethissuggeststhatmostresearchcontributestotheoryin

termsofmeasurabilityandapplicabilityofresults,itdoesnotaddressthepossibilityof

yet undiscovered areas within the field due to its specific focus. This focus on

deterministic works implies that there is an increasing need to investigate beyond

existing structures and frameworks to expand academic knowledge (Jacobsson &

Söderholm, 2011; Padalkar & Gopinath, 2016). While taking existing theory into

consideration,acriticalperspectivegoingbeyondafunctional-positiveviewshouldbe

maintained(Sage,Dainty,&Brookes,2014).

Since thepracticeofprojectmanagement is influencedby the sector it is applied in

(Besner & Hobbs, 2012; Shenhar, 2001), it should also be noted that a majority of

researchonprojectmanagementsoftwarewasconductedeitherregardlessofsector-

specificsorwithintheconstructionandengineeringsector(Pellerinetal.,2013).The

currentstudywillcontributetoexistingaspectsbyconductingtheresearchwithinthe

sectorofITconsulting,whichhasnotbeencoveredpreviously.

2.4 AreasofInvestigationrelatedtothisStudy

Basedonthedevelopmentsinresearch,askingfortheory-buildingstudies,theaimof

thisstudywillbetotakeanexplorativeapproach.Assuch,theliteraturereviewcovers

twomainaspects:

26

1) Identifyliteratureandfindingsaboutsoftwareselectioninproject

managementitself

2) Provideadeeperunderstandingofthecontexttheresearchisconductedin

andidentifypotentiallyinfluentialfactorsforsoftwareselection

Basedonthisdecision,fourkeyareaswithintheliteratureofprojectmanagementhave

been identified that will be investigated. The first is project management software

selectionasakeytopic.Thisisattheheartofthisresearchprojectandthusneedstobe

covered extensively. The second topic is success factors and processes in project

management tounderstandhow theseare related to theareaof software selection

within project management. The other two areas to investigate are related to the

context the research is conducted in. These are information technology asmultiple

authorshavetalkedaboutaspectsspecificofITprojects;andthesectorofITconsulting,

whichhasinpartbeencoveredintheprevioussection.Thefollowingdiagramdepicts

an overview of these four areas in relation to the central element of project

management.

Figure2-5:AreasofInvestigation

Asprojectmanagementselectioncanalsobeviewedasadecision-makingprocess,

decisionmakingtheorywasalsoconsideredaspartofthisresearch.Astheaimofthe

SoftwareSelection

SuccessFactors&Processes

InformationTechnology ITConsulting

ProjectManagement

27

researchwastocometoanunderstandingabouttheprocessanditscriteriafroma

projectmanagementperspectiveasopposedtothepsychologicalperspectivesonit,

decisionmakingwasnotmadeoneofthemainfieldsofinquiry.Theoretical

perspectivesandtherationalefornotmakingitafocusareaarediscussedinthe

followingsubsection.

2.4.1 DecisionMaking

Whileresearchondecisionmakinginaneconomiccontextgoesbackmorethanhalfa

century(Cohen,March,&Olsen,1972;Nutt&Wilson,2010),itisalsoinfluencedby

theareaofpsychologicaldecisionmaking(Kahneman,2012).Indecisionmaking

theory,oneapproachistodivideintonormative,descriptiveandprescriptivemodesof

analysis,whichinvestigatethedetailsofsuchprocessesintermsofdecisionmodels

(Bell,Raiffa,&Tversky,1988).Inmanyeconomicalenvironmentsthecomplexityofa

decisionquicklyleadstoareasofuncertaintywithinthedecisionprocess,anapproach

thatisproclaimedinSimon'sconceptofgroundedrationality(Simon,1982).Whileone

couldevaluatethedecisionmodelsintermsofapplicabilitytowardsutilizationinthe

softwareselectionprocess,theresearchathandaimstofocusontheprocessfroma

projectmanagementperspectiveandwhichcriteriafromwithinitsbusinesscontext

areinvolved.

2.5 ProjectManagementSoftwareSelection

2.5.1 Terminology

Wheninvestigatingprojectmanagementsoftware,itseemssensibletofirstclarifythe

underlyingterminology.Twoimportanttermsinthiscontextarethetoolsandsoftware.

28

Forthisresearchproject, it is importanttocometoaclearlyoutlineddefinition,asit

impactsthescopeofthisresearchandtheapplicabilityofanyoutcomesgenerated.

The different terms found in academic literature for this topic range from project

managementsoftware(Alietal.,2008),toprojectmanagementtoolsandtoolsetswith

softwareasasubset(Besner&Hobbs,2012),toolsasatermusedinterchangeablywith

software(Chadlietal.,2016;Gurjar,2016;Margea&Margea,2011),tothetermtools

inthesenseofnon-technicaltools(Patanakul,Iewwongcharoen,&Milosevic,2010),to

the term of project management information systems (PMIS; (Borštnar Mirjana &

Pucihar,2014;Caniëls&Bakens,2011).Thisshowsthe lackofacommonlyaccepted

definitionamongauthorsusingthesetermsinthecontextofprojectmanagement.Also,

noevidencewasfoundthatthislackofclarityhadyetbeenaddressed.

Forthecurrentstudy, it is importanttorecognizethesetermsasbeingused intheir

differentmeaningtobeabletounderstandthedifferentcontributionsmadeinthisfield

of research. However, it is not sufficient to merely understand the works of other

authors. In order to allow for a clearer understanding of the terminology used

throughout this thesis, a definition was adapted from one of the aforementioned

authors.

DefinitionofProjectManagementTool:Atoolisanyformofassetutilizedbyprojectmanagers,includingphysicalandvirtualtoolssuchassoftware.DefinitionofProjectManagementSoftware:Softwareasasubsetoftools,soprojectmanagementsoftwareisavirtualtoolappliedinthecontextofprojectmanagement.

Figure2-6:DefinitionofToolsandSoftwarebasedonBesnerandHobbs’(2012)Interpretation

As the author of this thesis has not encountered the term Project Management

InformationSystem(PMIS)inpractice,thistermwillnotbereferredtooverthecourse

29

of this study. It should also be mentioned that the research at hand aims to only

investigatethesoftwareselectionasperthedefinitionchosenabove,nottoolsintheir

broader definition. Based on the different definitions in the literature it will be a

researchquestionofthisstudytogainanunderstandingofhowthetermsareusedin

practice.Thiswillhopefullycontributetoamoreconscioususeofthesetermsinfuture

researchandsimplifytheexchangeofinformationbetweentheoryandpractice.

Aim:Provideclarityregardingterminologyinthecontextofprojectmanagementasusedinpractice.

2.5.2 WhatisProjectManagementSoftware?

Whilesomeresearchhasbeenconductedonprojectmanagementsoftware,littletime

isspentondefiningwhichsoftwarefallsintothiscategory.Ageneraldefinitionisgiven

by Caniëls and Bakens (2011) who state that these systems should provide project

managers with decision making support for planning, organizing and controlling

projects.Besner&Hobbs(2012)linksoftwareinprojectmanagementtopracticesand

processgroupsbasedonthePMBodyofKnowledge(PMBOK)fromPMI.Throughthis

they apply amore specific definition,which is howevermore prone to change as it

depends on the PMBOK which is regularly updated (Project Management Institute,

2013).

This criticism could be made of most definitions though, as due to the rapid

developmentsofsoftwareproductsandtheevolutionofprojectmanagementitself,any

definitionsgiven todaymaycause themtobeoutdatedorat least inaccurate in the

future.Thus,theseshouldalwaysbereviewedcriticallyinthelightoftheirtime.Since

the question on what exactly is project management software is not unanimously

30

answeredthroughtheliterature, itwillbepartofthisstudyto identifydefinitionsas

usedbypractitioners.

Aim:Provideclarityonthescopeofprojectmanagementsoftwarefrompractitioners’perspectives.

2.5.3 TheUsageofProjectManagementSoftware

Whileapositiveimpactoftheuseofprojectmanagementsoftwareonprojectsuccess

wasfound(Alietal.,2008;Raymond&Bergeron,2008)ithasalsobeenshownthatthis

influenceisdependingonotherfactors.Twodependenciesidentifiedarethatofdata

qualitywithinthesoftwareaswellasthelevelofusage(Raymond&Bergeron,2008).

Thus,itissensibletoinvestigateprojectmanagersconcernwiththelevelofPMsoftware

usage.ItwasalsofoundbyRaymondandBergeronthatthepotentialusageofproject

management software is related to project budget, so it is also a key aspect that is

consideredinthestudyandtheinterviews.AsRaymondandBergeronbasedtheirstudy

onaquestionnairewitharelativelysmallsamplesize,itislimitedinitsgeneralizability

andisrestrictedtoparametersidentifiedforthequestions.Inaddition,theirstudywas

conductedinacross-sectorenvironmentanddoesnottakeintoaccountsector-specific

implications.Thus,thecurrentstudywilltakethesefindingsintoconsideration,butwill

needtoexplorethemintheprocessofPMsoftwareselectionandwithinthecontextof

ITconsulting.

Aim:Developanunderstandingoftheimportanceof1. dataquality2. softwareusage3. projectbudget

inthesoftwareselectionprocess.

31

Another question resulting from the importance of software usage is how it can be

maximized?Whilenoliteraturewasfoundinvestigatingtheviewofprojectmanagers

when it comes to leveraging software, some authors have conducted research on

capabilities of software by investigating the availability of products or features. An

exampleofthisisthediscussionbyMargeaandMargea(2011),whocomparedifferent

PMopensourceproductsavailableonthemarketbasedonthefeaturesprovidedby

eachproduct.Thefocusonfunctionalitiesleavesthequestionofwhethertheidentified

criteriaaresensibleinlightofpracticalapplication.Thisisaquestionthatshouldlikely

beaskedtoprojectmanagersandusersofsuchsoftware.Inasimilarapproach,Besner

andHobbs (2012)compareddifferentsoftwareproducts,by identifyingwhichof the

PMBOKpracticesandprocessesare coveredby them throughquantitative research.

Based on the approach this also does not provide further insight on the project

managersperspective.Thus,aninvestigationintothedetailsoftheselectionofsoftware

fromthepractitioners’viewseemsnecessary.

Aim:Developanunderstandingofprojectmanagementsoftwareselectionfromthepractitioners’perspective.

Incontrasttotheauthorsabove,WhiteandFortune(2002)foundthroughaquantitative

studythatprojectmanagersperceivedprojectmanagementsoftwaretobeinadequate

forthemanagementofcomplexprojects.Asthestudywasconductedmorethanten

years back however, this result should be seenwith caution due to the continuous

development of both project management and PM software. However, project

complexityisstillfoundtobeageneralchallengeinrelationtoprojectsuccess,thusit

couldstillberelevantinregardtoPMsoftwareselection(deCarvalho,Patah,&deSouza

Bido,2015).

32

2.5.4 FunctionalitiesofProjectManagementSoftware

Aselaborated,noevidencewasfoundonresearchinvestigatingPMsoftwarefromthe

perspectiveoftheuser.However,someresearchhasbeenconductedonfunctionalities

and features. This is not the same as selection criteria from the users’ perspective.

However, it givesan insight into features,which softwarevendorsperceive tobeof

relevance to the softwareusers. Thus, these features could alsobeof relevance for

projectmanagerswhenselectingsoftware.Consequently,itisvaluabletotakealookat

thefunctionalitiesotherresearchershaveinvestigatedinmoredetail.Anoverviewof

suchfeaturesandfunctionalitiesisgivenbyBesnerandHobbs(2012)asdetailedintable

2-2. The basic functionalities detailed are classic areas of project management

supporting processes found in most project environments, whereas the advanced

functionalitiesaremoretailoredtowardsspecificorganizationalneeds.

BasicPMSoftwareFunctionality AdvancedPMSoftwareFunctionalityGanttchart PM software for multi-project resource

managementPMsoftwarefortaskscheduling PMsoftwareforInternetaccessPMsoftwareformonitoringofschedule PMsoftwareforissuemanagementPMsoftwareforresourcescheduling PMsoftwareforprojectportfolioanalysisPMsoftwareformonitoringofcost PM software linked with Enterprise

ResourcePlanningPMsoftwareforresourcelevelling PMsoftwareforscenarioanalysisPMsoftwareformulti-projectscheduling

Table2-2:PMsoftwarefunctionalitiesbasedonBesnerandHobbs(2012)

Pellerin et al. (2013) also investigated the utilization of software packages and their

correlationwithprojectsuccessinengineeringprojects.Theirapproachwastogather

data on the utilization based on subsystems they defined for the software. These

provideaninsightintotheirdefinitionoffunctionalities:

33

Subsystem FunctionProjectdefinition Define project parameters (employees, classification codes,

etc.) and project characteristics (person in charge, dates,contracttype,etc.)

Activityplanning ScheduleprojectactivitiesviaaspecificprofessionalsoftwareEnvironmentmanagement

Manageenvironmentalplans,preventions,trainingandfollow-upactionsoninspectionsandaccidents

Health and safetymanagement

Manage health and safety plans, preventive measures,education, preventions, inspections and follow-up actions onaccidentsandincidents

Estimating processmanagement

Establishdetailedestimateofproject(projectworkbreakdownstructure,workpackages,etc.)

Working hoursmanagement

Achieve follow-up on working hours provided by the firmaccordingtothecontracttypedefiningtheproject

Documentcontrol Controldocuments(internalandexternal)generatedduringtheexecutionoftheproject

Documentmanagement

Manage processes related to the documents and archivedocuments

Engineeringprocessmanagement

Carry out recording, follow-up on equipment and materialsresultingfromengineering,allowpurchaserequisitionsandgiveaninterfacewithengineeringtools

Procurementmanagement

Manage procurement processes related to the project(purchasing, training, contract administration, logistics,procurement follow-up and inspection,materialmanagementonsite)

Costmanagement Carry out follow-up on the project budget, invoicing andpayments

Constructionactivitiesmanagement

Manage construction contracts, do a follow-up on theconstructionprogressandmanageimplementationactivities

Table2-3:SubsystemsandfunctionsbasedonPellerinetal.(2013)

Most of the features mentioned are commonly found in literature and project

management software descriptions. To gain an understanding of the utilization of

software,theoverviewoffunctionalitieswilllaterbecomparedtotheapplicationsthat

project managers see for software in practice. For the sake of comparison, some

functions,liketheconstructionspecificactivities,havebeenexcluded,astheyposeno

relevanceforthisstudy.

34

2.6 ProjectSuccessandProcesses

Projectsareconductedtoachieveagoal.Butwhenisaprojectsuccessful?Thissection

willinvestigatetheaspectsbehindsuccessinaproject,aswellasthemeanstoconduct

aproject fromamethodologicalperspective.Manystudieshave investigatedproject

successandtoinvestigateprojectsuccessinitsentiretywouldbearesearchprojectof

itsown.AstheaimofthisresearchisspecificallyfocusedonPMsoftwareselection,the

literaturereviewwillonlyprovideanexcerptofthisliteraturedirectlyrelevanttothe

current study. The following subsectionswill thus be focused on relating aspects of

softwareselectiontoprojectsuccess.

2.6.1 SuccessFactors

Theaimofaninvestigationintosuccessfactorsistopotentiallyfindlinkswhereproject

management software contributes to individual success factors, which could be an

indicator for selection criteria of projectmanagers. Before looking for these specific

factors, it seems sensible to first investigate into project success in the context of

softwareselectionandITconsulting.ThelowperceivedsuccessrateofITprojectshas

beenatopicforresearchforyears(Hidding&Nicholas,2017).Butwhatwouldsuccess

bedefinedas?Themostcommondefinitionisforaprojecttobeconductedwithinthe

so called “triple constraints” on time, to budget, to specification (White& Fortune,

2002).

However,thishasoftenbeencriticizedasignoringotherimportantfactors(Howsawi,

Eager,&Bagia,2011).White&Fortune(2002)utilizedsurveystogatherdatafrommore

than 200 project managers, which formed the basis for their suggestion to expand

successfactorsbyaddingtheimpactoftheprojectonits’organizationasakeyaspect.

35

Other frameworks go beyond these basic factors and try to describe the aspects of

success inmoredetail, such as Pinto and Slevin (1987)with their list of ten success

factors.Recentcomplexframeworkssometimesdefineprojectsuccessbasedonover

40 success criteria, allowing formuchmore focuseddiscussions (Hsu,Yen,&Chung,

2015).Acritiqueoftheseisthattheyarestilldirectlyorindirectlyrelatedtothethree

coreconstraints.Alsoeventhesecomplexmodelsstilldonotencompassacomplete

understandingofsuccessfactors,whichislinkedtotheargumentthatsuccessisnota

unanimouslystandardizedconcept(Irvine&Hall,2015).

There has also been identified a dependence of detailed frameworks and different

projecttypes(Pinto&Covin,1989).Consequently,asnostudiesinvestigatedPMsuccess

incontextofITconsulting,nodefiniteanswercanbegiveninregardtotheresearchat

hand. Instead, to facilitate the explorative nature of this study, a broader definition

encompassingacondensed listofsuccess factorswillbeadopted.Thiswillallowthe

investigation into the selection process of PM software to relate to project success

whichintermfosterstheidentificationofpositiveinfluencesintheselectionprocess.

Thus,thekeyfactorsasadaptedfromWhite&Fortune(2002)arethefollowing:

- Realisticschedule

- Adequatefunds/resources

- Cleargoals/objectives

- Resultingimpactontheorganization

2.6.2 Terminology:ProcessesvsPractices

Thetermmethodisoftenusedwhentalkingaboutprojectmanagement(Spiess,2008).

However,whenlookingatagileprojectmanagement,thetermspracticeandprocess

are alsomentioned regularly. Conboyand Fitzgerald (2010) seemethods as a setof

36

aligned processes and agile practices that can also be tailored to the project

requirements.Inthissense,apracticeissimilartoaprocess.However,whileapractice

canbe seenasapotentially repeatableactivity, tobecomeaprocess itneeds tobe

adaptedwithinanorganizationorstandard(Takahashi,Yates,&Herman,2010).

2.6.3 ProjectManagementProcesses

One core element of project management are project management processes. As

projectmanagement software is often implemented to support processes, it seems

sensibletodevelopanunderstandingofthe investigatedaspectsofprocesses inthis

study. There is a variety on processes, which are defined and discussed in industry

standards.OneofthemostcommononesisthestandardreleasedbythePMIinform

ofthe“ProjectManagementBodyofKnowledge”(PMBOK;(Ahlemann,Teuteberg,&

Vogelsang, 2009), which gives definitions of processes as well as potential

categorizations (ProjectManagement Institute, 2013). Besides that, there aremany

otherapproachestowardscategorizingprojectmanagementderivingandinterpreting

theseinverydifferentcontexts.ThePMBOK,beinghistoricallyinfluencedbytraditional

projectmanagement,shouldalsobereadcriticallyasmanyaspectsdescribedneedto

beadaptedtobeappliedinITprojectsduetotheiruniquecharacteristics(Stepanek,

2005),whicharediscussedlaterinthisthesis.Thus,whilealotoftheterminologyused

inthisresearchisbasedonorlinkedtothePMBOK,itwillnotbepartoftheframework

builtinthischaptertouseasinputforalaterdiscussionwithpractitioners.Instead,the

framework of Chadli et al. (2016) regarding “Systems and Software Engineering -

Software Lifecycle Process” based on the ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207 will be adopted. The

reason for this is that it provides additional focus on software projectmanagement

specifically.Theadoptedframeworkisshowninthefollowingtable:

37

Process DescriptionProjectPlanning Managementofactivities,tasksandplansAssessment & Control; DecisionManagement,Measurement

Mechanisms around controlling andproviding data as a general basis ofdecisionmaking

RiskManagement IdentificationandmitigationofrisksConfigurationManagement Maintain inputs and outputs such as

softwareartefactsanddocumentsTable2-4:SoftwareLifecycleProcesses;adoptedfromChadlietal.(2016)

2.7 ProjectManagementinInformationTechnology

Accordingtothedefinitionofprojectsingeneral,thereisawiderangeofendeavours

that could be assigned to that term. In the context of this study it is important to

investigate IT projects, specifically those focused on software, as those are also the

centralaspectof ITconsultingbusiness.Manyresearcherspointedoutthatsoftware

projectsareofhighercomplexityanddiversitythanthoseinmostothersectors(Besner

&Hobbs,2013;Schwalbe,2015;Stepanek,2005).Thus,thespecificswithinsoftware

project management (SPM) could have an impact on the selection of project

managementandwillbeinvestigatedfurtherwithinthissection.

Schwalbe(2015)definesITprojectsthroughthecategorizationofallelementsinproject

managementintotheareasofbusiness,organizationandtechnology.WhileITwould

beprimarilyseeninthetechnologyarea,itimpactsemployees,thestakeholders,the

users(organization)andcostandfinancialbenefits(business).Thus,thespecificswithin

IT need to beunderstood to the impact of the project and subsequently be able to

effectivelymanage it.While itcouldbearguedthattheseareasalsoappear inother

sectors, it is the specific nature of IT that changes how the area of technology and

subsequentlybusinessandorganizationneedtobemanaged.Thiscanbeunderstood

byinvestigatingthespecificcharacteristicsoftheseprojects.

38

According to Stepanek (2005), there are 12 characteristics applying specifically to IT

projects. He argues that these are at the heart of barriers related to IT project

management.As thesecharacteristicshavebeendefinedthroughacomparisonwith

road building projects however, they may not be distinct features of IT projects in

comparisontoothertypesofprojects.Thus,onemightarguethatothernon-ITprojects

mightbeofsimilarnatureinregardtothesecharacteristics.Whilepotentiallytrue,the

characteristics showsomeaspects thatareoftentimeshard toaddresswith through

methodsestablishedinotherfactors(Stepanek,2005).Anexampleofthiscouldbethe

abstractnatureofsoftware,whichmakesithardtospecificallydefineexpectedresult

atthebeginningofaproject.ThecharacteristicsStepanekidentifiedaredetailedinthe

followingoverview:

Figure2-7:Classificationsofprojectmanagementcharacteristics(Stepanek,2005)

39

In thismodelStepanek (2005) shows thecharacteristicsand theirdependencies.For

example, he indicates that complexity (characteristic i.) and the abstract nature of

software (characteristic ii.) often cause incomplete requirements (characteristic iii.).

Whenfollowingthesedependencies,heidentifieschangeasaninevitablenatureofIT

projects.

AsthebasisforStepanek'sdefinitionisacomparisontoconstructionprojectsbasedon

his experience and literature research, his findings should be seen as a theoretical

underpinning rather than set standards. However, the key aspects such as the fluid

natureofITprojectshasalsobeensupportedbyotherauthorssuchasBoehm(2006)

and are likely self-evident to those with experience in IT projects. From a business

perspective, many of the characteristics pointed out are better being avoided. An

example would be change, which is counterproductive when looking at business

processes thathaveoftenmaturedovermanyyearsandneed toprovide consistent

informationtosatisfylegalrequirements.

However,asITcompanieshavebeenseensuccessfullyadaptingtothesecharacteristics

forexamplethroughthe implementationofagilemethodologies, thefluctuationand

uncertaintyintheseprojectsisnotonlyseenasachallengeanymore(Rashmi,Priyanka,

&Naresh,2014).Theyhavealsoproventobeanopportunitytoembracethechange

andsuccessfullyprovideserviceswhereothercompaniesareunableduetoconservative

businessmodels(Highsmith&Cockburn,2001).Thus,itseemssensibletoverifyhow

theseITprojectspecificaspectsrelatetoprojectsinITconsultingaswell.

40

2.7.1 TrendsinITProjectManagement

WhenlookingatrecentdevelopmentsinITprojectmanagement,Schwalbe(2015)has

identifiedanumberofimportantfactorstoconsider:

- Globalization

- Outsourcing

- VirtualTeams

- Agileprojectmanagement

Thesefourtrendsarelikelyintertwined,asglobalizationcouldbeseenasadriverfor

outsourcingandvirtualteams.Itcouldalsobecritiquedthatthesefactorshaveexisted

formorethanadecade.Asanexample,globalizationhasbeena trend in theglobal

economy already in the last century (Levitt, 1993), it has a continually increasing

importance in information technology. Today companies leverage IT to improve

collaboration on a global level, which also causes projects to be conducted across

differentcountries,languages,culturalandjurisdictionbarriers(Narula,2014).The

Outsourcing is a second trend commonly seen in information technology (Schwalbe,

2015).AccordingtoTiemeyer(2015),thishasalsoincreasedtheneedforcooperation

between companies and their service providers. As he states, these diverse

environmentscancreatechallengingpoliticalsituationduetoconflictinginterests.

Thedevelopmentofglobalizationandthepotentialofcostreductionhaveledtoshift

towardstheuseofoffshoreteamsincountrieswithlowerwages,alsoinITandsoftware

development(Niazietal.,2016).Thiscausesanincreasingdemandforthecollaboration

41

of teams across the world through information technology (Gilson,Maynard, Jones

Young,Vartiainen,&Hakonen,2015).Schwalbe(2015)foundthistobeespeciallytrue

foractivitiesinsoftwaredevelopment,wheretaskscanoftenbeconductedremotelyin

distributedteams.

The aspect of agile project management as a trend may seem surprising as it has

emergedover 15 years ago.Due to its strong increase in acceptanceover time, the

changeinits’scaleofapplicationstillposesachallengetocompaniestoday(Hanssen,

Mite,&Moe,2011).Theimpactandroleofagileprojectmanagementwillbediscussed

inthenextsectioninmoredetail.

2.7.2 AgileProjectManagement

Conboy and Fitzgerald (2010) describe agile project management as an iterative,

adaptive and continually evolving way of managing projects by focusing on early

feedback and process simplicity. At the core of this lies the idea of fostering an

innovativeprocessthatcontinuallydevelops(Conboy&Morgan,2010).Thisisbuilding

on different agile project management methods that have originated since the

beginning of this century. Two of themost common ones are SCRUM (Schwaber&

Beedle,2002)andextremeprogramming(XP)(Beck,2000).AtthetimewhenSchwaber

and Beedle, and Beck provided their accounts of agile project management, the

efficiencyofithadhardlybeenresearched.Thishaschangedoverthecourseofthelast

decade(Solinski&Petersen,2016).Also,thoughpartialelementsofagilemayhavebeen

usedinthepast,theapplicationofagilemethodologyincontextofITisstillprogressing.

Thisseemsonlynatural,astheprocessofreviewingexistingknowledgeinthecontext

oftechnologicaldevelopmentscanleadtonewinsights(Mendack,2008).

42

Anumberofstudieshavebeenconductedonadoptionofagileprocesses.Accordingto

Dybå and Dingsøyr (2008), each of these is following one of three central aspects:

introductionandadoption,howthedevelopmentprocessischangedandmanagement

ofknowledgeandprojects.

2.7.3 TrustandLeadershipinAgileProjectManagement

Whilethepreviousauthorsemphasizedagileasamethodology,muchof it issaidto

haveoriginatedfromthevaluesandprinciplesofagileprojectsdescribedintheagile

manifesto (Beck et al., 2001; Schwaber & Beedle, 2002). This focus on the more

fundamentalandunderlyingconceptsofprojectmanagementsuchastrusthavealso

beenpromotedinmorerecentresearch.AnexampleisanexplorativestudybyDorairaj

andNoble(2013)buildingongroundedtheory.Thoughthisshowstherelevanceoftrust

in agile projects, it is limited by its nature in its generalizability. Hasnain, Hall and

Shepperd(2013)andStrahorn,Brewer,andGajendran(2017)exploretheelementsof

trustandcommunicationaswell,byemployinginterviewswithpractitionersandgames

associalexperiments.Itshouldbementioned,thatsincethisworkonthesocialaspects

ofcollaborationisgroundedinqualitativeinquiry,itagainperpetuatesthequestionof

generalizability.

From a leadership perspective, trust has been found to be a crucial factor in

transformationalleadership(Gillespie&Mann,2004).Thevalueandimportanceoftrust

is also supported by research on leadership. Agile, with its focus on continuous

improvementcouldbeseenashavingalong-termfocusonsuccessoversimplymeeting

short termoperationalgoals (Müller&Turner,2010).This is in line towhat isoften

calledtransformationalleadership,wherethefocusliesonmotivatingpeopletowards

43

followingacommonvision.Agilemethodologiesalsoproclaimthecommonvisionofthe

team,whichdefinesallfurtheractions(Medinilla,2012).Opposedtothat,transactional

leadershipismorefocusedontheoperationalshort-termaspects(Bass,1990).Müller

& Turner (2010) found the transformational aspect to grow in importance with

increasing project complexity. Since this has not been reviewed in relation to the

selectionofprojectmanagementsoftware, theroleand influenceofsuch leadership

styleswillneedtobeexploredfurther.

Wysocki(2012)pointsouttransparencyasakeyelementofagileprojectmanagement

toenableself-directioninprojectteamsthroughacommonlevelofinformation.While

heproposesthisfromamethodologicalpointofview,itneedstobefurtherinvestigated

on how this can be achieved. The research of Hasnain et al. (2013) proposes

communicationasameansfornotonlytheexchangeofinformation,butalsoinrelation

to building trust as a basis for better collaboration. This statement is supported by

Strahornetal. (2017),who found trust tohaveageneralpositive impactonproject

practices.Establishingagilepracticesandanopencommunicationalsoincreasestrust

withinprojectteams,asstatedbyMcHugh,ConboyandLang(2012).Thispointstoa

generalinterdependencybetweenagilepractices,communicationandtrust,whichcan

behypothesizedtoacceleratepositiveandnegativeinfluencesinrelationtoanyofthese

factors.ItalignswithWysockis’(2012)concernthatteamsandmanagerscomingfrom

moretraditionalprojectmanagementmaybecriticalofahigherleveloftransparency,

whichisoftenduetothefearofbeingexposedtomoreexternalpressurewhenissues

areidentified.Inpracticethiswouldlikelyhindertheimplementationofpractices.

44

Assoftwarecanalsobeameansforcommunicatinginformationinaproject,itcanbe

argued that it may also be related to trust and acceptance in the project team.

Additionally,itcouldeitherfosterorhindertransparencyofinformation.Ifandtowhich

degreethisisrelatedtoprojectmanagers’considerationsintheselectionprocess,will

beanaspectoftheempiricalstudy.

Aim:Understandconsiderationregardingtheroleoftrustandtransparencyinprojectmanagementsoftwareselection.

While in traditional projectmanagement projects base their success onmonitoring,

trackingandexecutingaswellasclearrolesandresponsibilities,agilevaluesfollowa

different approach (McHugh et al., 2012). The evolution around key values of trust,

transparency and accountability throughout the entire team requires a change in

mindsetandbehavior(Schön,Escalona,&Thomaschewski,2015).Medinillareviewed

theroleoftheleaderinthisenvironment,whoneedstoempowertheteamaswellas

toguidethemtowardsembracingadditionalresponsibility(2012).Thisalsosupports

theclaimsmadebyGillespie&Mann(2004),whoemphasizetheroleoftheleaderas

anenabler.Itwillbeaquestiontoseehowtheleaders’behaviorrelatestotheprocess

ofsoftwareselection,especiallyinagileprojects.Thus,theroleofleadershipisonethat

willbeinvestigatedfurtherduringthestudy.

Aim:Investigatetheroleofleadershipduringsoftwareselection.

2.8 ResearchQuestions

Theaimofthisresearchprojectistounderstandaphenomenonoccurringinpractice,

whichistheselectionofprojectmanagementsoftwarebyprojectmanagers.Asshown

45

in the previous sections, research on project management software is limited to

functionalitiesprovidedbysuchsoftware(Besner&Hobbs,2012)andtheareaswithin

which it is used (Pellerin et al., 2013). It does not solve the question as to how the

selection of such software comes to pass. This knowledge would be an important

component inbeingabletounderstandandinfluencetheselectionprocessandthus

improvingtheutilizationofsoftwareonprojects.Itistheaimofthisresearchtofillthis

gap,asshowninfigure2-8.

Figure2-8:Theliteraturegap

Basedonthisgap,researchquestionswillbeformulatedinthefollowingsubsections.

Thesewillthendefinethesubsequentempiricalprocessofthethesis.

Asidentifiedbyotherresearchers,thesectorinwhichprojectmanagementisapplied

influences its’ way of application. Also, no works could be found that locate the

applicationofprojectmanagementinITconsulting.Thus,thecurrentstudysetsitself

apart through its' IT consultancy context. Through this it will help to provide an

understandingnotonlyofthephenomenonofprojectmanagementsoftwareselection,

butalsotheoccurrencewithinthissector.

FunctionalitiesofPMSoftware

(Besner&Hobbs,2012)

AreasofApplication forPMSoftware

(Pellerin etal.,2013)

ProcessandCharacteristicsof

Selection?

TheGap

46

2.8.1 ResearchQuestion1

Oneoftheobjectivesofthisresearchistogainanunderstandingofthephenomenon

ofprojectmanagementsoftwareselectioninpracticefromtheperspectiveofproject

managers. Different authors looked at the functionalities of project management

softwareand softwareproducts. Theyhavealso investigated if projectmanagement

softwarehasanimpactonprojectsuccess.Whilethiscontributestotheunderstanding

inlightoftheresearchobjective,itleavesopenthequestionoftheperspectiveofthe

project manager. No research was found investigating the project managers’

perspective on project management software. The current project aims to provide

insight into thisphenomenonand thus close theexistinggap.This leads to thenext

researchquestion:

RQ1: What is the process employed by project managers in IT consulting for the

selectionofprojectmanagementsoftware?

2.8.2 ResearchQuestion2

While the previous research question aims to get an understanding of the process,

additionally project managers will have key considerations within this process that

provide specific criteria for the selection. Basedon the literature research, different

aspects of project management and IT consulting were identified that could be

hypothesized to have an impact on the selection of project management software.

Similarly,functionalitiesofprojectmanagementsoftwarehavebeenidentified.

47

RaymondandBergeron(2008)havefoundapositiveimpactoftheusageofsoftwareon

projectsuccess,dependingondataqualityandbudget.Intermsoftheresearchathand,

this leaves the question as to how this is considered within the software selection

process by practitioners. While Schwalbe has investigated trends in IT projects in

general, specifically pointing out globalization, virtual team and agile project

management, thiscurrentlycanonlybeassumedtohavean impactonthesoftware

selectionaswell.Pellerinetal.(2013)andBesner&Hobbs(2012)haveidentifiedproject

management functionalities that were found in project management software.

However, they review the software products in a broader context and not the

perspective of the project manager within a specific sector context (such as IT

consulting).

However,withoutfurther investigation itwillnotbepossibletounderstandwhether

theseareactuallyconsiderationsfromaprojectmanagers'perspective.Tobeableto

furtherinvestigatewhethertheseplayaroleintheselectionprocess,theyhaveallbeen

compiled into the following list of potential selection criteria. This will inform the

empirical investigativeprocessaswellasthesubsequentanalysisofcriteria found in

practice.

The table2-5wascompiled frompotentially relevantaspects found in the literature

basedontheauthors’perspective:

48

PotentialCriteria Author DescriptionUsage (Raymond &

Bergeron,2008)Usageofsoftwareintheproject

Dataquality (Raymond &Bergeron,2008)

Relation of data quality to the decisionprocess

Budget (Raymond &Bergeron,2008)

Influenceofbudgetonsoftwareselection

TrendsinIT

(Schwalbe,2015) Theroleofglobalization,outsourcing,virtualteamsandagileprojectmanagementintheselectionprocess

Projectplanning (Besner&Hobbs,2012; Pellerin etal.,2013)

Planning and scheduling of work andactivities

Documentmanagement

(Pellerin et al.,2013)

Creation and management of documentsduringtheproject

Monitoring (Besner&Hobbs,2012)

Creating reports to summarize and distilprojectinformation

Issuemanagement

(Besner&Hobbs,2012)

Reportandtrackissuesidentifiedduringtheproject

Resourcemanagement

(Besner&Hobbs,2012)

Managementoftheprojectteam(s)intermsofcapacities

Costmanagement

(Besner&Hobbs,2012)

Managementofprojectfinancials

ITProcesses (Stepanek,2005) HandlingofchallengesspecifictoITsuchasrequirements,handlingofchange,softwarecomplexityandautomation

Agile (McHugh et al.,2012)

Supportofagilevaluesoraspectskeytoagileproject management such as iterativeplanningor transparency;alsoDevOpsasatrendingtopic

Consulting No relatedacademicliterature

SpecificsinrelationtoITconsulting

SuccessFactors (White &Fortune,2002)

Role of funds, schedule, project goals andseniormanagementsupport

Table2-5:Listofpotentialselectioncriteria

Inalignmentwiththeaimoftheresearchtodevelopanunderstandingoftheviewof

projectmanagers,theresearchquestionseekstoinvestigatetheirconsiderations.These

willthenbereviewedinthecontextoftheacademicaspectsprovidedhereaspartof

thediscussionchapter.

RQ2:Whatarethekeyconsiderationsforprojectmanagerswithintheprocess?

49

2.9 Summary

The literature review showed that there is a need for an understanding of project

management software selection in general and specifically in the context of IT

consulting. Also, there is currently little understanding of the project managers’

perspective on this phenomenon. While there is information available on project

management and different areas within this field in general, the defined research

objectivescouldonlypartiallybemetthroughinvestigatingexistingacademicliterature.

Thus,tworesearchquestionsweredefinedincontextoftheaimandobjectivesofthis

researchtohighlightgaps intheacademicbodyofknowledgethatguidethefurther

developmentofthisstudy:

Figure2-9:ResearchquestionsRQ1&2

Thesewillhelptogainfurther insights intothekeyconsiderations intheselectionof

project management software from project managers perspective. These questions

should,however,alwaysbeseenwithintheircontextofITconsulting.Aninquirywithin

different sectors could potentially lead to different answers. One key aspect of this

researchprojectwillbetounderstandtheselectionwithintheITconsultingsectorin

depth by applying a qualitative approach. This also contrasts existing authors who

researchedprojectmanagementsoftwaremainlythroughquantitativemethods.

ResearchQuestionsRQ2

Whatarethekeyconsiderationsforprojectmanagerswithintheprocess?

RQ1Whatistheprocessemployedby

projectmanagersinITconsultingfortheselectionofprojectmanagement

software?

50

Developing the research questions based on the studies aim and objectives helped

enhancetheoverallresearchstructure,whichwasintroducedinchapter1:

Figure2-10:OverallResearchStructure

Tobeabletoanswerthesequestions,thestudyrequiresdatathatwillbegatheredfrom

practitioners. This is achieved through a phenomenological research design. The

underlyingmethodologyandtherationalebehindthechoicesmadeaspartofthedesign

willbediscussedinthenextchapterinthisthesis.

Aim Objectives ResearchQuestions ResultsProvideanoverviewofliteraturerelevanttothefieldofproject

management softwareselectioninITconsulting

Gainanunderstandingofthephenomenonofprojectmanagementsoftwareselectioninpracticefromthe

perspectiveofprojectmanagers

DevelopguidanceforprojectmanagersinITconsultingaroundkeyconsiderationsintheselectionprocessofprojectmanagement

software

Whatarethekeyconsiderationsforprojectmanagerswithintheprocess?

Examinethekeyconsiderationsfor

projectmanagersinthesoftwareselection

process

Whatistheprocessemployedbyproject

managers inITconsultingfortheselectionofproject

managementsoftware?

Definedthroughthediscussioninchapterfive.

Examinethekeyconsiderationsintheselectionofproject

management softwareinITconsultingfromtheprojectmanagers’

perspective

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Chapter3: ResearchMethodology

3.1 Introduction

Thischapteroutlinesthemethodologyusedwithinthisstudy.Itwillexplaintheresearch

processandthedifferentstepswithinthisprocessadaptedbytheresearcherforthe

project at hand. The aim is to provide a rationale for decisions made in regard to

methodsandmethodology.

Todothisthechapteriscomprisedofsectionsdetailingtheapproachinorderofthe

researchprocess.Itdefinestheareaofstudyaswellastheaimandobjectivesforthe

research,whicharethebasisofanyresearchproject(Adams,Khan,&Raeside,2014;

Yin,2014).Throughtheliteraturereview,thegapsintheorythattheresearchproject

addresses were identified and the research questions were specified. The research

methodologynowdefinestheapproachtakenfromthispointforward.

Togroundtheresearch,thequestionoftheresearchersviewonrealityandknowledge

isansweredinthesectiononresearchphilosophy.Thisisdoneasitprovidesarationale

forfuturechoicesinregardtotheresearchprocess.Buildingonthistheargumenton

the researchapproachdebatesqualitativeandquantitativealternatives towards this

projectfollowedbyanelaborationoftheselectionmadefortheresearchdesign.This

leadstotheappropriatemethodstogatherthedata.Astheresearchinvolvedtalkingto

peopleand theiropinions, theethical aspectsof the researchwerealso considered.

Throughapilotstudy,themethodologyasusedinthisstudywasverifiedandadapted

whereneeded.Themeansofdatagatheringarediscussedinanothersectionandthe

52

analysis of the data will be reviewed. The findings and conclusion will be part of

subsequentchapters.Theprocessasdescribedhereisdepictedinthefollowingprocess

flow.

Figure3-1:MethodologicalStructure

The process as depicted is a simplification of the research, as some steps are also

iteratively informing each other and thus could not be conducted within a simple

sequence.Anexampleofthiswouldbetheidentifiedgapsfromtheliteratureinforming

theresearchobjective,asanincreasedknowledgeoftheacademicliteratureallowsfor

better precisionwhen phrasing the research objective. This in return helps gaining

further insight throughmore precise literature research following from this point in

time.Astheoverallresearchandtheliteraturewerealreadypartofpreviouschapters,

thefollowingsectionwilldiscusstheunderlyingresearchphilosophyforthisthesis.

53

3.2 ResearchPhilosophy

Ifwritingadoctoralthesiswouldbecomparedtobuildingahouse,researchphilosophy

couldbedescribedasthenaturalenvironmentitisbuiltin.Housesbuiltonsandyground

nearthedesertwillnaturallybeextremelydifferenttotheonesbuiltonearthenground

oreventhecanalsofAmsterdamwhicharepopulatedbyhouseboats.Inthesameway,

researchcanbeapproachedinverydifferentwaysleadingtodifferentoutcomes,based

ontheresearchphilosophy.

Thus, the first step towardsmethodology is the identification and evaluation of the

philosophicalunderpinning.Aseachphilosophicalapproachhasdifferentstrengthsand

limitations,itisimportanttounderstandtheirimplicationsontheoverallprojectand

their impact on the research methodology (Crossan, 2003). In order to identify an

appropriatephilosophy,alternativeontologicalandepistemologicalapproacheswere

evaluated.

3.2.1 Terms&Definitions

Researchphilosophiesareatopicthatishighlydebatable,asclassificationsfoundare

oftenincoherent.Anumberofstudies((Lincoln,Lynham,&Guba,2011;Ritchie&Lewis,

2014; Saunders, 2012) have used different descriptions, categorizations and

classificationsofresearchparadigmsandphilosophiesinrelationtoresearchmethods

withoverlappingemphasisandmeanings(Mkansi&Acheampong,2012).Asaresult,

thissectionwillfocusonidentifyingcommonalitiesinexistingliteratureandselecting

robustdefinitions,asthesewillsetthebasisforthefollowinganalysis.

54

The fundamental aspects to take into consideration froma researchperspectiveare

ontology(reality)andtheepistemology(knowledge)(Lynch,2004).Additionally,forthe

areaofqualitativeresearch,axiology(values)arealsoofimportanceastheyinfluence

theoutcomeoftheresearch.

3.2.1.1 Ontology

When talking about research philosophy, one should first be clear about some key

concepts. At the center of an individuals’ thoughts and opinions stands the view of

reality.Thisiscalledtheontology.Theontologicalperspectivefocusesonthequestion

ofwhat canbeassumed toexist. Forexample, real,measurableobjects, conceptual

systems,orcausalrelations(Mingers,2003).Realitycouldberegardedastheonesingle

truth,whichiscalledanobjectiveontology.Incontrasttothis,thereisthebeliefthat

reality is justasubjective image,which iscalledaconstructivistperspective(Benton,

2011).

3.2.1.2 Epistemology

Oncewehaveanunderstandingontheontologicalperspective,thenextstepistotake

asteptowardsdefiningacceptableknowledgewithintheresearchproject(Grix,2010).

What is knowledge, can it be identified anddescribedor is itmerely an individuals’

interpretationoftheworld?Thisistheepistemologicalperspective,whichdefineswhat

is regardedasacceptableknowledge inadiscipline (Bryman,2011).Consequently, a

researcher will likely try to gather knowledge through means that support his

philosophicalview.Thepersonalperspectivecanthereforesignificantly influencethe

researcherinregardstohispreferredapproachtowardsaresearchproblem(Saunders,

2012).

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3.2.1.3 Axiology

Axiologyinresearchphilosophyistheidentificationofvaluesandtheirpotentialimpact

ontheresearch (Gorman,2014).While researchersmaytry toassumethestanceof

viewingtheirresearchthroughanobjectivelens,comingfromaconstructivistthisisby

definitionnotpossible.Insteaditisimportanttoassesstheresearcherbiastobeable

tounderstandanystatementsmadewithintheircontext.(Creswell,2013). Incaseof

thethesisathand,ithasbeenwrittenbyapractitionerwithtenyearsofexperienceas

a consultant for processes and software as well as a projectmanager. The authors

motivationtowardstheDBAprogrammeoriginatedfromthebelief,thatanindividual

shouldconstantlyseeknewchallengestogrowones’abilitiesandthatofothers.Thisis

achievedbygeneratinganoutcomeofrelevancetoboth,researchandpractice.

3.2.2 OverviewofdifferentPhilosophies

When investigating the research paradigms, different research philosophies were

evaluated.Anoverviewofsomeresearchphilosophiesisdepictedinthefollowingtable.

Italsoshowstheresultingimplicationsinregardtomethods,examplemethodsofdata

gatheringandtheinterpretationofresults.Astherearemanydifferentphilosophies,

thisisonlyapartialview.

OntologyEpiste-mology

ImpactonApproach AdequateMethods ImpactonInterpretation

Objectivist Positivism Quantitative

Survey Testedhypotheses,"yes"or"no"answer

Obj./Const. CriticalRealism

MixedMethods

Survey, focus groups,interviews,casestudy

Resultandinterpretationinrelationtothecontext

Const. Rationalism

MixedMethods/Qualitative

Survey, focus groups,interviews,casestudy

Strongfocusonlimitationsofownresearch

Const. Feminism Qualitative Focus groups,interviews,casestudy

Focusoninterpretationofdatainregardtoequality

Const. Interpreti-vist

Qualitative Focus groups,interviews,casestudy

Focusontheindividualandpersonalities

Table3-1:ResearchPhilosophies

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3.2.3 DefiningthephilosophicalStance

Everyhumanislimitedinhisinterpretationbyhisownexperience,hisfeelingstowards

certainaspectsof lifeandofcoursethe limitofhisownbiologicalsenses.He isonly

capableofviewingthetruthfromhisownperspective.Thismeanseverysinglehuman

willneverbeabletoseemorethanablurredimageofthetruth,whichisuniquetohim.

That,whichisrealitytohumanbeingsisshapedbytheexperiencesmadeinlifeandas

suchissociallyconstructed(Easton,2010).Thisissimilartothereasoningadaptedby

FenwickandMcMillan(2010),thatresearchcannotalwaysprovideasingleanswer,but

a multitude, based on context, ontologies and techniques. Because of this the

perspective may be similar to that of other people, but likely never identical.

Nonethelessitisworthwhileinvestigatingintorealityinordertogetclosertothetruth

and identify commonalities, even though the final goal of one truth can never be

reached,asrealityconsistsofthethingsthatcanandsometimesareexperiencedaswell

asthingsthatcan’tbeexperienceddirectly(Houston,2001).

Thusincaseofthecurrentthesis,realityisseenasbeingderivedfromthethoughtsof

individuals(Saunders,2012).Thisimpliesaconstructivistontology.Ifonenowtakesthe

nextsteponthisjourneyandputsupthequestionastohowtruthwithinthisrealitycan

beuncovered,thelimitationsofanindividuals’perspectiveandsenseswillsignificantly

impacttheoutcome(Houston,2001).Fromthisperspective,theunderlyingparadigm

forthisstudyisinterpretivism,whichacceptsthenaturalboundariesofthehumanbeing

anddifferentpossible interpretationsandviewsof individuals (Walsham,1995). The

sector of IT consulting will be of importance in this perspective, as it shapes the

individualsviewofrealityanddefinesthecontextoftheresearchaim.

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Inregardtoaxiology,theresearcherinthiscurrentstudyisapractitionerwithinhisfield

of study. Based on ones’ own experiences, certain opinions and values around the

researchhaveformed.Oneisthatofcontinuousimprovement,whichmeansthatthe

researcherandsubsequentlyanyaspectoftheresearchandalsothetopicinvestigated

could and should always be improved. This should then lead to increased efficiency

benefittingtheorganizationaldevelopment.Bothoftheseaspectsaremadeexplicitas

partoftheaxiologyastheymaysubconsciouslyhaveanimpactonthewaytheresearch

wasapproached.

Figure3-2:PhilosophicalStance

3.3 ResearchApproach

Buildingontheresearchphilosophy,thequestionoftheoverallapproachtoresearch

needs to be discussed. The research approach focuses on the decision between

qualitative,quantitativeormixedmethods.AccordingtoBrymanandBell (2015) the

differencesbetweenthoseapproachescanbeseenasambiguousasthereareaspects

pertaining to both approaches. Coming from the philosophical stance however, the

researchobjectiveshoulddefinewhichapproachismoresuitable.

Asthenamestates,quantitativeresearchismoreconcernedwithquantificationofdata

togaininsightintoreality.Thisverymuchtiesintoabinarydefinitionwhenmakingthe

distinctionbetweentrueorfalseregardingreality.Qualitativeresearchincomparisonis

OntologyConstructivism

EpistemologyInterpretivism

AxiologyContinuous

self-development

58

moreinterestedinwordsandtheirmeaningandtheircontext.Thusthedataislikely

moreexplorative andmay laterbebasis for hypotheses tested throughquantitative

research(Gray,2011).

ThecurrentthesisisinvestigatingtheexperienceandopinionsofprojectmanagersinIT

consulting.Thus,thecontextoftheopinionsvoicedbythemmattersandneedstobe

takenintoconsideration.Also,theresearchaimstoidentifypotentialrecommendations

basedonpractitioners’knowledge.Thus,amereevaluationbasedonnumberswould

likelymisscrucialfactsthatcouldnotbederivedfromliteratureandassuchdisqualifies

apurelyquantitativeapproach.Insteadthequalitativeapproachoffersanopportunity

tocollectandexplorerichdata(Denzin&Lincoln,2000),whichissuitableincaseofthe

researchathand.Thisisespeciallyhelpful,asthecontextofITconsultinghasnotbeen

explored in regard to project management selection. Consequently, a qualitative

approachwaschosen.

Thesecondquestionthatneedstobeansweredincontextoftheresearchapproachis

howtheknowledgewillbegeneratedandwhereitconnectswiththeexistingbodyof

knowledge.Therearegenerallytwowaysofapproachingthisaspect.Thefirstisusing

the existing literature to then design the research so it can expand the existing

knowledge. This is called deductive research. The second would be the inductive

approach,whichmeanstogatherdataandthenanalyseittosubsequentlyaddtothe

literature(Creswell,2014).Asprojectmanagementisanareathathasbeenresearched

inthepastanda lotof literatureprovides informationthatcouldbeofvalueforthe

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actualresearchprocess,adeductiveapproachseemedsensibleforthetaskathand.This

willalsobediscussedinmoredetailinthefollowingsectionabouttheresearchdesign.

3.4 ResearchDesign

As the research is conducted based on a qualitative approach, the next step is the

selection of a suitable research design. The research design will givemore detailed

information on how the research is framed and which specific aspects will be of

importancewhenitlatercomestotheselectionofmethods(Creswell,2013).Twomain

research designswere evaluated, as they seemed suitable for the current research:

groundedtheoryandphenomenology.

3.4.1 GroundedTheory

Grounded theory provides a structuredmeans to investigate a subject from its own

perspective,allowingittoformitsowntheorybasedonthedatawithoutpriorinfluence.

Itaimstogeneratetheorybyaniterativecycleofgatheringdatabasedonwhichsome

insightisgained,whichtheninfluencesthenextcycleofdatagatheringandsoforth.

Thisapproachisself-enforcingandinductive(Charmaz,2014;A.Strauss&Corbin,1998).

Astheaimoftheresearchprojectathandistoinvestigateintophenomenawithinthe

fieldofprojectmanagement.Asthereisalotoftheoreticalknowledgeavailablewithin

thisfield,itseemedadvantageoustoutilizetheexistingtheorytoenforcethemeansof

datagathering.Thishoweverisopposingtheinductiveapproachofgroundedtheory.

Following this thought, while being a potential candidate for the research design,

grounded theorywas not selected. In the following section, phenomenology as an

alternativewillbediscussed.

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Phenomenology

PhenomenologyissaidtohaveoriginatedfromtheworksofHusserlandHeidegger.But

whileHusserl (2012)promotedthe ideaof isolatingperceptiontoavoidassumptions

about existence throughbracketing,Heidegger concluded that one is always part of

reality, thus being thrown into itmeans inevitably being inducedwith an individual

positionofunderstandingbasedononesexperiences(LeVasseur,2003).Thesestances

canalso show theoriginofphenomenology inphilosophy,whereas it hasalsobeen

appliedasameanstoapproachqualitativeresearch.Thedevelopmentassuchhasbeen

diverseandthecurrentdiscussionsonitsdevelopmentshowthatthereisnounilateral

definitionofphenomenologyanditsunderlyingtrends.

Inmanydebates,therearetwomainapproachesofphenomenologywhichareassumed

to be of relevance: interpretivist and descriptive. Both of which have different

underlyingviewpoints.Thefollowingparagraphseekstoinvestigatethesedifferences

andthenarguethechoicetakenasmeansofdataanalysisfortheresearchathand.To

doso,itwillfollowthedifferentperspectivestakenbyphilosophersandresearchersas

wellasproposeadefinitionforthefurthercourseofthestudy.

3.4.1.1 DescriptivePhenomenology

Descriptive phenomenology is strongly focused on investigating common concepts

throughenquiry.Thustheinvestigationthroughinterviewswouldverymuchbefocused

on concepts and leave interpretation to the individual asopposed to the researcher

(Lopez&Willis,2004).While thisapproachhighlights thedataasgathered fromthe

participants and their own categorization, it maintains a distance towards the

individuals’ perceptions and neglects the acquisition of knowledge through context-

61

basedanalysisoftheinterviewees’descriptionoftheirexperiencesbytheresearcher.It

focusesonwhatisexplicitlyvoicedbytheinterviewee.Itsoriginscanbefoundinthe

worksofHusserl,whostatedthatpriorexperienceshouldbeseparatedfromperception

toallowanunobstructedperceptionoftruth(Husserl,2012).Whiletheapproachseeks

tomaintainaveryneutralstanceoftheresearcher,whichmayleadtoamoreneutral

position,italsoavoidsthediscussionoftheresearcherbeingpartofhisownresearch,

thus inevitably shaping and bringing in his own structures and thoughts thus the

alternativechosenfor thecurrentresearch is interpretivistphenomenology,which is

describedinthenextsection.

3.4.1.2 InterpretivistPhenomenology

Heidegger(1996)incontrastemphasizedtheinevitablelinkbetweentheindividualand

its experiences. This can be seen as the basis of what is called interpretivist

phenomenologyandfindsitsapplicationasaresearchdesign.Theapproachtowards

knowledgefocusesontheexperienceoftheindividuals(Merleau-Ponty,1962),which

arepartoftheresearch.Butasthisiscontextualizedandrelatedbytheresearcherto

existingtheoreticalthemes,itisnotmerelyabidingthedescriptiveapproachasaspired

byHusserl.Insteadtheaimistorelatethepracticalinsightofexperiencedpractitioners

toexistingtheorytoenhancetheexistingbodyofknowledge.

Thisalsomeans,thatanyconclusionstakenneedtobereflectedintheirprospective

context,thusshowingthatinformationresearchedisbasedonexperiencesofpractical

experts, not formed on quantitative verification. Thus, the aim is not to provide

generalizable rules, but instead to gain an insight into reality as perceived by

practitioners.

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3.4.1.3 InterpretivePhenomenologicalAnalysis(IPA)

Inpractice,thedesignitselfisoftencalledinterpretivephenomenologicalanalysis(IPA),

which means applying the interpretivist stance of seeking truth in the individuals

experiencetoqualitativeanalysis(Tuohy,Cooney,Dowling,Murphy,&Sixsmith,2013).

Thisthenallowstheresearchertodevelopanunderstandingofhisownperceptionsand

takethemintoaccountwhenlookingatthedata,whilestillbeingmindfulofitsimpact

inhisconclusions.

Therelationbetweenperceptionsandexperienceisthusseenasnaturalandbeneficial

asopposedtoobstructing,whichwouldbethecasefollowingadescriptiveapproach

(Conroy,2003;Lopez&Willis,2004).Thecurrentresearch,asitinvestigatesintoproject

management, seeks to identify and understand experiences of projectmanagers, as

theyare theonesdefininghowthe field isapplied.As research towardsadoctorof

businessadministrationrequirespracticalcontributionstobemade,recommendations

based on experiences of successful practitioners are likely to be relevant for other

practitioners.Thus,theresearchathandseekstoidentifyandincorporatepractitioners’

experiences.

As for the current research, there are influences that make the study explicitly

interpretivistatitscore.Oneexampleistheresearcherbeingpartoftheorganizationin

whichtheresearchisconducted.Thus,hehaspriorknowledgeoftheorganization,its

behaviourandalsoindividualswithintheorganization.Theresearchers’knowledgeof

thegivenorganizationcannotberemovedfromtheresearchprojectathand,aswhat

the researcher has learned in thepast cannot beunlearned. It can evenbe seen as

advantageousinregardtounderstandingandanalysingthedatagatheredwithinthis

63

organization. So instead of trying to put aside any knowledge, which according to

interpretivistphenomenology is likely tobe impossible, this thesiscontextualizes the

knowledgeandexperiencesoftheauthorandtakesitasahelpfulbasisforframingthe

research(Holloway&Todres,2003).

As part of a phenomenological design, bracketing was also evaluated. It seeks to

maintaincontextualandindividuals’interpretationfromthedatatoprovideaneutral

unfilteredperspective.Thismeans,thatallpriorknowledgeoftheresearcheraswellas

hisperceptionsofthematterareseenasobstructivetotheresearchitself(LeVasseur,

2003).Insteadtheresearchers’knowledgeandexperiencecaninsteadalsobeseenas

being of value to the interpretation. Under this view, bracketing can be seen as

contradictive to an interpretivist approach tophenomenology (Chan, Fung,&Chien,

2013).So,fortheresearchathandthecontextandpotentialinfluenceswillbestatedto

providereaderswithacontextualview.

3.5 DataCollectionTechnique

Thissectionwilldiscussdifferentqualitativemethodsattheresearchers’disposaland

providearationalefortheselectionofsemi-structuredinterviews.Itwillalsoprovide

informationontheapplicationofthemethodandhowthiswasdoneintheprojectat

hand.

3.5.1 OverviewofqualitativeMethods

The following are differentmethods that were investigated and considered for this

research.

64

3.5.1.1 FocusGroups

Thismethod is a formof group interview. Insteadof just one interviewee there are

multipleparticipantspartof thediscussionat thesametime.Focusgroupsallowfor

participants to communicateprimarily amongst themselves. The researcher is taking

partmainlyinafacilitativerole(Kitzinger,1995;Morgan,1996).Thisprovidesfurther

insightsintotheinteractionbetweenparticipants.Aseachfocusgroupcontainsmultiple

participants,itisalsolikelytobelesstimeconsumingfortheresearcherthaninterviews

witheachindividual(Carson,2001).

3.5.1.2 ActionResearch

There are multiple types of action research. A broad definition is given by Eden &

Huxham (1996) who say that it results from involvement with members of an

organizationoveramatterofgenuineconcerntothem.Actionresearchisthereforea

meansoftryingtounderstandasubjectofstudyin-depthbydirectinteractionofthe

researcherwiththesubjectoftheresearch.Itisameansofbridgingthegapbetween

researchersandpractitioners(Kemmis&McTaggart,2005;Whyte,1991).

3.5.1.3 Interviews

A definition of interviews is given by Creswell (2014), who states that in interviews

participantsareaskedopen-endedquestionstogettheirviewsandopinionsonacertain

topic. Interviews are likely to provide detailed descriptions, integrate multiple

perspectives,uncoverpreviouslyunknownaspectsand,byputtingtogetherthereports

frommultiplepeople,developaholisticdescription(Weiss,1995). Interviewsgathera

lotofdatafromdifferentintervieweesbyhavingdiscussions.AccordingtoBrymanand

Bell(2015)interviewscanbedividedintothreetypes:

65

- Structured:Theseinterviewshaveaclearlydefinedsetofquestions.Theyaim

togetgreatergeneralityandfocuslessontheindividualsandtheiropinions

beyondthesequestions.Asstructuredinterviewsarepartofquantitative

methods.Thus,theywillnotbeconsideredfurtherasthisprojectisbasedon

qualitativemeans.

- Semi-structured:Thisapproachalsoisorganizedaroundasetofkeyquestions,

whichwilllikelybeusedinallinterviews.Basedontheneedtoinvestigate

furtherthroughouttheinterviewbasedontheinterviewees’replies,italso

allowsforadditionalquestions,whichallowstogainadeeperunderstandingof

theintervieweesperspective.

- Unstructured:Thisisthemostflexibleformofinterview.Thereisnosetof

predefinedquestionsintheinterviewprocess.Theresearcherwillaskfollow-

upquestionsbasedontherespondents’previousanswers.

3.5.1.4 SummaryandSelectionofMethods

To support the thoughtprocess in selecting theappropriatequalitativemethod, the

followingoverviewwasproduced.

DataCollectionMethod

Advantages Disadvantages

Semi-structuredInterviews

EasytostructureIndividualsthinkingcanbeexploredHighlevelofconfidentiality

Timeintensive

UnstructuredInterviews

IndividualsthinkingcanbeexploredinthemostflexiblewayHighlevelofconfidentiality

TimeintensiveCouldmissinformationduetomissingstructure

FocusGroups Interactionsbetweenparticipantscanbeinvestigated

EasytogetsidetrackedConfidentialitycanbedifficult

ActionResearch Indepthdatacanbegatheredthroughinteractionwiththeresearchedphenomenon

Stronglyinfluencedbyresearchersownsensesandopinions

Table3-2:DataCollectionMethods

66

Semi-structuredhavebeenchosenasthemethodtoapproachtheresearchathand.

Theywill allow theuseofpreparedquestions to investigateall necessary,while still

enabling the researcher to follow up on aspects of the provided answers from

intervieweesdependingonthesituation.Thisisalsoalignedwithinterviewsasbeinga

consistentmethodofresearchwhereyoucanfindmeaningthroughlanguage(Seidman,

2013).Theinterviewscanthusbeexpectedtoprovidelotsofinformation,richdataand

many different views. Through this it is likely to get a broader picture and uncover

otherwisemissed informationandaspects.Thisagaincould lead to furtherpointsof

investigationforfutureresearch.

Asaweaknessofinterviews,similaraswithanykindofqualitativeresearch,theresults

arevery limited regardinggeneralization,dependingon the samplegroup.Thisgoes

togetherwiththefactthatinterviewsaretime-consuming,whichmeansthatoneshould

aimforarealisticnumberofinterviewstobeconducted(Saunders,2012).

3.6 Sampling

Afterselectingsemi-structuredinterviewsasthemethodforthisresearchproject,this

sectionwillnowdiscusssamplingtoprovidetherationaleandalsoshowthelimitations

associated with it. According to Mason (2002) the process of sampling is a central

elementofthequalitativeresearchprocessasitwillimpacttheoutcomeoftheproject.

In consequence, it seems sensible to select the sample based on the researches

objective,which in this case lead topurposive samplingas themethodof choice,as

opposedtoconvenienceorrandomsampling.

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Robinson(2014)suggestsastepwiseapproachtoidentifyameaningfulsample,which

wastheprocessthatwasfollowedintheresearchathand.Itisdepictedinthefollowing

overview.

Figure3-3:Sample,inclusion/exclusioncriteria(Robinson,2014)

Accordingtothemodel,thesampleuniverseisthepopulationofpotentialparticipants.

In case of the current research, these are projectmanagers in IT consulting. This is

because theyare likely thepersondecidingon theselectionofprojectmanagement

software.Theinterviewsallowedtheresearchertogetaviewoftheirthoughtprocess.

The advantage of this is, that from a business perspective any recommendations or

insightsgainedfromthisstudyarelikelytobeofhelptothegroupmentionedbefore.

The disadvantage is, that insights from other roles involved in the process being

researchedwillnotbecovered.Astheresearchobjectiveisaimedattheviewofproject

managersonly,thedisadvantageisassumedtohavelittleimpactonthestudy.

Lookingatinclusionandexclusioncriteria,therewerethreemainaspectstoconsider:

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1. Trust:Togainadeeperinsightintothethoughtsandopinionsofparticipants,it

wasessentialtobeabletocommunicateopenly.Thisisonlypossibleifahigh

leveloftrustcanbeestablished.

2. Experience:Atleastthreeyearsofexperiencewithintheareaofproject

managementbytheparticipantssothedatacollectedwouldbebasedon

practicalexperienceandnotsolelytheoreticalknowledgeandassumptions.

3. Culture:Theresearchprojectdoesnotaimtoinvestigateintodependencieson

culturalinfluences,asthiswouldlikelybeaseparateprojectinitself.

Concerningthesampleselection,thishadthefollowingimplications:

1. Trust:Asparticipantsfromcompetitors’organizationswouldlikelybeunwilling

todisclosesensitiveinformation,onlyparticipantsoftheresearchersown

organizationwerechosen.Thestrongcommitmentoftheindividuals’

commitmenttoanorganizationalidentityasdescribedbySmith(2016)was

utilizedtoquicklyestablishaleveloftrustandallowedforveryopen

discussions.

2. Experience:Projectmanagementexperiencewasacriteriontoselectthe

participants.Whiletheaimwastogetalotofexperiencedprojectmanagersas

participants,twomorejuniorparticipantswerealsointerviewedtopotentially

seedifferentviewsandopinions.

3. Culture:Tominimizeculturalinfluencesandkeepthesamplewithina

reasonablerange,theintervieweeswereallfromGermanyortheNetherlands.

69

Thetotalnumberofparticipantsinterviewedwas17,whichisaratherlargenumberfor

astudyapplyingIPA,wherethefocusisonin-depthanalysis(J.A.Smith,2009).Asthe

fieldofITconsultingisratherbroad,itseemedreasonabletolookforcandidateswith

varying industryandtechnicalbackgroundtobeable togainan insight intopossible

contextualfactorsintheselectionprocess.

3.7 EthicalConsiderations

Insocialresearch,ethicsisanimportantfactortoconsiderthroughouttheentireproject

andneedstobehandledappropriatelybytheresearcher(Ritchie&Lewis,2014).For

thistheprojectwasconductedfollowingtheuniversitiescodeofpracticeonresearch

integrity(EdinburghNapierUniversity,2013).Itadherestoitsimperativesofdonoharm

(non-maleficence) and do good (beneficence) represented by its underlying five key

principles:

- Honesty

- Rigor

- Transparencyandopencommunication

- Careandrespect

- Accountability

Inthecurrentresearch,theindividualstogatherdatafromweretheprojectmanagers

inthecompanyIBM.Theresearcherisaprojectmanagerinthesamecompanyaswell.

Asaresult,thesharingofsensitiveorpersonalinformationwasespeciallycriticalasit

couldexposeindividuals’weaknessesorperceivedfailuresintheworkplacepotentially

causingrepercussions.Thus,inordertoavoidanyharmtotheindividualsparticipating

in this study any misuse of information needed to be prevented by ensuring

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confidentialityandsecurehandlingofthedata.Toaddressthis,thestudyfollowedthe

principalofconfidentialityandanonymisation.

To provide transparency to the participants, the intention of the interview and an

overviewoftheresearchwerecommunicatedtothembeforethedateoftheinterview.

Beforeaninterviewwasconducted,theparticipantwasinformedabouttherisksofthe

study and the measures taken to prevent it. The interviewer also discussed any

questionsorconcernsintervieweesmighthave.

Toavoidany formofcoercionorevenunintentionalpressureonparticipants, itwas

madeclearthatparticipationwasentirelyvoluntarilyandthatparticipationinthestudy

couldbewithdrawnatanytime,eventhroughoutoraftertheinterview,incaseofwhich

none of the data gatheredwould be used.While this optionwas clearly stated and

offered,noneoftheparticipantsmadeuseofit.Theethicalandpoliticalissuesandthe

measures taken by the researcher and the option of withdrawing from the study

documentedonaformofinformedconsent.Thiswaspartofthediscussionpriortothe

interview and signed by interviewees after clarification of all questions as

acknowledgement.Only thenwas the recording started and the interview itselfwas

conducted.

Thedatagatheredwashandledassensitivepersonalinformation,whichwastransferred

tothelaptopoftheresearcheraftertheinterviewandanycopiesweredeleted.The

data on the laptop was protected through systems and hard drive passwords and

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encryptedusingSymantecEncryptionDesktop.Noneofthedatawasusedforpurposes

otherthanthisresearch.

3.8 ThePilotStudy

To ensure the applicability of the methodology as defined by the researcher, it is

encouraged to test itwitha small samplebeforeapplying it for theoverall research

project(Reiter,Stewart,&Bruce,2011).Fortheprojectathand,thisstepwasconducted

using two participants. The results of the pilot study proved that the overall

methodologycouldbeapplied,butalsoshowedsomeaspectsthatneededtobealtered.

Theresearcherhasdocumentedthisprocessinmoredetailinthereflectivediary,which

detailsthejourneyandlearningsfromtheworkonthisthesis.

3.9 ProcessofconductingtheStudy

Theinterviewswillaimtobeconductedface-to-facewherepossible.Thereasonbehind

thisistomakeiteasiertoestablishcredibilityandrapport.Itmakesitalsoeasiertokeep

ahighlevelofmotivationthroughouttheinterview.Whereaface-to-faceinterviewis

not possible, interviews via phone will be conducted. According to Wilson (2014)

interviewswillbefollowingmultiplestages:

Stage Description1 Pre-interviewplanning2 Dayoftheinterview3 Arrival4 Startoftheinterview5 Duringtheinterview6 Endoftheinterview

Table3-3:Stagesofaface-to-faceInterview(Wilson,2014)

Althoughthesestagesprovidesomeinsights,thedescriptionaswellasthenumberof

phasescouldbemoredetailed.Elementsthatmightbeaddedwouldbeschedulingthe

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interview,aswellas transcribing the interviewafterwards.For thecurrentstudy the

modelwasadaptedtothefollowingstages:

Stage Activity1 Scheduletheinterview2 Prepare notes for the interview (Print template with questions,

rehearsequestions)3 Startinterview(makeagoodfirstimpression(Burtt,2001),buildtrust,

introduction)4 Conductsemi-structuredinterview(keyquestions,exploreonpossibly

interestingdata)5 Finishtheinterview(Closingquestions,re-ensuretrust)6 Transcribetheinterview

Table3-4:StagesoftheplannedInterviews(Wilson,2014)

3.9.1 BeforetheInterview

Beforetheinterviewtheresearcherneedstoorganizethelogisticsoftheinterview.One

aspectofthisisthelocationwheretheinterviewshouldbeconducted.Criteriathatmay

influence this decision could be the confidentiality of the surroundings, potential

interruptionsduetophonecallsintheinterviewees’officeandthegeneralwellbeingof

theintervieweeandinterviewertofostertheconversation(Bryman&Bell,2015).For

the interviews at hand, a meeting room in a company building was chosen as the

preferredlocationandreservedforthedurationoftheinterview.Also,asetofquestions

wasprintedfortheinterviewertobeabletoreferbacktoduringtheinterviewprocess,

aswellasaformofinformedconsentfortheinterviewee.

3.9.2 DuringtheInterview

The interviews started off with some small-talk to build a relationship with the

participant and create a positive atmosphere, as also suggestedbyBryman andBell

(2015). After that a short introductionof the circumstanceswas given aswell as an

introductionofthethesistopic.Followingonthattheformof informedconsentwas

shown,discussedandsignedby theparticipant.Only thendid the recordingstart to

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gather the data based on the questions asked. During the interview, questioning

techniques as described in the section on interview questions were applied. The

durationoftheinterviewsvariedbetween45and120minutes.

At the end of the interview, the interviewees were given the opportunity to ask

questions themselves and told aboutwhatwouldhappenwith the information they

gave.Theywerealsoinformedthattheywouldbeabletogetthetranscriptiontoverify

theinformationgivenbythem.Afterthis,theinterviewended.

3.9.3 Transcription

Topreparetheanalysisof thedata, therecordingsneededtobetranscribed.As the

overallnumberofwordstranscribedwasover90,000,thiswasdoneintwostepsfor

eachinterviewtominimizemistakes:

1. Initialtranscription2. Reviewandcorrection

Theadvantageofthisprocesswasthattheresearcherwasalreadyfamiliarizinghimself

withthedata,whilelimitingmistakesresultingfromadecreaseinattentionthroughout

therepetitivetasksoflisteningandtyping.ThewrittendatawascapturedintoNVivofor

furtheranalysis.

3.10 Analysis

Following the transcription, the researcherwill likely look at coding as the first step

towardsanalysingthedata.Forthis,thefirststepwillbetolookatthetypeofanalysis

tobeconductedtothenidentifythespecificcodingtechniquesthatwillbeapplied.

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3.10.1 ThematicAnalysis

Athematicanalysisseekstoidentify,analyseandstructurethedataoftheresearchand

thusaidtheresearcherinshowingpatternswithin(Braun&Clarke,2006).Thismeans

looking for existing patterns in regard to the selection process as described by the

projectmanagers.

Asafirststep,thetermofthemeneedstobeinvestigatedanddefinedaccordinglyasit

is a precondition to effectively code. To do so it should also be considered what

relevanceandpresencewithinthedataarenecessaryrequirementsforathemetobe

definedassuch.Themescanberatherabstractandarehardtodefineclearly(Ryan&

Bernard,2000).Theyareidentifiedanddefinedbytheresearcherbefore,during,and

aftertheanalysisofthedata.

3.10.2 InductiveversusTheoreticalThematicAnalysis

Thereisadecisiontobetaken,whichwaythedatashouldbeapproachedwiththematic

analysis. To identify themes or patterns, one could go ahead and analyse the data

withoutpriordefinitionofthemes.Thiswouldbetheinductiveapproach,whichistrying

toavoidanalysisbasedonpre-existingcodingframeworks.Theywouldemergefrom

thedatathroughouttheanalysis,thoughofcoursetheywouldstillbeinfluencedbythe

researchers’ knowledge and understanding as he cannot work outside any

epistemologicalperspective(Patton,2015).

Analternateapproachwouldbetousetheoreticalthematicanalysis,whichapproaches

theanalysiswithaframeworkofthemesinmind.Thecodingwouldthenhaveaclear

linktotheinitialresearchquestionsformulatedbytheresearcher.

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Whencomparingthetwoapproaches,theinductiveapproachislikelytoprovidericher

data, whereas the theoretical approach is more narrow and likely to unveil deeper

insights(Braun&Clarke,2006).Fortheresearchathand,theinterviewswereconducted

withspecificresearchquestionsinmindtostrengtheninsightsbasedonexistingtheory.

However,sincelittleresearchhasbeenconductedonthetopicofsoftwareselection,

therewereemerging themes fromthedatanotdirectly coveredby frameworksand

ideasintheliterature.Thus,itseemedsensibletoapproachtheanalysisofthedatawith

both,atheoreticalaspectandaninductiveidentificationofthemesfromthedataitself.

For this reason, both approacheswere adapted into an approach thatwas sensible

concerningthesearchforthemesasposedbytheresearchquestions.

3.10.3 DifferentStagesofThematicAnalysis

In the beginning, the analyst starts to search for aspects relevant to the research

questionandothermeaningfulpatterns.Theresearcherthendocumentstheidentified

dataalongwiththecodes,analysesanddiscussesit inregardstothemeaningofthe

identifiedpatternsandthenreturnstothesearchoffurtherpatterns(Braun&Clarke,

2006).Thisisacontinuousiterativeprocessuntiltheresearchermovesontoproduce

thefinalreport.BraunandClarkedefinedthisprocessingreaterdetailasthesixstages

ofthematicanalysisasshowninthefollowingtable.

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Phase DescriptionoftheProcess

1 Familiarizingyourselfwithyourdata

Transcribingdata(ifnecessary),readingandre-readingthedata,notingdowninitialideas.

2 Generatinginitialcodes Coding interesting features of the data in asystematic fashion across the entire data set,collatingdatarelevanttoeachcode.

3 Searchingforthemes Collatingcodesintopotentialthemes,gatheringalldatarelevanttoeachpotentialtheme.

4 Reviewingthemes Checking ifthethemeswork inrelationtothecodedextracts(Level1)andtheentiredataset(Level 2), generating a thematic map of theanalysis.

5 Definingandnamingthemes

Ongoinganalysistorefinethespecificsofeachtheme,andtheoverallstorytheanalysistells,generatingcleardefinitionsandnamesforeachtheme.

6 Producingthereport The finalopportunity foranalysis.Selectionofvivid, compelling extract examples, finalanalysisofselectedextracts,relatingbackoftheanalysistotheresearchquestionandliterature,producingascholarlyreportoftheanalysis.

Table3-5:PhasesofthematicAnalysis(Braun&Clarke,2006)

Otherresearchers likeMiles&Huberman(2014)andCreswell (2013)havedescribed

similarframeworksusingsimilarstagesofconstruction.

3.11 Coding

Whenlookingatcoding,theresearcheraimstoassignattributestopartsofhisdatato

captureits’primarycontentandessenceincontextofhisresearch(Saldaña,2016).As

previouslystated,theaim is to identifypatterns.Thesearereoccurringordistinctive

elementswithinthedata.Lookingforpatternsshould,however,notbetheonlyaim

whencoding,asitmaynarrowoneselfinones’perspectivetowardsthedata(Alvesson

&Karreman,2011).Followingthisadvice,theprocessofcodingwasconductedintwo

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maincycles.Whilethefirstcyclewasfocusingonidentifyingmeaningfulattributesand

passages in the data, the second cycle aimed to identify categories and patterns.

According to Saldaña (2016) the first cycle of coding encompassed the following

techniques:

Technique DescriptionDescriptiveCoding CodingfortopicswithinthedataProcessCoding CodingofactionsandactivitiesStructuralCoding Codingofdatarelatedtotheresearchquestion

Table3-6:CodingTechniques

Structural coding can be seen as a very natural approach to investigating the data.

However,italsoseemedsensibletoinvestigatemorethanjustthedirectrelationtothe

research questions since not all relevant aspects are obvious during the first coding

cycle.Toaccommodateforthis,thedescriptivecodingwasusedtoidentifyanygeneral

topicswithinthedata.Theprocesscoding,which focusesonactionstaken,wasalso

relevant to this research project, as the research aims to investigate the process of

selection.Assuch,activitiesrelatedtotheselectionareofcourseofvitalinteresttothe

researcher.

Thisfirstroundofcodingwasalsotestedagainstanotherresearchers’perspectiveon

thedatatoinvestigatesimilaritiesaswellasdifferencesandbeabletotaketheminto

account for future research, a technique that Strauss (1987) refers to as member

checking.Thesecondcycleofcodingwasthenmainlyfocusedonpatterns,subthemes

and emergent themes, so that a later analysis and categorizationwould be possible

(Milesetal.,2014).Theresultsofthisaredocumentedinthefindingschapter.

ThestudywasdoneusingNVivo,whichhelpedmaintaininganoverviewonthelarge

numberofcodes,aswellasmakingiteasiertofindandreuseappropriatecodesacross

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interviewsduetothesearchfunctionality.However,thecodingwasstilldonemanually

within thesoftware,as theprocessofcodingcanbeseenaspartof theresearchers

journeyofgettingacquaintedwiththedata(Saldaña,2016).

3.12 Summary

This chapter has shown the methodological underpinning of this research project.

Reviewing the process framework at the beginning of this chapter, the customized

processincludingthedecisionsmadealongthepathcannowbeseenasfollows:

Figure3-4:AdaptedmethodologicalStructure

Thisadaptedprocessframeworkshowsthealignedresearchprocessafteridentifying

the individualapproachesandmethodsneededtoconductthestudyathand. Italso

providesthetrailofthoughtthatleadtothechoiceofqualitativemethods.Basedon

Definingtheresearch•SelectionofprojectmanagementsoftwarebyprojectmanagersinITconsulting•Aim&objectives

Conducting theliteratureresearch•Themes•Researchquestions 1&2

Identifyingthephilosophical stance•Ontology:Subjectivist•Epistemology:Interpretivist•Axiology:Structure

Selectingtheresearchapproach•Qualitative

DefiningtheResearchDesign•Interpretivistphenomenology (IPA)•Bracketing(considered andexcluded)

SelectingtheMethodofDataGathering•Semi-structured interviews•Interviewquestions: open-ended•Sampling:purposive

Considering ethical Aspects•Influenceofrelationship (hierarchy)•Harmfulinformation reg.employer&self•Sensitive clientdata,anonymizing

VerifyingtheMethodology•Conduct apilotstudy•Adaptmethodology

GatheringtheData•Before:Prepare&scheduleinterviews•During:consentform,recording•After:manualtranscription, transfertoNVivo

AnalyzingtheData•Typeofanalysis:deductive thematicanalysis•Coding:structural,process,descriptive•Patterns

InterpretingtheFindings Concluding theResearch

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theresearchquestion,thephilosophicalstanceofaconstructivist/interpretivistwas

described.Fortheinquiryathand,thisledtothelogicalchoiceofaqualitativeapproach.

Theinterpretivistphenomenologicalperspectiveledtotheselectionofsemi-structured

interviewsasachoiceofmethod.Basedonpurposivesamplingthesewereconducted

amongprojectmanagersinanITconsultancytogatherdata.Thedatawascodedwith

NVivoandthenanalysedusingthematicanalysis.Theresultsoftheutilizationofthis

methodological approach will be shown in the next chapter, which describes the

individualfindings.

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Chapter4: Findings

4.1 Introduction

Thefindingschapterprovidesastructuredviewonthedatagatheredthoughthecourse

of this study. The sections within this chapter will provide excerpts of participants’

statementsmadeandwhichmaybeeithersupportiveorcontradictingofeachother,

thusproviding input for furtherarguments (Saldaña,2016).Theseargumentswillbe

developedandfinalizedinthediscussioninthefifthchapter.Beforeelaboratingonthe

individualfindings,thissectionwillprovideareviewoftheresearchquestionsandthe

potentialcriteriaidentifiedfortheselectionofprojectmanagementsoftware,asthese

willbethebaselineforanyfindings.Thesubsequentoverviewofparticipantswillgive

aninsightintothepractitioners’experiencedrawnuponandtheirbackground.

Inchaptertwo,theresearchquestionswere identifiedthroughthe literaturereview.

Thesewere:

RQ1: What is the process employed by project managers in IT consulting for the

selectionofprojectmanagementsoftware?

RQ2:Whatarethekeyconsiderationsforprojectmanagerswithintheprocess?

4.2 ParticipantCharacteristics

Theparticipantswereallworking in thesameglobal ITconsultingcompanyandhad

experience in project management roles. This section provides an overview of the

participants experience, qualifications, technological and sector focus aswell as the

educationalbackground.Thisallowstocontextualizethefindingsasdetailedlaterinthis

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chapter.Thekeycriterion for selectionofparticipantsduring thesamplingwas their

experience,toensuresufficientinsightintothephenomenoninvestigatedinthisstudy.

4.2.1 DemographicAttributes

The following tablesgiveanoverviewofdemographicattributesof the sample:age,

genderandnationality.

AgeGroup NumberofParticipants25-40 541-50 751-65 5

Table4-1:AgeGroups

Inregardtoage,thesamplecoversparticipantsrelativelyearlyintheircareer,aswell

asseniorprojectmanagerswithlessthanfiveyearsuntilretirement.Thisissimilarto

the average age in Germany, which is about 43 for men and 46 for women

(BundesinstitutfürBevölkerungsforschung,2017).

Gender NumberofParticipantsFemale 2Male 15

Table4-2:GenderDistribution

ThegenderdistributionissimilartothatcommonlyfoundintheITindustryandisinline

withinformationprovidedbyStatista(2015),whofoundthat20,5percentofleadership

rolesintheITandservicesindustrywerefilledbyfemales.

Nationality NumberofParticipantsGerman 15Dutch 2

Table4-3:Nationalities

ThesamplewasmainlyfocusedonGermanparticipantstolimitanyvariationsdueto

culturaldifferences.TwoDutchparticipantswerechosenastheprimarycriterionfor

consideringparticipantswasnotnationality,butexperience.

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4.2.2 QualificationsandExperience

Throughout the sampling process, the key criterion was that of practical project

managementexperience.Thus,theparticipantsneededtohaveatleastthreeyearsof

practicalexperienceinprojectmanagementrolestoprovidepracticalinsightsaboutthe

selectionofprojectmanagementsoftware.Forthisstudy,theaverageparticipanthad

15,1yearsofexperience.Therangeofexperiencewithinthesamplevariedfrom3to35

years.Thisalsoallowedtoseepotentialpatternsregardingtheresearchquestionsin

relationtoparticipantsexperience.

ExperienceAveragePMExperience(Years) 15,1MinimumPMExperience(Years) 3MaximumPMExperience(Years) 35

Table4-4:Participants’Experience

Inadditiontotheyearsofpracticalexperience,participantswereaskedfortheirformal

projectmanagementqualifications.Thesefallintofourmajorcategories.Thefirstisthe

IBMinternalcertification,whichhastwohigherlevels,thoseforseniorandexecutive

projectmanagers.Bothrequireformaltrainings,aswellasaprovenrecordofmultiple

projectsoveracourseofanumberofyears.Thenextformalqualificationwasthatof

projectmanagementpractitioner(PMP),whichisawardedbytheprojectmanagement

instituteand isastandardizedcertificationcommonly foundacrossdifferentsectors.

Anotherqualification foundwasthatofscrummaster,whichcertifiesa foundational

understandingofagilepracticesaccordingtothescrummethodology.Thentherewere

otherqualificationsgivenaswell,whichweregroupedas“other”.

FormalPMQualificationsIBMSeniorPM 4IBMExecutivePM 2PMP 7ScrumMaster 3Other 2

Table4-5:FormalPMQualifications

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As project management within IT depends on technological aspects of the projects

conducted, it should also be reviewed. The two most commonly mentioned were

applicationdevelopmentandSAPprojectsasdistinct technological typesofprojects.

Additional types of projects were also mentioned like maintenance and strategy

consulting,whichwerecategorizedasothers.

TechnologicalProjectFocusApplicationDevelopment&Others 7ApplicationDevelopment,SAP&Others 4ApplicationDevelopment 4SAP 2

Table4-6:TechnologicalFocus

Aspreviouslystated,projectmanagementshouldbeviewedwithinitssector.Whilethe

projectmanagersinterviewedwereallpartofanITconsultancy,thesectorthattheir

clientsworkincouldalsobeofrelevance.Sevenprojectmanagersfocussedmainlyon

onesector,whilethetenwereworkingacrosssectors.Theeducationalbackgroundgave

aninsightintothefieldofstudyaswellasthedegreethatleaduptothepractitioners

taking on their roles. All interviewees completed a university degree, ranging from

bachelortoMBAandPhD.Themostcommonqualificationamongprojectmanagerswas

the4-yeardiplomaormasterdegree.

HighestEducationalQualificationBachelor 2Master,Diplomaorsimilar 10MBA 2PhD 3

Table4-7:EducationalQualifications

MostparticipantsdidtheirdegreeinITorbusinessIT,whichseemslogicalasitisdirectly

relatedtoITconsulting.Otherfieldsofeducationencompassedengineeringandnatural

scienceswerealsocommon.

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FieldofEducationIT/BusinessIT 8Engineering/Business&Engineering 4NaturalSciences 4Other 1

Table4-8:FieldofEducation

Tounderstandthetypesofprojectsthattheinterviewedprojectmanagersdrewtheir

experiencefrom,italsoseemedsensibletoinvestigatesomeaspectsthatotherauthors

also described as relevant factors influencing projectmanagement in general. Thus,

participantswere asked to provide information on their experiencewith distributed

teams,agileprojectsandinternationalprojects.Whilemostpractitionershadworked

withdistributedteamsandinaninternationalenvironment,fivehadnotyetworkedon

agileprojects.

Experiencewith DistributedTeams AgileProjects InternationalProjectsYes 16 12 15No 1 5 2

Table4-9:Experiencewithdistributed/agile/internationalProjects

4.2.3 SeniorityofParticipants

Experienceisakeyqualificationwhenitcomestoprojectmanagement,whichcanbe

supported by formal qualifications (Peterson, Hartmann, Fruchter, & Fischer, 2011).

Thus,theparticipantswillbegroupedintosenioritygroupsforthepurposeofthisstudy.

Thiswillhelpplacingthestatementsmadebythemwithoutrevealingtheindividuals

throughexposureoftoomuchinformation.Thefollowingsenioritygroupshavebeen

created:

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SeniorityGroupsExperiencedProjectManager 3-9yearsofPMexperienceSeniorProjectManager 10-19 years of PM experience or IBM Senior PM

certificationExpertProjectManager 20+experienceorIBMExecutivePMcertification

Table4-10:SeniorityGroups

Thisclassificationleadstothefollowinglistofparticipants:

SeniorityGroup NumberofIntervieweesExperiencedProjectManager 4SeniorProjectManager 6ExpertProjectManager 7

Table4-11:DistributionamongstseniorityGroups

To identify interviewees in relation to their statements, they have been assigned a

numberfrom1to17andwillbereferencedincombinationwiththeirsenioritytogive

somecontext.Allmentionsofparticipantswillnotbespecifictotheirgender,asdueto

thesmallnumberofwomenthatparticipatedinthestudythiscouldposeathreatto

theiranonymity.

4.3 OverviewofFindingsCategories

Aftertheinterviewsweretranscribedandcoded,patternsbegantoemerge.Thissection

showssnapshotsof thestepsthroughwhichthecategorieswere identified fromthe

data.Italsogivesanoverviewofthecategoriesthedatawasclusteredintothroughthe

analysisandgivesadescriptionofeachofthemandtherationalebehindthisseparation.

The subsequent sections will then give a more detailed insight into the categories

presented.

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Astheaimofthisresearchprojectwastounderstandthedatainitscontext,thedata

neededtobestructuredthroughcodingandthenclusteringofideasandpatterns.Thus,

thenext stepwas togo throughmultiple coding cycles.Anexcerpt fromoneof the

stagesisgiventhroughthefollowinghierarchychart,whichprovidesanoverviewofthe

structureofthedataatthetime.

Figure4-1:ExcerptfromtheNVivoHierarchyChart

Throughfurtherrefinement,thepatternswerecondensedtoalistofcategories,which

representthefindingsintheircontext.Thesecategoriesarethebasisforthestructure

barrier changing...

Financial & Time L...licens...

Limi...

Processes

resistance...barrier re...

Tech...

Clientdriver ...

Leadersh...dri...

Processes

dr...

soft...

Teamdri...drive...

drive...

Doc Mgmt

bad ...

Financials

clai...

hour...software ...

Functionality - Traceability

traceability

tra...transparency

fu...

IT specific...fu...

Planning - Monitoring

functionali...planni...

plann...Software ...

soft...

Reportingsoftware for ...

Repositoryproject reposi... singl...

Risks and Issuesris...software f...

Tasks and Workdaily w...

softwa...task mana...

tasks and s...

Test

Communi...colla...

ITCS n...

ITCS ...ITCS techn...

Other...thir...

definition o...Softw...

Acceptan...se...

Agilediffer...

Client-relatedrequired b...

Collaborationselection ...

Costsel...selection criteria cost

DSPselectio...

sel...

Experience and Skillselectio...

sele...

sele...

Integrationcost ...

orga...

selection cri...

software int...

Online availability

function...

selectio...

Project Parameters

selection crit...

sel...selecti... selection crit...

Standardsselection c... sele...

sof...

Techn...selec...

se...

Time inves...selec...

sel...

Usabilityselecti...

selectio...

Involved roles in the decision processClient Invol...

alignin...

align...Team involvementinvolving th...

open ...Role of the cont...deci...

St...

Conferencing an...Slack

IBM-int...

IT Project-specific productsRational JazzRational Te...

Office softwareMS ExcelExcel

MS ...

PM & Work Management Software

IBM-inter...IBM...

Jira

MS Project

Rational JazzRational Team...

Rational Jazz

Rational Ja...

Rational Te...

Repository

Conf... IBM...

Rational JazzRational ...

87

ofthischapter.Thefollowingtablerepresentsthesynthesizedandrefinedversionof

thesefindings:

FindingsCategory Description LinktoResearchTerminology Information related to the

terminology and definitionusedinpractice.

What are the key definitionsand understandings used byproject managers in ITconsulting on projectmanagementsoftware?

SelectionProcess Descriptions of the softwareselectionprocessitself.

RQ1: What is the processemployedbyprojectmanagersin IT consulting for theselection of projectmanagementsoftware?

Drivers Positive influences on thesoftwareselectionprocess.

RQ1: What is the processemployedbyprojectmanagersin IT consulting for theselection of projectmanagementsoftware?

Barriers Negative influences on thesoftwareselectionprocess.

RQ1:Howdoprojectmanagersin IT consulting select projectmanagementsoftware?

ITConsulting Specifics about PM softwareinITconsulting.

Additional informationregardingthesectorcontext

SelectionCriteria DifferentselectioncriteriaforPMsoftware.

RQ2: What are the keyconsiderations for projectmanagerswithintheprocess?

Functionalities Selection criteria that arefunctionalities / areas ofapplicationforsoftware.

RQ2: What are the keyconsiderations for projectmanagerswithintheprocess?

SoftwareProducts Specificproductsmentioned. Additionalinformation,canbefoundintheappendix

ImportanceofPMSoftwareSelection

Viewofprojectmanagersontheimportanceoftheprocess

Relevanceofthisstudy

Table4-12:FindingsCategories

Thesefindingsprovidethefollowingkeyareasthatneedtobeaddressed:

1. Thefindingsontheselectionprocess,alongwiththedriversandbarriersoccurringinpractice.

2. Selectioncriteriaandfunctionalitiesasseeninpracticeincomparisontothepotentialcategoriesdrawnfromtheliterature

3. ITConsultingspecificelementsaboutthePMsoftwareanditsselection4. Relevanceoftheselectionprocessandotherfindings.

88

Thus,thecategorieswillbediscussedinindividualsections,whereanoverviewofthe

patternsidentifiedwithineachcategoryisprovided.Thesearethenelaboratedonin

greaterdetailaccompaniedbyextractsfromtheinterviews.

4.4 Terminology

Asalreadydiscussedintheliteraturereview,thereisnoconsensusintheliteratureas

towhichofthetermsisaccuratelydescribingprojectmanagementsoftware.Mostof

theauthorsinacademicliteratureseemedtoimplicitlydefinetooldifferentlythanthe

word software in the context of project management. To get an impression of the

understandinginpractice,thedifferentiationwasinvestigated.

Oneanswerwasthefollowing:“Iseeit[thetermstoolsandsoftware]asthesamething.

Projectmanagementtoolsformearealwayssoftware.”(Participant9,SeniorProject

Manager).Asanotherprojectmanagerstated,“Thetwoterms[toolsandsoftware]are

usedprettymuchinterchangeably.”(Participant1,ExpertProjectManager).

Whenaskeddirectlyaboutthedifference,15outof17participantsmentionedthatthey

wouldnotseeapracticaldifferencebetweenthetwotermswhenitcametoproject

managementsoftware/ tools.Thoughtwoparticipantsmentionedtheywouldseea

difference in the practical use of this terminology, even they used the term project

management tool interchangeably with software at least at some point during the

interview.

4.5 TheSelectionProcess

Thissectiondiscussesthefindingsrelatingtothedescriptionsofthesoftwareselection

process itself and thus relatesdirectly to the researchobjectiveof the thesis.While

89

projectmanagement software itself hasbeen researched in thepast, theprocessof

selectingprojectmanagementsoftwareasaprojectmanagerinITconsultinghasnot

yetbeendescribedintheliterature.Thus,thedatagatheredfromtheinterviewsgives

afirstinsightonthisprocess.

4.5.1 InvolvedRolesintheSelectionProcess

Duringtheinterviewswhentalkingabouttheselectionprocessofprojectmanagement

software,intervieweesoftenrelatedtotherolesthatwereinvolvedandhowtheywere

partofthedecision.

4.5.1.1 InvolvingtheTeam

Formost participants, the project teamwas a group that should be involved in the

decision process.One interviewee voiced an opinion that is representative forwhat

thirteenotherssaidaboutteaminvolvement:

Thereisnotoneanswer,butmyprincipleisthatIinvolveeverybodywhoneeds

toworkwiththetool.So,Idon’tliketoconfrontpeoplewithdecisionsthathave

animpactontheirwayofworking,unlesstheyaremandatory.Butifyouhavea

choiceintools,Ialwaysliketoinvolvealltheteammembersthatareimpacted.

Either directly or if it is big team then I would involve the team leads or

representatives of those teams. I like to get consensus that this is the way

forward.Theydon’thavetoagree,butatleasttheyhavethefeelingthatthey

havebeeninvolvedinthedecision,whichcanleadtobetterdecisions,butalso

eveniftheydon’tagreetheyknowwhereitiscomingfromanditwillprobably

helptheminacceptingthedecision.Becauseatoolisonlyasgoodashowitis

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beingused, so if people don’t use the tool youhavenothing. (Participant 10,

SeniorProjectManager)

Astheintervieweepointsout,thebenefitofsoftwareislimitedbytheamountitisused.

Theaimofinvolvingtheteamasdescribedbythisprojectmanageristoraiseacceptance

andthroughthatdrivetheusageofthesoftware.Hementionstwolimitingfactorsin

relationtotheteaminvolvement:

- Actualusersofthesoftware–astheinterviewparticipantdescribes,he

involvesthoseteammemberswhowouldusethesoftware,noteveryone.

- Prioritizationonteamleadsinlargeprojectteams–incaseoflargeprojects,

whereteaminvolvementwouldlikelybemoredifficult,hefocusesonteam

leads.

Thisissupportedbywhatotherintervieweesdescribed:

Ithinkinasmallerprojectyoucouldreallymanagetohaveeverybodyinvolved

intheselection.Ifyouhavealargerprojectyouwouldtypicallyinvolvetheteam

leadsandtheteamleadswillneedtoensurethattheteamswillusethetoolas

wasagreed.(Participant7,ExpertProjectManager)

Yes,thatisalsooneoftheagileprincipleswheretheteamdecideswhattheycan

workbestwith.(Participant11,ExpertProjectManager)

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Inothercases,therewasafocusontheleaderswithintheprojectdrivingthedecisions

andtheninformingtheteam:

Therefore,youneedtohaveonatoplevel,ontheleadershipteam,aclearview

onwhatyouwanttoestablish,whatisimportantandyouneedtodrivethistop

down.Youneedtoexplainwhyyouaretakingthisorthisorthatdecisionand

howyouarehelpingtheteamtogetusedtothatcommonplatform,tocommon

standards, to run thisharmonizationand thenover timepeoplealsobuy into

that.Theemotionalpartneedstobeaddressedattheverybeginningandthe

leadershipteamneedstotakelead.(Participant17,ExpertProjectManager)

Whatcanbeseenhere,isthatthoughthedegreetowhichtheteamisinvolved(being

focusedoninforming,notinvolvinginthedecision)isdifferent,theaimofitisstillto

gainacceptancefromtheteam.

Intwo instances,projectmanagersmentionedtheywouldtakethedecisionontheir

own,asstatedbyParticipant9,SeniorProjectManager:“Idecideonmyownexperience

andupuntilnowIdidnothavetheimpressionthattheteamwouldliketochangeit”

and Participant 1, Expert Project Manager: “I do not involve the team, as project

managementisprimarilytheprojectmanagers’responsibility.”

However, also in these cases the interviewees were mindful of resistance as they

mentioned the teams’ impression. As one later elaborated on that point and the

importanceofteamacceptance:“[…]buttheteammembershavetoworkwiththese

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toolsandtheyhavetosupportit,soitisgoodtohaveacommonunderstandingofthe

toolsandanagreement.”(Participant9,SeniorProjectManager).

Insummary,allprojectmanagersinterviewedemphasizedtheimportanceoftheteam

intheirroleasusersofthesoftware.Thus,noprojectmanagermentionedtoinvolve

theteambeyondtheusersofthesoftware.Themeansofincreasingtheiracceptance

throughinvolvementvaried.Whilemostintervieweesaimedtoinvolveatleastpartsof

the team in thedecisionmaking, some focusedoncommunicating theoutcomeand

explainingtherationale.Therewasnointerviewee,whoconsideredteamacceptance

and related communication with the team not an important element of software

selection.

AllUsers Leadsonly NobodyInvolve Evidence Evidence EvidenceInform&Explain Evidence Noevidence Noevidence

Table4-13:Team-involvementindecision-making

4.5.1.2 InvolvingtheClient

Whenitcomestoclientinvolvement,theparticipantsofthestudyprovideddifferent

views.Tworespondentsreportedtheyneverinvolvedtheclientintheselectionprocess:

“TheclientnormallydoesnotprescribetheITconsultanttouseaspecifictool.Theclient

normallywouldsay:Iaminterestedinthedeliverables.”(Participant7,ExpertProject

Manager).Therespondentsthatmentionedtheywouldnot involvetheclientmainly

mentioneda lackof interest fromtheclient side in thesoftwaredecisionas thekey

reason.Somerespondentssaidthatinordertogettheclienttousethetool,theywould

alwaysincludetheclientinthedecisionprocess.

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First,wehaveaskedwhethertheclienthasasuggestionwhichtooltheywantto

use.Whenthiswasnotthecasewehavepresentedthetooltotheclientand

askedforconfirmationfromtheclient.Thiswasthengivenanddocumentedin

theminutes.[…]Becausetheclientshouldalsousethetool.Itwillonlybeofreal

value to theproject if theclientuses itaswell. (Participant15,SeniorProject

Manager)

This again comes back to the theme of software usage. Other interviewees

differentiatedtheirapproachbasedonthelevelofcollaborationtheyexpecttohave

withtheclient.

Thatdependsstronglyonthetypeofcontract.Ifitisafixedpricecontractwhere

wework in a black box and only have to provide a deliverable, then Iwould

normallynotinvolvetheclient.Ifitisaverycollaborativeprojectwherewework

closelytogetherwiththeclient,thentheclientofcourseneedstobeinvolvedin

theselectionasheisalsoaffectedbyit.(Participant6,ExpertProjectManager)

This is an aspect that the majority of interviewees mentioned, especially project

managerswhichweremoreexperienced:

Youhaveyour in-housesoftware,reportingandprocesses.This isalsoaligned

acrossprojects.Thisisnotthecasewhenworkingwithclients.Theresomethings

are available, but we often need to align our and their methodology and

software.(Participant8,ExpertProjectManager).

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Orasanotherrespondentstated:

Butalsofromclientsidetherecanberestrictionstowhattheyalreadyhaveor

whattoolsyouneedtointegratewithorinterfacewith.Alsoontheclientsideit

ismuchmoredynamic.Youcanfindanytoolataclient[sic]. Itwill takea lot

more time to find the correct tools because you need to adjust to the client

situation.(Participant10,SeniorProjectManager).

Thus,twoargumentscouldbeseenininterviews:

Approach ReasoningClientsshouldnotbeinvolved… …becausethereisnoneedto.Clientsbeinvolved… …so the client is also willing to use the

software.…becausethesoftwaretobeselectedforthe project needs to be integrated orinterface with the clients’ companies’softwareandmethodology.

Table4-14:ClientInvolvement

4.5.1.3 LeadershipRoles

Most respondents focused on the role of the project manager when discussing

leadershipinthecontextofsoftwareselection:

[…]asaprojectlead,itistoacertainextendmyjobtoprovidetheenvironment

fortheproject,meaningthatIhavetosettheboundariesandthescopeandI

don’t want to burden the projectmemberswith the definition of the project

managementtools.Itistheresponsibilityandtheroleoftheprojectmanagerto

providethatfortheprojectteams.(Participant4,ExperiencedProjectManager)

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This isoneexampleofa respondentseeingtheprojectmanageras thedriving force

behindselectingprojectmanagementsoftware,whichisincontrasttotheoftencited

perspective of agile leadership that emphasizes the teams' involvement (Medinilla,

2012). Amongmost participants, this or the aforementioned position to involve the

teamasmuch as possiblewere the preferred approaches. It shows that there is no

unanimously accepted approach. A slightly different view was given by another

participantwhospecificallymentionedtheroleoftheleadershipteamintheselection

ofprojectmanagementsoftwareprocess:

I would suggest and recommend to the projectmanager as he is the overall

responsible, tomake sure to address the tooling aspect very seriously and to

reallytake leadonthat,because it isessentiallyhismanagementsystem.The

projectmanager is responsibleandaccountable forsettingupamanagement

system.[…]Andtherefore,thisisaleadershipitem.Aseniorleadershipsubject.

Because if a program starts working on a distributed non-integrated, non-

transparent,non-traceable,non-collaborativeenvironmentandrunsintoissues,

torepairthat,toturnaroundthatismassive.Becauseyouhavealltheprojector

programhistoryandtobringallthatintooneintegratedenvironmentisalmost

undoable.Andthentheleadershipteamhastolivewiththeconsequencesand

thecostsassociatedwiththat.Andso,theyshouldbepartofthedecisionatthe

beginningsotheycanconsciouslyfacetheconsequences lateron.(Participant

17,ExpertProjectManager)

Whenaskedforthedefinitionofseniorleadership,heexplained:

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Theseniorleadershipteamistheprojectmanager,itistheleadarchitect,itisthe

profit and loss owner. The leadership team includes also the test manager,

sometimes the lead developer and the person who is responsible for the

infrastructure.(Participant17,ExpertProjectManager).

In this the interviewee specifically mentioned the leadership the project manager

reportstoasacriticalroletoinvolveintheselectionprocess,astheyarealsoimpacted

andneedtotakethebudgetdecision.Theotherpartiesmentionedweretechnicalroles,

suchastheleadITarchitect,theleaddeveloperandtheinfrastructureresponsible.This

tiesintowhatwasidentifiedpreviouslyasteamleadsbeingpartofthedecisionprocess.

Mostintervieweesspecificallymentionedtheprojectmanagertobetheleadingroleto

drive project management selection and there was no interviewee who argued

differently.Fivementionedotherleadershiprolesandonespecificallymentionedthe

profitandlossowner.

InvolvedleadingRoles ReasoningProjectManager …asheistheoneresponsibleforproject

management.…becauseheisaccountableforsettingupamanagementsystem.

Profit&LossOwner… …becauseheisaffectedbythedecision.Lead Architect, lead developer,infrastructureresponsible,testmanager,…

…astheyarepartoftheleadershipteam.

Table4-15:InvolvedleadershipRoles1

4.5.2 RoleoftheContract

Onemighthypothesizefromthesesuggestions,thatthecontractdefinesthedegreeto

whichtheclientisinvolvedintheproject.Thisthendrivesapotentialneedtoinvolve

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him in the selection process. Thus, the contract influences the need for client

involvementintheselectionprocess.

4.5.2.1 ProposalPhaseastheDecisionPoint

Theproposalphaseisthetimethatintervieweesreferredtoasthetimewhenaproposal

was created and before a contract for an IT consulting project is signed. Some

intervieweesmentionedthisasthetimetheselectionofthesoftwarehappened.

It[thesoftwareselection]wasmostlyintheproposalphase.Sosometimes,even

beforewhenyouhavethefirstcontactwiththecustomerdoingsomeproofof

conceptworkandyouconvincethemtousethiskindoftechnology,whateverthe

setisofthetoolsandtechnologyyouwouldlike.Butthenduringtheproposal

phase,itwasdecidedwhichtouse,andespeciallywhichsoftwareandwhichtool

to use for the project management. (Participant 12, Experienced Project

Manager)

So,inmanycases,evenbeforetheITconsultancyhasbeencontractedandtheproject

isstartedtheprojectmanagementsoftwareisselected.Thisbringsupthequestionof

howthedecisionistakenatthattime.Onerespondentstatedthefollowing:

If even themost rudimentary collaboration results in substantial cost for the

client,youtrytoavoidtheseextracostsbecauseitisacompetitivedisadvantage

foryourself.Sothatmeansyoutrytogetaroundthatquestionoryouutilizeopen

sourcetoolingwhichisfreeofcharge,acceptingalltheotherproblems.Because

proposinganintegratedtoolingisoftenanextrasalespitchtotheclientandit

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usually puts you at a disadvantage tomake the deal. (Participant 17, Expert

ProjectManager)

So,thedecisionpointintheproposalphaseseemstoputanemphasisonashortterm

commerciallyorienteddecision.Otherprojectmanagersconfirmedthattheallocation

ofplannedexpensesforprojectmanagementsoftwareisoftenunderestimated.

TimeandMaterialvs.FixedPrice

Eight participants brought up the contract type as a relevant factor in the decision

processonprojectmanagement software.Mostof themdistinguishedbetween two

typesofcontractandtheirimpactontheselectionofthesoftware:

Weusedtohaveatmycurrentprojectatimeandmaterialcontract,sowewere

morewillingtocooperatewiththeclientandtheotherstakeholderstousetheir

reportingandtheirsystems,butrecentlywehavemovedtoafixedpriceandthen

itisgettingmoreimportanttodeliveranditisdifferent,astheemphasisison

differentthingsinfixedpriceprojects.(Participant5,SeniorProjectManager)

Thisshowsthedifferentiationdependingonwhatiscontracted.Ifonlyworkhoursare

contractedtotheclient,thenanythingelseistheresponsibleentity.Asstated,inthis

casetheclientwouldbeleadingtheselectionprocessforprojectmanagementsoftware.

Only in the instance of a fixed price contract is the consultancy in the lead. The

intervieweealsoelaboratesabitontheconsequenceoffixedpricecontractsandthe

relationtosoftwareselection:

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Ifit’sfixedpricethenIBMisresponsiblesothenIBMisfreertoselectwhatever

theythinkisnecessaryalsoinregardtotooling.Sothatiswhatyouneedtodo,

soweneedtousethetoolsthatwethinkarebest fortheproject.And if that

impactstheclientthentherecouldbeevenstatementsaboutthisinthecontract,

sowhattoolsweuseandhowtheyimpacttheclient.[…]AndinfixedpriceIBM

isnormallyintheleadfortheselection.Iwouldsaysometimessomeprojectsare

verynicelyseparatedbetweentheworkthatIBMneedstodoandtheworkthat

theclientneedstodoandyoucanjusthandoverthedeliverablesandtheother

partycontinuessomewhere.So,inthatsensethecollaborationisveryeasyand

strict.(Participant10,SeniorProjectManager)

Participant10pointsoutthattheselectionofsoftwaredependsontheresponsibilities

resulting from the type of contract. However, he also mentions that depending on

involvementandclientcollaboration,thisshouldalsobealignedwiththeclientandas

hestatesfixedinthecontract.

ContractType PartyresponsibleforProjectManagementSoftwareFixedPrice ITConsultancyTime&Material ITConsultancyand/orClient

Table4-16:ContractTypeandResponsibility

4.5.3 AligningProcessesandSoftware

Eightprojectmanagers,wheninterviewedaboutprojectmanagementsoftware,spoke

notonly about softwarebutdirectly linked it toprojectmanagementprocessesand

methodology.Anexampleofthishasbeenquotedinaprevioussection:

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Ididn’tevenrealizebeforethatwewereonlytalkingaboutprocesses.Ithinkthe

twogohandinhand,soIthinkwhatIsaid[abouttheneedtoalignprocesses]

shouldbetruefortoolsaswell.(Participant13,ExperiencedProjectManager)

This shows the link between software and processes. Another participant also

supported this as “[…] it is not about the tool itself, but what is more important

informationistowhatdegreeisthetoolusedandinhowmanyusecases.”(Participant

7, Expert Project Manager). Another statement gives an example based on agile

methods:

“Sotheywantedtoswitchfromthewaterfalltothescaledagileframeworkinthewhole

divisionandJirahasascaledagileframeworkplugin,butthatdependsonwhichrelease

ofthescaledagileframeworkyouimplement.Thiswasanotherselectioncriteriaatthat

pointIguess.”(Participant11,ExpertProjectManager).

Thisshows,thattheselectionalsodependsontheprocessesusedwithintheproject

and the implementation of them in the software. A third respondent gave the

recommendation to develop an understanding of the projects’ requirements before

selectingthesoftware:“Beclearonwhatyouneedandwhatyouwant,musthavesand

nicetohavesandthenstartlookingoutforatoolthatfitsmostofyourrequirements.”

(Participant14,SeniorProjectManager).

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4.5.4 GatheringAdvice

One recommendation six project managers gave on how to approach the topic of

softwareselectionwastogatherexperiencefromotherprojectsandprojectmanagers:

Andthenalsolookingatotherprojectshowtheyhaveimplementedsoftwareand

areusing it, so it canbeused inonesownprojectsaswell. So, learning from

othersanddoingitaheadofthecriticalprojectphases,sonotjustthosethree

daysbeforetheteambutreallydevelopinganunderstandingofhowitworks.

(Participant3,SeniorProjectManager)

This leads to the conclusion that the selection itself isnota simple task that canbe

accomplished without any further insight into project management and experience

fromdifferentprojects.

4.6 DriversintheSelectionProcess

Aspartoftheinterviews,projectmanagerswereaskedaboutpositiveinfluencesonthe

projectmanagementselectionprocess.Thissectionsummarizesthefindingsrelatedto

thesedriversandtheirsubsequentthemes.

4.6.1 Team

Themostcommonthemewhenlookingfordriversintheselectionprocesswasthatof

the role of the team and the people that were involvedwithin the team. Different

aspects that interviewees brought up were the role of experts, team acceptance,

trainingandthewillingnesstochange.

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4.6.1.1 Involvingexperts

Anexampleoftheimportanceofexpertswasgiveninbyoneoftheinterviewees,who

stated“Askthemwhichtoolstheyalreadyknow.Findoutifyouhaveanexpertontools,

processesandmethod.”(Participant14,SeniorProjectManager).Thiswasdetailedby

anotherrespondent:

I have talked about the project which won an award for methods and tools

previously.[…]Wehadthisoneexpertwhoknewthesoftwareandwascapable

of helping with convincing the stakeholders. So, if you want to innovate

somethingbeyondthenormthiskindofpersonisveryhelpful.[…]Youneedthe

expert who can bring out its’ [the project management software] value and

introduce this according to the project needs. (Participant 8, Expert Project

Manager)

Another interviewee added the role of technical integrator,which is requiredwhen

multiplesoftwareproductsneedtointerface:“Withallthesoftwarethatyouneedto

useforcertainprocessestherewillnotbeonesingleplatformtofulfilalltheneeds.So,

therewouldneedtobesomeonetointegratethetools.”(Participant6,ExpertProject

Manager). Thus, four capabilities define the skillset to be covered by one or more

expertswhenitcomestosoftwareselectionandimplementation:

- Asachangeagentwhoconvincesstakeholders- Assomeonewhoknowshowtotranslatethecapabilitiesofthesoftwareinto

benefitsfortheproject- Asthepersonintroducingit- Tointegratethesoftware

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4.6.1.2 Teams’AcceptanceoftheSoftware

Takingintoconsiderationtheacceptanceofsoftwareproductsbytheteamandtheir

levelofexperiencewith thesoftwareproducts isanother importantaspect, that the

majorityoftherespondentspickedup.

So,theprojectmanagershouldreallytakecareinthatthetoolhedecidestouse

forhisprojectsisatoolthattheteamagreestoandtheprojectteamhasskillor

iswillingtoupskill themselves. I thinkthis is really important forasuccessful

project.[…]Forexample,ifyouhavealargeprojectteamthathasvirtuallyno

experiencewithlargetoolslikeRTCorJira,itiseasyfortheprojecttouseexcel.

So, everybody can start from day one using excel. And excel, as a project

managementtoolisverywidespreadbecauseitissoeasytouse.(Participant7,

ExpertProjectManager)

Accordingtothisstatement,projectmanagersneedtobeawareoftheirteams’skilland

willingnesstolearnwhenitcomestoprojectmanagementsoftware,tobeabletoselect

asoftwarethattheteamwillworkwith.

4.6.1.3 TrainingandSupport

Conductingtrainingonthesoftwareanditsusagefortheteamandsupportingtheuse

ofthesoftwareisanotherkeyelementaccordingtofiveparticipants.Oneexampleis

thefollowing:“Iaskedthedeploymentmanagertogiveaonehourintroductiontothe

teamonthekeyfunctionalities,inordertoalsogivetheteamthechancetoaskquestions

to theexpert.” (Participant14, SeniorProjectManager).One intervieweeput this in

relationtotheeffortinvolved:

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It[thesoftware]wasexpensive;peopledidnotknowitatthattimeandhadto

betrained.Ididthiswithdifferentprojectsforclients.Itwasaninvestwhichpaid

offmanifoldintheend,butwehadadditionaleffortduetoitinthebeginning.

(Participant8,ExpertProjectManager)

Fromthis, theability toselect the right software inconjunctionwith trainingcanbe

seen.Thoughthisalsoencompassesthecommercialchallengestoovercomeinorderto

utilize this driver. Thus, investment in training on project management software

improvedlong-termsuccess.

4.6.2 Processes

Anotherareaofdriversrevolvesaroundprocesses.Thissectionwillrevisitthosefindings

andtherelationbetweenprocessesandtoolsdescribedinthem.

4.6.2.1 ProcessandSoftwareAdaptionattheBeginningoftheProject

Thekeydriverintheareaofprocessesisaboutadaptionofsoftwareinconjunctionwith

theprocesses.Thishasbeenstatedbythemajorityofintervieweesandisexemplified

bythefollowingexcerpt:

Well Irealizedthatthis[processandsoftwareadaption] isquiteanimportant

partoftheprojectsetup.Normallyitisdonemoreontheside,butIjustrealized

through the questions how important this is. So, it is relevant to the project

successinregardsthatifyoudonotpayattentiontoitorfindagoodsolution

youwilllosetimelater,havetodoadditionalworkorhavebadquality.So,itis

importanttohaveafocusonthesoftwareselection.(Participant6,ExpertProject

Manager)

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Inthiscase,theintervieweedescribedtheimportanceofprocessandsoftwareadaption

duringthesetupphase,soatthebeginningofaproject.So,duringselection,notonlyis

thechoiceofsoftwareimportantbutalsodecidinghowitcanandwillbeadaptedtothe

processes.Theparticipantalsodescribedthealternativeofnotinvestingthetimeinthis

stepandthuslosingtimeandsufferingfrombaddataqualitylaterintheproject.Other

project managers seconded this thought of the software supporting the process as

statedinthisexample:

Theprocesshastobecorrect,andthenyoucoveritbyatool.Ifyoudon’thavea

tool,youhavetodotheprocessmanuallybutyouaredoingtherightthings.If

youhaveatoolonlythenyoudon’tknowwhattodo,thereisasentencethat

summarizes: a fool with a tool is still a fool. (Participant 2, Expert Project

Manager)

Thus,knowledgeofthesoftwarealoneseemstobeinsufficientfortheselection,asitis

thecombinationofprocessandsoftwarethatprovidesthemostvalue.Thisalsoaligns

with the recommendation given by one of the participants to align processes and

softwareatthebeginningofaproject:“Thenthereisofcoursebuildingaframeworkof

processesandtools,thingsthatneedtobeclearandbedoneinaconsistentwayduring

the project. They need to be clarified, communicated and written down upfront.”

(Participant 13, Experienced Project Manager). Some interviewees argued that this

shouldbethebasisforcollaborationbetweentheclientandtheserviceproviderand

thus the client needs to be part of a successful selection process. According to

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interviewees,thisisfosteredbyasimilarprocessmaturityinboththeclientorganization

andtheconsultancy,asinthisallowstheusageofsoftwareatasimilarcomplexitylevel.

4.6.3 Leadership

Leadershipbyexampleandtheprojectmanagers’ownwillingnesstodrivethechange

aspartoftheselectionwasalsoidentifiedasasuccessfactor.Accordingtointerviewees,

thisbehaviourunderlines the importanceof theconsistentwayofworkingand thus

drivestheusageofthesoftware.Thisalsoincorporatestheabilitytoleadandconvince

theclient:

Itwasahugeefforttosellthis[theprojectmanagementsoftware]totheclient

andconvincepeopleofit.[…]it[thesoftware]wasalwayspushedandtheusage

was reinforced and today it has grown to this maturity level. This is also a

learning point for me for future projects, that this is a good investment.

(Participant8,ExpertProjectManager)

4.7 BarrierstotheSelectionProcess

Thissectiondescribesnegativeinfluencesonthesoftwareselectionprocess.

4.7.1 ResistancetoSoftware

Themostcommonbarrierintheselectiondescribedbyprojectmanagersinthisstudy

isresistancetocertainsoftwareproductsbyeithertheclientortheprojectteam.

Iadmiremypredecessoronmycurrentproject,whowithstoodthepressureon

shorttermsavingsandsetuptheplatformtoworkefficientlyinthelongrun.He

managedtoarguethatwiththeclient.Thiswassixyearsagoandeventhough

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peoplearestill jokingaboutthetoolingsometimes,everyonehasrealizedthat

theplatformisbringingalotofvalue.Evenbeyondourprojectalotofpeopleat

theclientnowhaveaccesstoitanduseitdaily.Thetimesinthebeginningwere

of course not easy though. Different stakeholders needed to be convinced.

(Participant8,ExpertProjectManager)

Asseeninthisexamplebyoneoftheinterviewees,thebarrierwastheresistancefrom

stakeholdersthattheprojectmanageratthattimeneededtoovercome.Accordingto

participants having experienced similar situations, this seems to be a common

occurrenceatthebeginningoftheprojectwhennewprojectmanagementsoftwareis

selected and introduced.Most interviewees, like in this example, value the positive

outcomehigherthanthechallengetoovercometheresistance.

4.7.2 EconomicLimitations

Anotheraspectthatseemstoimpacttheselectionisthelimitationofbudgetandtime.

“ThebiggestchallengeIencounteredsofarwasthepriceforthesoftware,sohowmuch

diditcost.”(Participant11,ExpertProjectManager).Costelementsidentifiedwerethe

license cost of software, the cost for setup and support of software and the lack of

availabletimetoadaptandintroducesoftware.Asthemajorityofparticipantsstated,

theseaspectsareoftenunderestimated.Onereasontheysawwasthatitwasoftennot

partofthebusinesscaseforaproject.Asaconsequence,theyoftensawtheselection

beingmadeinfavourofsoftwarealreadyavailable,whichinitiallyhasaverylowcost

foraproject.Thishoweveroftenleadtoincreasedeffortlaterintheproject:

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If even themost rudimentary collaboration results in substantial cost for the

client,youtrytoavoidtheseextracostsbecauseitisacompetitivedisadvantage

foryourself.Sothatmeansyoutrytogetaroundthatquestionoryouutilizeopen

sourcetoolingwhichisfreeofcharge,acceptingalltheotherproblems.Because

proposinganintegratedtoolingisoftenanextrasalespitchtotheclientandit

usuallyputsyouatadisadvantagetomakethedeal.[…]Becauseifaprogram

startsworkingonadistributednon-integrated,non-transparent,non-traceable,

non-collaborativeenvironmentandrunsintoissues,torepairthat,toturnaround

thatismassive.Becauseyouhavealltheprojectorprogramhistoryandtobring

all that into one integrated environment is almost undoable. (Participant 17,

ExpertProjectManager)

Asmentionedherethecostofmigratingthedataalreadygeneratedinexistingproject

managementsoftwareandintegratingthisonanewsoftwareproductwouldcausehigh

additionalefforts.Thisseemstobealimitingfactortochangingsoftware,especiallyfor

complexprojects:

Theissuewithlargecomplexprojects is,thatyoubuildupsomethingthatwill

stayforalongtime,asyouwillnormallynotswitchtoolinghalfwaythroughthe

project.Soyourdecisionshave long-termimpact.So,youneedto investmore

time in the beginning tomake sure you get it right. Rather think twice than

implementing the wrong tool, which then causes trouble on a daily basis.

(Participant6,ExpertProjectManager)

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4.7.3 TechnicalBarriers

Technicalaspectswerementionedasanegativefactorbyeightprojectmanagers.They

limitedthepotentialchoicesofsoftwareavailabletothemorprovideadditionalhurdles

fortheiruse.

Thegreatdisadvantagesof Sametime [an IBMmessenger software] in IBM is

thatinmycurrentprojectIamworkingwithpeoplefromclientorganizationsbut

alsoIBMandalsonon-IBMwhoaremoreorlesscontractorstoIBM,butwhodo

not have an IBM laptop. So, it is hard to communicate via IBM tooling.

(Participant5,SeniorProjectManager)

Thetechnicallimitationmentionedisrelatedtotheinternalenvironmentinwhichthe

software is runand that is not accessible to clients. This limitation seems to appear

specificallyduringthecollaborationwithclients. Itcanalsobetheotherwayaround

that consultants do not have any or only limited access to client resources that are

needed for the project. This is similar for situations that other project managers

experiencedaswell:

Ifyouworkforaclient,youdonotownthetechnicalenvironmentandcannot

make your own decisions. That is different when working within your own

company. At the client, you are depending on him in regard to access to the

network,canyouaccessitwithyourownlaptop,doyouhavelicensesandsuch.

SocurrentlyforexampletherearesoftwarerestrictionsinhavingtouseInternet

Explorerasitistheclientscompanystandard,whereaswenormallywoulduse

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Firefox.So,youneedtoswitchbetweenthesedependingonwhatyouaccessand

this can be quite annoying and takes time and effort. (Participant 8, Expert

ProjectManager)

In this case, license availability and compatibility of software was mentioned as a

potential.Also,theefficiencyisimpactedastheclientorganizationstandardsdeviate

fromthoseoftheconsultancyoftheprojectmanager.Otherintervieweesmentioned

thateventhoughtheclientorganizationusedthesamesoftware,sincetheywereusing

adifferentversiontheystillencounteredincompatibilitiesandneededtochangetoa

differentversion.

4.7.4 Processes

Asmentionedinthesectionon“Processes”asdrivers,itwillonlybementionedbriefly

here. As statedby interviewees, processes can also be barriers in case they are not

alignedbetweentheclientandtheconsultancyorincasetheyarenotadaptedtothe

software.

4.7.5 DataSecurityandPrivacy

Aconcernwithbusinessdataisthatofsecurity,whichwasmentionedbyfiveproject

managers in their software selection. It also seemed to disqualify publicly hosted

services for most purposes. An example of this was explained by the following

respondent.

SothatwasforaprojectinAustria,wheretheyrefusedtodosurveysinatool

outsideofAustria.So,theyneededtofollowlawsthatpreventedthemtocollect

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thisinformationoutsidetheirborders.Onanotherproject,wealsowantedtouse

our IBM box to collaborate, but the client did not want that. As there was

confidential information involved he said the data would need to be onsite.

(Participant4,ExperiencedProjectManager)

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4.8 SelectionCriteria

Selectioncriteriaareamoredetailedviewontheselectionprocessesandtheunderlyingconsiderations.Eachcriterioncanbebrokendown

intodifferentaspects.Toshowthelinkbetweencriteriaandaspects,theyarepresentedinthefollowingtable:

Criteria Aspects Evidence

Experienceand

Skill

Skilloftheteam Seechapter4sectionDrivers-Team

Experience of the project

manager

[…]iftheprojectmanagerisquiteskilledandhasgoodexperiencewith[…],heorshewilltendtousethesetoolsagainintheirnextprojects.(Participant7,ExpertProjectManager)

Cost Costoflicenses Ifyoudon’thavethesupportoryouneedtopaythesupportforit,itmightbebettertolookforasmallersizeversionthatyouaremoreabletohandle.(Participant14,SeniorProjectManage)Costofsupport

Standards Clientsstandards SometimesIBMdemandstoolstobeused,makingthemmandatory.[…]Sometimesyouhavetousethetoolthatthey[theclient]have.ThiscouldrangefrommailingtoolstoSharePoint,Jiraandthenyouhavetogoalongwiththat[…].(Participant10,SeniorProjectManager)

ITconsultancystandards

Project

Parameters

Size Ithinkthetypeofprojectshouldbeabigselectioncriterionforthetools.Soisitbigorsmall,butalsoisitwaterfallorisitagilebecauseforaprojectmanagerrunninganagileprojectisdoneina differentway so that also needs to be supported by the project and also if you conduct awaterfallproject.(Participant10,SeniorProjectManager)

Complexity

Methodology

Technology

DataSecurityand

Privacy

Requirements

Security Thepointaboutlineofvisibilityisreallyimportant.[…]Theclientshouldnotseeallthepitfallsand all the frustrated comments the people share in the tool. (Participant 2, Expert ProjectManager)

Visibilityofconfidentialdata

Integration Singleplatformwithmultiple

functionalities

So,ifIhavetheopportunitytochooseitmyself,thenIgoforaplatform,whichsupportsmeinorganizationalintegration,intechnicalintegrationandinplanningintegration,whichprovidesmewithtransparencyandcollaborationallatonce.(Participant17,ExpertProjectManager)Integratedw.othersoftware

Availabilityof

Data

Onlineavailability Otherthingsarebackupcapabilities, replicabilityandofflinecapabilities.Sothis issomethingthatoften speaks for LotusNotes, as you can replicateandworkon the train. Canexternalsaccess it? And if it is accessible via internet, is the solution still feasible for storing sensitiveinformation?(Participant6,ExpertProjectManager).

Offlineavailability

Backup

Table4-17:Criteria

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Criteria(continued) Aspects Evidence

Usability Easytouse Goodprojectmanagementsoftwareiseasytouse.(Participant1,ExpertProjectManager)Collaboration Working together in the

project

So,thecollaborationelementisimportantandeverybodyhasaccesstoallinformationandalldataandthatyoucancollaborateonthevarioustasksbeingperformed.(Participant17,ExpertProjectManager)

ClientRequirements Contractual and non-

contractualrequirements

So,therewasnothingtodiscuss,itwasacentraldecisionbythecustomercompany.Thiswillthenalsobeastandardforanycontractedpartiesthatworkforthem(Participant12,experiencedPM)

Time investment

needed

Quickavailability

Easytouse

So,toolyouwanttouseneedtobeavailablequicklyandpeopleneedtobeabletostartusingthemquicklybecausethereisalsonota lotoftimeforeducation.(Participant10,SeniorPM)

Agilecapabilities Supportsagilemethodology […]ifyouaregoingtousescrum,thengetaprojectmanagementtoolthatsupportsscrumandthatdoesnothaveadifferenttypeofterminology.(Participant10,SeniorPM)

Acceptance of the

software by team &

client

Usersacceptthesoftware Makesurethatthekeypersonsyouaredealingwithintheprojectarealsofinewithusingitandthereneedstobeacommonagreement.Otherwiseitisprobablyuselessifyouhavehighly sophisticated project management software and no one is willing to use it.(Participant2,ExpertProjectManager)

Flexibility Flexibility to adapt to PMs

needs

WeneededitmainlyforreportingpurposesandbecauseitwasanExcelitwasrathereasytocalculatethenumbersinanywayyouwanted.So,youweremoreflexible.(Participant16,ExperiencedProjectManager)

Functionality Functionality available to

coverprojectuse-cases

Seenextsectiononfunctionalities

Table4-18:Criteria(continued)

Thesecriteriawerementionedbytheintervieweesasrelevantfortheselectionofthesoftware.Thelastcriterionoffunctionalitywillbe

coveredingreaterdetailinthenextsection,asthereweremultipleuse-casesofrelevancethatwerementioned.

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4.9 Functionalities

Thissectiondetails the findingsonselectioncriteria thatare functionalities/areasofapplication forsoftware.Morethan30%of the

functionsmentionedareITrelated.ThesearelikelylinkedtotheresearchcontextofITconsulting.

Functionality Evidence

Traceability So,youcouldhaveaviewontherequirements,fromtheothertool,howtheywerelinkedtoyourdevelopmentactivities,howtheywerelinkedtoyourtestcases,toanydefectsduringatest.Soanintegrateddevelopmentenvironmenthelpsalotforknowingthestatusandwhereweareintheproject.Forclarity,soeverybodyknowswhattheyneedtoworkonandalsoforreporting.So,itisveryeasytoprovidereportsifthingsareveryintegratedandyouhavealmostareal-timestatusoftheproject.Soyes,integrationcanhelptremendously.(Participant10,SeniorProjectManager)

Planning&Monitoring Youalsoneedtocontroltheteam,thetime,andthedependencies.(Participant2,ExpertProjectManager)Repository Youshouldbeabletomanageyourplansandtasksinitanditshouldespeciallyhaveadocumentmanagementsystem.

Thisisoftenthebiggestpartofoutcomesthatyouproduce,maybebesidethecodeitself.Andthereisnothingworsethannotknowingwhichversionofadocumentcurrentlyistherightoneorwhoiscurrentlyworkingonit.Andthatisalsowhatmynumberoneexpectationofaprojectmanagementtoolwouldbe,istoaddressthis.(Participant15,SeniorPM)

Task & Work

Management

Theprojectmanagementtoolsformearejustthetoolstosupportyoutomanagetheproject,totrackworkortaskorwhateverisneededhere,ortherequirements,forexample.(Participant12,ExperiencedProjectManager)

Reporting Thisisprobablyaslightadvantagewithalesssophisticatedtool.Sothereportingwaseasiertogenerateinanyrequestedformat.(Participant16,ExperiencedProjectManager)

Financials Ofcourse,youalsoneedacalculationbasis.So,softwareshouldhaveafinancialaspectaswell.(Participant15,SeniorProjectManager)

Risks&Issues Also as project manager I am in charge of the project risk. So, this should also be in the software to support me.(Participant3,SeniorProjectManager)

Documentmanagement Thesemaynotbeseenasclassicalprojectmanagementtools,butyouneedtobegoodonalltheseMicrosoftproductstoexchangematerial.(Participant2,ExpertProjectManager)

Table4-19:Functionality

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Functionality(continued) Evidence

Collaboration Alsoforassigningpeopletocertainworkitemsiseasieronacentralizedtoolbecauseyoucanenternames,youcangivetaskdescriptions,duedates,startdates,emailgetssentoutandallthesethingsdon’thappenifyouuseExcelmanually.(Participant4,ExperiencedProjectManager)

Changemanagement Thenyouneedtoolsetsforformalthingslikeprojectchangerequestsandyouneedtocreateoffersaswell.(Participant2,ExpertProjectManager)

Test&TestManagement So,ifyouwanttodoyourproductmanagement,whyshouldyoudoitwithanothertoolifit’sintegratedontheplatformaswell? […]youhave thedevelopment, youhavebuildanddeployand testdirectlyon theplatform. (Participant12,ExperiencedProjectManager)

Build&Deploy

Development

ServiceManagement WhatIforgotareservicemanagementtoolswhereyouputinticketsaboutincidents,problems,changes,releasesandwhereyoucanextractreportsonamonthlybasetoseetheload,closingrateandthingslikethat.(Participant2,ExpertPM)

Requirements

Management

Weintroducedrequirementsmanagementandreleasemanagementnotonlyinregardtoourmethodologybutalsoinregardtooursoftware.Theclientwantedustobringinthisexpertise.(Participant5,SeniorProjectManager)

ReleaseManagement

Configuration

Management

Youdoyour configurationmanagementandyour incidentmanagementwith the tool. (Participant13, ExpertProjectManager)

Table4-20:Functionality(continued)

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ITConsulting

This section looks into further specifics about PM software in IT consulting. As all

participantsofthisstudywereprojectmanagersinITconsulting,someoftheaspects

mayalsobementionedintheothersectionsofthischapter.

4.9.1 CollaborationwiththeClient

One aspect that was mentioned by the majority of interviewees is the need for

collaboration:

He[theprojectmanager]shouldseethathecanmanagetasks,risks,problems,

andresources,havetherightpeopleavailableandbeabletokeeptheschedule

intheprojectmanagementsoftware.Andthisshouldbedonetogetherwiththe

clientinonetool.Ihavealwayshadgoodexperiencetoworktogetherwiththe

clientandnotagainsteachotherandsoalsouseatoolforstoringdocuments

collaboratively.(Participant15,SeniorProjectManager)

Thus,thesoftwareisseenasabasisforcollaboration,asdifferentprojectmanagement

activities can be supported by software. In this example, tasks, risks, problems and

resources are mentioned. More aspects and an overview of the functionalities

mentioned by other participants will be summarized in a separate section on

functionalitiesofPMsoftware.Anotherprojectmanagermadethefollowingstatement,

whichalsogivesoptionsforcollaborationthroughsoftware:

Wehaveverygoodtools toworkwithandthemore Iseeusmovingtowards

clouditbecomesevenbetterbecauseyoucanthenstarttoshareitwithexternal

clientsandexternalco-workers.Asanexample,IBMboxisavailabletoeveryone

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in IBM. Or Cloud Connections is something you can use with co-workers.

(Participant4,ExperiencedProjectManager)

Hespecificallymentionedcloudtechnologyandsoftwarehostedthroughcloudasbeing

anenablerforcollaborationacrosscompanies.Thoughtsonsoftwarethatcanbeused

inthecontextofclientcollaborationwasacommonthemeamongparticipants:

ThegreatdisadvantageofSametimeinIBMisthat inmycurrentproject Iam

workingwithpeoplefromclientorganizations,butalsoIBMandalsonon-IBM

whoaremoreorlesscontractorstoIBM,butwhodonothaveanIBMlaptop.So,

it ishard tocommunicatevia IBMtooling.Therefore,wehavedecided touse

Slack instead,so it ispossibletousethistoolingand integrate intoJiraorout

fromJira,butalsodothechatting.(Participant5,SeniorProjectManager)

4.9.2 LimitedStandardization

Elevenparticipantsmentionedtheaspectofstandardization.

[…]aboutthemethodologyIknow,thatwehaveanoverallone,butthenforthe

different industries we have a different adaptedmethodology. This is what I

meanwithtoomanytoolsandtoomanyoptions.Itwouldbemuchbetterwith

onetoolforeverybody,sosayingthisiswhatitisandthisishowheorsheuses

it.Theyjustfollowit. Ithoughtofitalwaysasadisadvantageforus,withthe

largevariety.(Participant16,ExperiencedProjectManager)

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Though the interviewee expressed his wish for a standardized way of conducting

projectsandusingsoftware,herealizedtheneedfordifferentiation.Thisisalsoshared

byotherprojectmanagersinterviewed:

Yes,asweareoftenrestrictedbytherequirementsthatourclientshavetowards

software,soitcanbedifficultfollowingcompanystandards,asthesemaynotbe

valid to the client. So, if I wouldwork for a non-consulting company Iwould

assume Iwouldworkwitha company standard. (Participant3, SeniorProject

Manager)

So, IBM tries this quite often to establish a standardized toolset, but this is

normallynotsuccessfulbecauseofthediversityofprojectsweconductandthe

many different clients we work for who are all different in some regards.

(Participant6,ExpertProjectManager)

Wellthereisonekeydifferencethatwhenworkingwithinonecompanyyoucan

define your own standards. You have your in-house software, reporting and

processes.Thisisalsoalignedacrossprojects.Thisisnotthecasewhenworking

withclients.Theresomethingsareavailable,butweoftenneedtoalignourand

theirmethodologyandsoftware.(Participant8,ExpertProjectManager)

Alltheseintervieweesidentifiedstandardizationasameanstosimplifytheselectionof

projectmanagementsoftwareanditsapplicationinprojects.However,thenecessityof

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anITconsultanciestohavetoworkwithdifferentclientsandtheresultingdependency

onclientsoftwaredistinguishfromtheenvironmentwithinaregularcompany.

4.9.3 AligningStatusReporting

Eight intervieweesmentioned status reporting as being different in IT consulting in

contrasttoworkingwithinoneorganization:

We’ve been in situations sometimes in SAP projects where the worst case

happenswhereourcompanyhasonewayofreportingdefectsandthecustomer

has a second way of reporting defects. If those reports don’t match it is a

nightmare. Youare suddenly discussing the differences andwhere they come

fromandeachpartyisquestioningthevalidityofthedataoftheotherparty.It

is terrible. Unfortunately, it happens very often. (Participant 13, Experienced

ProjectManager)

Ontheotherside,theyhavetheirreportingwhichweneedtofeedinformation

andthatwehavetoadhereto.So,thestructureofastatusreportneedstobe

according to the clients wishes. So, getting the status information, handling

processeslikeriskandsuch,thoseshouldbestandardizedinoursoftware,but

thewaythestatusisrepresentedshouldbeadaptedtotheclient.(Participant8,

ExpertProjectManager)

Thedifferenceinmethodologyandsoftwarethusoftenleadstoadditionaleffortand

potentialcommunicationissuesintheproject.Tomitigatethis,participantssuggested

toadaptthereportingtotheclientsreportingasinthisexample.Ingeneral,differences

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inmethodologyandsoftwarebetweentheclientandtheconsultancy,providingstatus

reportscanbechallenging.Thus,thisneedstobealignedbetweentheorganizations.

4.9.4 TechnicalRestrictions

Technicalrestrictionswerealsoaconsiderationforparticipants:

So,youshouldberesponsibleforselectingthetoolsthatyouthinkyouneed.But

alsofromclientsidetherecanberestrictionstowhattheyalreadyhaveorwhat

toolsyouneedtointegratewithorinterfacewith.Alsoontheclientsideitismuch

moredynamic.Youcanfindanytoolataclient.Itwilltakealotmoretimetofind

thecorrecttoolsbecauseyouneedtoadjusttotheclientsituation.(Participant

10,SeniorProjectManager)

Thisstatementagainmentionsthediversityofthesoftwarefoundacrossdifferentclient

organizations, but also brings up the additional challenge of integration. Another

intervieweeportrayedthischallengeincombinationwiththeaspectofworkinginanIT-

specificcontext:

Whatisdifferent[incontrasttoothersectors]isthatinITconsultingtheresults

is softwareaswell.Ourwork resultsarealso ina configurationmanagement

tool,which isalsoprojectmanagementsoftware inthewidercontext.WhenI

buildaship,Icandothedesigninthesoftware,buttheshipisbuiltphysically.IT

iscreatedwithinthetools.(Participant6,ExpertProjectManager)

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AnotherintervieweedescribedthisaspectofwhatsoftwareinthesenseofITproject

managementencompassesasfollows:

The project management system is usually not only the pure project

managementitisthesolutionlifecycle,soitstartsfromtherequirementsangel

throughthedevelopmentpartthroughthetestingthroughtherunpart.[…]So,

projectmanagementtoolsneedtosupporttheentirelandscape.(Participant17,

ExpertProjectManager)

This technical challenge on the need for integration for software the project

managementandotherITrelatedfunctionsseemstobeanadditionalchallengeinclient

environments:

Therearealso technicalaspects. If youwork fora client, youdonotown the

technical environment and cannotmake your owndecisions. That is different

whenworkingwithinyourowncompany.Attheclient,youaredependingonhim

inregardtoaccesstothenetwork,canyouaccessitwithyourownlaptop,do

youhavelicensesandsuch.[…]Withexternalparties,licensemanagementcan

besomethingthatcreatesadditionalcomplexityinserviceprojectswithmultiple

companiesinvolved.(Participant8,ExpertProjectManager)

TheseexcerptsshowthatinITconsultancyprojects,projectmanagementsoftwareis

oftenusedinconjunctionwithITsoftwarethatinterfaceswithit.Thissoftwarestack,

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whichisoftendifferentbetweenclientandconsultancyorganizations,shouldideally

beintegratedbetweenthetwo.Thisoftenposessignificantchallengestotheproject.

4.9.5 WorkingwiththirdParties

ITconsultanciesoftenworktogetherwithotherserviceprovidersthattheirclientshave

contracted. This can lead to specific challenges that also reach the area of project

managementsoftware.

InITconsulting,youhaveanaddedcomplexityasyouyourselfarenormallynot

theonlyserviceprovider.Currentlywehaveatleast10-15differentconsultancies

involved,manyofwhicharesmallerones.Andallofthemhavetheirownculture,

using different software products and aligning all those as one of the

consultanciesworking for the client is very difficult. As a client, you have the

authoritytorequestcertainthingsfromthem,butas“justanother”consultancy,

ifyouwanttochangethings,theywilljustchallengeyourauthority.So,youneed

notonlytoconvincetheclient,butalsotheotherexternalpartiesinvolved.This

is another level that needs to be addressed. As a client, you are still the

organizationpayingandthushavealargersayinhowthingsaredone.So,we

canasktheclienttoconvincehisotherconsultancies,butthatalsodependson

howtheclientmanagestheirsuppliersandhowmuchhewantstogetinvolved

inthesediscussions.Butthemorepartiesthemoredifficult itgets.Somemay

evenworkagainstyoubehindyourbackasyouaresometimesinacompetition.

(Participant8,ExpertProjectManager)

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Thus,resistancefromdifferentserviceprovidersisanotherlayerofcomplexityresulting

fromtheinvolvementofthosedifferentpartiesintheenvironmentandtheconsultancy

justbeingoneofthemamongequals.Thisinconjunctionwiththeelementofpolitics

and competitionmakes a standardized approachmoredifficult andmay lead to the

question,whereitissensibleandtowhatdegree.

Finding:Collaborationwith other consultancies and potential competitors for thesameclientcanmakeselectingastandardizedsoftwaremoredifficult.

4.10 TheImportanceofProjectManagementSoftwareSelection

A last finding thatwas common to14 interviews,was thatparticipants stressed the

importanceofthetopicofsoftwareselection.Eightmentionedhadnotreflectedonthe

topictothedegreethattheydidthroughtheinterview.Anexemplarycommentwas

givenbythisparticipant:

WellIrealizedthatthisisquiteanimportantpartoftheprojectsetup.Normally

it is done more on the side, but I just realized through the questions how

importantthisis.So,itisrelevanttotheprojectsuccessinregardsthatifyoudo

notpayattentiontoitorfindagoodsolutionyouwilllosetimelater,havetodo

additionalworkorhavebadquality.So, it is importanttohaveafocusonthe

softwareselection.(Participant6,ExpertProjectManager)

4.11 Summary

Thischapterhasprovidedexcerptsofthedatagatheredfrominterviewswithproject

managersinITconsulting.Thefindingswereidentifiedandgroupedthroughthematic

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analysis and structured primarily according to the research questions that were

developedintheliteraturereview:

RQ1:What is theprocessemployedbyprojectmanagers in IT consultingonproject

managementsoftware?

RQ2:Whatarethekeyconsiderationsforprojectmanagerswithintheprocess?

RelatingtoRQ1,projectmanagers’opinionsontheselectionprocesswithits’drivers

andbarriersweresummarized.ToprovideinformationinrelationtoRQ2,thecriteria

andfunctionalitiesweresynthesizedfromthedata.Theseaspectswillnowbediscussed

intheiracademicandtheirpracticalcontextinchapterfive.

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Chapter5: Discussion

5.1 Introduction

In the previous chapter, the findings from the interviews conducted as part of this

research have been pointed out. Thus, it is now time to put them into context and

discuss their implicationon literatureandpractice.Thiswill complete thepreviously

outlinedresearchstructurebyprovidingtheresultsofthisstudy,asdiscussedinchapter

two:

Figure5-1:ResearchStructure

Thediscussionwillfirstverifytheworkingdefinitionofprojectmanagementsoftware

toensureacommonunderstanding.Secondlyitwilldevelopanunderstandingofthe

selectionprocessandcreateastagedprocessguide.Throughareviewoftheunderlying

Aim Objectives ResearchQuestions ResultsProvideanoverviewofliteraturerelevanttothefieldofproject

management softwareselectioninITconsulting

Gainanunderstandingofthephenomenonofprojectmanagementsoftwareselectioninpracticefromthe

perspectiveofprojectmanagers

DevelopguidanceforprojectmanagersinITconsultingaroundkeyconsiderationsintheselectionprocessofprojectmanagement

software

Whatarethekeyconsiderationsforprojectmanagerswithintheprocess?

Examinethekeyconsiderationsfor

projectmanagersinthesoftwareselection

process

Whatistheprocessemployedbyproject

managers inITconsultingfortheselectionofproject

managementsoftware?

Definedthroughthediscussioninchapterfive.

Examinethekeyconsiderationsintheselectionofproject

management softwareinITconsultingfromtheprojectmanagers’

perspective

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criteria,thekeyconsiderationsofprojectmanagerswillbeunveiled.Finally,theimpact

ofthesectorofITconsultingonthisstudywillbediscussedinmoredetail.

Inthefindingschapter,theviewsoftheintervieweesontopicsrelatedtotheresearch

were synthesized. Theywere clustered in alignmentwith the research questions as

developed from the literature and the developing themeswere shown to provide a

glanceattheareasthatthediscussionwillpickupon.Thefollowingdiagramprovides

anoverviewofthedifferenttopicsthatwerecovered.

Figure5-2:FindingsSummary

Theaimofthediscussionchapteristopresenttheoutcomesofthestudyandtheideas

derivedfromthem.Thefollowingdiagramshowshowthefindingshavebeenalignedto

theresearchobjectivesasabasisforthediscussionchapter:

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Figure5-3:DiscussionStructure

Thefirstaimofthisdiscussionistounderstandwhatisprojectmanagementsoftware

as seen in practice and how this compares to theory. Thus, it reviews the basic

terminologyunderlyingthisthesis.Whatisprojectmanagementsoftwareandwhatisa

projectmanagementtool?Basedonacomparisonbetweenliteratureandthefindings

fromthepreviouschapter,thereareimplicationstoresearchthatwillbeelaborated.

Then the key research question that lies at the heart of this research project will

reviewed. The findings gathered on the selection process will be interpreted and

structuredtogenerateanoverallunderstandingoftheprocessinitslargercontext.The

aimistoidentifyastructureforthisprocess,whichisdraftedintoa6-stagedprocess

guide.Thisprocessguideissupportedbyguidancederivedfromthedriversandbarriers

identified. This is supported by the selection criteria, which will be discussed and

synthesizedintoachecklisttohelpprojectmanagersconsideringtheimportantaspects

ofthedecision.Theoutcomeofthissectionwillnotonlycontainthekeycontribution

thisstudymakestotheory,butalsoguidanceforpractitioners.

Also, the specifics of the selection process in the sector of IT consulting will be

summarized.Importantelementsdiscussedhereprovideadifferentiatedviewonthe

roleofclientandhispotentialinvolvement,dependenciesonthecontractandtherole

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ofIT.Afterthesekeytopicshavebeencovered,thediscussionwillbesummarizedand

framed through limitations that apply to the statements made and any knowledge

uncovered. An assessment in regard to future research will follow in chapter 6 -

Conclusion.

5.2 WhatistheWorkingDefinitionofProjectManagementSoftware?

Thefindingsshedsomelightonwhatprojectmanagementsoftwareisbasedonproject

managers’perspectives.Twoaspectswillbereviewedonthis.Firstly,thediscussionon

terminologyandthetermssoftwarevs.toolinthiscontextwillbeconcluded.Secondly,

practitionersmentionedvaryingscopeofprojectmanagementsoftware,ascanbeseen

from the list of functionalities to be considered in the selection process. Thus, it is

sensiblecometoanunderstandingofperspectives.

5.2.1 Terminology

Thefollowingquestionwasdevelopedthroughtheliteraturereview:

Aim:Provideclarificationoftheterminologyinthecontextofprojectmanagementbyinvestigatingpractitionerspointofview.

Aspartoftheinvestigation,theauthorwantedtogainanunderstandingofthewords

usedtodescribeprojectmanagementsoftwareortool,asallfurtherdiscussionwillbe

basedon theunderlying terminology. In the literature, researchers implieddifferent

meaningswhenusing the term.Fromthe interviews, itwas found that15outof17

practitionersusedthetermsinterchangeably.Thisshowsthatthereseemstobesome

disconnectbetweenacademicliteratureandpracticeinregardtothedefinition.Dueto

thenatureofqualitativeresearch,thisshouldnotbetakenasageneralizabledefinition,

butwouldneedtobeverifiedindifferentcontexts.However,itshowstheimportance

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oftheapproachtakeninthisstudyofpredefiningtheterminology,butthenverifyingit

withpractitioners.

Projectmanagement isa fieldwhereresearchstudiessocialphenomenatogenerate

knowledgeandsubsequentlyinformandhopefullyimprovethepracticewithinthefield.

Definitionsasapplied inpracticeshouldalsobeappliedtoacademiawheresuitable.

Thiswouldcontributetotheexchangebetweenpracticeandresearchandthushelpto

maintain amore collaborative development of both, as theywould apply the same

terminology. Inaddition,anyempirical researchconductedonthematterof toolsor

softwareneedstoconsciouslyaddressterminologicaldifferencestoensuretheaccuracy

ofthedatagathered.Asprojectmanagementisoftenappliedsector-specific,itwould

alsobeimportanttoverifytheusageofdifferentdefinitionsindifferentsectorsthrough

futureresearch,asfurtherdiscussedinthenextchapter.

5.2.2 TheScopeofProjectManagementSoftware

As part of the literature review, it became apparent that there was no unanimous

definitionamongacademicsofwhatqualifiesasprojectmanagementsoftware.

Aim:Provideclarificationonthescopeofprojectmanagementsoftware.

Fromtheinterviewsitbecameclear,thattheviewofpractitionersalsowidelyvaries.

Whilesomeviewedprojectmanagementsoftwareassoftwarethatsupportstheclassic

projectmanagementactivities, thewidestdefinitionsencompassedall software that

wasusedtoconductanITproject.Bothgroupslinkedthescopeofprojectmanagement

totheresponsibilitiesoftheroleoftheprojectmanager.Thegroupthatarguedthat

onlysoftwaredirectlyrelatedtoclassicprojectmanagementactivitieswouldqualifyas

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project management software, saw the project manager as being more narrowly

focusedonprojectmanagement.Therationalegivenbythesecondgroupwas,thatall

softwareintheprojectispartoftheprojectmanagersresponsibilityandneedstotie

into his project management system. This is aligned with the scope of application

lifecycle software found in the IT sector, which encompasses both IT and project

managementcapabilitiesinasinglesystem(Kääriäinen&Välimäki,2009).Thecommon

themeandpotentiallyabetterinterpretationisthatprojectmanagementsoftwareis

software, that supports the projectmanager by providing himwith information and

functionalitiesrelevanttohisrole.Whilethiscouldencompassawidearrayofsoftware,

italsobroadenstheperspectivetheprojectmanagerneedstotakewhenconsidering

how he leverages software. As the findings showed the importance of gaining

informationacrossdifferentsystems, thisseemstobeasensibleapproach.Thisalso

substantiatestheneedforguidancethroughoutthisprocess.

5.3 TheSoftwareSelectionProcess

Thissoftwareselectionprocessisthecentralelementwithinthisresearch.Thissection

isbasedonthekeyresearchquestioninrelationtoitthataimstogivetheperspective

oftheprojectmanager.

Aim:What is the process employed by projectmanagers in IT consulting for theselectionofprojectmanagementsoftware?

Theinterviewshaveprovidedanunderstandingofthedifferentaspectsthroughoutthe

selectionprocessfromtheviewofprojectmanagers.Thesewillbereviewedandput

intocontextheretocreateamoreholisticviewontheprocessofsoftwareselection.

Throughtherefinementofthekeyfindings,aprocessguideisconstructedthatcanbe

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exemplaryofasoftwareselectionprocess.Itprovidesageneralunderstandingofthe

phenomenonofsoftwareselectionfromtheprojectmanagersperspective.Itcanalso

beusedasguidancebyprojectmanagers.

Thus,thissectionwillprovideinsightsinto:

- Whatstepsaretakenintheprocess?Whichdependenciesexist?- Whoisinvolvedintheprocess?Whatrolesarerelevanttotheselectionand

how?- Whatselectioncriteriacanbedistilledfromthefindings?- Howdodriversandbarriersimpacttheselectionprocessandhowcantheybe

utilized?- Whatwouldaframeworkbasedontheprocessasresearchedfrompractice

looklike?- Similarly,whatcouldachecklistforapplicationinpracticelooklike?

Figure5-4depictstheseareasofinterestaroundthesoftwareselectionprocess,that

weresynthesizedfromthefindings.

Figure5-4:SelectionProcessElements

As seen in the figure, the software selection process contains and links to different

elements.Itconsistsofactivities,whicharerelatedtotherolesinvolvedwithinthem.

Throughouteachactivitytherearealsodifferentdriversandbarrierstoconsider.Inthe

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different phases of the process, the selection criteria and especially specific

functionalitieswillalsoneedtobeincorporated.Alltheseelementswillbeutilizedto

createaprocessguidancewithinthischapter.

5.3.1 ProcessOverviewandActivities

The process of software selection is comprised of different activities. To better

understandthem,itwasdecidedtodiscussthemandutilizethemtocreateaprocess

guide from the findings uncovered through this study. It will be comprised of the

differentstagesthroughouttheprocess,bycompilingthekeyconsiderationsaspointed

outinthelastchapter.Theprocessguidewillbedefinedwithafocusontheroleofthe

projectmanager as this is the central responsible role in projectmanagement. The

processguidewillbeakeytoolinunderstandingthesoftwareselectionasinvestigated

bythisresearchproject.

5.3.2 TimeoftheSelection

Thefirstaspecttonotefromaprocessperspectiveiswhentheselectionprocesstakes

place.Thisdefines the timeanydecisionsare taken.As intervieweesmentioned the

negativeimpactthatalatechangeinprojectmanagementsoftwarehasontheproject,

beginning activities around the software selection process should be a conscious

decision.BeforeaprojectisdeliveredbyanITconsultancy,thesolutionisdefinedina

proposal phase and then this approach is formalized and agreed between the

consultancy and the client through a contract. Interviewees pointed out that the

proposalphase isoften the timeduringwhich theapproach toprojectmanagement

softwareisdecidedon.Fromthisitcanbearguedthatitshouldalsobethetime,during

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whichmostsoftwareselectionactivitiesneedtobeconducted.Thisisevenmorecritical

asparticipantsmentionedthelimitingeffectofcost.Thisisinlinewiththeimportance

thatRaymondandBergeronattributedtoprojectbudgetwhenresearchingtheusage

of software on projects (2008). So any efforts and licenses required throughout the

processshouldbecalculatedaspartofthebudgetbeforethecontractissigned.While

thisapproachcouldleadtoacostincreaseintheinitialcalculation,thefindingssuggest

thatthiswillbeoutweighedbythelong-termbenefitsofadequatelyselectedproject

management software. Following the assessment of Pellerin et al. (2013), the

subsequentlyhigherutilizationofsoftwraewilllikelycontributetotheoverallproject

success.

Thebasisforthecalculationistheknowledgeoftheapproachtoprojectmanagement

softwareandanyactivitiesrelatedtoit.Tovisualizethis,thefirststageoftheprocess

guidewascreated:

Figure5-5:SelectionProcessGuideStageone

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5.3.3 GatheringInformation

Basedonparticipants’responses,projectmanagersoftenneedtogatherinformation

aboutthesoftwaretobeabletotakeaninformeddecision.Sourcesforthisinformation

mentionedweremainlypeersorthesoftwareitself.Itwouldberecommendabletolook

beyondthataswellandutilizeexistingliteratureandresearch.Athirdaspectistoutilize

project management trainings, which can enhance practitioners capabilities as

Robertson(2015)pointsout.Astheprocessofsoftwareselectionisnotfocusedona

single tool, it would be important to note that any means of gathering further

informationandadviceshouldbelinkedtodevelopingabroaderperspective.Thiscan

be seen as crucial to understand the complexities of the decision process and the

consequencesofsoftwaredecisionsontheprojectitself.Thisprovidesthesecondstage

inbuildingtheprocessguide:

Figure5-6:SelectionProcessGuideStagetwo

5.3.4 PreparingtheDecisionProcess

Once a general understanding of the necessities of software selection has been

acquired,itissensibletofocusonpreparingthedecision.Asthisstudyhasshownthere

isamultitudeofdimensionstiedtothedecisionpoint.Onekeyaspectthathasbeen

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mentionedrepeatedlyisthatofinvolvingfutureuserstodrivesoftwareusage,butalso

aspractitionersrecommendedtoutilizetheknowledgeofotherexpertsontheteam.

Thus,therolesandrespectivelythecandidatestofurtherinvolveintheselectionneed

to be defined. Furthermore, the information gathered in the previous step of the

selectionprocesscannowbesynthesizedintopotentialoptionsandalternatives.This

wouldprovideadirectionforthediscussionwithdifferentrolesthatistobeexpected

priortothedecision.Finally,itwasnotedduringmultipleinterviewsthatcostandeffort

forimplementingprojectmanagementsoftwareareconstraintsinalmosteveryproject.

Thismeansthattheprojectmanagerneedstounderstandtheselimitationsatthispoint

intime,asitwillinfluencetheoptionsavailabletohimandhisteaminregardtofuture

decisions.Considering these threecomponentsenhances theconceptualmodelbya

thirdstep:

Figure5-7:SelectionProcessGuideStagethree

Asitwasoneofthekeyargumentsmade,itissensibletoinvestigateabitmoreonthe

roleofdrivingsoftwareusagethroughuserinvolvement,anapproachsimilartotheidea

ofself-directionthatisappliedinagileprojectmanagementaspromotedbyWysocki

(2012).Tobeabletostructureit,oneneedstounderstandwhichrolesareofrelevance

totheselectionprocess.ThisisespeciallytrueinthecontextofanITconsultingproject,

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as this may mean there are sector-specific roles to consider which may not be of

relevance in other projects. Further details on usage, user involvement and roles is

providedinthefollowingsubsections.

5.3.4.1 DrivingSoftwareUsagethroughInvolvement

Thebenefitofsoftwareislimitedbytheamountitisused(Participant7,Participant10).

Thisconfirmsstatementsfoundintheliteratureontheimportanceofusagetowards

impactofsoftware(Raymond&Bergeron,2008).WhileRaymondandBergeronmainly

identifiedusageashavingapositiveimpactonbenefitsthatprojectsgainfromsoftware,

the interviewsunveiledfurther informationonhowto influencesoftwareusage.The

findingshighlightedtheimportanceoftheusers.Involvingandinformingtheusersof

thesoftwareseemedaprimaryconcernformostprojectmanagerstodrivesoftware

usage. Interviewees specifically mentioned the positive influence on the teams’

acceptanceandusageofsoftwarebasedontheirinvolvementinthedecisionprocess.

From the project managers’ perspective, this could mean to define the level of

involvementforgroupsandindividualsbasedontheirroleinrelationtothesoftware.

This will require additional planning by the project manager, which means an

investmentofhistime.Toincreasetheefficiencyofthisprocess,thefollowingsections

giveguidanceontherolestoinvolve.

5.3.4.2 RolesinthePMSoftwareSelectionProcess

Onekeyaspectfoundfromtheinterviewswasthatofinvolvingtheusersofthesoftware

in the selection process. To understand the rationale, one should first look at how

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involvementintheselectionprocessisseeninregardtousageofthesoftwareandthe

benefitsderivedforaproject.

5.3.4.3 AnOverviewoftherelevantRoles

Basedonthefindingsonrolesandinvolvementofdifferentstakeholders,anoverview

wascreateddepictingtheroleswhichcouldbeofrelevancetotheselectionprocess

basedonthedatagatheredfrompractitioners.Allrolesmentionedshouldalsobeseen

aspotentialusersoftheprojectmanagementsoftware,astheideaofinvolvingdifferent

rolesisrelatedtotheconceptofutilizingittodrivesoftwareusage.

Thefollowingtableshowstherolesderivedfromthefindingsandadefinitionofitinthe

contextofITconsulting.

Role DescriptionProjectManager Theroleleadingtheproject,couldpotentiallyalsosubproject

managerorprogrammanager.Shouldhaveauthoritytotakedecisionsonprojectmanagementsoftware.

ProfitandlossOwner The person financially responsible within the consultancyorganizationforthebusinessbenefitsoftheproject.

ClientStakeholder(s) Stakeholder(s)fromtheclientorganization.TeamLeads Inlargerprojects,partsoftheprojectaregroupedintoteams

andmanagedbyteamleadsorsubprojectmanagers.LeadITArchitect TheroleinchargeoftheITarchitecture.LeadDeveloper Theroleinchargeofthedevelopmentteamandprocesses.TestManager Theroleinchargeofthetestteamandprocesses.InfrastructureLead Theroleinchargeoftheprojects’ITinfrastructure.ProjectTeam Theprojectteam.

Table5-1:OverviewofRoles

The role of client stakeholder is more abstract in this context, as within the client

organizationtherewillalwaysbedifferentrolesaswell.Thiswillbeelaboratedinthe

sectiononclientinvolvement.Therolesmentionedherecanalsobepartoftheactivities

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occurring throughout the selectionprocess.Though theymayalreadybepartof the

discussion about software selection at an earlier stage, the stepwhere the decision

process is prepared would be the latest recommendable stage to take a conscious

decisionofwhotoinvolve.Oneaspecttotakeintoconsiderationatthispointisalsothe

projectsize,assmallerprojectsmayallowamoregeneralinvolvementwhereasinlarge

projects,thegroupofinvolvedrolesmayneedtobelimitedforpracticalreasons.This

isshowninthefollowingtable:

ProjectTeam TeamLeads Client ProjectManager

SmallProject Involveusers Involveusers Involvementdepends onprojectcontext

Facilitates theprocessortakesthedecision

LargeProject Informusers Involveusers Involvementdepends onprojectcontext

Facilitates theprocessortakesthedecision

Table5-2:InvolvedGroupsandRoles

The following sections should provide some clarity to the project manager on the

potentialinclusionofrolesandstakeholdersattimesoftheselectionprocess.Further

decisionswill likely situational, though theymayneed tobemadebasedonaspects

outlineinthefollowingdiscussion.

5.3.4.4 TeamInvolvement

Different strategies can be derived from this. Building on the strong tendency of

participantstoinvolvetheteamandthebeneficialinfluenceontheoutcomefoundby

researchers(DeDreu&West,2001),projectmanagersmaywanttofollowthisapproach

toasensibledegree.Thefindingsindicatethatinsmallprojectsthismightbetheentire

teamwhereasinlargeprojectsonlyteamleadsmaybeinvolvedinthedecisionprocess

directly. It can be reasoned, that involving too many people in the selection could

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lengthen the decision process unnecessarily. As the data points out, most projects

struggle from time pressure and thus the level of involvement needs to balance

efficiencyandlong-termbenefits.Fromtheanalysis,itcanbearguedthatthepartof

theteaminvolvedshouldbelimitedtoactualusersofthesoftware.Theotherapproach

thatfewparticipantsrecommendedwasfortheprojectmanagertotakethedecision

onhisown,whichseemedtomainlybebasedonpractical reasons.While thissaves

time, the argumentsmade indicate this could have a negative long-term impact on

usage. As participants of this study unanimously agreed, once a decision is taken, it

needstobecommunicatedwiththeteamtoincreasethelevelofacceptance.

Claim: It is supported through this study, that usage of software drives its’contribution to success,asclaimedbyRaymondandBergeron (2008).Thecurrentstudy shows furthermore that fromaprojectmanagers’ perspective, theusageofprojectmanagement software is a desired result of the selection process. Fromaprojectmanagers’perspective,theprocesscanbefosteredbyinvolvingthoseteammembersinthedecisionprocess,whowillbefutureusersofthesoftware.

Building on this finding, it wouldmake sense for future research to investigate the

aspectofuserinvolvementfromtheteamfurthertounderstandtheirperceptionofthe

selectionprocess.Thiscouldmeanreviewingtheirperceivedexpectationsandbenefits

aswellasmotivationalfactorsconsideringprojectmanagementsoftwareusage.AsIT

projectsoftenrequireothersoftwaretoconducttheprojectaswell, itwouldalsobe

interestingtoseetheirviewonintegrationofthesoftware.

Asecondaspectwouldbetoverifytheinvolvementofusersfromtheteaminregardto

the quantitative impact on projects success. This would allow to anticipate what a

worthwhileeffortwouldbeforprojectmanagerstoinvolvetheirteamsincomparison

tothebenefitsthatcouldbeexpected.

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5.3.4.5 ClientInvolvement

Thesecondroleidentifiedwasthatoftheclient.Someprojectmanagersdidnotseekto

involvetheclientintheselection.Thereasonsbehindthatseemedtoagainbelinkedto

practicalityandlackofarationaletodoso.Intheothercases,clientinvolvementwas

arguedinthesamewaythatteaminvolvementwas.Theaimwastodriveusageofthe

software, in this case by client users. Depending on the nature of the project, the

necessityfortheclienttousethesoftwareorbeactivelyinvolvedintheprojectoverall

seemedtobeseendifferently.Someparticipantsstatedthatthedegreeofcollaboration

dependedonthetypeofcontract.Contracttypeshavebeendiscussedinthegeneral

contextofITprojects(Franklin,2008;Gopal&Sivaramakrishnan,2008)andtheinsight

intotheir relevance in ITconsultingwillbedetailedthroughthisstudy.Twotypesof

contractweredifferentiated:Fixedpricecontracts, inwhich theconsultancy ismore

autonomous and time and material contracts, which focused more on client

collaboration. This has different implications for the approach towards software

selection depending on each contract type. So,what are the aspects to consider in

contextofthecontractbasedonthepreviousfindings?

Fixedpricecontract:

- Noorlittleclientinvolvement- Thismeanslittlecollaboration- Highlevelofresponsibilityoftheconsultancy- Noorlittleneedforusageofsoftwarebytheclient- Noinvolvementintheselectionprocess

Time&materialcontract

- Clientpersonnelisdirectlyinvolvedintheproject- Strongcollaborationwiththeclient- Needforusageofsoftwarebytheclient- Involvementintheselectionprocess

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This general distinction has been derived from the findings and indicates the

implicationsofeachcontracttype.Thereareothervariantsofthistopic,forexample

projectswheretheclientinvolvementgoesuptothelevelthattheITconsultancyonly

providesprojectmembersand theproject is runandmanagedby the client. Sucha

scenariowouldbemanagedbytheprojectmanagerof theclient.Thoughtheclaims

made in this studymay apply in such cases as well, this would need to be verified

throughfurtherresearch.

Asthefindingssuggest,thecontractseemstoinfluencethelevelofcollaboration,which

theninturndeterminesthepotentialbenefitsaprojectcanderivefromusageofthe

softwarebytheclient.Thus,itseemssensibletoestimatethatthedecisionwhetherto

involvetheclientshouldpartiallybebasedontheformofcontract.Onemayhowever

bemindful,asthecontracttypeisnottheonlyindicationoftheneedforcollaboration.

Onekeyaspectwouldbethescopeoftheproject.Anyformoftechnicalintegrationwith

existingsystemswouldbeanexample,wherecollaborationwould likelybe required

regardlessofcontracttype.

Additionally,thefindings indicatedtheneedforthealignmentofsoftware,reporting

and processes across collaborating organizations. An assumption would be that the

degree to which this is necessary varies with the level of interaction between the

companies. Such a task can be seen as similar to process and IT alignment within

organizationsingeneral.Similarphenomenaonprocessalignmentinsinglecompanies

havebeendescribedbyBabar,BrownandMistrík(2013).Similarly,suchanendeavour

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wouldlikelyrequiretheapplicationofpracticesfoundcommonlyinprocessdesignand

potentiallyprocessmodelling,aswellassoftwarecustomization.

Adjusting software, reportingandprocessesalso raises thequestionof thedifferent

rolesthatneedtobeinvolvedfromwithintheclientorganization.Itcanbeassumed

that technical discussions on the integration between an IT consultancies’ test

managementsoftwareandtheclients’testmanagementsoftwareshouldbehadamong

expertswithsufficientexperience.Thisunderlinestheneedsforanawarenesstoalso

involvetechnicalexpertsfromtheclientwhereneeded.Itmayalsoraisethequestion

of the degree to which such an alignment is necessary, as it wouldmean involving

expertsthatmaynotnecessarilybeavailablewithoutbeingexplicitlyrequested.Thus,

theprojectmanageroftheITconsultancyneedstobeawareofthis,sohecanrequest

theavailabilityofkeypersonnelandplantheselectionandtheprojectaccordingly.

5.3.4.6 LeadershipInvolvement

Forthepurposeof thisdiscussion, threetypeof leadershiproleswillbereviewedas

synthesizedfromtheinterviews:

- Projectmanager- Profitandlossowner- Technicalleaders,suchasleadarchitect,leaddeveloper,testmanager,

infrastructureleadandpotentiallyotherleadtechnicalrolesinaproject.

Theseleadershiprolesareofincreasedimportanceeitherduetotheirauthorityover

theprojectorpeopleortheirexpertiseinareasofrelevancetotheselectionprocess.

This may be especially important when it comes to necessary integration between

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different processes and software products outside of the direct scope of project

management.

5.3.4.6.1 TheProjectManagerThroughtheanalysisofthedataitwassuggestedthattheprojectmanagementsoftware

ispartofthemanagementsystemaprojectmanagersetsup.Fromthisperspective,it

waspointedouttobeofmajorrelevancetothesuccessofprojectmanagers.Without

astructuredmanagementsystem,theprojectmanagerwouldlikelystruggletomaintain

control especially in complex project situations. Based on the importance of the

software selection, projectmanagers should see it as their responsibility to act and

engage the project team and the client where sensible. The degree to which they

themselvesultimatelytakeadecisionorleaveituptotheuserstheyinvolvecouldvary.

Thiswoulddependforexampleonprojectmanagers’experience,theteams’andthe

clients’experience.Basedonthefindingsitmayalsovarybasedontheindividualproject

managers’leadershipstyle.Whetheritisbeneficialtotheprojectsuccesstotakethe

decision on his own based solely on his leadership preferences would need to be

investigatedthroughfurtherresearch.Basedontheoutcomeofthisstudythatclearly

stressesthebenefitsofuserinvolvement,itcanbeseenasratherunlikely.Thisisalso

inlinewithMedinillas'(2012)recommendationtobuildleadershipbasedoninvolving

andempoweringteams.However,tobeabletobenefitfrominvolvingusersitshould

be done with a conscious view on identifying the right users, a suitable degree of

involvementandtherightstagewithintheproject(Bano&Zowghi,2015).Techniques

onhowtoinvolveotherpartiesthroughthedecisionprocesswillbediscussedinalater

section.

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5.3.4.6.2 TheProfitandLossOwnerThefindingsindicatethatitcouldbesensibletoinvolvetheprofitandlossownerinthe

decision process. This is the role financially responsible within the consultancy

organizationforthebusinessbenefitsoftheproject.Ascosthasbeenpointedouttobe

onekeylimitationintheselectionprocess,heneedstobeawareofthefinancialimpact

thatthesoftwareselectioncanhaveontheproject.Hewouldpotentiallyalsoneedto

formallyapproveanydecisionsmade,thathaveadirectfinancialimpact.Also,although

hemay not be working in the project directly, he would likely be impacted by the

software in terms of reporting, as the profit and loss owner would be the person

receivingreportsontheprojects’performancethroughoutitsduration.

5.3.4.6.3 TechnicalLeadersThe findings have shown that technical leaders also should be considered when

selecting project management software. They provide knowledge in their area of

expertise. The data showed that projectmanagement in IT consulting also contains

moretechnicalaspectssuchastestmanagement,architectureanddevelopment.The

datageneratedwithineachoftheseisrelevanttoprojectmanagementoverthecourse

oftheproject.Thisindicatesthebenefitsofaconsistentinformationflowfrominthese

teams needs into the project management system. Thus, the involvement of these

teamsthroughtheirleaderscouldbenefitthedataavailabilityandqualityintheproject

management software. This underlines the importance of their involvement. In

addition, technical leadsoftenalsohavedirect reports. It canbeassumed that their

influence inraisingtheacceptanceofthesoftwareamongtheirteamswillalsodrive

softwareusagethroughouttheproject.

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5.3.4.7 InvolvementofRolesSummary

Thedifferent interests and thenumberof roles andpeople relevant to thedecision

processraise its’complexity.While thebenefitsof the involvementofeachrolewas

pointedout,itshouldalsobeclearthatinvolvingmorerolesalsomeansincreasingthe

number of different opinions. Different interests regarding cost, features, technical

capabilities and usability will need to be aligned to come to a decision on project

managementsoftware.Thus,consciouslychoosingwhotoinvolveintotheprocessand

howcanbeassumedtobeakeyaspectofsuccessfulsoftwareselection.

5.3.5 InformingrelevantRoles

Afterdefiningwhowillbeinvolvedinthedecision,thepeopleintheserolesneedtobe

informed.Whiletheactivitymayseemsimple,itislikelytobeofgreatimportancedue

to their necessary contribution during the decision process. As mentioned in the

interviewsofthisstudy,theimportanceofsoftwareselectionisoftenunderestimated

and this will likely also apply for potential decision makers. Thus, it would be

recommendabletoraiseawarenessthroughconsciouslydefinedcommunication.This

meanstonotonlyaskpeopletoparticipateinameetingorworkshoponthistopic,but

togivetherationalefortheirinvolvement.Inaddition,onemayaskforpreparationof

informationordecisions required from themaspartof theoveralldecisionprocess.

Basedonthisargument,thestagehasbeenaddedtotheprocessguidebeforetheactual

decisionitself,asshownhere:

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Figure5-8:SelectionProcessGuideStagefour

5.3.6 TheDecision

This isoneof themainactivitieswithinthisprocess,as itdepicts theactualdecision

pointwithintheselection.Thus,thissectionwillcoverthedifferentaspectsaroundthis

importantstep.Theapproachwillbeimpactedbyhispreferencefordecisiontaking,be

that more facilitative or authoritative. As interviewees in this study remarked, the

software should follow the processes. Thus, the definition of project management

processes will need to be a key element of the decision process. Only then can a

software be chosen based on the selection criteria and then the adaption of the

softwarewillneedtobeplanned.Allthiswillneedtobealignedwithfinancial,technical

andorganizationalconstraintsasdepictedlater.

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Figure5-9:SelectionProcessGuideStagefive

5.3.6.1 FacilitatingtheDiscussionvstakingtheDecision

Sinceithasbeenrecommendedthattheteamshouldbeinvolved,itseemssensibleto

investigate techniques to design and facilitate the decision process. These may be

differentleadershiptechniquesaswellastheformatofthecommunication.Asdifferent

interestswillneedtobealigned,aformatofopencommunicationsuchasameetingor

aworkshopwouldlikelybeadequate(Andler,2015).Thiswouldallowforaniterative

exchange of opinions and continuous development of the processes. However,

dependingonthecomplexityandthepositionsofindividualsontheselection,itcould

requiremultipleinstancesofsuchanevent.Thisagaintiestotheaspectofpreparation

and the need for communication prior to the workshop itself, to drive efficiency.

Alternatively, the decision could be taken through individual meetings, which may

howeverhaveanegativeimpactonacceptancefromdifferentprojectmembersasthey

mayfeelasnotbeingsufficientlyincludedinallmeetings.

Anaspecttoconsiderhereisalsotheapproachoftheprojectmanager.Toinvolvethe

teaminthedecisionprocess,aprojectmanagerwouldlikelyfocusonfacilitatingthe

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decisionprocess,whereasiftheprojectmanagerhasaclearandspecificviewonthe

desiredoutcome,hemayalsotakedecisionshimself.Thelatterwouldagainnegatively

impactinvolvementandacceptanceofusers,leadingtoapotentiallyreducedusageof

thesoftwarelater.Onthepositivesidethiswouldlikelyshortenthedecisionprocess

anddirectlysavetime.

5.3.6.2 SelectingtheProjectManagementProcesses

The topic of adaption came up multiple times during the interviews. As stated by

participants,inacollaborativeenvironmentandespeciallywhereclientsareinvolvedin

aproject,notonlydoesthesoftwareneedtobealignedbutalsotheprocesses.Thisis

requiredforsoftwaresupportthoseprocesses.Thustheselectionordefinitionofthe

project management processes can be seen as a requirement in these situations,

although as there are also technical limitations towhat software could do, aligning

softwareandprocesseswouldlikelybeiterativeaswell.

Aspreviouslypointedout,thiswouldvarybasedonthekindofcontract.Withfixedprice

contracts,whichwouldlikelynotrequiremuchcollaboration,thiswouldbefocusedon

definingtheconsultancyprocessonly.Anexceptionwouldbethereporting,asitwas

foundthatreportingwouldlikelyberequiredbyaclientregardlessofthecontracttype.

Withatimeandmaterialcontract,thelevelofcollaborationwouldlikelybehigher,thus

anyprocessalignmentwouldneedtoconsiderthedifferenceinsoftwareandprocesses

betweentheconsultancyandtheclientorganization.Also,theinfluenceoftheclient

willbehigherinthelattertypeofcontract,whichcouldevenleadtothesoftwaresimply

beingdecideduponbytheclient.Inthiscase,analignmentofprocessesandsoftware

wouldlikelystillbenecessary,butthedecisiononsoftwareproductswouldalreadybe

taken.

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Asfortheprocessestotakeintoconsideration,thiswouldlikelynotonlyencompassthe

traditionalprojectmanagementprocesses,butasstatedtheprocessesthatitislinked

tosuchasdevelopment,testmanagement,architectureandsuch.Thiswouldalignthe

processwiththeneedforasinglerepositorycontainingthe“oneversionoftruth”,as

wishedforbyprojectmanagers.

5.3.6.3 SelectingtheProjectManagementSoftware

Basedontheprocessdefinition,theprojectmanagementsoftwarecanbeselected.As

previouslymentionedthiswilllikelybebasedonrequirementsderivedfromthedefined

projectmanagementprocesses,theknowledgeofthedecisiontakersaboutsoftware

andspecificproductsandtheeconomicconstraints.Theselectioncriteriawillbepartof

a separate discussion in a subsequent section due to the complexity of criteria and

featuresidentifiedinthisstudy.

5.3.6.4 PlanningtheAdoption

Asindicatedbythefindings,whenselectingthesoftware,itissensibletoalsoconsider

theadoptionaspartofthisprocess.Thecomplexityoftheadoptionandthedecisions

maderegardingtheapproachcanbeassumedtoimpactthecostoftheproject.Thus,

one of the outcomes of the decision be a plan that shows the implementation and

rolloutoftheprojectmanagementsoftwareandprocessesandthestepsnecessaryto

achieveit.Thiswillallowanestimationonthetimeandassociatedcost.Discussingthe

concreteactionsnecessaryfortheimplementationamongthedifferentinvolvedparties

may also bring to light yet unforeseen options and limitations associated with it.

Exampleswould be technical network restrictions, the need for licenses, or aspects

arounddatasecurityandprivacy.

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5.3.6.5 SummaryoftheDecisionProcess

The collaborative nature of the decision process and its’ benefits towards software

usagehavealreadybeenpointedoutbypractitionersand in the literature (Borštnar

Mirjana & Pucihar, 2014; Raymond & Bergeron, 2008). Thus, conducting the

aforementioned steps not only with the outcome in mind, but also the aspect of

involvementofkeyprojectrolesseemscrucial.Asthelong-termbenefitswilllikelynot

beevidentinthemomentofdecision-making,itwillbepartoftheprojectmanagers’

roletofacilitatetheprocessofdecisionmaking.Thiswouldincludenotonlynegotiation

skills,butalsotheabilitytoprovidetransparencyonthebenefitsanddisadvantagesof

differentdecisionpaths.Thetimeinvestedatthispointwillalsolikelyenableamore

efficient implementation and rollout of the project management software and the

underlyingprocesses.

5.3.7 ImplementationandRollout

Thoughimplementationofthesoftwarehasnotbeenafocusofthecurrentstudy,many

findings synthesized relatenot only to thepoint of thedecision, but also the actual

implementation and rollout of the software. This emphasizes the importance of

reviewing the practical implications and activities alongside the selection, as an

awareness of these factors may influence the choices made along the way.

Organizationsmayneedtoconsidertheimplementation,potentialmeansofadoption,

as well as communication with the users and training during the project. While all

previousactivitiesmaystillhavebeenpartoftheproposalphase,theactivitiesdepicted

herewill likelybe conductedonlyaftera contract is signedas theyencompass little

conceptualworkandarelargelybasedonimplementinganddeliveringworkproducts.

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Inregardtotheprocessguide,thisaddsthefinalstage.Thecomplete6-stagedprocess

guideisdepictedasfollows:

Figure5-10:6-stagedProcessGuide

5.3.7.1 ManagingtheImplementation

Theplanfortheadoptionofthesoftwarewascreatedinthepreviousprocessstep.As

anyotherprojectmanagementactivity,theimplementationnowneedstobemanaged

toensureitisimplemented.Dependingontheactivitiesnecessarythiswouldpossibly

beconductedbytheprojectmanagerincaseofverysimple,Excelbasedsolutionsin

smallprojects,orbydifferenttechnicalexpertswhereinterfacestoothersoftwareis

concernedandahighdegreeoftechnicalautomationshouldbeachieved.Theroleof

the project manager would then be more focused on tracking the progress and

managing the implementation.As this is, as oneparticipant of this study stated, his

management system being setup, it would still be sensible to stay involved in this

process.

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5.3.7.2 AdaptingtoChange

Whiletheprojectmanagementisimplementedandthroughouttheprojectitself,there

couldalwaysbenewrequirementsthatimpacttheprojectmanagementsoftwareand

requireachangefromatechnicalororganizationalandprocessperspective.Anexample

maybe,thatasoftwareusedintheprojectisnolongersupportedbyits’vendorand

needstobereplacedorachangeintheclientorganizations’processeswhichneedsto

becateredto.Also,somepreviouslydefinedprocessesmayactuallybeconductedina

moreefficientmanner,whichonlycomestolightoncethesoftwareisinuse.Forthe

involvedorganizationsthatwouldmeanthattheymayneedtoatleastpartiallyadapt

thepreviouslydefinedprocessesandsoftware.Insuchacaseitcanbeassumed,that

the changes will encompass or at least influence not only the project managers’

activities,butalsootherusers.Thus,itwouldbesensibletorevisitthepreviousstages

oftheprocessguideinregardtotheirapplicabilityforthenecessarychange.

5.3.7.3 EnsuringUserCommunication

Alsoduringtheimplementationandtheentireproject,communicationontheaspects

oftheprojectmanagementsoftwaretotheuserscouldstillbedeemedrelevantinorder

tomaintainacceptance.Thisencompasses thepreviouslymentionedchangesonthe

technicalorprocessside,butalsoinformationontheprogressoftheimplementation

ofthesystem.Inlargerprojects,theremaybeacentralroleforprojectcommunication

andcollaboration,soitcouldbeadvisabletoalignthiscommunicationwithanygeneral

project communication that is sent considering software, processes or collaboration

within the project. This would avoid confusion among users through inconsistent

information.

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5.3.7.4 LeadingbyExample

Thefindingsportrayedtheimportanceoftheroleoftheprojectmanager.Animportant

aspectwas that leading by examplewould drive the acceptance in the project. This

behaviourshouldnotonlyencompasstheprojectmanager,buthisentire leadership

team.Withintheorganizationthiscanthencreatetractionandusersthroughoutthe

projectaremorelikelytofollowandshowtheconsistencyneededtogainvaluefrom

thesolutionimplemented.Oncesuchorganizationalbehaviourshavebeenestablished,

thesurfacingbenefitsofthesoftwarewilllikelybecomeself-evident.

5.3.7.5 UserTraining

Asshownfromtheanalysis,usersneedtobeawareofhowtoutilizethesoftware.Thus,

itseemssensibletoconsiderprojectspecifictraining.Ifthisisformalordonethrough

documentation may depend on the situation. A high complexity of the project

management software could also mean that the potential need for more in-depth

trainingexists,asalsosuggestedbySchwalbe(2015).Thetrainingmaynotonlyinclude

the team,butcouldextend to the leadership teamand theprojectmanagerhimself

dependingontheircurrentlevelofexpertise.Thiswouldalsosupporttheapproachof

leadingbyexample.

5.3.8 Outcome:The6-stagedProcessGuide

Theselectionofprojectmanagementsoftwareasdefinedthroughthis6-stagedprocess

guide shows the different activities that are recommended to increase the positive

impactofprojectmanagementsoftwareonprojectsuccess.Asthestudyisbasedonthe

projectmanagers’perspective,the6-stagedprocessguideisfocusedonsupportingthis

view.Thesubsequentsectionwillprovidefurtherdetailsontheselectioncriteriathat

canbeappliedatthedecisionpointofthisprocess.

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Figure5-11:6-stagedProcessGuideonPMSoftwareSelection

5.4 SelectionCriteria–KeyConsiderationsforProjectManagers

The selection criteria are based on the requirements that project managers have

towardsprojectmanagementsoftware.Thesegiveamoredetailedinsightintofieldsof

applicationasconsideredbyprojectmanagers.Thissectionwillreviewthefindingsform

the interviews, compare them to the list of potential criteria initially derived from

literature and discuss the individual aspects of each criterion. The functionalities

requiredwillbediscussedseparatelyasfunctionaltechnicalrequirementsastheyare

specifictotheusecasethesoftwareisappliedin.

5.4.1.1 ExperienceandSkill

Thefindingsgiveastrongindicationthattheexperienceandskilloftheprojectteamis

of relevance in the software selection. A team that is experienced with a certain

softwaremeansthattheprojectneedstoinvestlessintrainingandcanalsopotentially

utilizethesoftwaretoafullerextend.Thisisofcoursebeneficialtotheprojectcostand

increasesthelevelofefficiencyoftheteam.Also,theskilloftheprojectmanagerisof

relevance. As familiarity with a certain software also increases efficiency with the

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software,projectmanagersmentionedtheyweremorelikelytouseafamiliarproduct.

Inaddition,aprojectmanagercanonlyselectthesoftwareheknows,sonotonlyisin-

depth experience with a certain software product helpful, but also knowledge of

differentproductswouldbebeneficial.Asaccording to the findings,differentclients

havedifferentsoftware,suchbreadthofexperiencewouldbeespeciallyimportantin

consultingenvironmentswhereprojectmanagersworkfordifferentclients.

5.4.1.2 Cost&TimeInvestment

Theaspectofcostandbudgethasbeenmentionedintheliteraturetoinfluenceproject

managementsoftware(Besner&Hobbs,2013;Raymond&Bergeron,2008).Thiscould

be confirmed through this study, as it appeared in most of the interviews. Any

investmentinwork,licensesorITinfrastructurehasacommercialimpactontheproject.

The findings showed that this leads to a commercial disadvantage for consultancies

when competing at a proposal stage. When thinking about project management

softwareselection,thenecessaryconsiderationscouldbealignedtotwotypesofcost:

1. DirectCost–Dependingontheselectedsoftwareandwayofimplementationandadaption,thishasadirectcostimpactontheproject.

2. IndirectCost–Softwareselectionhasanimpactontheperformanceofprojects.Ifdonepoorly,anegativeimpactonprojectperformancewillcausecostincreasesthroughouttheproject.

Fordecisionmakersinorganizationsitmaybetemptingtofocusonthedirectcost,as

anyreductionincostbecomesimmediatelyevident.Thefindingsofthisstudypropose

that entirely focusing on direct cost has a significant impact on long-term project

performance. For IT consulting organizations, this means that project management

softwareselectionisshouldbeincludedasoneaspectofthecommercialconsiderations

inrelationtoaproposalandaproject.Thecomplexityregardingtheconflictinggoalsof

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short-term gain while maintaining long-term profitability will likely complicate any

decisions.

5.4.1.3 Standards

Standardshavebeenpartofthefindingsintwodifferentdimensions.Ontheonehand

side,collaborationwiththeclientoftenmeanstoadapttotheclients’needs.Thismeans

thatmostorganizationalstandardsestablishedbytheconsultancycannotbeappliedin

commercialclientprojects.Ontheotherhand,therearestandardsfromtheclients’side

aswellas theconsultancy side, thataremandatoryand thus influence theselection

process.Anexamplearemandatory internal reportingstandardsthataresometimes

also linked to regulatory industry standards. This would mean that it would prove

beneficialtofamiliarizeoneselfwiththeindustry-specificstandardsandincludethemin

theconsiderationsfortheselectionofprojectmanagementsoftware.

5.4.1.4 ProjectParameters

Asmentionedduringthedefinitionof theprocessguide,projectsizeandcomplexity

shouldbeconsideredasafactorwhendecidingonprojectsoftware.Smallerprojects

canoftenbemanagedwithsimplersolutions.Also,themethodologyisofimportance.

Ifthemethodologyismoreagile,isthesoftwareflexibleenoughtosupportforexample

constantchangeintheplans?ThusprojectmanagerstransferkeyaspectsofITprojects

asidentifiedbyStepanek(2005)alsointorequirementsduringtheirsoftwareselection.

FindingsshowedMSProjecttobeanegativeexampleofthis,asitwasfoundtobetoo

complicatedtodocumentandmanageconstantchangesintheschedule.Additionally,

technology has an impact, as IT development projects can require an integration of

developmentsoftware,SAPprojectscanbeconductedwiththesolutionmanagerwhich

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isalreadyavailableinSAPitselfandbuildanddeploymentsoftwarecanautomatically

providestatusupdatestointegratedreportingsolutions.

5.4.1.5 ClientRequirements

The findingsunveiled contractual andnon-contractual requirements. These couldbe

related to theclientorganization requiring tousecertain standardsor specific client

stakeholdershavingtheirownpreferences.Thesepreferencescouldbefrommostof

criteria stated in this list aswell, as clients have similar considerations. It would be

sensible for project managers to verify these early on to be able to discuss the

alternativeswiththeirclientsandbeawareoftheimplications.

5.4.1.6 Collaboration

Thiscriterionhasbeenmentionedacommonthemeandrelatestomanyoftheother

findings.Asprojectmanagementsoftwareisoftenusedbymultipleusersandprovides

for example reports for communication with stakeholders and teams or create

transparencyofareasof theproject, thisseemsnatural.Fromtheprojectmanagers’

perspective,thismeansthatanycollaborativeaspectsofasoftwarecouldbethought

aboutupfront.Thesemayincludeforexample:

- Transparencyofthedata–howeasilycanusersgettheinformationtheyneed?- Availabilityofthesoftwaretoprojectusers–caneveryoneintheproject

accessit?- Notifications–areusersinformedbytheproject,doesithavenotification

options

Thesearesomeexamples,buttherearemorecollaborativefeaturesavailable.Someof

thesearealsocoveredbyothercriteriaidentifiedthroughthisstudy.Theapplicationof

project management and collaboration platforms has been further investigated for

examplethroughtheworksofMcMahon(2016)andSprenger(2016).

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5.4.1.7 DataSecurityandPrivacyRequirements

Inbusiness,mostprojectsdealwithsensitivedata.Thiscouldbeclientdataorfinancial

data or the source code of software used that could be used for cyberattacks if

published.Asthefindingsshowed,keepingthisdatasecurewhenitispartofaproject

is of critical importance to maintain trust between organizations. So, project

managementsoftwareshouldbesecureandpotentiallyuseencryptionorauthorization

mechanisms. Similarly, if someof thedata in the softwaremayneed tobehandled

confidentiallywithintheprojectitself.Thiswouldrequireprovidingaccessonaneed-

to-knowbasis,whichmeansthatforexamplevisibilityinaprojectrepositoryneedsto

belimitedtoauthorizedusers.Fromtheprojectmanager,thiswouldinturnalsorequire

ensuringtheimplementationofasecurityconcept.Whilenotinthecontextofproject

managementsoftware,thesedatasecurityandprivacyaspectsandbestpracticeshave

also been mentioned in other studies relating to different IT technologies (Lane,

Shrestha,&Ali,2017).

5.4.1.8 Integration

The benefits of technical integration or single platform application lifecycle

management (ALM)solutionscameupduring interviews,especially inthecontextof

complexprojects.Thereasonforthisislikely,thattheinformationflowwithincomplex

project environments canhardlybehandled throughmanual integration. Insteadan

integratedsystemandintegratedprocessescanleadtoanautomatizedtransferofdata.

For organizations, this comes at a price, as adapted software solutions of higher

complexitylikelyrequireaninvestoftimeandbudgetatthebeginningoftheproject.In

projects being conducted in IT consulting this may be even more complex, as the

integrationwouldpotentiallybeacrossclientandconsultancyITenvironments,posing

additional technical challenges. These likely result from increased security riskwhen

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connecting IT services between two different company networks and aligning the

information flows between two organizations, similar to challenges also faced by

companiesaftermergers(Wijnhoven,Spil,Stegwee,&Fa,2006).Asaresult,projects

faceincreasedconfigurationeffortsandriskahigherexposureoftheirdata.Especially

in projects and sectorswith sensitive data, this could prevent any formof technical

integration.

5.4.1.9 AvailabilityofData

Theavailabilityofthedatainprojectmanagementsoftwarehasbeenimpliedtobeof

importance in consulting for multiple reasons. As being mentioned by participants,

consultants tend to travel frequently, insteadof constantlyworking fromwithin the

samecompanynetwork.Inordertoaccessprojectdataandworkwhilesomewhereelse,

theyneedthedatatobeaccessiblefromoutsidethecompanynetwork,forexample

throughcloudservicesonthe internet.However,othersalsomentionedtheneedto

workonatrainorplane,wherethereisnointernetconnectionatall,soinparallelthey

wouldideallychooseasolutionwheredatacanbetransferredandworkedonofflineas

well.Thesemorecomplexrequirementsarenotyetimplementedinmanycompanies,

wherework is donewithin the companywith access to the companies intranet and

services (Meier, Lütolf, & Schillerwein, 2015). Additionally, in times of globally

distributed project teams, the reliability of internet speed and accessibility cannot

alwaysbe guaranteed. This in turnmay lead todelays in the schedule as teamsare

unabletoworkbasedonthelatestinformation.

5.4.1.10 Usability

Asstudieshaveshown,topromotetheusageofsoftware,usabilityiskey(Nielsen,1999;

Steinhueser,Richter,&Smolnik,2015).Thishasbeenconfirmedthroughthefindingsas

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it was recognized by projectmanagers in the interviews. Usability also reduces the

amountoftraining(Donahue,Weinschenk,&Nowicki,1999;Richter&Flückiger,2016),

whichcanreducecost.

5.4.1.11 AgileCapabilities&Flexibility

Agile has been a trend for over a decade and has evolved beyond its’ roots in IT

companiesintoothersectors(Gloger,2017;McHughetal.,2012).Thisbecameevident

as the findings indicated project managers also evaluating project management

softwarebasedonthecapabilitytosupportagileprojectmanagementpractices.One

featurespecificallymentionedwasthatofconstantchangeintheplan,whichMcHugh

etal.(2012)seeasakeyaspectofagileandwhethersoftwaresupportsit.Participants

havealsomentionedtheuseofagileterminologyinthesoftware.Thislinkstotheaspect

ofusabilitywithinanagilecontext,astheuseoftherightterminologysimplifiestheuse

ofthesoftwareproduct.Throughsuchmeans,useracceptancecouldbeincreased.

5.4.1.12 AcceptanceofSoftwarebytheTeamandClient

Theaspectofacceptancewasrevealedasafindingaswell.Whileacceptanceofusers

can be recognized and measured, it can be difficult to understand the underlying

motivation. Based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) Wallace and Sheetz

(2014)findacceptancetobelinkedtotwofactors,perceivedusefulness,whichcouldbe

relatedtoactuallyutilizingsoftwarefunctionality,andeaseofuse.Thiscanbelinkedto

usability,whichhasalreadybeendiscussedasacriterion.Theusefulnesshasbeenfound

tobelinkedtothecommunicationandimportancegiventoitbyprojectmanagersand

otherleadingsrolesinsoftwareprojects(Wallace&Sheetz,2014).Thisissupportedby

the6-stagedprocessguidefortheselectionprocessasdefinedinaprevioussectionof

thischapter.

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5.4.1.13 Functionality

Different functionalities of software were gathered through the interviews. A

functionalityhasbeeninterpretedasaselectioncriteriaforthepurposeofthisstudy.

Thevariationofidentifiedfunctionalitieshasbeenfoundandmanywerecommonto

onlyafewinterviews.Thisindicatesthatthereisanunderlyingcomplexitywhichcould

relatetothenatureoftheproject.ExamplescouldbetechnicaldifferencesbetweenIT

projectsand theusecasesdependingon theproject scope.The functionalitieswere

consolidatedandcategorized intogeneralprojectmanagement functionalitiesand IT

specificfunctionalities.Thisgivesanindicationofwhichfunctionalitiesresultfromthe

IT aspect of projects andmay differentiate IT consulting project requirements from

regularconsulting.Thefunctionalitieshavebeensortedinorderofoccurrenceforthis

purpose.Theyhavebeenrelatedtofindingsfromtheliteraturereview.

No Functionality IdentifiedintheLiterature PMorIT1 Traceability (Kääriäinen&Välimäki,2009) IT

2 Planning&Monitoring (Besner&Hobbs,2012;Pellerinetal.,2013)

PM

3 Repository (Pellerinetal.,2013) PM

4 Task&WorkManagement (Besner&Hobbs,2012;Pellerinetal.,2013)

PM

5 Reporting (Besner&Hobbs,2012) PM

6 Financials (Besner&Hobbs,2012) PM

7 Risks&Issues (Besner&Hobbs,2012) PM

8 Documentmanagement (Pellerinetal.,2013) PM

9 Collaboration (Kääriäinen&Välimäki,2009) PM

10 Changemanagement (Stepanek,2005) PM

11 Test&TestManagement (Stepanek,2005) IT

12 Build&Deploy (Stepanek,2005) IT

13 Development (Kääriäinen&Välimäki,2009) IT

14 ServiceManagement (Kääriäinen&Välimäki,2009) IT

15 RequirementsManagement (Stepanek,2005) IT

16 ReleaseManagement (Kääriäinen&Välimäki,2009) IT

17 ConfigurationManagement (Kääriäinen&Välimäki,2009) ITTable5-3:FunctionalitiesfromtheLiteratureReview

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Whatcanbeseenis,isthatwhiletheneedforITordevelopmentprojectcapabilities

was recognized by many project managers in this study, their focus in desired

functionalitiesasprojectmanagersinITconsultingseemstobemainlyontheirown

role. A second factor influencing this distribution may be the varying scope of IT

consulting projects, as was discussed in the literature review based on the sector

definitionbyBoehmetal.(2011);Joshietal.(2010);Reineke(2007)andValacichetal.

(2012).Thus,whileallprojectmanagershavetheircoreresponsibilitiesandwantthem

supportedbysoftware,theywillneedvaryingITprojectrelatedfunctionalitiesbasedon

thetechnologicalareaoftheirproject.

Theoneexceptionthathasbeenfoundwasthatoftraceability,whichisattributedto

IT. This could be, as traceability appears as a functionality of application lifecycle

management(ALM)software,whichisusedtomanagecomplexITprojectsandoften

providesa centralizedplatform forPMand IT functionalities (Kääriäinen&Välimäki,

2009). Thus, this could be a trendwithin larger IT projects which also applies to IT

consulting.Thisissupportedbytheanswersgatheredintheinterviewsthatsometimes

mentionedtheRationalJazzplatformasasoftwareproduct,whichisanALMsoftware.

5.4.2 ChecklistofSelectionCriteria

Inordertoutilizethedecisioncriteriaandfunctionality,theyhavebeencompiledintoa

checklist forprojectmanagersorconsultantsaspointstoconsiderwhendecidingon

processesandsoftware.

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Criteria KeyAspectsExperienceandSkill Whichsoftwaredoestheteamknow?

Whatexperiencedotheyhave?Cost&TimeInvestment Whatisthecostoflicensesforeachoption?

Whattimeandeffortneedstobeinvestedtosetupandalignthesolutionforeachoption?Whatare theeconomic long-termconsequencesofnotinvestingthetime&money?

Standards What standards need to be adhered to on client andconsultancyside?

ProjectParameters Istheprojectsmall?->simplersolutionsIsitcomplex?->moreintegration

ClientRequirements Identifyclients’requirementstowardsthesoftwareCollaboration Doesthesoftwaresupportcollaboration?DataSecurityandPrivacyRequirements

Consider sensitive data, visibility within the software,authorizationmechanismsorencryption

Integration How will the processes and software be integrated?Considercostforintegrationvs.costofmanuallabour.

AvailabilityofData Howcanconsultantsaccessthedatawhileworkinginadifferentenvironmentoroffline?

Usability Considertheusabilityofthesolution.Agile Capabilities &Flexibility

Howflexibleisthesoftwareifdataneedstobechanged?

5.4.2.1 AcceptanceofSoftwarebytheTeamandClient

Communicate and involve future users to raiseacceptance and usage of the solution by the team andclient.

Functionalities Whichfunctionalitiesareneeded?ExamplescouldbeTraceability, Planning&Monitoring, Repository, Task&WorkManagement,Reporting,Financials,Risks&Issues,Document management, Collaboration, ChangeManagement,Test&TestManagement,Build&Deploy,Development, Service Management, RequirementsManagement, Release Management, ConfigurationManagement

Table5-4:CompiledListofselectionCriteria

Thislistcanbeusedinconjunctionwiththe6-stagedprocessguide,asitprovidesthe

individual decision criteria. This can aide projectmanagers in considering important

aspectsinthepreparationandthroughoutthedecisionprocess.Itismeanttobeused

as a checklist, which can give a structure to document the opinions of different

stakeholdersandusersintheselectionprocess.Insteadtheprojectmanagermayjust

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utilize it to form his own opinion and potentially adapt the structure for a written

documentation.

5.5 SectorPerspective:ITConsultingandProjectManagementSoftware

Selection

ITconsultingprojectsincorporateaspectsofbothsides:ITandconsulting.Thishasbeen

confirmed through the findings. They also indicate some differences in contrast to

regular projects and specifically point out additional characteristics of projects

conductedwithinboth,theworldofITandtheworldofconsulting.

5.5.1 WorkingwithClients

The collaborative aspect of management consulting in general has been previously

researched, as done by Appelbaum and Steed (2005), where they recommended

aligningproceduresandprocessesforconsultingengagements.Thisrecommendation

wassupportedbyintervieweesstatementsinthisstudy,whorecommendedtoalignthe

collaborationinprojectsforcertaintypesofprojects.

Aseconddifferencefoundistheroleofthecontract,whichwouldnotexistformost

projects conducted within the organization. The impact of the different types of

projects, time-and-materialandfixed-pricehavepreviouslybeenmentioned.Whilea

fixed-pricecontractoftenallowsmostoftheworkonprojectstobeconductedwithin

theconsultancyorganization,time-and-materialrequiresclosercollaboration,thusalso

requiringfurtheralignmenttoachieveeffectivecollaboration.

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Also,thepointintimeatwhichdecisionsaretakenisstronglyfocusedontheproposal

phase.At theendof thisanegotiatedcontract is signedbetweentheclientand the

consultancy.Asopposedtomostinternalprojects,thisfixesaspectsofscopeandprice

inalegallybindingform.Thus,anyflexibilityrequiredneedstohavebeenconsideredat

thispoint,orbecomespartofcontractchangenegotiations.

5.5.2 ConductingITProjectswithClients

Thisleadsbacktoaquestiontheliteraturereviewestablished.

Aim:HowaredevelopmentprojectsinaconsultingenvironmentpotentiallydifferentfromotherITprojects.

As investigated during the literature review, the nature of IT projects has been

investigatedtosomedegree.AsStepanek(2005)pointedout,ITprojectshavedistinct

featuresthatneedtobeconsideredandthatdifferentiatethemfromotherprojects.

Conducting IT projects as consulting engagements however, adds another level of

complexity,aslongascollaborationbetweenthetwopartiesisrequired,somainlyin

time-and-materialcontracts.

Aspreviouslyidentified,clientorganizationsandconsultanciesoftenhavetheirownway

ofdoingthings(processes)andtheirownsoftwareproducts/toolstheyutilizefornot

onlyprojectmanagement,butalso the ITpartofprocesses.Asbotharevirtual, this

couldbemissedonthefirstglance,butwhenimagininghowthiswouldlookifthetools

werephysicaltools,itclearlyposesabarriertocollaboration.Onecouldimaginetwo

peopletryingtobuildahousetogether,butonehasonlyworkedwithwoodandbrings

asaw,nailsandahammer,andtheotherhasworkedwithmortarandconcrete,bringing

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heavymachinery.Whiletheycanworktogetheronahouse,theywillfirstneedtoalign

their way of working and decide on which tools to use and how. The danger in IT

consultingis,assomeintervieweesstated,thatthisisnotconsideredinthemomentit

needstobe.Thismoment,asstatedabove,isnormallytheproposalphase.Otherwise

projectsarestartedwiththewrongsetupandrequirealaterchangeduringtheproject,

whichissimilartoacarneedingtogetsomewhereintimewithaflattire.Itwouldbe

fasterifitwerechangedatthebeginningandnotduringthetrip,oritcouldtrytogoon

with the flat tire andhope for thebest.Andasmentionedpreviously theremaybe

additionalchallengesinaligningprocessesandsoftware,astherearetechnicalbarriers

andorganizationalbarrierstoovercome,thatdonotexistwhenconductingaproject

withinasingleorganization.

Thefollowingtabledepictsthespecificchallengescomingtogetheratthejunctionof

consultingandIT:

Sector-specific Aspects ofPM

General IT

General None UsesITspecificprocessesand software, oftenintegrated into projectmanagement

Consultancy Collaborateswiththeclientand aligns processes withtheclient

Collaborates with theclient and aligns andintegrates IT processesand software acrossorganizations intoprojectmanagement

Table5-5:Sector-specificAspects

This clearly differentiates IT consultancies in their line ofwork and requires project

managers to be aware of this dilemma they need to resolve. It also likely poses an

additionalchallengefortheconsultantsworking intheseprojectsastheywillalways

havevaryingwaysofcollaborationasprocessesandsoftwarechangesdependingon

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whichclienttheyworkfor.Ontheotherside,clientswillneedtobeawareofthisasit

couldalsomeanchangingtheprocessesandsoftwaretheywanttoutilizeforprojects.

5.6 Summary

This chapter has critically discussed the findings gathered in academic and practical

context. Three key areas have been investigated from the perspective of project

managers:

1. Thekeydefinitionsandunderstandingsofprojectmanagementsoftware2. TheprocessemployedbyprojectmanagersinITconsulting3. Thekeyconsiderationsforprojectmanagerswithinthisprocess

As a result of evaluating the terminology, it has been found that while there is no

unanimous view in theory, the practical application suggests the definition project

managementsoftwareandprojectmanagementtoolasinterchangeabletermsfroma

practicalstandpoint.Additionally,projectmanagementsoftwareinITconsultingisoften

seenasgoingbeyondclassicalprojectmanagementandencompassingITfunctionalities

aswell.

The selection process that was subsequently reviewed was reconstructed using a

processguidebybringingtogetheridentifiedactivities,rolesandrecommendations.The

processwasanoutcomethatspecificallyprovidesananswertothequestionofhowthe

selectionprocessofprojectmanagement softwareworks in IT consulting.Additional

recommendations were drawn from the drivers and barriers identified from the

interviews.Thus,the6-stagedprocessguidecanbeusedtoleadtheprojectmanager

throughthedifferentstepsoftheselectionprocess,providingguidanceoneachactivity.

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Inaddition,achecklistofcriteriahasbeencompiledthatshowstheconsiderationsof

projectmanagers along this process to provide guidance to projectmanagerswhile

preparingthedecisionandtoensureimportantaspectsarecovered.

The final section provided a concise summary of challenges when working across

organizationsinanITproject.Italsoprovidedaview,whichshowedtheconjunctionof

challengesfacedinrelationtotheiroriginfromtheITandtheconsultingsector.

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Chapter6: Conclusion

6.1 Introduction

Basedonthediscussioninthepreviouschapter,theconclusionreviewstheprogressof

this study and critically interprets its’ contribution to theory and practice. This is

achievedbygoingbacktothebeginningofthisthesisandassessingtowhichextendthe

initially formulated aim and objectives have beenmet. It will also reiterate the key

findingsinlightoftheresearchquestions,tosummarizehowtheresearchathandhas

enhanced existing literature. To clearly outline the contributions, itwill identify and

pointoutthe limitations.Thechapterwill thenconcludewitharecommendationfor

futureresearchandafinalsummary.Thisisshowninthecompletedoverview:

Figure6-1:OverallResearchStructure

Aim Objectives ResearchQuestions Results

Examinethekey

considerationsinthe

selectionofproject

management software

inITconsultingfrom

theprojectmanagers’

perspective

Provideanoverviewof

literaturerelevantto

thefieldofproject

management software

selectioninIT

consulting

Gainanunderstanding

ofthephenomenonof

projectmanagement

softwareselectionin

practicefromthe

perspectiveofproject

managers

Developguidancefor

projectmanagersinIT

consultingaroundkey

considerationsinthe

selectionprocessof

projectmanagement

software

Whatarethekey

considerationsfor

projectmanagers

withintheprocess?

Identificationofthe

workingdefinitionof

projectmanagement

softwareused byIT

consultants

6-staged processguide

fortheselectionof

projectmanagement

software

Checklistofcriteria

relevanttotheproject

management software

selectionprocessinIT

consulting

Examinethekey

considerationsfor

projectmanagersinthe

softwareselection

process

Whatistheprocess

employedbyproject

managers inIT

consultingforthe

selectionofproject

management

software?

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6.2 MainResults

The aim of this researchwas to examine the key considerations in the selection of

projectmanagementsoftwareinITconsultingfromtheprojectmanagers’perspective.

Thishasbeenachievedthroughthedevelopmentoftwoelementsofguidance.Thefirst

oneisthe6-stagedprocessguide,describingtheprocessandrecommendationsfrom

theprojectmanagers’perspective.Thesecondone is thechecklistofcriteria for the

selectionprocess, thatprojectmanagersshouldconsiderwhenbeing involved in the

decisionprocess. Theprocess is shown in the followingdiagram. Itwasdiscussed in

greaterdetailinchapter5alongsidethechecklist.Thissectionwilldiscusstheseresults

inlightoftheresearchquestions.

Figure6-2:6-stagedProcessGuideonPMSoftwareSelection

6.2.1 Objectives

6.2.1.1 Objective1:Provideanoverviewofliteraturerelevanttothefieldofproject

managementsoftwareselectioninITconsulting

Thisobjectivehasbeenmetthroughtheliteraturereview.Areasofacademicliterature

related to the phenomenon or project management software selection were

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investigated through literature research. Through this, it became apparent that the

phenomenonitselfhasnotyetbeeninvestigated.However,partialaspectsandcontext

ofthephenomenonhadindeedbeencovered.Thus,thefieldsofprojectmanagement

in IT projects, projectmanagement software, success factors and IT consultingwere

utilized to shape the research questions. It was also found that little academically

supportedknowledgeofthesectorofITconsultingexiststoday.Thedetailedresearch

questions and how they were answered will be discussed in a later section in this

conclusion.

6.2.1.2 Objective2:Gainanunderstandingofthephenomenonofprojectmanagement

softwareselectioninpracticefromtheperspectiveofprojectmanagers

Togain insightsbasedon this secondobjective,aqualitative researchapproachwas

chosen. It was grounded in an interpretivist research philosophy. From this

epistemology,aphenomenologicalresearchdesignwasdevelopedthatutilizedsemi-

structured interviewsasamethodtogatherdata.Overthecourseofhalfayear,17

projectmanagersworkingataglobalITconsultingfirmwereinterviewed.Theresulting

transcripts were explored through thematic analysis. The patterns that emerged

provided an understanding of the phenomenon which was utilized to facilitate the

discussion in chapter five and to construct a 6-staged process guide. Through this

evidence,theresearchobjective2asstatedabovehasbeenmet.

6.2.1.3 Objective3:Examinethekeyconsiderationsforprojectmanagersinthe

softwareselectionprocess

The third objective builds on the second one by seeking to inquiremore about the

considerationswithintheselectionprocess.Thus,itaimedtounderstandnotonlythe

activitieswithintheprocess,butalsotheunderlyingcriteria.Throughtheanalysisofthe

datagatheredthroughtheinterviews,thespecificsoftheprocesssuchasthedrivers

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andbarriers,butalsospecificselectioncriteriaandthefunctionalitieswerefound.These

providedtheinformationnecessarytofulfilobjectivethree.Thisinformationwasalso

thebasistocreatethechecklistofselectioncriteria.

6.2.1.4 Objective4:DevelopguidanceforprojectmanagersinITconsultingaroundkey

considerationsintheselectionprocessofprojectmanagementsoftware

Thefourthobjectivewasmetbythedevelopmentofthe6-stagedprocessguideforthe

selectionprocess.Theguidewasdevelopednotonlythroughthe informationonthe

process,butalsobasedonthecriticallyevaluatedprojectmanagers’recommendations

andconcernsastheywerevoicedintheinterviews.Fromthese,thedriversandbarriers

intheselectionprocesswereidentifiedandmappedasguidancetotheactivitieswithin

the 6-staged process guide. Additionally, the selection criteria applied by project

managersinpracticewereidentifiedandconsolidatedintheformofachecklist.This

canbeusedbyprojectmanagersinvolvedintheprocesstoremindthemoftheaspects

toconsider.Thus,thetwoelementsofthe6-stagedprocessguideandthechecklistform

theresultthatmeetsthefourthobjectiveofthisresearch.

6.2.2 AnsweringtheResearchQuestions

The researchquestionsweredevelopedbasedon theobjectives after reviewing the

literature.Noliteraturewasfoundthatwouldprovideacomprehensiveunderstanding

ofthephenomenonofprojectmanagementsoftwareselectioninITconsulting.Instead,

theareasofITconsulting,projectmanagementsoftware,ITprojectmanagementand

project successwere investigated. This resulted in the following research questions,

whichwereansweredthroughtheempiricalstudy:

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6.2.2.1 RQ1:WhatistheprocessemployedbyprojectmanagersinITconsultingforthe

selectionofprojectmanagementsoftware?

The first research questionwas derived from research objective 2. As the literature

review found, that literature could not provide an answer meeting this objective,

understanding the phenomenon of software selection became a key question that

shapedtheentireresearchproject.Itwasansweredthroughthe6-stagedprocessguide

that was constructed, which proposes a process for the software selection in the

investigatedcontext.

6.2.2.2 RQ2:Whatarethekeyconsiderationsforprojectmanagerswithintheprocess?

The key considerations build on objective three. Through researching academic

literature related to the context of this study, aspects of potential relevance were

identified.Thesewerethencompiled intoa listofpotentialcriteria.This information

waslaterusedtoaligntheempiricalfindingsthatrelatedtothesecriteriaanddiscuss

theirrelationtotheexistingbodyofknowledge.Thisprovidedananswertothesecond

researchquestion.

6.3 ImplicationsofthisStudy

AsoutlinedbyTurner(2010),projectmanagementresearchhasevolvedinconjunction

withthefieldofpracticalprojectmanagementoverthelasttwodecades.Throughits

completion,thecurrentresearchprojectbecomespartofthisevolutionaryprocessby

providingcontributiontoboth,academicknowledgeandpractice.

6.3.1 ContributiontoTheory

Asignificantamountofresearchhasbeendoneonprojectmanagement,withfocuson

quantitative studies (Floricel et al., 2014; Turner, 2010). In relation to project

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managementsoftware,RaymondandBergeron(2008)havefoundtheusageofproject

managementsoftwaretocontributetoprojectsuccessinacross-sectorstudy.Similarly,

BesnerandHobbs(2012)haveevaluatedprojectmanagementtoolsandsoftwareasa

subcategory in a cross-sector study to identify their efficiency. For the engineering

sector, Pellerin et al. (2013) have taken a similar approach focusing only on project

managementsoftwarebyutilizingself-definedprojectmanagementsubsystems.While

thesestudiespropagatethebenefitsgainedfromsoftwareusage,littlewasknownon

theunderlyingconsiderationsofprojectmanagersandtheselectionprocessthatleads

totheusageofsuchsoftware.Theirfocusoncross-sectorandengineeringalsodoesnot

evidenceanyimplicationsinregardtotheITsector.

Thestudyutilizesaqualitativeapproachandemployedinterviewstocollectdatafrom

experiencedprojectmanagerstodevelopaprocessguidebasedontheirconsiderations.

Thisgoesbeyondpreviouslyexistingknowledgeasitprovidesanunderstandingofthe

selectionprocessintheirview.Italsoshowsthedifferentconsiderationsintheselection

process intheirbroadercontext.Previousresearchoftenbuildsolelyoncross-sector

projectmanagementstandardssuchasPMBOK(ProjectManagementInstitute,2013),

whichmakestheresearchprocessandresultspronetoapurelytheoreticalviewwithout

practicalrelevance.Thedescriptiveaccountbroughtoutthroughthefindingsfromthe

interviews in this study, which is cumulated in the 6-staged process guide, allows

researchers to understand project managers’ perspectives. This in turn will enable

futureresearchtobetailoredonpractitioners’considerations.ThisanswersJacobssen

and Söderholms (2011) call for project management research to go beyond

deterministicworks.

175

Inaddition,thisstudyisthefirsttorelatethedifferentactivitieswithinthisprocessand

thesectorcontextofITandspecificallyITconsulting.Bythisitprovidesinsightsintothe

phenomenon of project management software selection and the underlying

considerations. The selected sample of seasoned practitioners with an average

experienceof15,1years inprojectmanagementalsocontributestothecredibilityof

the outcome and provides information not previously accessible to academia. Their

experience supports the relevanceof the createdprocess guideand the checklist of

criteriathatweregenerated.Assuchmodelswerepreviouslynotavailableforproject

managementsoftwareselection,theycanbeutilizedbyfutureresearcherstoverifyand

enhancetheseoutcomes.

IT projects have been covered by many academic papers discussing insights into

specificsofsuchprojects.ITconsultinghowever,hasonlybeenmentionedmarginally

asasideaspectofotherresearch(Schwalbe,2015;Shelton,2013;Yaqoobetal.,2016).

Thus,littleknowledgeofITconsultingpersiststhatisgroundedonacademicstandards.

Asoneofthefewstudieslocatedinthissector,thisstudyprovidesadditionalinsightsin

relationtothephenomenonofsoftwareselection.Italsohighlightsaspectsofrelevance

totheITconsultingsectorasidentifiedthroughthefindings.

Lastly this study has addressed the lack of a common terminology for project

management software. The literature review showed that in the context of project

management,thetermsofsoftware,toolandinformationsystemwereuseddifferently

by different authors in academia. Based on this finding, it also gathered an

176

understanding from practitioners’ perspective on the terminology. It found that the

termstoolsandsoftwarewerecommonlyused,andmostlyinterchangeablewitheach

other.Byuncoveringtheworkingdefinitionandrelatingittoacademicterminology,this

studyallowsfutureresearcherstobemindfulofthisgap,whichinturnwillsimplifythe

exchangeofinformationbetweenacademiaandpractice.Itshouldalsocontributeto

theprecisionoffutureresearchresultsinthisfieldasresearcherscannowdealwiththis

gapconsciously.

6.3.2 ContributiontoPractice

As identified through this research, the lack of attention on the selection of project

managementsoftwarecanleadtounsuitablesoftwarebeingselectedortosoftwarenot

beingadaptedtotheprojectneeds.Theresultofthisisadditionalworkastasksneedto

bedonemanuallyratherthanautomaticallythroughthesoftware.Also,alackoffocus

onprojectmanagementsoftwareandtheusersduringtheselectionprocesscanleadto

acceptanceproblemsintheteam.Asusersrejectthesoftwareandthususeitonlyto

littleornoamount,dataqualitywithinthesoftwareisdeficientandnoorfewbenefits

canbederivedfromit.Inothercases,themissingemphasisontheselectionresultsina

lackofintegrationofthesoftware,whichisespeciallynegativeforlargescaleprojects

wherealotofinformationneedstobecorrelatedtoallowtheprojectmanagertoget

consistentreportsandsteertheproject.Theseexamplesshowthenegativeimpact,if

the software selection is not conducted consciously. The findings of this research

underlinetheimportanceofsuchcasesandprovidemeasurestoimprovethesoftware

selectionandtheresultingutilizationofprojectmanagementsoftware.

177

Firstly, this study shows the importance of the selection process itself. As many

practitioners stated, the selection of project management software is an important

aspectinITconsultingprojects.Tosome,thisbecameaconsciousrealizationthrough

participationinthisstudy.Thus,thisstudyhashadapositiveimpactontheperception

ofprojectmanagersofprojectmanagementsoftwareselection,whichcanleadtomore

consciousdecisionsinfutureofprojects.

Asthedatahasbeenraisedthroughinterviewswithexperiencedprojectmanagers,it

givesasummaryoftheirlearningsandbestpractices.The6-stagedprocessguideofthe

software selection process provides an orientation and recommendations for the

selection.Thediagramisanoverviewanddepictstheindividualstepstotakeduringthe

selectionprocess.Thus,anyprojectmanagerworkinginasimilarcontextcanutilizeit

togetanunderstandingofthisphenomenon.Inexperiencedpractitionerscanusethis

asaguidetoselectsoftwarefortheirfirstprojects,whereasseniorprojectmanagers

canemploy itasastructuredmethodthat is informedby theirownknowledge.The

processguide isenhancedbythebestpracticesasdetailed inthediscussion,togive

morein-depthinformation,forexampleonwhotoinvolveintheselectionprocessor

criticaldecisionpointsonthispath.Throughthecombinationofboth,theoverviewand

theadditionalguidance,aconciseviewiscreatedoftheoverallprocessthatsavestime

forpractitionersandpotentiallyhelpsavoidingmistakes.

Thisguidanceissupportedbythechecklistofselectioncriteria,whichwassynthesized

from the criteria and functionalities that project managers mentioned during their

interviews.Itprovidesasetofcriteriaincombinationwithasetofaspects,questions

178

and considerations for the projectmanager. It can be used by itself to prepare the

selectionofasoftwareoritcouldalsobeusedtoreviewanexistingsolutionalreadyin

place.

Many organisations have their own methodological approach in regard to project

management. IT consultancies can utilize the process guide and the checklist to

strengthentheirinternalprojectmanagementframeworksbyfollowingtheadvicegiven

aspartofthisresearch.Thiswilllikelyleadtoabetterutilizationofprojectmanagement

software and thus higher project efficiency. It can also be used for training project

managers and raising awareness of the subject of project management software

selection. The guidance can also be utilized by other organizations, but need to be

adaptedtothespecificindustryneeds.Especiallyinthesecasesitwouldalsobesensible

toverifyifotherindustryspecificguidanceisavailabletocomplementorreplaceaspects

withinthisstudy.

6.4 Strengths&LimitationsofthisStudy

Theway the researchwasapproached, shapedandconducted leads toanumberof

strengthsandlimitations,thatareinherenttoitsnatureandcontext.Thissectionwill

discusstheseaspectsingreaterdetailandprovidesanargumentfortheoutcomeand

theaspectstoconsiderwithintheirinterpretationandapplicationinfurtherresearch.

179

6.4.1 ThequalitativeApproach

Asthisstudyisofqualitativenature,itsharesthestrengthsandlimitationscommonly

found among such research projects. The data gathered was rich and provided a

multitudeofinformation.Asalimitationresultingfromthis,itwillnotbeabletoprovide

any statistically proven conclusions. Instead, it focused on trying to get a broader

understandingofthephenomenonthroughsemi-structuredinterviewsandindepths

discussionsasabasis for futurequantitative research. Thequalitativeapproachalso

increased engagement of the practitioners involved. Themethod of semi-structured

alsoallowedpractitionerstoreflectontheirexperiencesduringthediscussion,which

seemedtocontributetotheirawarenessoftheimportanceoftheselectionprocessas

manyofthemmentionedaftertheinterviews.

6.4.2 TheAuthorasaPractitioner

AsaprojectmanagerinaglobalITconsultingcompany,theresearcherhadaccesstoa

large network of participants for this study. This allowed to involve experienced

intervieweesofvaryingseniorityinthefieldofprojectmanagement,whichprovideda

betterunderstandingof thephenomenonthroughdiversityofparticipants. Including

participantsfromwithinthesamecompanyalsolimitsthegeneralizabilityofthisstudy,

as the claims made would need to be validated regarding applicability in other

companieswithadifferentculture.Thedecision in regardto thesampleweremade

consciously, as this allowed interviews to be conducted in trusted environment, as

companyinternalinformationcouldbediscussedwithoutconcern.

180

ThroughhisexperienceasaprojectmanagerinITconsulting,theauthoralreadyhada

non-academicunderstandingofthephenomenonpriortothisstudy.Thismaybringa

potential subconscious bias to the research,whichwasminimized by grounding the

researchprojectinexistingliterature.Hisroleasbothapractitionerandaresearcher

also had the positive influence, that he could provide a holistic perspective on the

phenomenoninvestigated.

6.4.3 Sector-specificApproach

Aspreviouslymentioned,manycontextualelementsofthisstudysuchasITconsulting,

softwareselectionandprojectmanagementsoftwarehaveonlybeenpartiallycovered

in existing literature. The focus on this phenomenon within its’ specific context

producednotonlyanunderstandingofthephenomenonitself,butalsocontributesto

a better understanding of the sector itself. It also outlines the contextual elements,

specificallyITandconsulting,andtriestoidentifytheirinfluences,whichgivesadditional

substancetothefindingsandclaimsmade.

6.4.4 PracticalRelevance

The thesis was written on the journey towards a doctor of business administration

(DBA).ThepracticalfocusofaDBArequiresapracticalcontribution,whichresultedina

strongfocusnotonlyonacademic,butalsopracticaloutcomes.Theseweredeveloped

byfocusingonthepractitioners’perspectiveofprojectmanagersthroughoutthestudy.

The6-stagedprocessguideandtherecommendationstowardstheprocessofsoftware

selectionthatwerecreatedaspartofthisstudyarebothgroundedintheonaverage15

181

yearsofexperienceoftheintervieweesofthisstudy.Thisincreasesthequalityofthe

outcomescreatedfromapracticalperspective.

6.5 RecommendationsforFutureResearch

Thissectiongivesrecommendationsforareasoffutureresearchinrelationtothisstudy

anditsoutcomes.Itisseparatedintothreeareas.Thedirectlyrelatedoptionsforfuture

researcharebasedonthelimitationsthecurrentstudyhas.Additionally,willprovide

suggestions on the areas of projectmanagement in general and specifically project

managementsoftware.ThethirdaspecttobeconsideredisthatofITconsultingasa

sectortoinvestigatefurther.

6.5.1 ResearchbasedontheLimitations

Thefirstandpotentiallymostobviouslinkforfutureresearchwouldbetobuildonthe

limitations the current study has. As previously pointed out, the current study is

qualitativeinnature.Thus,anyfindingsarenotstatisticallyproven.Tomakeanyinsights

thatwerepartofthisresearchmorespecificandrelevant,itcouldthusbebeneficialto

evaluate these throughquantitativemeasures.Anexamplewouldbe thecriteria for

software selection,whichwould benefit from an investigation into the comparative

importanceofeachitem.Thiscouldfollowaquantitativeapproachbasedonsurveys.

This would also help practitioners focusing on the key aspects when they need to

prioritize.

182

As part of this research, the terminology for project management software was

investigated.Similarly, itwouldalsobe sensible toverify the terminology ina larger

contextandacrosscompaniestogainamorecompletedefinitionasusedinpractice.

Thiswouldthenprovidemoresubstancetothedefinitionformed.Asthecurrentstudy

wasconductedinalargeglobalcompany,itwouldalsobeofinteresttoseeifthereisa

differenceinsmallerormorelocallyoperatingconsultancies.Thiswouldallowabetter

differentiationbasedonthecontexttheselectionprocesstakesplacein.Itwouldalso

beinterestingtoconductasimilarstudyusingfocusgroupstoputmoreemphasison

theareasofagreementanddisagreementinregardtotheselectionprocess.Thiscould

leadtoaclearerconceptofthepotentiallycontroversialpointsandpractitioners’views

afteracriticaldiscussiononthem.

Lastly, the current research was based on interviews with project managers, as it

focusedextensivelyontheprojectmanagers’perspective.Itwould,however,bealso

helpfultogainanunderstandingfromotherperspectives,inordertouncoverinfluences

ontheprocessthatarepotentiallyhiddenfromtheviewofprojectmanagers.Itwould

also give more detail to these influencing factors where they are related to other

involvedroles.Examplesforpotentialparticipantsforsimilarstudieswouldencompass

the profit and loss owner, IT architects or technical lead roles, teammembers and

especiallyrolesontheclientside.Thelastwouldbeespeciallyinterestingtoknowfor

consultantsastheyarenotpartoftheirownorganization,thusitmaybehardertoget

anunderstandingoftheirperception.

183

6.5.2 ProjectManagementSoftware

Projectmanagement software has been researched as part of this study. Stillmany

questionsaboutitareunanswered.Forexample,thestudiesthatexistonthetopiconly

coverfewsectorssuchasconstruction(Son,Hwang,Kim,&Cho,2016),thusstudying

othersectorsandidentifyingsectorspecificswouldbebeneficialtodevelopinsightinto

the process as applied there and gain an understanding of the applicability of such

studies across different sectors. This would make it easier for academics and

practitionersaliketocontextualizeinformationwithinthisfield.

Ithaspreviouslybeenmentionedthatprojectmanagementsoftwareusagedrivesthe

benefitsitbringstotheprojectsuccess(Alietal.,2008;Raymond&Bergeron,2008).As

partofthisresearch,someaspectswereuncoveredthatprojectmanagersidentifiedto

drive software usage. In order to get a more complete understanding, it would be

worthwhile to investigate further aspects on software usage, not just within the

selection process, butwith a focus onwhat influences there are during the project

lifecycle.Itcouldfocusontheusers’perspective,asopposedtothedecisionmakersas

in this research. This would likely help to also get a better understanding of the

emotionalfactorsthatmayhaveanimpactontheacceptanceofprojectmanagement

software.

Also,thepotentialoftraininginthisareashouldbeinvestigatedfurther,asithasbeen

mentionedasafactorinfluencingsoftwareusageduringthisstudy.Robertson(2015)

contributedtotheresearchonprojectmanagementtraining.Similarstudiescouldbe

conductedtospecificallyreviewprojectmanagementsoftwaretrainings,theapplication

184

of specific evaluation frameworksand its impactonpractitioners. This couldhelp to

improvetrainingandsubsequentlysoftwareusageinpracticeaswell.

Lastly,aninvestigationintofuturetrendsforprojectmanagementsoftwarewouldbe

interesting to anticipate further developments. This again would likely need to be

differentiatedbysector,asrequiredfunctionalitiesandthusdevelopedandpreferred

productswouldlikelyvary.

6.5.3 ITConsulting

ITconsultingisthesectorthisresearchislocatedin.Throughtheliteratureresearchit

becameapparent,thatthissectorhasnotyetbeenthefocusofmuchresearch.Thus,

thereismuchpotentialforfuturestudies.Thefirstandforemostwouldbetodevelopa

clearer definition of what IT consulting is and what contrasts it from management

consulting.Somedefinitionswerementionedintheliterature,butthesevariedbroadly.

Aspartofsuchastudy,onecouldalsodefinetheareasthatarepartofITconsulting

through investigations into practice. This should be done ideally by developing an

understanding not only from the perspective of consultancies, but also from their

clients.

Aspartofthisresearchthecontractwasmentionedtohavesignificantimpactonthe

software selection process. Thus, providing a concise evaluation of the contractual

aspects that relate to project management in this sector would pose a significant

contribution.TheroleoftheprojectmanagerorotherrolesinITconsultingwouldalso

bedifferentperspectives to investigate,potentially throughqualitative investigation,

185

thusexpandingtheunderstandingthatacademicliteraturehasofthisfieldingeneral.

Due to small amount of literature on IT consulting and especially on project

managementinthiscontext,anyendeavourstoinvestigatethisfurtherwouldbehighly

commendable.

6.6 RecommendationsforPractice

TheresearchathandposesimplicationsformultiplelevelsofanITconsultancy.Some

key suggestions will be listed as follows based on the previously discovered

contributionsofthestudyandthefindingsrelatedinthediscussion.

RaiseAwareness

The first and foremost the general relevance of PM software should be stressed.

DecisionmakersinITconsultanciesneedtobeawareoftheimplicationsthattherelated

decisionshave.Ashort-termfocusonlowcostwhenplanningaprojectislikelygoingto

haveanegativeimpactinrelationtotheutilizationofPMsoftwareandconsequently

onthelong-termefficiencyandcost.

ProvideTraining

Inaddition,ITconsultanciesshouldconsidertheneedforadditionaltraininginrelation

toPMsoftwareselectiontoenableprojectmanagerstobettermakeconsciousdecisions

onthistopic.Inrelationtothetraining,itwouldbesuitabletotrainwithafocusonthe

selectionprocessitselfandnotjustaspecificsoftware,asthismaychangedepending

ontheclient.

186

Standardization

Asmentioned,manyorganizationsaimforstandardizationwhenutilizingprocessesand

software. IntheITconsultingindustryhowever,thisshouldbehandledwithcaution.

The collaborative nature of many projects requires consultants to often work with

clients, thus a too rigid set of standardsmay hinder collaboration. In consequence,

standards in the area of project management software and processes should be

standardizedinawaywheretheyflexibleenoughtobeadaptedtospecificprojectand

clientsituations.

InvolvetheTeam

Asmostprojectmanagersrecommended,thoseteammembersthatneedtousethe

softwareshouldbeinvolvedintheprocessofsoftwareselection.Thiswillleadtohigher

utilizationofthesoftwareandthusincreasedbenefitsfortheproject.

6.7 Summary

Thischapterhasgivenanoverviewofwhatwasachievedthroughthisstudyandhow

the researchmet its’ objectives. The aimof this research projectwas to provide an

understandingoftheprojectmanagementsoftwareselectionprocessinITconsultingas

encountered by project managers. This has been met through the identification of

underlyingdefinitions,the6-stagedprocessguide,thelistofselectioncriteriaandthe

selection criteria synthesized from the data. Through the application of qualitative

methods,thisstudyhasexpandedexistingtheorybycontributinganewperspectiveon

theselectionofprojectmanagementsoftware.TheworkingdefinitionofPMsoftware

thatwassynthesizedstrengthensthecommunicationbetweenacademiaandpractice.

The 6-staged process guide gives an understanding of the phenomenon of software

187

selection itself in the relation to projectmanagement and relates the practitioners’

standpointtoresearchers.Thisunderstandingisexpandedthroughtheselectioncriteria

identified.Furthermore,asITconsultinghasnotbeeninfocusformanystudies,italso

givessomeinsightintothesectoritself.Thethreekeyresultsarealsorepresentedin

thefollowingfigure.

Figure6-3:ResearchResults

The chapter has further pointedout the strengths and limitationsof this project, to

provideguidanceandcontexttotheclaimsmade.Ithasshownwhichopportunitiesfor

futureresearchareavailablebasedonthelimitationsofthisstudyandbeyond.Being

locatedintheITconsultingsectorposeslimitationstowardsthegeneralizabilityofthis

study, but it also provided rich information bringing to lightmultiple aspects to be

investigatedthroughfutureresearch.

Basedonthefeedbackthatparticipantsgaveontheinterviews,thisresearchisalsoa

contributionthatfillsagapinpracticalknowledgeandgivesemphasistoanimportant

aspect of projectmanagementoftenoverlooked. Thus researchers andpractitioners

alikemayhopefullybothbeabletodrawhelpfulinformationfromthisstudy,todevelop

theirowncapabilitiesandunderstandingbeyondwhatisformulatedhere,thusmaking

itirrelevantfortheirfurtheractivities(Wittgenstein,1961).

188

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Appendix

AppendixI:InterviewSchedule

IntroductionStartwithSmalltalkExplainwhythethesisiswrittenandwhythetopicwaschosen.Informtheintervieweeabouttheinterviewbeingatrustedenvironment,confidentialityoftheresearcher,asktosignformforInformedConsentAskifinterviewinEnglishispossibleThenstartintotheinterviewEducationWhatisyoureducationalbackground?(sub-questionstoidentifytitles,academicdegree,ifnecessary)DoyouhaveanyfurtherprofessionaleducationalqualificationslikePMIandifso,which?WorkExperienceHowmanyyearshaveyouworkedasaprojectmanager?Haveyouworkedasprojectmanagerwithinanon-consultancyorganization-notintheroleofconsultancyPM?Canyougiveexamplesofdifferentprojectsyouhavebeenworkingon?(subquestions:size(team,duration,budget),national/international,collocation/distributed,clientindustries,agile/waterfall)PMSoftwareWhatisyourdefinitionofprojectmanagementtool?Whatisyourdefinitionofprojectmanagementsoftware?Whichprojectmanagementsoftwaredidyouuseinyourpastprojects?Whatwerethekeyfactorsforconsideringcertainsoftwareproducts?Howdidyouinvolvetheprojectteamintheselectionofthesoftware?Howdidyouinvolvetheclientintheselection?Whatkindofcontractdidyouhavewiththeclient?(time&material,fixedprice)Whatspecificchallengeshaveyouencounteredwhenselectingandintroducingtoolsonaproject?

- Challengeswithpeople- TechnicalChallenges- Otheraspects?

Howhaveyouresolvedthem?Whichkeyadvicewouldyougivetoaprojectmanagerinregardtoselectingsoftwareinsimilarprojects?ContextAsaprojectmanagerinanITconsultancy,whichchallengesdoyouthinkarespecifictoyourroleincontextofthePMsoftwareselection(andwhy)?Howdoyouaddressthese?ClosingWhatwouldyouliketoadd?

199

AppendixII:FormofInformedConsent

InformedConsentFormInterviewregardingthe“SelectionofProjectManagementSoftwarebyProjectManagersinITConsulting”Pleasereadthisdocumentcarefully.PurposeoftheResearchandtheInterviewTheinterviewispartofadoctoralthesis,whichwillattempttoanswerthefollowingresearchquestions:

- What are the key definitions and understandings used by managers in ITconsultingonprojectmanagementsoftware?

- What is the process employed by project managers in IT consulting for theselectionofprojectmanagementsoftware?

- Whatarethekeyconsiderationsforprojectmanagerswithintheprocess?Theinterviewconsistsofasetofpreparedandadditionalspontaneousquestions.Thesewillaskfortheintervieweesexperienceinrelationtothementionedresearchquestionsandinvestigatethoseinmoredetail.Thequestionswillalsotrytoidentifywhathasprovensuccessfulandwhathasnotworkedinordertoderivepracticalguidanceforpractitionersasaresultofthethesis.Theinterviewitselfwillberecordedandtheinformationwilllaterbetranscribed.Theinterviewwilltakeapproximatelyonehour.ConfidentialityYouridentitywillonlybeknowntotheinterviewerandnotbedisclosedtoothers.Itwillalsonotbeusedinanypublication.AnynamesofpeopleororganizationsthatyoumentionotherthanIBMwillberemovedandreplacedbyanonymousplaceholdersinthetranscription.VoluntaryParticipationYourparticipationinthisinterviewiscompletelyvoluntary.Thereisnopenaltyorlossofbenefitforchoosingnottoparticipate.Youcanabortandwithdrawfromtheinterviewatanytimeinwhichcasetherecordingwillbedeleted.AgreementIagreetoconducttheinterviewunderthetermsstatedabove.Name:___________________________________________________________Signature,Date:___________________________________________________

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AppendixIII:NVivoProjectStructureSnapshot

ThefollowingpictureprovidesapartialsnapshotoftheNVivoprojectstructureasit

wasutilizedforsortingthedataandidentifyingthefindingsasdescribedinchapter

threeandfour.

201

AppendixIV:SoftwareProducts

Aspartoftheinterviews,differentspecificproductswerementioned.Whilethesewere

notdirectlyrelatedtotheresearchquestions,thedogiveanimpressionofwhichproject

managementsoftwareproductswereusedbypractitionersinterviewed.Thefollowing

listprovidesanoverview,butshouldnotbeseenasrepresentativeorcomplete.Italso

does not show whether experience with the mentioned software were positive or

negative

ProductorProductCategory Sources ReferencesMSProject 15 31Jira 8 18Softwarefromsmallervendors 2 2IBMinternalsoftware 7 14RationalJazz 12 31Self-madecustomsoftware 4 5MSExcel 15 51ITproject-specificproducts 4 7Project/documentrepositoryproducts 9 27Slack 5 8Othermessagingsoftware 6 9