The Issue: Managing a project can be more difficult than
implementing the project itself. Managing ICT projects is actually managing
complexity which can be very risky financially and operationally. Neatly 80% of the ICT projects failed due to
poor project management. NASA on a
specific project only had 70% budget overruns, and some time ago, the US DoD
had only 3% of its project implemented on time, budget and quality. Those
statistics get very scary when they measure ITC projects implementation at a
time where most organizations have to either invest on ICT or go out of
business. Most existing management
practices are still bureaucratic and affordable only by large
organizations. As of today ICT project
management is a luxury for most organizations who seek the faster cheaper
better methodology.
The Opportunity: Worldwide, organizations can be characterized
in two categories, those who buy (acquire) and those who make (develop). Most organizations acquiring technology seek
methodological support as they have limited resources, know-how, capability,
and/ or the technology development process is not part of their operations
plan. Those organizations have no
structured internal IT departments that can support of fulfill development or
even project management needs. Typically
they restrict the activities of their IT professionals, if any, to support
their users. Information systems are rarely developed, personnel can not be
reserved for systems development, the technologies that exist in the
organizations are straight forward need not much effort in maintenance and no
serious reason exist for the organization to invest in an internal development
unit. On the other hand, organizations
developing technology, seek methodological support since they might not want to
disseminate the organizational internal technological strategy, structure and
operations. They need to control all
technological and technocratic investments, be independent from other
technology providers, and have many projects to be developed. Thus it is better to be developed
internally, having a team in the organization that can carry on the
responsibilities of systems development.
Structured information technology department exist not only for the
development of the technologies but also for their maintenance of the products
and services that will interlay, be developed and those acquired. All the above cases form a market where ICT
project management methodologies can be used.
A huge market, constantly growing as organizations tend to be software
intensive day by day, expecting to secure their organizational operations via
successful ICT adaptation, reduce the risk of an ICT initiative and investment
and assure profitability and return on the ICT investments, making the project
market a very promising one.
The Solution: ARIADNE is a methodology of methodologies, a
methodology generator. ARIADNE is a methodological framework thought which
methodologies are generated per case, and project. The ARIADNE Methodology is a project
management methodology for the development and acquisition process of
information systems and technological investments. The methodology is separated into two prime
sub-methodologies that can cover any type of information technology project,
process and investment. The first one,
the ARIADNE-PM (Project Management), approaches completely the processes
related primarily to the management of information systems acquisition
projects, and used by organizations purchasing technology or invest on a
technological and technocratic corporate initiative and investment. The second one, the ARIADNE-SE (Systems
Engineering), approaches completely the processes related to the development of
an information system and used by organizations that develop technology for
either internal or external projects or products. The size and agility of ARIADNE is obtained
by the 40 phases of Ariadne, the 467 stagers, 5.727 processes, 538 deliverables,
1.992 forms, 1.440 inspections, 1342 critical points, 2.391 meetings, and 1.08
milestones. All that multiplied by two,
and then by five since each phases of ARIADNE is also offered in five different
versions. The combinations of phases
that can be generated with ARIADNE are 540
= 9.094.947.017.729.282.379.150.390.625
ways to use the methodology. Certainly
there is at least one that fits even the most demanding organization. Competing solutions are limited.
The development of the thousands of processes in ARIADNE came after an exhaustive study of 116 international project management methodologies. ARIADNE holds the best of the best practices found in those methodologies, while other processes and practices developed by EMPROSS. Today ARIADNE can be considered fully compliant with 24 international methodologies, quite compliant with 26 other. The agility of the methodology is strongly present and on the way the methodology is used. More than 10 different ways are available to use the methodology and a number or techniques support this adjustability. The same flexibility can be found on the software tools supporting ARIADNE which allow the organizations re-adjust the tools to cover a specific methodological approach selected for a project.
ARIADNE is one of a kind, an leader
in modern project management, an effective and reliable faster cheaper better
methodology. Extensive research is in
progress today, for the new Archetypical Ariadne, a new version utilizing sign
theory techniques, knowledge management and processes engineering supported by
an environment that learns form the users usage, behaviour on the
methodology. This new approach that will
user patterns to manage organizational behaviour to control the risks and will
restrict human error found in most project managers, and not in the methods.
Our Company: The ARIADNE
methodology has been developed in its current version after six years of
exhaustive research and development, completely financed by EMPROSS SITC and
its Managing Director Dr. Evangelos Markopoulos. More than 20 engineers and managers from the
academic and business world invested over 30 years of research and development.
Our Market: Any technocratic organizations of both the
Private and Public Sector, meeting one or more of the following characteristics: Develop information systems as their end
products, Develop information systems as part of their end products, Develop
information systems towards their internal operations process improvement
through internal structured IT departments, Acquire information systems as part
of integrated technological projects, Acquire information systems as part of
technological investments, Manage the development or acquisition of information
systems without a structured approach, Implement a corporate technocratic
strategy.
Pricing: The same flexibility and combinations of our solution is also built in the ARIADNE pricing model. The methodology costs according to the number of phases and processes used to create the proper methodology to manage a specific project. An ARIADNE methodology can have 5 processes or 5.000 processes, can cost 1.000 € and 1.000.000 €, can be used in projects of 10.000 € budget and in projects of 100.000.000 €, in projects with 1 staff month effort and in projects with 5.000 staff months, in small organizations and in huge organizations, etc. An average version of the methodology will sell at 200.000-500.000€ depending on the software supporting it.
As of 1.1.2008 Ariadne is not sold as a methodology any longer. Ariadne is sold only as a service offered by EMPROSS to the client organizations, with the same costological flexibility (processes used).
Ariadne will be sold as a
methodology again once a web based, intelligent and secure methodology
generator based on the Ariadne processes, is completed by EMPROSS.
Our Customers: Today ARIADNE has been purchased and used in
more than 50 organizations in seven countries in different sectors.
Executive Management: The ARIADNE methodology has been developed
in its current version after six years of exhaustive research and development,
completely financed by EMPROSS SITC.
More than 20 engineers and managers from the academic and business world
invested more than 30 years of research and development.
Competition: As of
today there is no other methodology like ARIADNE in the international project
management community. ARIADNE is a
methodology of methodologies, a methodology generator.
Value Proposition: Many competing methodologies propose what needs to be done but give no templates and do not tell the how to be done. They are simply “tools” that depend on human interpretation and method. Others are too technical, formal, bureaucratic, difficult to adjust, targeted on a specific market, etc. ARIADNE has no such restrictions. It takes away the complexity and human error, it provides flexibility and accuracy which results in lower risk, faster/better project completion, saving money and time. Better Return On Investment (ROI) with lowered risk for failure.