Mark A. Lurch, PMP, Chair, PMI IT & Telecom SIG
Topic: Leading World Class Technology Projects for Innovation
Abstract: The world has become a complex mix of business and technology. A rational balance between the two is required for success. The need for strategically managing technology has never been greater for a company's success. With the exception of a handful of industry executives, top management, middle management, project managers are not prepared to deal with technology development as anything other than another project. That is when technology is lost, abandoned or given to the competition. Technology is the driver for growth in companies and nations. This talk discusses the importance of technology, the types of technologies, and the Project Management care required to bring them to market.
 Mr. Mark Lurch was born and educated in New York City. He is a graduate of Columbia University where he received his BS in Electrical Engineering, and Polytechnic University where he received his Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering. After graduation from Columbia University’s School of Engineering where he majored in optical communication, he became a member of technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories in NJ. For 15 years he worked in applied research and development, developing a variety of communications systems for underwater acoustic surveillance systems for submarines. He applied that knowledge in the development of fiber optically guided missiles, optical neuro-networks for artificial intelligence applications, optical sensor development, tethered unmanned underwater vehicle control, and a host of other technology driven applications.
After leaving AT&T Bell Laboratories, Mr. Lurch joined Lucent Technologies as Director of Program Management Operations. In this capacity he worked large international telecom project deployments in Asia, Africa, and Russia while consulting with business leaders on operational methods and project management discipline. In 2002 Mr. Lurch moved to a large defense contractor and served as Program Manager of the Advanced Mission Computer line of business developing and producing advanced computing products used to drive the displays on various military airborne platforms. Currently he is the Program Manager of the Research and Development programs defining the future technology roadmaps of the business. He also serves as the Chairman of the PMI Information Technology and Telecommunications Specific Interest Group providing educational and networking services to over 6000 members worldwide and sits on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota High Tech Association promoting collaboration among tech firms and academia in Minnesota. |
Petra Goltz, PMP, VP-Globalisation, PMI IT & Telecom SIG
Topic: Lessons Learned from Runaway Projects
Abstract: Projects that fail severely in terms of budget or target date overruns and/or reduced functionality are known as runaway projects.
The four disciplines of management - planning, organising, controlling, and leading - are thought of as key elements of avoiding ‘runaway-ness’. A project manager who fails in one or more of these areas may create a runaway project, as poor planning, organizing, controlling, and leading have all been linked to runaway projects.
We will study project failure from the perspective of a project manager, and will look at why IT and IS development projects in particular are prone to fail, and why they are so often allowed to continue.
The presenter will give examples of recent runaway projects and lessons learned, and will also present a case study of a runaway project that was assigned to her for completion, and the lessons learned from rescuing this project.
The endeavored learning outcomes of this presentation are:
- Raising awareness of what constitutes a runaway project
- Understanding the reasons of failure rates, and how they can be reduced in a proactive way
- How to close or rescue runaway projects
- Lessons learned
 Petra has been the VP-Globalisation of the PMI IT & Telecom SIG since December 2003, and is a member of two PMI Chapters: Northern Italy and UK. She was an invited speaker at PMI's Beneluxday in Antwerp in 2004, where she gave a presentation entitled: “Hit The Road Jack(ie)! - Cultural diversity and the back-packing project manager", and at last year's MITPM in KL her topic was “Managing The 'Critical Path' From Strategy To Execution: Issues and challenges in IT & Telecom Portfolio Management".
Petra has extensive experience in managing multi-cultural teams, as well as large and complex global IT and Telecommunications programmes with project budgets in excess of USD50 million. She has worked as a consultant at leading edge, highly successful companies such as AT&T, BMW, IBM, Nortel, Orange Business Services, Siemens, and Sun Microsystems, and at financial institutions such as the European Central Bank and MasterCard.
She has published the WebLink Training Manual for Energis plc in 1998, content for several websites, and a series of articles for PMI's SIGnal newsletter. Petra is widely travelled, fluent in English, German (native), Dutch and Italian, and able to survive in French. |
