The Impact of Scope Creep on IT System Planning: A Critical Study Paper

The implications of scope creep on information technology system planning have varied opinion. My position is that scope creep stymies the IT planning process since it forces employees to revisit previously covered stages (Larson & Larson, 2009). The problem of scope creep in IT is caused by a lack of required expertise and the absence of critical steps by those who have taken on the assignment. The overall premise is that scope creep exists in software planning and should be prevented at all costs.

Reasons Why Scope Creep is a Challenge

Some of the reasons I consider scope creep to be a vice can be seen in its sources. Among the reasons include; lack of clarity and proper analysis of the software speculation document. One fact is that an IT professional will at all time inspect the documents of specification to ascertain what is expected of them (Larson & Larson, 2009). Only an individual who does not know what they are dealing with will be able to pick a document with limited specifications (Larson & Larson, 2009). The other reason why I feel that scope creep is a challenge is the fact that underestimations cause it on the complexity of IT software planning (Luckey & Phillips, 2006). A person who is adequately trained in the matters of software will know how complex it is to deal with software planning and will the matter as seriously as possible.

Managerial Causes of Scope Creep

The other managerial causes that have often led to scope creep in the IT software planning are poor management, poor change control, lack of identification of what is required to make the planning a success and a weak project manager. All these processes are related to the incompetency of the people who are participating in the IT software planning. The only solution that can be put in place to deal with the situation is selecting a group of people who have proper management skills and excellent communicators. Such individuals will be able to coordinate the activities in the software planning and come up with ways to close the gaps of scope creep that some individuals feel is a good thing the IT software planning.

Arguments for Scope Creep

To some individuals especially the software professionals advocate for scope creep. One of the reasons that they present is that there is need to please the users of the software who are afraid of admitting that they require change (Wiegers, 2009). The argument is that the users would want these changes to be included but they cannot come out boldly to tell the software team during the planning stage.

The other reason that is put forward by the software specialists for cope creep is what is termed as technical gold plating (Wiegers, 2009). The idea in this situation is that a software programmer decided to add a feature which was not included at the planning stage because he or she feels that it should be incorporated reason being that the individual is a perfectionist or certain essential elements are lacking in the software.

Arguments Against Scope Creep in IT Software Planning

Going by the arguments for scope creep, I have a feeling that they cannot outweigh the arguments against scope creep in IT software planning (Wiegers, 2009). The first argument is that the customers need to be pleased. My problem with the argument is that these customers cannot speak for themselves. In as much as one would want to speak on behalf of the customers, it is not necessary to bring the idea in during the implementation phase because it will take more spending into the software planning and above all, time wastage. The time allocated for the whole process is fixed, and the moment that an individual brings in another idea, it is extended.

Project Success and Software Quality

Project success, as well as the quality of the latter, is the ultimate intent of any given software organization. As presented in the article and as described by only about thirty-four percent of the IT projects instituted by the leading organization emerge to be successful in the end. Thus, the reputation and the success of any given software organization depends on the satisfaction of the end user as well as the quality of the project development. Therefore, in the perspective of the article, the identification and preclusion of any project malfunctioning seem to be a crucial factor.

Best Practices in IT Management

The professional in IT industry have brought in different Project Management Critical practices which bring about software quality that directly influences project success. As illustrated in the above discussion, the success of a project often perceived to depend on three components, for instance, Human resource component, Organization, and Technological components. The most insidious approach that leads to successful IT management is where the crucial elements such as planning, organization, project control, and some other essential elements are as well component of the system. Stellman, & Greene (2008) say that success of the project is attained through best practices in the process of project management. In the article, all the sampled and talked about system acquisition and management are from both the critical as well as non -critical relevance. The factors which are taken to be both critical and non-critical applications indeed are similar.

The Impact of Scope Creep on IT Software Planning

The other argument for scope creep is that the programmer feels to include some of the features that were not initially included because he or she is a professional. The professionals have the right to include features in the software, but they do not have to do it in the final section of the implementation stage because it will have a cost impact and increase the amount of time required for the software to be complete. If there is a need to add these features, the programmer should do it at the initial stages of planning and not at the final stage.

Conclusion

I have a strong feeling that scope creep is an enemy of IT software planning and it is caused by the incompetency of the programmer team (Stellman & Greene, 2008). Most of the problems emerge because the managers do not take keen note of the essential requirements for the software. Thus, various professionals present many ideas on ways of preventing scope creep in the IT sector (Stellman & Greene, 2008). The arguments for scope creep are not detailed and substantiate enough to rule out my arguments against scope creep as a challenge to IT software planning and that it is often caused by the negligence of the technicians and the managers during the software planning stages.

References

Larson, R. & Larson, E. (2009). Top five causes of scope creep ... and what to do about them. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2009-North America, Orlando, FL. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

Luckey, T., & Phillips, J. (2006). Software project management for dummies. Hoboken, N.J. : Wiley

Stellman, A., & Greene, J. (2008). Applied software project management. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.

Wiegers, K. E. (2009). More About Software Requirements: Thorny Issues and Practical Advice. New York: O’Reilly Media, Inc.