How to Identify High-Return Projects

	Technology Trends

by bob weinstein

December 1, 2008

The most daunting challenge IT PMs face next year is identifying high-return projects, according to Johanna Rothman, a PM consultant in Waltham, Mass. This will be especially difficult for organizations pursuing vertical markets. As Rothman sees it, one of the big problems is determining which projects serving different constituencies are most valuable. This is evident in IT organizations where “one group of people deal with the corporate Web site and problems concerning functional groups.” 

Every company faces its own unique problems. Take a successful e-commerce company like Amazon, for example. It earns its money via its Web site. Like most e-commerce companies, it has to answer important questions, says Rothman, such as: How much should be spent on upgrading and improving its site; on streamlining financial operations; on creating holiday promotional packages that appeal to customers; or on maintaining or starting a loyalty program?

Take manufacturing companies. If they have to cut back and have only one or two project teams, which projects should they focus on? Do they develop a high- or a low-end product? What kind of special features will entice customers? What type of service contract should be offered? Do they take the path of least resistance and produce a variation on a proven product that enjoyed a successful track record?

These are all tough questions, according to Rothman. “Even big companies run out of staff for all the projects they want to initiate,” she says. One thing is clear, however, says this experienced PM: the markets to stay away from.