Visualizing Project Management
Chapter One
WHY ARE PROJECT
REQUIREMENTS A
CRITICAL ISSUE?
In the mid- to late-1980s, cellular phones had very limited
operational range and were generally used only in large cities.
A strong business case for a satellite-based mobile phone was
made and the Iridium Program was born. By the time the 12-
year development and deployment was complete, GSM cellular
technology had matured and spread through all markets. Only a
fraction of the potential Iridium customers remained. The
consortium, unable to pay the $5 billion debt, filed bankruptcy.
A realistic business case, appropriately updated, would have
revealed that the program could not survive-and it would have
revealed the problem years before any satellites were launched.
This chapter speaks to the challenges of maintaining consistency
of the business case, the project scope, and customer needs. Subsequent
chapters address the many creative ways to maintain this
consistency, including opportunity management. In the case of the
Iridium Corporation, opportunity seekers bought the assets for about
2 percent of the original investment. By late 2004, the new team had
enlisted 100,000 customers and could be headed for success in amore
limited market ... read full excerpt from Visualizing Project Management: Models and Frameworks for Mastering Complex Systems ebook
