The IT Project Ecosystem — An Industry Case Study

Projects including today’s modern IT Projects do not exist as a discrete unit. Similar to a biological ecosystem, a project team is part of the project ecosystem that includes various internal and external stakeholders. This case study presents the Enterprise Service Management (ESM) Project which was a strategic initiative by Western Sydney University. The ESM Project objective was to optimize student and staff experience through a central and customer-centric enterprise service management platform, in order to drive accountability and service performance. The ESM Project case study provides an example of a modern-day IT Project with an overarching transformation and change purpose. This case study presents a discussion of the challenges and approaches adopted to manage a project through a complex stakeholder landscape and the capabilities required to succeed in delivering transformation and change objectives. The key capabilities identified throughout the case study are the need for the Project Manager to have leadership and stakeholder management skills to navigate a mix of complex organizational ecosystems, people, and technical requirements. The IT project manager must adapt appropriate methodologies, a continuous improvement process and lifelong learning and development to successfully deliver the project.