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138 ROLE-BASED NEEDS FOR RESOURCES

Software Systems Considerations

A key factor of system design for this other stakeholders group is whether commu-
nication is uni-directional or bi-directional. For the Participants groups, we obvi-
ously need bi-directional capabilities. This may not be necessary for other
stakeholders. If this is the case, an effective method of communication is web pub-
lishing. This would allow the target receivers of the information to access the data
via a web browser. The web pages would be designed specifically for each target,
and there are no security problems. When reverse communication is warranted,
the web pages can have e-mail links to the people most likely to be contacted.

A disadvantage to web publishing is that the publisher determines what the
viewer sees and when it is refreshed. But this can also be viewed as an advantage,
as the publisher has a chance to review and validate the data before broadcasting
them. Another advantage of web publishing is that the format is preset and the
reader needs to know no more than how to access the web pages.

Of course, all stakeholders can be included in the full, bi-directional system. Se-
curity can be set to allow queries, but disallow data entry. This gives full (or limited)
access to the data, on demand, without exposing the database to unauthorized in-
puts. For the broadest access, from remote locations, a web-based system will usu-
ally serve these users better than a client/server system. With the former system,
the users do not require any PM system software on their computers.

Role-based Needs

This concludes the chapter on role-based needs for managing resources in a proj-
ect-driven organization. We have tried to show that there is a vast community of
stakeholders who support or impact projects—each with information needs and
many with information contributions. The effective system designer will consider
the specific needs of each stakeholder and accommodate those needs. The design
will consider both the type of information required and the best format to facili-
tate delivery and receipt of such information.

There is no excuse for a one-size-fits-all approach. Ignoring individual roles
and their need for tailored project communication vehicles will further the prob-
ability of project failure. This need not happen.