The result was missed and duplicated orders that cost Nike millions. Project teams should learn from this highly publicized failure and factor risk, as well as resources and benefits, into their scope control practices. Disciplined scope control takes other factors into account, as well. For example, team members should always consider who owns the project at hand. Such political and personal considerations are essential for ensuring good long-term relationships between IT and the business.
Technical dependencies can also play a vital role in defining scope.
If the last prerequisite component won't be ready and tested until two weeks before D day, and the feature in question will take three weeks to install and test, you've got creep. The gospel of business discipline has been preached to IT in many ways over many years. In the digital economy, smart IT resource prioritization is a strategic competitive advantage. Creeps finish last. Lenny Liebmann is a consultant and writer specializing in the business applications of networking technologies.