Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

I have become very familiar with Darryl's writings. He provides a practical, knowledgeable approach to the complexity associated with planning, implementing, and managing projects in complex IT environments. His most recent work around his MAPIT methodology provides tremendous guidance on this subject. I am a big believer in utilizing consistent processes to be successful, and MAPIT is an outstanding methodology for organizations large and small. -- Mitch Morgan, Growth Achievement Partners
Darryl has provided a key roadmap on to how to formally document and plan for major technology projects. Because larger scale technology deployments in education are relatively new those who deployed them in the past did not need to do a lot of planning. The past consisted of ‘the computer guy’ setting up the system. What worked for ‘the guy’ to set up a few computers no longer works for tens of thousands of devices or millions in infrastructure spending. During a recent $15M technology infrastructure upgrade we used many of these strategies to adequately plan and implement the project. Large construction projects have been using many of these strategies for decades. Now it is time for strategies to be implemented that are unique to Educational Technology. Radical planning is needed and this book provides the tools necessary to stay on track. -- William C. Olien, assistant superintendent, Murrieta Valley Unified School District
In my chair we always start with a dream or a vision. But you can be sure there is always a solid plan behind every dream if it's ever going to become a reality. Daryl has done a great job identifying each part of plans required to be successful when implementing technology based dreams. -- Jay McPhail, Assistant Superintendent of Innovation & Instructional Support at Fullerton School District
Darryl Vidal has written another must-read for educational technology professionals, technology coordinators, project managers, business managers and school superintendents. Far too many educational technology projects fail due to the lack of planning and project management. Millions of dollars are wasted each year on failed, stalled, delayed, and struggling IT projects. Darryl provides a strategy and a free tool - MAPITTM - that anyone can use to implement successful IT projects in their school district. Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail provides the insight needed to be a success! -- Michael Casey, Retired Executive Director of Technology, President of Eire Group
Darryl Vidal has provided a book on how to avoid the pit falls of lack of planning when doing IT projects. It gives you the process to have a successful IT implementation whether it is a large or small project. The concepts provided can be utilized not just for IT projects but for any projects school districts or businesses are doing. Read for your IT needs but use for all your projects. -- Cheryl Plotkin, Interim Assistant Superintendent Business Services, El Rancho Unified School District