Anyone involved in a new IT project implementation knows that time and cost overruns are typical. Many reasons contribute to this effect, from process complexity to what some call Scope Creep – the continued addition of new features while the original plan evolves. CEO’s are taking notice, are “double-clicking” and wanting faster outcomes.
Even when delays are expected and worked into plans, the fact that over half of CEO’s in a recent Gartner (www.gartner.com) see a project taking too long to complete puts additional pressure on Information Technology teams. The velocity of business continues to increase, from sales to production. From Just-in-Time to Just-in-Case, everyone is pushing for speed and accuracy. To secure funding, executive sponsorship and commitment from those on the front lines, consider the following as you engage in
Dig deep into business requirements – once you have mapped out the process you seek to improve with digital initiatives, pause, review and reshare your findings and your understanding. We find that new business requirements surface during the “confirmation” process. Seek out experts on the ground that must use the system and rely on its availability to perform their jobs.
Look for agile, non-traditional technologies – non-relational databases represent one technology we have confirmed helps us react quicker to customer configuration requirements and therefore helps projects complete faster.
Closing the chasm between leadership expectations is possible yet demands some extra efforts and coordination in documenting and understanding of business requirements for today’s and tomorrow’s businesses.