Case Studies
Should it be killed or could it be saved?
The Situation
A history of haste in planning and a poor grasp of business processes caused the forecast cost of a financial services IT system replacement to blow out the original budget many times over.
Relationship managers were promising new products and improved service to their customers however the promises were empty. The dedicated project team was focused on solving increasingly less important technical issues and had no plans for implementation. A customer service nightmare.
How to avoid chaos and get international teams working together.
The Situation
A new system was sold to transform the operations of a regional UK healthcare group and thereby reduce the risk of inappropriate treatment and physical danger to patients, clinicians and the public.
Unfortunately the client did not know the internal workings of existing systems nor have detailed requirements for government reporting.
The client’s staff hid behind time differences, contract obligations and they lacked business analysis, process design and change management skill. Clearly a recipe for disaster.
Battling the detail and overcoming mass confusion to find a path forward.
The Situation
The steering committee was focused on the next milestone for one business application. The large reporting pack was full of detail but light on transparency about the complexity and interdependencies between the projects and milestones more than a month away.
There was no schedule or program management plan and connections between the 4 projects and fit with business strategy were unclear. The teams were at different stages; testing first release, vendor selection, design and concept. Everyone was working in the dark.
Failing to learn from the past, guarantees failure today.
The Situation
During a regular review, APRA commented on inconsistencies in post implementation reviews and recommended enhancing project methodology. Although the project management methodology included guidelines for a Post Implementation Review (PIR) it was treated as optional with little funding or political will.
Project managers and sponsors were keen to move on before blame was attributed and every new project was seen as unique.
Consolidation of customer service centres.
The Situation
A Life Insurance Company with autonomous state based-offices was facing market share erosion.