IT Project Success through Corporate Profiling

Part 1: What is Corporate Profiling? An Introduction to “ Stop Blaming the Software – Corporate Profiling for IT Project Success ” IT Project Starting Blocks P/L | Copyright © 2009 Sarah J. Runge. This material may be freely distributed provided it is not modified in any way | www.itpsb.com Stephen Manes, commenting on the changes he has observed over the past 25 years. Full Disclosure, Stephen Manes, PCWorld, December 2008. “ Public relations people seem better than ever at helping to hide massively screwed-up corporate and governmental programming projects from stockholders and citizens.”

Agenda
Why is Corporate Profiling Relevant
A brief introduction to Corporate Profiling
Unbundling the Organization
Sample Profiling Questions
1 st Profiling Chapter “Decision Making”
The Profiling Chapters that Follow
“ A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else” Author and Naturalist John Burroughs (1837-1921) This presentation is a brief overview of “ Stop Blaming the Software – Corporate Profiling for IT Project Success” by Sarah J. Runge available December 2009 from itpsb.com, amazon.com, and major book sellers. Copyright © 2009 Sarah J. Runge. This material may be freely distributed provided it is not modified in any way

What’s the Relevance?
The Global direct and indirect cost of challenged or failed IT Projects is estimated to be as high as $6.2 Trillion per annum 1 .
Only one in three of today’s IT projects can expect to be successfully delivered. One in four will either fail or be cancelled and the rest will be “challenged” with massive budget overruns and not delivering the required functionality 2 .
“ Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. You don't fail overnight. Instead, failure is a few errors in judgment, repeated every day” Jim Rohn 1 Ref ZDNET.com Sept 2009: http://budurl.com/a2qd 2 Ref CIO.com June 2009: http://budurl.com/gd76

Corporate Profiling promotes 3 key principles
Visibility of an organization’s key elements is vital to the profiling process and can only be achieved once an organization has been unbundled or dissected
What is Corporate Profiling? Corporate Profiling is a simple yet comprehensive process that delivers an in-depth blueprint of the organizational structure, its technology, people, processes, up-stream and down-stream customers and their relationships. Ref: Wikipedia “ While intelligent people can often simplify the complex, a fool is more likely to complicate the simple” Gerald W. Grumet

Profiling promotes Collaboration on all strategic decisions to ensure that unbiased quality decisions are arrived at, consensus is achieved, and decisions are fully supported. Collaboration is also a prerequisite for requirements gathering
What is Corporate Profiling? “ A good scapegoat is nearly as welcome as a solution to the problem” Author unknown Corporate Profiling is a simple yet comprehensive process that delivers an in-depth blueprint of the organizational structure, its technology, people, processes, up-stream and down-stream customers and their relationships. Ref: Wikipedia

Accountability empowers employees to drive change and to feel involved rather than becoming cynical or resistant to change. Accountability is also a critical factor for ensuring quality input into strategic project decisions
What is Corporate Profiling? “ It is wise to direct your anger towards problems – not people; to focus your energies on answers – not excuses” William Arthur Ward Corporate Profiling is a simple yet comprehensive process that delivers an in-depth blueprint of the organizational structure, its technology, people, processes, up-stream and down-stream customers and their relationships. Ref: Wikipedia

Is Not Technically Oriented – its all about Business
Is Not a “Silver Bullet” – it Requires Diligence
Is Not a Project Management Tool
Nor is it a Q.A. or IT Governance Framework
Is Not a Framework for IT – but it is a Business Framework Senior Executives use to drive Pre-Investment and Pre-Implementation Decisions
Is Not IT Driven – but it is driven by the Chief Executives & Business
“ I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody” Bill Cosby What Corporate Profiling is Not

Begin with a conclusive organizational decision
Start with the support of all stakeholders
Be supported by organizational strategies
Proceed with clear communications channels
Put IT Risk and Governance measures in place
Monitor the quality and progress of the project and celebrate successes along the way
Incorporate a plan for organizational change management
Include a continuous input and feedback mechanism
Ensure appropriate training for all system users
Conclude with full user adoption and success metrics appraisal
The Pre-Implementation Sequence of Events “ Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success” Henry Ford These steps cannot be undertaken until a Corporate Profile has been established

How is a Profile Constructed?
The 3 Categories to be Unbundled are:
Organizational or business,
Management,
Implementation or IT
Although Corporate Profiling does not include an analysis of Competitors, Industry or Government Regulations, it is important to remember the External Environment is a major influence on decisions to invest in IT Projects
“ However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results” Winston Churchill

Step A: Separate out the Components & Influencing Factors
There are Four Primary Layers
The 3 Categories must always be Interconnected by common Strategies
These Strategies need to Straddle every Function & Business Unit connecting them to the organizations Goals & Bottom-Line Objectives
Functions & Business Units are Connected by Processes each of which is linked to People
Organizational Processes extend to Suppliers and Customers in its External Value Chain
“ The beginning is the most important part of the work” Plato

Step B: Profile Core Processes
To identify the points of process integration, an organization needs to determine what its current processes and systems are, how they envision them to be, and what needs to be done to achieve the desired outcomes
Using the profiling information from “Profiling Information for an Organization” as the starting point, they can begin to profile their core processes
“ Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them” Henry Ford

Step C: Unbundle your Pre-Implementation Process
By unbundling the pre-implementation process we are able to break down each step into specific disciplines.
These disciplines all require strategic decisions at the project’s outset so they can be successfully established, managed, and adopted by the organization throughout the project’s life cycle.
“ It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity” Albert Einstein

Step D: Profiling the External Value Chain
Irrespective of what strategy an organization pursues or what benefits the new IT system will deliver, the organization needs to identify how and where its customers and suppliers will either impact or be affected by the new system and processes.
If an organization is pursuing a strategy to catapult it into the status of “Industry Leader,” it will most certainly need a stronger alliance and tighter integration with its upstream or downstream customer processes.
“ The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed” Lloyd Jones

Some of the common reasons for investing are:
A changing business or external environment
The incumbent system is out of date and cannot handle new requirements
The vendor no longer supports the incumbent system
IT budget deadlines to spend before the end of the tax or financial year
To gain competitive advantage
An emergent or disruptive technology
Change of strategy
Increased efficiencies
Reduced operating costs
To meet customer demands.
Decision Making The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress” Charles Kettering

What external factors have driven the decision to invest in a new IT system and why?
What internal factors have driven the decision to invest and why?
What are the primary objectives of the system?
What expected benefits will the system deliver to the organization, functions, and business units?
What organizational needs will the new system address?
Why are these needs important? Rate each need between 1-5, with 5 being the highest importance
What is the business case supporting the project?
Profiling the What & Why of the Decision (sample profiling questions) "Lead, follow, or get out of the way" Thomas Paine

Who is the project sponsor? (The person in the organization who proposed the IT system and will be accountable for it until the project’s conclusion.)
Who in the organization made the IT investment decision?
Who is driving the decision to invest?
Is the Project Sponsor also the decision driver?
If this is not the same person, what are the specific reasons for that person being the Project Sponsor?
Do all of the relevant senior executives support the investment decision? (Note that even indirectly affected executives need to be included in answering this question.)
What are their reasons for agreeing with and supporting the investment decision?
What reasons were given for disagreeing with the decision?
Profiling the Who of the Decision (sample profiling questions) “ Informed decision-making comes from a long tradition of guessing and then blaming others for inadequate results” Scott Adams

Based upon Who made the IT investment decision, How was the decision actually made? Collectively, collaboratively, or in isolation?
Who was involved in the investment decision-making process and How were they involved?
What input from the relevant C-level personnel, senior executives, and managers supports and evidences the above answer?
How did they quantify their reasons and support for the investment decision?
Have all appropriate internal users and stakeholders been included in the investment decision? How have they been involved?
What external parties have been included in the investment decision and How have they been involved?
Profiling the How of the Decision (sample profiling questions) “ You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere” Lee Iacocca

IT Risk & Governance
Strategy & Success Metrics
Communications & Gathering Requirements
Gaining Support for the Project
Managing Change
Solution & Vendor Selection Framework
Training & Development
Succeeding at Corporate Profiling
The Profiling Chapters that Follow “ Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can't miss” Lee Iacocca

AVAILABLE EARLY DECEMBER 2009 at amazon.com and major book sellers “ Stop Blaming the Software – Corporate Profiling for IT Project Success” Register at ITPSB.com for a Special 20% discount on the day of release BETA Testers Wanted! Visit our ITPSB.com to Enroll for your FREE login Visit ITPSB.com for our webinars and podcast Part 1: What is Corporate Profiling? IT Project Starting Blocks P/L | Copyright © 2009 Sarah J. Runge. This material may be freely distributed provided it is not modified in any way | www.itpsb.com

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IT Project Success through Corporate Profiling

by Sarah Runge on Oct 07, 2009

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