This document discusses business IT investment risks and lessons learned from past projects. It identifies 10 best practices for successful IT investments based on research, including quantifying benefits and identifying all stakeholders. Two key lessons are to list all risks and issues from reference sites for each option, and ensure project sponsors address difficult issues. The document also discusses challenges faced by armed forces charities in a changing environment and how the Royal British Legion's business model and operating model are transitioning in response.

1. Business IT Investment Risks
Richard Moulds
Interim CIO, The Royal British Legion
20th March 2013

2. Objective
To enable you to identify at least 1
lesson and 1 resource to act on

3. Agenda
• Introduction
• Objective
• Findings
– Research
– Crash
– Cranfield University
– Lessons Learned, NHS & BHF
• The Royal British Legion

4. Research - Crash
• Overambitious
• Pride
• Presumption
• Pusillanimity
• Credulity
• Consultancy
• Tailored Software
• Concealment
• Buck Passing
• Lawyers Moulds Management Consulting Ltd

5. Research-Cranfield University
Top 10 Practices H% L% Diff.%
Transferral of lessons learned 73 32 41
Quantification of benefits 52 14 38
All benefits identified 56 19 37
Organisational change reviews 62 30 32
Overstating benefits 22 51 -29
Benefits delivery planning 45 19 26
Benefits review and evaluation 62 39 23
Organisational change planning 44 23 21
External reference sites used 45 24 21
External benchmarking used 35 16 19
Cranfield University Information Systems Research Centre

6. Risks, issues & lessons
Disaster = Multiple
Issues

7. Lessons Learned
• Google searches
• Lessons learned = 39.7 million hits
• We fail to LL = 29.2 million hits
• Lessons learned = identify lesson & act on it **
• Identify lessons by assessing the:
– context
– event
– causes (root causes and critical success factors)
• Act on lessons
** Milton N (2010) The Lessons Learned Handbook
http://
www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lessons-Learned-Handbook-Knowledge-Based/dp/1843345

8. British Journal of Healthcare
Management Dec. 2010
T
D OU
HAN
Moulds Management Consulting Ltd

9. 2 lessons identified Capabilities
Business Cases
•list all major risks, issues and lessons identified
from at least one reference site visit for each
option
Decision Making & Governance
•ensure the project sponsor is a role model on how
to raise and resolve difficult issues

10. CFG 2011 Risk report ‘Managing Risk:
Operating in the new world’
…that there is a fundamental imbalance between
supply and demand in the not-for-profit sector
…charities are seeing growing demand for their
services but are unable to invest enough to provide
these services effectively
…little sign of the situation improving in the
foreseeable future
…..many charities are faced with a business model
that no longer works in the longer term.
http://www.cfg.org.uk/news/press-releases/2011/november/charities-facing-uphill-struggle-to-meet-demands-and-
manage-risks.aspx

11. The Royal British Legion
• Armed Forces Sector
• TRBL Group of Charities
• Business IT investment to
support new Operating
Model

12. Armed Forces Charities - 2007/08
Political Economic
Iraq War 2003 -2011 Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11
Afghanistan War 2001- to date bankruptcy protection on September
USA,UK Australia, and the Afghan 15, 2008.
United Front - Operation Enduring
Freedom.
Social Technological
Rapid growth in use of social media Emergence of hi tech artificial limbs
e.g. Facebook generation
June 2007 , the Pew Global Attitudes Web 2.0 becoming mainstream
Project found international opposition
to the war in Afghanistan . Only 4 / 47 Sept. 2008
countries favoured keeping foreign 1504 M internet users, 22.5% of world pop.
troops in Afghanistan Compared to Dec. 2000
Significant empathy and expectations 361 M internet users, 5.8 % of world pop
for UK armed forces

13. Royal British Legion 2007/08
Strengths Opportunities
•Brand •Political
•Financial •Economic
•75% market share •Social
•Technology
Weakness‘ Threats
•Inward looking •Political
•Little focus on ‘market’ •Economic
•Social
•Technology

14. Armed Forces Charities 2011
• Royal British Legion Founded 1921
– Market share from 75% to 55%
– Income broadly static
– Brand 4th in top 125 Charities
– Pathway 4 Growth – for beneficiaries
• Help for Hero’s Founded 2007
– Income £50 m, market share c. 20%
– Brand 5th in top 125 Charities

15. TRBL Business & Operating Model
for Services
From To
Primarily face to face Face to face, on phone
online & self service
Limited reach & depth Very low marginal costs
Few national customer National output and
standards outcome standards

16. TRBL Challenges & Lessons
• Challenges • Lessons Identified
– Disconnect between – Build personal relationships
functions including IT
– Importance & relevance – Integrated IT assets =
of IT Architecture benefits for business model
not just functionality
• Access
• Business Systems
• Data, data, data ……
– Capability & Capacity
– Balance Demand & Supply
• Partnership
• Cloud based solution

17. Questions & Comments
• Richard Moulds
• Interim CIO, Royal British Legion
• rmoulds@britishlegion.org.uk
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/rich
ardmoulds
• M: 07834 320979