User may know best when it comes to reducing risk in enterprise systems projects
by Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 7/1/2005 12:00:00 AM
Asuret, a Brookline, Mass.-based consulting firm, claims to have a solution for the problem of failed enterprise software implementations. It says the answer is to simply listen to the client.
Rather than maintaining complete reliance on experts, this services provider says it trusts its clients to identify and use their own expertise, and supports that with the right project methodology framework for systems implementation.
With some industry experts claiming as many as 70 percent of software implementations fail to meet stated goals, it might be time to consider a new approach.
"Even if most of these projects fail only partially, that still means thousands of budgets and schedules are running over, ROI targets are being missed, and products are being rolled out with less than their promised feature set," maintains Asuret CEO Michael Krigsman.
Krigsman says failures occur for literally dozens of reasons, but those considered most serious usually aren't the result of technical errors, such as with code.
"The real risk factors tend to be weaknesses in the organization itself—how projects are managed, how the culture works, how managers get feedback from end users," maintains Krigsman. "The moment something goes wrong with an implementation, these are the stress points where the whole structure is likely to cave in."
To identify and correct organizational weaknesses, Asuret recently launched this portfolio of risk-reduction services for enterprise software customers:
IT rapid risk assessments: Using proprietary, Web-based survey techniques and statistical analysis tools, exposure levels and relative importance of 46 risk indicators are measured. Project stakeholders subsequently discuss the project's most critical vulnerabilities.
Midpoint reviews: At major project milestones, previously identified risks are reviewed to ensure that new implementation issues have not surfaced.
After-action reviews: Once a new application is up and running, project participants and end users explore lessons learned that can make future implementations run more smoothly.
Project management documentation: A formal record of decisions, changes, and outcomes is recorded.
Implementation playbooks: For larger organizations, internal best practices that may be widely scattered throughout the company are captured and documented.
"So many people are involved [in enterprise projects], each with a few key pieces of information that should be heard," concludes Krigsman. "Traditionally, risk analysts have either spent a fortune trying to interview everyone, or cut corners on the issues under investigation. We've tried to be smarter about developing tools for analyzing organizations and processes. "
