Even the best prioritization
process will not result in appropriate projects if the initial “brainstorming” of
IT opportunities does not identify the correct focus areas or is
limited to current frustrations.
In assessing potential technology projects, companies tend to
focus on improving the frustrating internal processes or “digitizing” paper-based
systems. Sometimes an IT project is grown around a specific software application – with
management pressured at a user level to make a quick decision without
considering other options.
The benefit of a scientific and methodical “Prioritisation
Process” is that it prevents a solution being found before
the problem is recognized, acknowledged as a serious business issue
and understood.
Even the best prioritization process will not result in appropriate
projects if the initial “brainstorming” of IT opportunities
does not identify the correct focus areas or is limited to current
frustrations.
InterComm believes that many companies concentrate their
IT efforts so intently on internal operations that they forget
to take external environmental factors into account.
InterComm's strategy methodology takes a customer focus, assessing market
trends, competitive advantage, core in-competence, and customer
requirements and wishes. It is important that the Strategy design
team understand that growth will come from satisfied customers
and improved services and products, not from the IT systems themselves.
Once the team has identified a wide-range of business problems
and business development opportunities, these are then analysed
in more detail. Factors that are discussed include benefits of
finding a solution, the risk of ignoring the problem, and if the
solution is potentially cultural, procedural or technological.
Many problems can be solved by IT, but are nevertheless not appropriately
solved by IT.
The InterComm methodology is based on a simple matrix, which makes
priorities clear. Team members know where each project fits, or
accept that it was rejected for the right reasons.
- Quadrant 1 projects are easy, high benefit applications and
are done first.
- More difficult, high benefit project are done next, when confidence
and experience has been gained.
- Quadrant 3 project are easy (although lower benefit) to rebuild
confidence after the difficult projects.
- Difficult, low benefit applications are usually rejected either
sooner or later.
To get consensus about benefit and viability scores, team members
decide jointly based on standard, logical criteria.
Benefit criteria :
- Accessibility of information
- Speed of throughput
- Volume of throughput
- Impact on actual workload
- Accuracy or completeness of information
- Overhead and production costs
- Is the problem a core “in-competence”
Risk/viability criteria :
- Cost of software/implementation
- Demand on internal staff
- Probability and consequences of failure
- Time taken to implement
- Impact on day-to-day business functions
- Technical difficulty
- Previous experience (with IT projects)
- Cultural readiness
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