Case Study:
IT Governance – IT Priorities Committee
Background
A growing financial services firm was struggling to balance conflicting initiative requests within a fixed budget. Delivery was sub-optimized as the organization attempted to be all things to all people. Business executives did not understand or feel they were a part of the IT project decision-making process.
What We Did
A committee of 13 senior business people and two IT staffers was formed to hear requests and approve and prioritize IT projects. Processes were created, and committee members were educated in IT methodologies, budget processes, and PMO processes. Critical to the success of this process was teaching IT staff to present technical items to the business executives in verbiage they could understand.
What We Achieved
No project was ever initiated without prior approval and prioritization by the business. Business sponsors were always identified, and they typically justified their own projects to the committee.
With the business being more intimate with the challenges facing the IT organization, greater focus was placed on the cross-divisional delivery needs. True prioritization occurred, with acknowledgment of items not being resourced. Building a track record of successful delivery against these priorities created an environment where further funding for critical initiatives was provided.
Summary
Industry: Financial Services
Scope: Corporate-wide exposure, with $160M annual IT spend
Impact: Complete business participation and understanding of IT projects, priorities, constraints, and issues
Duration: 2 months to analyze, design, and implement
Harvard Partners Skillsets
- Business process engineering
- Project management
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Harvard Partners brings practical solutions to strategic IT issues in a collaborative and engaging manner. We inspire excellence from IT organizations by identifying opportunities for improved performance, minimizing risk, and training and coaching staff.