As the knowledge
economy develops, the challenge of effectively
managing technological change in organizations
and indeed across entire industries is becoming
acute. This is not primarily a technology issue,
nor an issue of interest only to IT managers, it
is an issue for all business managers. The
traditional industrial-age approach to managing
automation-focused projects has become a relic,
leading to silver bullet thinking about the new
generations of IT and how they can be applied to
support advanced information management and
enable business transformation. The end result
is unacceptably high failure rates in applying
new technologies. We need a new approach.
Our Benefits
Realization approach is such an approach. It
provides a new basis for using IT to deliver
business results more consistently and
predictably. It proposes two inter-related
shifts: in mindsets about IT and in management
methods. Silver bullet thinking is replaced with
a new benefits mindset that focuses on
integrating technology into the business system.
Its central tenet is that IT alone, no matter
how technically powerful, cannot deliver
business results.
An Approach
Developed In The Field
Our Benefits
Realization approach is not just another
academic theory. It is a practical approach,
much of which was developed, tested in the field
and successfully used since 1999 in
organizations that include government (at all
levels), telecommunications companies, energy
utilities, banks, insurance companies and
manufacturers. It has been used to meet a
variety of business transformation challenges,
such as:
Ensuring that
benefits are understood and realized from
large, complex and expensive software
investments, including enterprise
application packages, Internet related
applications and Knowledge Management
initiative
Understanding,
managing and realizing benefits from major
business process re-engineering programs
Providing a
focus on results to guide major
organizational change programs.
Cornerstones Of The
Benefits Realization Approach
There are three
fundamentals that define the core of the
Benefits Realization approach. To implement it
successfully, organizations must also meet three
necessary conditions. These are outlined below.
Three fundamentals:
Shift from
stand-alone IT project management to
business program management
Shift from
free-for-all competition among projects to
disciplined portfolio management
Shift from
traditional project management cycles to
full cycle governance.
Three necessary conditions:
Activist
accountability in order to identify business
sponsors with active, continuous ownership
of investment programs
Relevant
measurement systems to measure the things
that count in the Benefits Realization
process
Proactive
management of change to give people
ownership stakes in programs.
RGC's Benefits
Realization approach incorporates several
innovative components. These include:
The Results Chain Technique
- generates a clear graphic display of the
contribution of initiatives to expected
business outcomes (or benefits)
The four "Ares"
- four underlying questions that provide the
framework for assessing business value
(including risk) for an investment: Are
1:
Are we doing the right things? Are 2:
Are we doing them the right way?
Are 3: Are we getting them done
well?
Are 4: Are we getting the
benefits?
The Value
Management Office (VMO)
- supports an organization's management by
actively managing the realization of value
from investment programs.
Benefits
Realization delivers a number of advantages:
The entire
organization - from top executives to
project teams - gains a better, shared
understanding of the potential benefits of
an investment and how to "get there"
Provides more
effective sponsorship of IT and business
change initiatives, based on better
understanding of the changes required to
generate benefits
