Lessons Learnt from e-Business Projects Are they any different?

1. Lessons Learnt from e-Business Projects Are they any different? Dave Corlett (PMP) & Jane Farley (PMP)

2. Presentation Outline • Five Reasons why e-Business projects Fail • Lessons learnt: • General • Business Integration • Expectation Management • Project Structure • Project Management Disciplines • Technology and skills • Are e-business projects any different?

3. Why do e-business Projects Fail? • Five of common reasons that e-business projects will fail include: • they’re viewed as an end in themselves • the projects are often managed poorly • they’re launched without clearly defined business goals • they’re not flexible enough to incorporate new technologies • they’re launched with insufficient awareness of what competitors are doing in e-business

4. Lessons Learnt • Ensure Total Management Commitment before starting • Identify the Compelling Business Event • Solicit Organisation Commitment to succeed • Continually evaluate the Business Strategy, the business case and the competitive landscape. • Identify all parts of an organization, or external organisations required early in project planning • Define resource requirements up front • Due to limited/inexperienced resources • Identify contingent resources • Allow additional time

5. Lessons Learnt: Integrate with the Existing Business • Always look outside-in and think Single Customer Experience • Involve all areas of the business from Day 1. • Integrate and leverage current business processes and knowledge • Adopt new processes across the business to integrate the e-business Remember e-business projects are not an end in themselves, rather a vehicle for improving overall business objectives.

6. Lessons Learnt: Manage Expectations • Involve the other areas of the business early • Plan to educate the stakeholders early • Develop an internal communications plan that regularly updates all areas of the business • Produce early; produce often • Plan to iterate prior to going live • Consider phased implementations of functionality • Remember the launch is only the beginning • Consider soft launching to a selected audience

7. Lessons Learnt: Project Structure • Project must be lead and managed by the business • Ensure business commitment through a Steering Committee • Delegate Authority to the Project team • One small team - combined business and technical resources • All resources available from the start • Immerse business operations staff from the beginning • Single location • Ensure creative design and build go hand in hand • Involve your legal experts early

8. Lessons Learnt: Project Management Disciplines • Enforce PM disciplines more than ever but make sure the processes support the speed of the project • Make decisions decisively • Adopt an attitude of delivering early • Consider segmenting functionality through releases or time boxing as a means of managing project results • Continually review and manage the project and business risks (at least daily) • Implement a process for sharing and managing creative ideas

9. Lessons learnt: Skills and Technology • Design and plan for the future (Scalability) • Ideally select and setup the development environment prior to commencement of the project • Ensure you have knowledgeable resources in the technology • Minimise risk by basing your solution on a completed solution • Use n-1 Software level • Don’t underestimate the operational changes necessary to support a 24*7*52 day systems • Test thoroughly (performance, operationally and security) before going live • Plan to stress test early. Know your limitations.

10. Are e-business projects any different? Based on the lessons learnt, the issues associated with e-business projects are not new to projects or specific to e-business. However, the perceived need for rapid action with a fixed delivery date, the impact and public visibility of associated problems is likely to be much higher for e-business projects than a ‘classic’ project of equivalent size and complexity.