A Stitch in Time: recovering distressed IT projects
What can you do to recover a broken IT relationship and recover an operational service?
Maximising Success with AI
How you maximise your chances of success with AI
Managing failing IT and outsourcing projects
In a companion piece to their recent article on the reasons for IT project failure, Lee Gluyas and William Hooper review the steps that can be taken to protect a position where a project is failing but recovery is being attempted. IT projects can be lengthy and complex, especially where they are part of a…
Whose fault is it anyway? Why complex IT and outsourcing projects fail
Lee Gluyas and William Hooper review the common reasons for project failure and the steps which customers and suppliers (and those advising them) can take to minimise the risks. Complex IT and outsourcing projects are prone to delay. Some are abandoned in acrimony before completion. Whilst each failed project goes wrong for its own reasons,…
Recovering a Failing IT Outsource Service
Eavesdrop on a conversation between two senior IT staff of a fictitious company charged with the successful execution of an outsourced arrangement that has just passed its two-year anniversary. Gain an insight into the difficulties they are experiencing, their search for the root causes and their development of a plan to deliver targeted improvement. The…
I Have a Dream!
The outsourcing market is in turmoil. Customers are frequently disappointed by what they see. CIOs mark the growth of shadow IT. Suppliers have delivered savings in the past but the business feels the manacles of inappropriate service. What can be done to restore order and performance? On 28th August 1963, Dr Martin Luther King stood…
Of Exit and Brexit
Outsourcing agreements come to an end, just as do some political treaties. What can those steering the perils of partition learn from each other? There are few experiences as visceral as the turmoil of politics. As a British citizen, I have taken my part and cast my vote on 23rd June, 2016. The comparison of…
Asking the Right Questions
The formation of a good sourcing agreement relies on clear thinking and agreement between the parties on what is to be done, why and how. The market and technology are changing so rapidly that the next agreement is likely to bear little resemblance to the last. How to make sure we ask the right questions…
Shrink an Agile Business Case
There is a fiction that suggests that business decisions are made on purely utilitarian grounds. Psychologists have shown convincingly that people value the avoidance of loss far more highly than capturing gains. There are many and significant implications for those seeking to implement change, particularly in an agile environment. The Agile Manifesto The Agile Manifesto and associated…
Trust, Betrayal and Business Relationships
Outsource agreements are characterised by long durations and high switching costs. Some fail; some drive innovation and soar; most get by. What is the role of trust in such a service and what can you do to obtain the best value? Volkswagen is being pilloried world-wide for deliberately deceiving customers and the public in diesel…
