8 signs you’ve mistimed a major IT initiative
Planning
and
launching
a
major
IT
initiative
can
be
a
CIO’s
biggest
challenge.
Everything
has
to
go
right:
the
technology,
the
goals,
the
financial
platform,
and
most
important
of
all,
the
timing.
Planning
and
launching
a
major
IT
initiative
can
be
a
CIO’s
biggest
challenge.
Everything
has
to
go
right:
the
technology,
the
goals,
the
financial
platform,
and
most
important
of
all,
the
timing.
Launch
an
initiative
too
soon
and
the
technology
may
be
premature
and
flawed.
On
the
other
hand,
failing
to
start
the
project
a
timely
manner
could
mean
falling
behind
competitors,
perhaps
even
fatally.
Knowing
exactly
when
to
launch
a
critical
IT
initiative
requires
deep
enterprise,
market,
and
technology
expertise.
Most
CIOs
already
possess
those
attributes,
yet
it’s
also
important
to
know
what
not
to
do.
That’s
why
it’s
critical
to
avoid
the
following
eight
potentially
fatal
mistakes.
1.
Defective
leadership
Leadership
is
a
key
component
in
the
successful
timing
of
any
major
transformation
project,
ahead
of
strategy
and
technology,
says
Suneet
Dua,
chief
revenue
and
growth
officer
for
products
and
technology
at
business
advisory
firm
PwC.
Inadequate
leadership
and
poor
team
engagement
can
lead
to
delays
and
time-wasting
errors.
“Quickly
identifying
where
mistakes
were
made
and
bringing
your
people
along
on
the
remediation
journey,
instead
of
keeping
them
in
the
dark,
can
be
a
powerful
tool
when
doing
damage
control,”
he
notes.
Many
IT
timing
mistakes
boil
down
to
a
disconnect
between
IT
and
other
enterprise
departments.
“To
drive
successful
adoption
of
IT
initiatives,
IT
leaders
must
operate
outside
the
constraints
of
the
IT
department
and
bring
every
single
C-suite
leader
along
on
their
digital
transformation
journey,”
Dua
advises.
2.
Poor
planning
Defective
planning
often
leads
to
poor
timing,
particularly
when
an
initiative
conflicts
with
established
business
operations.
“Very
often,
IT
teams
don’t
consider
other,
non-IT,
activities
that
can
affect
their
user
base
and
their
ability
to
collaborate,”
says
Seth
Lively,
US
digital
lead
at
IT
consulting
firm
PA
Consulting.
Confusion
results
when
the
initiative
inadvertently
ruins
departmental
synchronization.
Lively
believes
that
the
best
way
to
correctly
time
a
major
IT
initiative
is
to
create
a
transformation
management
office
(TMO),
or
similar
entity,
that
will
coordinate
activities
and
dependencies.
“A
TMO
sets
up
the
framework
to
track
benefits
for
large
transformation
programs
and
provides
a
centralized
team
to
connect
parts
of
the
business
involved
in
the
transformation,”
he
explains.
Mistimed
initiatives
ultimately
result
in
poor
adoption,
Lively
warns.
“If
dependencies
and
initiatives
are
properly
planned,
business
stakeholders
are
engaged
during
the
key
parts
of
solution
development.”
3.
Overloaded
schedules
IT
leaders
already
have
too
much
on
their
plates,
observes
Kevin
Shuler,
CEO
of
technology
consulting
firm
Quandary
Consulting
Group.
Therefore,
most
CIOs
focus
on
business-critical
operations,
since
maintaining
existing
enterprise
systems
is
a
top
priority.
“It’s
about
not
drowning
first,
then
using
whatever
additional
time
and
resources
IT
has
to
meet
other
requirements,”
he
explains.
To
create
the
time
needed
to
nurture
a
potentially
transformative
initiative,
Shuler
advises
CIOs
to
explore
ways
of
augmenting
their
workforce
without
adding
either
extra
cost
or
team
members.
He
suggests
using
low-code
platforms.
“They
can
amplify
the
output
of
developers
using
prefabricated
snippets
of
code,”
Shuler
says.
“This
drastically
shortens
development
time,
helping
IT
to
catch
up
on
tasks.”
Shuler
adds
that
a
citizen
developer
program
can
also
free
up
extra
time,
although
governance
frameworks
must
be
created
to
ensure
that
the
program
stays
on
track.
“Still,
delegating
less-essential
tasks
to
employees
trained
in
low
code
can
improve
output
without
burning
through
IT
resources,”
he
notes.
4.
Weak
commitment
Indecision
and
a
poor
risk
appetite
are
two
common
reasons
why
CIOs
frequently
delay
an
important
IT
initiative.
“Nimble,
forward-looking
leaders
put
execution
speed
at
the
center
of
performance
discussions;
indecisive
IT
leaders
tend
to
rely
on
consensus
decisions
and
endless
risk
evaluations,”
says
Colm
Sparks-Austin,
president
and
managing
director
of
business
advisory
firm
Capgemini
Canada.
To
correctly
time
a
major
IT
initiative,
the
decision-maker
should
align
the
initiative
with
business
goals.
“If
the
business
isn’t
spearheading
the
initiative,
or
is
not
aware
of
it,
it’s
clear
that
something
is
wrong,”
Sparks-Austin
says.
CIOs
should
also
ensure
they’re
analyzing
all
IT
spend
through
a
business
goals
lens,
Sparks-Austin
advises.
This
technique
—
combined
with
discrete
measures
of
success
matching
business
goals
over
a
given
time
period
—
can
repair
the
damage
of
a
mistimed
initiative,
he
notes.
5.
Inadequate
funding
Unrealistic
funding
almost
always
plays
an
important
role
in
initiative
timing,
observes
Ravi
Malick,
CIO
at
cloud-based
content
management,
collaboration,
and
file-sharing
tool
provider
Box.
Overly
optimistic
funding
is
almost
always
a
main
part
of
the
equation
when
an
initiative
fails,
he
notes.
It’s
always
better
to
wait
than
to
launch
an
underfunded
initiative.
Underfunding
doesn’t
just
appear
out
of
thin
air,
Malick
says.
It
occurs
as
a
combination
of
things,
such
as
hardware,
software,
and
labor
pricing.
“Knowing
where
to
focus
your
negotiation
energy
on
getting
the
lowest
price
is
key
to
staying
within
budget
and
making
sure
you
don’t
have
to
make
trade-offs
later,
which
will
mistime
the
initiative.”
6.
Trusting
the
status
quo
Optimistic
IT
leaders
expect
that
the
business
environment
will
remain
generally
the
same,
or
perhaps
even
improve,
during
the
initiative’s
entire
development
and
deployment
process.
This
can
be
a
dangerous
assumption,
however.
“Macroeconomic
events
and
internal
profitability
challenges
have
a
dramatic
effect
on
an
organization’s
willingness
to
continue
investing
in
what
are
typically
large,
expensive,
multi-year,
and
multi-provider
initiatives,”
says
Eric
Lefebvre,
CTO
of
tax
compliance
software
provider
Sovos.
To
avoid
any
unpleasant
financial
surprises,
Lefebvre
suggests
breaking
the
initiative
into
manageable
chunks
that
deliver
incremental
value
throughout
the
project’s
life.
“For
instance,
instead
of
waiting
three
years
for
success,
start
with
an
initial
six-month
deliverable
of
some
core
minimum
viable
product
[MVP]
capability,”
he
recommends.
Quarterly
capability
increases,
Lefebvre
notes,
will
yield
some
level
of
benefit
even
while
the
full
initiative
may
be
months
or
years
away
from
full
deployment.
CIOs
should
also
plan
with
the
expectation
that
funding
could
dry
up
after
any
given
quarter’s
results,
he
advises.
“This
[attitude]
ensures
the
plan
is
defensible
and
can
be
easily
paused
until
conditions
are
more
conducive
to
investment.”
7.
Poor
business
stakeholder
coordination
IT
initiatives
frequently
affect
critical
business
processes,
and
not
always
in
a
positive
way.
Timing
an
initiative
to
ensure
that
impacted
stakeholders
can
adapt
to
and
adopt
change
with
minimal
risk
is
critical,
says
Ola
Chowning,
a
partner
with
global
technology
research
and
advisory
firm
ISG.
“An
example
might
be
making
changes
to
a
financial
reporting
system
during
budget
season,
or
prior
to
month-end
or,
even
more
impactfully,
year-end-close,”
she
notes.
8.
Distraction
IT
leaders
are
responsible
for
an
assortment
of
critical
responsibilities
that
can
result
in
time
slipping
away.
Attending
to
a
series
of
urgent
daily
tasks
can
result
in
mistimed
initiatives.
While
busy
with
other
duties,
a
CIO
can
easily
become
reactive
rather
than
proactive,
says
Jeremy
Richard,
head
of
IT
and
security
for
asset
intelligence
platform
provider
Armis.
“In
a
constantly
evolving
technology
world,
IT
leaders
must
be
visionaries
with
strong
planning
skills,
always
keeping
their
eyes
toward
enterprise
goals
in
order
to
ensure
the
proper
timing
and
execution
of
major
initiatives,”
he
explains.
Richard
notes
that
the
damage
created
by
a
mistimed
initiative
can
be
mitigated,
and
sometimes
even
repaired,
with
proper
planning
and
open
communication.
“Teams
should
set
clear,
measurable
goals
and
expectations
to
address
the
mishap,
as
well
as
plan
for
proper
execution
the
next
time
around,”
he
says,
adding
that
the
IT
leader
should
also
analyze
why
the
initiative
was
mistimed
and
what
could
be
improved
when
deploying
future
initiatives.
The
final
countdown
There’s
never
a
perfect
time
to
launch
a
major
IT
initiative,
particularly
a
project
that
has
a
wide
cross-functional
or
entire
enterprise
impact.
The
best
way
to
reduce
disruption
is
with
diligent
planning,
Box’s
Malick
says.
“Start
by
making
people
feel
aligned
and
supported,
then
ensure
governance
is
in
place
to
help
maintain
focus,
and
defer
projects
that
can
be
deprioritized,”
he
advises.
“Finally,
secure
the
necessary
—
not
minimal
—
funding.”
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