I agree with your comment that we tend to focus on the four truisms about IT projects needing Executive Support, Strong Leadership, Involvement of Key Stakeholders, and Communication Early and Often. As you stated these are givens.

So let me add something new to the list or at least something that is too often undervalued; the Impact of Change that IT brings to the organization. If an IT based initiative is truly transformational, than it brings with it transformational changes in business processes and the work that an organization performs.
These changes can include a completely different set of tasks to be performed in a completely new way.

In today’s environment where 30 to 40 year old mainframe systems are being replaced with state of the art, intuitive, web based applications, the degree of change that needs to be embraced and used by employees can and usually is dramatic from the user’s perspective. Do we truly understand the impact of these changes and have we allowed for adequate time for training and for the user’s experience to stabilize.

All too often, the discipline of change management is focused on controlling changes to the project plan and not planning adequately for the changes the organization will encounter when the new system is implemented. When planning the roll-out, the impact of changes in process and work activities deserves equal time and can often be the difference between the project being viewed as a success or failure.

Hope this is the kind of extension to the discussion that you’re seeking,

Bill

I agree with your comment that we tend to focus on the four truisms about IT projects needing Executive Support, Strong Leadership, Involvement of Key Stakeholders, and Communication Early and Often. As you stated these are givens.

So let me add something new to the list or at least something that is too often undervalued; the Impact of Change that IT brings to the organization. If an IT based initiative is truly transformational, than it brings with it transformational changes in business processes and the work that an organization performs.
These changes can include a completely different set of tasks to be performed in a completely new way.

In today’s environment where 30 to 40 year old mainframe systems are being replaced with state of the art, intuitive, web based applications, the degree of change that needs to be embraced and used by employees can and usually is dramatic from the user’s perspective. Do we truly understand the impact of these changes and have we allowed for adequate time for training and for the user’s experience to stabilize.

All too often, the discipline of change management is focused on controlling changes to the project plan and not planning adequately for the changes the organization will encounter when the new system is implemented. When planning the roll-out, the impact of changes in process and work activities deserves equal time and can often be the difference between the project being viewed as a success or failure.

Hope this is the kind of extension to the discussion that you’re seeking,

Bill