“Phase Zero”: Increasing Your Odds for Project Success
Posted by
Marty Peralta
on
Thursday, August 19, 2010
CIO Magazine’s Web site cited a survey of 800 IT managers. Among the findings:
- 62 percent of organizations experienced IT projects that failed to meet their schedules
- 49 percent suffered budget overruns
- 47 percent had higher-than-expected maintenance costs, and
- 41 percent failed to deliver the expected business value and ROI
Keep in mind that these are the opinions of IT managers. One can assume that the business sponsors take an even dimmer view of the value of development projects.
Interestingly these dismal odds for project success are roughly the same as they were 10 years ago. The obvious question is why? In my 20 years in the IT industry, I can say that failure can occur in all phases of the development process, from scope definition to solution design and build-out to implementation and knowledge transfer.
To be sure, a rigorous adherence to project management office (PMO) standards is to your advantage during a development project. However, PMO tools and process in and of themselves cannot ensure the ultimate effectiveness of the project. The reason is because a project solution architecture is only as good as the business analysis and critical thinking that precedes development. In short, the pre-development analysis and requirements gathering is the real difference maker between project success and project failure.
Formalizing the pre-development analysis phase is a best practice that we at Stonebridge provide to our clients via our Phase Zero® Assessments. A key component of our consulting methodology, Phase Zero is so named for its chronological place in multi-phased project development. The goal of a Phase Zero Assessment is to help both Stonebridge and the client gain a clear, shared understanding of the scope and extent of the business problem and the level of effort and costs necessary to deliver the solution.
The typical Phase Zero Assessment is short in duration, usually four to eight weeks. During Phase Zero, we analyze various factors that could impact the project, including technologies, processes, culture, and financials. The key deliverables are a detailed report summarizing the high-level business requirements, a technical road map and project plan for delivering the proposed solution (i.e., Phase 1+), and frequently a working prototype or proof-of-concept (POC).
Far be it from me to imply that pre-development analysis precludes project failure. But I can say that project failure is a near certainty without a Phase Zero-type component. Given the current odds for success, IT managers and business sponsors alike should not take this critical step lightly.