Smart Use of Business-side Resources Optimizes Technology ROI
By
Ed Fenwick
Vice President, Insurance Practice
While working with one of our insurance clients
recently, we were involved in a discussion of their 2004 business
plan. The items listed in the plan were almost exclusively technology
projects.
I asked, “But where are the other projects?” The
response I received was, “There are no other projects because our
focus for 2004 is to recover technology ground lost due to constrained
spending over the past three years.” After the meeting, I asked the
CIO what the greatest challenge will be in achieving such an
aggressive technology-based plan in 2004. He answered, “We’ll need to
have business-side resources that are capable of assisting with the
projects.”
Not all organizations will be pursuing such a
robust technology plan in 2004. It does, however, appear that most
will be significantly increasing their technology investments. It also
seems likely that most will face the same challenge: The skills,
experience and knowledge needed by the business-side participants do
not exist in sufficient numbers to meet the needs of the technology
projects planned. This is one situation where “throwing bodies” at the
problem is not an option.
These business-side resources will need to be
used more efficiently and effectively. In most organizations,
business-side participants involved in technology projects use their
time inefficiently and ineffectively. If you doubt it, sit in on a
business requirements development session, or better yet, a
requirements review session. In many organizations this is a process
lacking a consistent methodology and adequate tools.
As you look to staffing the technology project
teams with business-side resources, consider the following:
