Full user involvement, professional project and change management,
and commitment from the top are the keys to IT success highlighted
by a new BCS report on three very different award-winning projects,
writes
John Kavanagh.
The report, entitled IT at the Heart of Business, provides
studies of three winners of the society's Information Systems
Management Award.
The Automobile Association turned round its declining fortunes
with an innovative combination of new and traditional technology to
set new standards of service in its market.
Halifax Share Dealing had a deadline fixed in stone and had to
be ready to handle one million customers on day one.
And London Ambulance Service pulled success from a series of
disasters that became a national scandal as it developed an
automated dispatch system. Morale was at rock bottom until a BCS
professional member was put in charge.
"These studies, although technology-based, highlight the
importance of the traditional virtue of effective management," says
report author Guy Fitzgerald, professor of IS at Brunel
University.
"In particular, understanding and managing change are central to
success. Technology is a crucial enabler but is not enough. Indeed,
many of the reported failures of IT systems say the technology
actually 'worked' very well.
"What sets apart success from failure is the way the projects in
this study were organised and managed," says Fitzgerald.
Everything therefore comes down to people. "People, supported by
the right procedures - and not a little luck - can make the project
work. Continuous commitment from top managers has to be secured,
and the right people must be appointed to key posts. Users must
take ownership of the system, have a part in its development and
understand its aims."
- IT at the Heart of Business is priced £35 to BCS members and
£50 to others. It can be ordered on 01793-417424.
- IT teams have a fortnight left to enter the IS Management
Award. Nominations are due in by 15 December. The award will be
presented at a dinner in London next May. Forms are available
online at www.bcs.org/isawards/enter.htm and via
01793-417431 and mmuir@hq.bcs.org.uk.