Case Study 1 - Software and Acquisition

The company was in the midst of significant business expansion that included the simultaneous acquisition of two organizations. One of these, which required an integration of 47 separate client sites and a software development program designed to migrate these companies to the client’s corporate standards and practices, was in need of a course correction. The project was well behind schedule and over budget at the quarter-point of the implementation. On its current trajectory, the project would have lost the client multiple clients and associated revenue, along with a reduced ROI for the acquisition and development program of the new parent company.

Simultaneously, the parent company had taken on a new implementation program to prepare for integration with a new corporate in-house-developed claims management system, and the client faced an unmovable deadline for the transfer and conversion of IT Legacy systems to the new software and hardware platforms. New business from existing clients was dependent upon the completion of this integration.

In the midst of this transformative growth, senior management wanted to improve overall project management through better monitoring, control, and reporting while ensuring critical deliverables and targets were met.

The original program teams, comprising program and project managers from a third-party vendor, were unable to deliver results and the program was in peril. Planning was inadequate, milestones were missed, and the clients did not trust delivery dates. 

The company partnered with us to provide project management and consulting. After assessing the health of the various programs, we were able to make several key recommendations and help support the delivery of these initiatives on several fronts:

Acquisitions: The project team consolidated all decision-making responsibility with the project sponsor, appointed a technology head, and formalised the roles and responsibilities by developing a responsibility matrix. These basic processes clarified accountability and responsibility throughout all levels of the project, improving the effectiveness of the project team and streamlining decision-making.We also assigned a senior program manager who was dedicated to the implementation of the new claims management system, as well as integrating the software and process management groups from the acquisitions. They worked to integrate and coordinate multiple workstreams including groups from business, operations, implementation, and technology. Standardized process and documentation was created for individual workstream reporting and shared with other team members, and an integrated program level master plan was developed.

Formal training and mentoring was provided for all the project managers involved in the program initiatives, which improved key monitoring and control. RAG status was added to all levels of reporting, and also to the integration of the finance department to review budgetary expenditure. Internal issue management software was implemented to provide further transparency to higher management.

To improve the development effort supporting the acquisition, an agile methodology was introduced, focusing on improving the business requirements definition. This process led to 
better solutions, testing, and traceability, and ultimately a completed program with 100% client retention. 

The company, with our expert guidance, was able to leverage standard project management concepts and strategies and adapt them to the company’s unique requirements. The result was a successful organizational transformation, retaining all current clients and integrating more than 30 new clients. The company expanded to two new call centers, and doubled the number of claims serviced, whilst meeting program deadlines and contractual obligations.

The acquisition program was reset and successfully recovered, with all of the new targets and milestones achieved within twelve months.

The implementation of the company’s new claims management system went live two months ahead of the planned date in the overall program. 

From a company looking at a possible initial delay of nine months at the quarter point, we were able to save them from losses from development issues amounting to almost £1.4m, as well saving them the loss of clients.

The mentoring, training, and project management toolkit provided an efficient and consistent introduction to the reinforcement of project management principles. All of the processes created for these programs were developed with the goal of providing a solid foundation for the creation of the newly founded corporate PMO.

For the development effort, a team consisting of Business, Practice, and Technology members was assembled. Once the team was comfortable with the agile process, the development targets were reset, creating more realistic target dates and deliverables.