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IV: Determining Business and Technology Requirements

Collaborating and validating findings

Any review of technology will require a reciprocal review of existing business processes, recognizing that changing the business processes means changing the underlying support systems, as well. Thus, as previously suggested, the technology team and business process teams should work in parallel, reviewing the recommended process changes against the available technology tools, and revisiting both sets of information until the two visions can be aligned in an outcome that is appropriate to the institution, and supportable with the technology.

The more iterative this process of setting priorities, examining available tools, and reexamining priorities can be, the more likely it is that a realistic set of significant, high-priority goals will be achieved. This iterative review may increase the technological scope of the project, but alignment of the business process vision with the information technology vision for the institution is a critical factor for the success of the project.

A notable project land mine to avoid is the attempt by the technology team to impose a technological solution on a business process requirement. The potential difficulty of this land mine is not only project misdirection or lack of timeliness; the impact can be significantly counterproductive for people in both the business and IT areas when a set of false expectations infringes on the project and the lure of technology diverts the team from the true project goal of supporting business needs.

The technology team will also need to communicate often with the IT organization, especially if the strategy established in the planning phase of the project is toward purchasing a package or partnering to develop a new system. This information will form the basis for evaluation of the current environment and a comparison with other alternative technical approaches. It will also provide key information on performance-related issues that will impact the sizing of potential systems. In addition, the results of the project will require the support of the IT staff, and building effective communications and buy-in should be part of the strategy of the technology team.

While the technology team will include representatives from the IT organization--and probably have some overlap in membership with the project management team and steering committee--it is important that technology team members validate: (1) their interpretation of the institution-wide strategy for the project with the steering committee, (2) their understanding of the scope of the project with the project management team, and (3) their documentation of the current IT environment and strategic directions with the IT organization.

In addition, the team should seek the broadest possible exposure and input to ensure the value and credibility of its conclusions. Inputs and refinements resulting from such reviews can be reflected in a subsequent report to the project management team.

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