Search Results for: gartner

… entities. Consultants from software vendors add far more value on implementations than consultants from consulting companies – at least on average. Many projects have run into problems because the consulting company partner was overly focused on maximizing their billing hours, which they did by replacing better-qualified vendor consultants with their consultants – and the project lacks the skills to work effectively.
Software vendors have the advantage of providing value both because they know the software better. They are typically less focused on maximizing billing hours as they make more of their money from software sales. They have a higher incentive …

… favor a realistic estimate.
Bias on the Part of Software Buyers
Software buyers want fast implementation timelines. If they plan to use the new system to replace an ailing system, the fast implementation motivation is even faster. Therefore, while there is plenty of blame for software vendors and their consulting partners, project duration estimates are made by the management of the software vendors and consulting partner to the management of the software buyer. That is, very few of the people involved in the estimation end up doing the hands-on work.
Implementation Duration Estimation and Project Quality
If the project …

… level or the project or program manager.
Misunderstanding the Location of the Risk
Unfortunately, this is not where most of the opportunities to reduce risk actually reside. Rather the real opportunities reside at the level of the executive decision-makers.
Decisions made at the top are the most important to a project’s outcome – not the tactical approaches used at the levels below. For instance, no implementation team can make up for a bad software selection or the wrong implementation partner being utilized – and this is often what happens. The poor quality of the advice received is evidenced by …