Identifying The Business Value Of A Stalled Systems Project

The Client's Challenge

The merger of the National Australia Bank (NAB) and the wealth management company MLC, had resulted in the presence of two HR/payroll systems. This in turn led to the duplication of many HR activities and services.

A proposal to merge all MLC staff onto the single NAB system had stalled as it was being couched as a ‘systems project’ making the business benefits hard to find.

We were asked to reposition the project in business value terms.

Approach

Using the TOP Value Equation approach we took the original business case and generated a summary value proposition that detailed the:

• desired business outcomes,
• business benefits
• and outcomes and benefits delivery plans.

This was completed within a week.

The Results

• The definition of 4 ‘desired business outcomes’ that described the business (as opposed to the systems) outcomes of the systems integration project

• Identified 43 business benefits, categorized as Customer, Competitive, Capability, Productivity, Financial or Risk-reduction benefits, with each aligned to its enabling business outcome (to allow simple realization tracking)

• Eleven financial benefits were identified to be quantified

• A set of four high-level change plans were identified — each identifying the major change activities required to deliver each business outcome over and above the technical systems amalgamation tasks.

The Payoff

A stalled ‘systems’ project was able to move forward and be submitted for funding.

The need for and value of the project, over and above systems rationalization, became clear.