IT Project and Digital Transformation Business Value Outcomes Finally Increase!

A tenable solution to the long-standing failure rate of IT and digital transformation projects has become available along with a capability to boost business value and positive outcomes to much higher levels than has been the norm. David Jacobs, CEO of MaxVal Consultancy, explains…

The Challenge

Whilst the capability of computer hardware and infrastructural software has rocketed exponentially over the last 40 years since desktop computers arrived, IT projects and digital transformations have persistently failed, partially or completely, to meet expectations at the rate of 70%. For example, in December 2023, Forbes stated that between 70 and 80% of digital transformations have failed to meet their objectives.

Is some of this 70+% due to unrealistic expectations? Undoubtedly yes. However, another reason is that computer programming and analysis adopted principles from engineering and built on these, with the advent of Agile for example. Agile certainly had a good heart and meant well but manifestly it hasn’t improved the situation as much as was expected!

The Whole Jigsaw

There are several reasons for this disappointment, one being that Agile attempts to produce software more quickly and flexibly in a business oriented way, commendably so, but that’s just ONE piece of the jigsaw to be addressed. Also, many organisations and business units do not want to work in an iterative, incremental fashion without fairly firm deadlines, schedules and some predictability.

To get maximum business value, reduce risk, contain costs and boost productivity, projects and transformations need to work holistically, on the totality, integrating and aligning people, process, information and business objectives, at all levels. They also need to take into account factors like culture, image, kudos, employee satisfaction and employer viability. There has been no apparent methodology for addressing this totality, so project teams are left using a diversity of methods that do not integrate particularly well. So, what’s the answer? Well, there is one, and there has been for quite a time.

The Birth of an Answer

The answer’s called Business Value Maximisation Framework (BVMF®). To produce this set of fundamental principles for specifically getting optimal value, success and ROI from IT in a business or organisation, I’ve run a 30 plus year research and development programme. I conceived the idea in the 1980s, during my first career in marketing information analysis and research. I obtained very good results from some pioneering programming work for market forecasting and sales statistics applications, written on a Tektronix machine in BASIC with graphics!

This work was highly commended by my business customers and employers I am proud to say. In the 1990s I began to record my methods, models and techniques widening the basic business-IT gap bridging and mediation principles out to being multifaceted and relentlessly value outcome focused. In 1995, my first article was published in Corporate IT Strategy and by the end of the millennium I had developed 65% of what is now available as BVMF®. 

The Sun Shines Brighter

I continued developing BVMF® for another 20 years, proud to be contributing to a solution to a global problem. However, as I’ve always been completely self-funded, getting simple messages out to market has been tricky when all costs have come from my personal wages (I’ve worked as a contract/freelance business analyst, deputy project manager, coach/mentor, etc).

Finally though, a storm settles and becomes a rainbow. As we went from 2020 through to 2021 the industry started picking up on my messages. At a GovNet conference in 2021 two kind people said to me “You were too early [with BVMF®] in the 1990s, David. But now is your and the industry’s time”. 

The Flourish

We at MaxVal Consultancy have now been training, accrediting and consulting with BVMF® for several years and much benefit is accruing to our clients and followers. You can get plenty of familiarisation with BVMF® for free by going to our latest news feed. Here you will find a recent series of articles on BVMF® at Open Access Government (OAG) online.

You will also find a series of four webinar presentations I’ve given at the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA UK). These session recordings form a nice introduction to BVMF® when watched in sequence.

More of these webinars are planned (entitled A Closer Look at the Elephant, Part III and IV), dates are tbc. There’s also a podcast on Spotify (by The Independent Minds) aimed at CxOs and business owners on key business value maximisation principles and a set of articles and an interview with me about BVMF® as related to leadership, analysis and entrepreneurial success at Brainz Digital Magazine.

Finally, you will find a series of MaxVal produced videos presenting useful content on how to address the key challenges we all face. Our latest video (#5) “Live at DigiGov: 70% Fail to 70+% Succeed!” will be up from the end of October. Meanwhile, here is a video we made where I talk about the high failure rate and what can be done about it.

Future Plans

In September 2024 we ran a free two-day walk in business value maximisation clinic at DigGov Expo ’24. On the second day I gave a presentation to kick off my “70% Fail to 70+% Succeed!” initiative. We’re repeating this two-part activity at Government Transformation Week on November 5th and 6th at the InterContinental Hotel - O2. Please do come and see us! We can show you case studies and arrange a 90 minute on site presentation for you on BVMF® in order to gather and explore your specific challenges. 

As you will see, BVMF® is holistic, specific and simplifies complexity into practical and pragmatic thought and action. We believe you will enjoy the new world of MUCH higher success, business outcomes and better ROI – what it’s all supposed to be about!

Of course, there are no silver bullets and BVMF® does not allow professionals to sit back with magic happening on its own. What it does do, is support all involved in the optimal integration of people, business, information/data, process/function and IT with a much more effective method and approach via its models, techniques and skillsets. It’s not magic, it’s logic. Why not have a look and see for yourself?

Postscript

By the way, BVMF® does not replace other methods, disciplines and practices. If you are using agile or waterfall, Prince2 or PMBOK for example you keep using them; they get more focused and powerful as BVMF® underpins, integrates and orients them, imbuing with relentless focus on business outcome from start to finish, at macro and micro levels. What could be better? You do not lose anything except maybe some stress and disappointment, gaining a lot more in value and optimism.

To finish, I mentioned above a series of online articles at Open Access Government; here is a set of the models I presented in those articles that form part of BVMF®. At OAG you can read a 1,000 -word article on each of these models and some of the associated techniques.

First, we help to measure the degree to which IT systems are boosting the power of business processes using our concept of Information Systems Business Value (ISBV):

We now provide an overview of the end to end value maximisation cycle:

Thirdly, we present one the core BVMF® models that shows how value arises at run-time: