1. Getting Management Buy-In
for your IT projects in times of recession
to achieve real business buy-in...
Andrew Liberale
15 April 2009
Sydney, Australia

2. PresentationConfiguration
What Level would you like to play?
Engagement Level
o Prepared to achieve buy-in from your sponsor
o Signs of Life – but not sure
o Deadish
Geek Level
o Plain English
o System Specific Acronyms (ERP, CRM, BPM, SDM…)
o Acronyms, Jargon and Industry Lingo
Presenter
o Polite
o Mildly Interesting
o Providing Maximum Value
Skills Bonus: Is this for this presentation… or for you to your sponsor?

3. Re: Key Factors for Successful Implementations…
“Organisations that concentrate on the technological aspects… and ignore
the quot;softerquot; components of implementation often fail. ACR is about
people, not just technology, and organisations that ignore the people side
run a significant risk of project failure.” Gartner
“ACR is a business project, not an IT exercise. Enterprises that do not
understand this are likely to experience ACR project failure. ACR
implementations are inherently risky…” Gartner
“Businesses should not lose sight of the fact that an ACR system
fundamentally affects the way they operate. As a result, IT should not have
sole responsibility for the project. Executive business management buy-in or
sponsorship of the project reinforces its importance to middle management
and staff. Executive management leadership and direction is a recurrent
theme in companies that have successfully implemented ACR.” Gartner

4. Definition: Buy-in…
Q. What exactly is our outcome when we ask management for their buy-in?
• Budget/Funding?
• A Steering Committee Member?
• An advocate?
• A CxO level risk mitigation?
• Resource commitment?
• Prioritisation?
• Regular reporting point?
• Accountability?
• CxO level representation?
• Decision Making & Escalation?
• Sign-off?
• Business Adoption?

5. Actions…
 Write down 1 management/sponsor buy-in problem that, if you solved it
today, would make this whole conference worthwhile…
 Write down any other business projects that you know need management
buy-in right now, or in the near future…
 Write down a score of 1-10 for each, representing the likelihood that you will
achieve management buy-in to your schedule & budget…
Do you want to know how to make these a 10?
What difference will it make to your ability to deliver?

6. Andrew Liberale.com
Pfizer
Turning Corporate Strategy
Microsoft
into Effective Delivery through...
EDS
• Vendor Contract & Commercial Management IBM
• Project/Program Delivery
Commonwealth Bank
• Relationships & Human Potential
• Executive Coaching, Mentoring, Group Facilitation, Training QBE Insurance
• Strategy Development Tower Insurance Group
• Team Leadership AAPT
• Keynote Speaking, Public Speaking
TCNZ
• Internet Marketing / Digital Advertising Strategy
Telstra
Professional & Personal Accreditations Optus
• BA Degree Computing & Project Management IAG
• NLP Master Practitioner & Trainer
Caltex
• Business Improvement Specialist
Integral Energy
• Executive Coach & Performance Consultant
• Professional Speaker & Presenter SOCOG
• Live Trainer for individuals, consultants and teams Barclays BZW
• Eriksonian Hypnosis
Sony Broadcast
• Voice Dialogue Practitioner, Relationship Dynamics
Greenpeace
• Certificate IV Workplace Assessment & Training
ATO
Working with some of the world’s largest and most successful companies…

7. Results for Management…
Q. An industry leading company investigates ACR since 2001 and engages you in Oct 2007 to
1. Put together the management proposal with technical options & costs
2. Achieve management buy-in to scope, schedule & budget
3. Put together the project team
4. Deliver Version 1.0 of the new system into production
1. Oct 1 to Dec 12 (10 weeks)
2. Achieve management buy-in to scope, schedule & budget (Dec 16) (1 week)
3. Put together the project team (Jan 4 – Feb 1)(4 weeks)
4. Deliver Version 1.0 of the new system into production (Feb 4 – 30 June) 20 Weeks
5. Acknowledged by the Global Vendor as a ‘Best Practice’ solution
6. First industry company in Australia and South East Asia to launch ACR
7. Only second enterprise company in Australia to deploy ACR
8. The development and deployment involved 15+ teams and over 70 people.
Skills Bonus: The global vendor asked me how we did it, and paid for a case study.

8. Re: Key Factors for Successful Implementations…
“Organisations that concentrate on the technological aspects… and ignore
the quot;softerquot; components of implementation often fail. ACR is about
people, not just technology, and organisations that ignore the people side
run a significant risk of project failure.” Gartner
60% of projects for this ACR fail
“ACR is a business project, not an IT exercise. Enterprises that do not
understand this are likely to experience ACR project failure. ACR
implementations are inherently risky…” Gartner
1 Specific ………………………… was identified
“Businesses should not lose sight of the fact that an ACR system
fundamentally affects the way they operate. As a result, IT should not have
sole responsibility for the project. Executive business management buy-in or
sponsorship of the project reinforces its importance to middle management
and staff. Executive management leadership and direction is a recurrent
theme in companies that have successfully implemented ACR.” Gartner
This ACR was delivered across 2 Business and 3 IT groups

9. Would you like to know how?
How much is this information worth to your company?

10. The keys to Management Buy-In…
1. Manage your Management Buy-In
• A dedicated resource is required to achieve the necessary level of buy-in to
set a project up for success
Project
Outside Project
5-10%
90-95% Risk
Risk
Skills Bonus: If you do not have a skilled resource in-house then outsource

11. The keys to Management Buy-In…
2. Identify your key people W (Work) Vs T (Time Spent with them)
Education / Training
100
W35% T15% W30% T20%
A B
Committed
Intrinsic
Motivation
C D
W25% T55% W10% T10%
Un-Committed
0
100 0
Competent In-Competent
Skills Bonus: Match Accountability & Capability

12. The keys to Management Buy-In…
3. Assign a single business ‘Owner’ of the system.
• The Owner is accountable for the system
• The Owner can therefore act as the single point of contact for all ‘buy-in’ activities
• Budget/Funding?
• A Steering Committee Member? - NO
• An advocate?
• A CxO level risk mitigation?
• Resource commitment?
• Prioritisation?
• Regular reporting point?
• Accountability?
• CxO level representation?
• Decision Making & Escalation?
• Sign-off?
• Business Adoption?
• The Owner can then drive capability delivery from other teams
• The Owner is presented with the proposed scope, schedule and budget
Skills Bonus: Don’t work with need, Work with commitment & results…

13. The keys to Management Buy-In…
4. Follow the money, and get it signed off
• Who delivers the different components
• Who pays/resources for the different components
• Work with the owner to have the money / resources assigned
Skills Bonus: Do the estimates thoroughly…measure twice, cut once

14. The keys to Management Buy-In…
5. Inform them through a system
• Keep the project On schedule, On budget
• No surprises
• Escalate Risks early
• Have a system
Skills Bonus: Management can only manage what they can see

15. The keys to Management Buy-In…
6. Measure the Return on Investment – Before & After
• What is the result in measurable business terms?
• What is the proposed ROI?
• What is the actual ROI?
• The reduction in staff effort is 7,400 hours which equates to $500,000 in FTE
value or 33% of current staff effort
• The Immediate availability of ACR data vastly improving decision making
capability expected to drive an estimated $500,000 increase in earnings in
the next financial year.
Skills Bonus: Make the outcomes measurable in terms of the business strategy

16. The keys to Management Buy-In…
7. Leverage success
• Success breeds success
• Everyone wins
• Leverage from the new system
• Leverage from the business outcomes
• Leverage from other successes
Skills Bonus: Building confidence through success makes management buy-in low risk

17. In Summary…
1. Manage your Management Buy-In
2. Identify your key people
3. Assign a single business ‘Owner’ of the system
4. Follow the money, and get it signed-off
5. Inform them through a system
6. Measure the Return on Investment – Before & After
7. Leverage success
www.AndrewLiberale.com

18. Follow-Up Actions…
 Your management/sponsor buy-in problem, what is your next best step?
 Your other business projects, what is the most effective thing to do for each?
 What are your scores now for achieving management buy-in?
Thank You
www.AndrewLiberale.com