Digital Disruption - What Does it Mean for Project Professionals?

Last week I attended the CMO Digital Leaders summit at the Fairmont Hotel in St. Andrews. The event brought together over 65 digital professionals, discussing their key challenges when rolling our projects in their industry, and every conversation boiled down to one thing: What is the best way to be successful when rolling out Digital Transformation projects?

An increased interest in Digital Disruption comes in part from the opportunities and threats created by a wealth of digital technologies available. The pace of change in organisations is the fastest it's ever been, and with the increased number of cloud technologies available, it's only going to get quicker. In fact, Accenture Strategy research found that 28% of output in mature market economies is digital, and it's predicted to be the largest growth market in the next decade.

But what does this mean for Project Professionals?

Agile, Agile, Agile

The time for producing a 3- or 5-year plan for the development roadmap, and expecting to deliver it all on time is rapidly ending. Instead, programme managers need to expect corporate priorities to change with speed and agility, in line with customer behaviours and expectations. Business strategies need to be flexible and organisations need to be able to change direction quickly. 'Change' can no longer be a dirty word in the PM community. Instead, PM's who want to keep up in a digital world need to embrace Agile methodologies. The traditional waterfall method of project management simply does not allow for the ever-changing priorities of a digital landscape.

The End of Multi-Year Projects

With agile development, strategy is based on 2-4 week sprints or planning periods. A product roadmap can be used to communicate the longer term plan, and this can be forecasted over 6-12 months in organisations faced with fast-changing markets, or 12-24 months in more stable organisations. But what happens when the organisation identifies the need for a large project that lasts longer than the agreed planning horizon? The obvious answer is to break these initiatives down into smaller, distinct projects that can be delivered in an iterative manner.

Iterative Development

The iterative model allows you to begin to create a product based only on a high-level design, allowing you to start development much quicker than traditional waterfall practices. By building and designing the features in small packages, we can track and manage defects much quicker. Regular feedback from end users reduces the risk of non-acceptance at the end of a project, and allows you to continually manage change requests throughout the design and build of the product.

The biggest issue with iterative / agile development is that it is hard to assess effort required at the beginning of the software development life cycle and so projects can exceed expected budgets or timescales. However a recent report on Nationwide has shown that a shift to Lean management and Agile development has saved the company $28 Million, by focusing on what's important rather than what has been planned.

A Different Approach: Build vs Buy vs Rent

Project professionals need to be prepared for a shift from product development, to system integration. With such a large number of enterprise solutions available in the cloud, it's not always going to be effective to build your own solutions. Instead, using off the shelf Cloud Computing packages such as ERP, CRM, Web Server Development tools and Virtual Networks means more projects may be focused on integrating and customising these solutions, rather than building your own.

Build vs. buy decisions need to be based on the total cost of ownership, the competitive benefit gained by adding new features quickly, the skill sets available within the organisation for any new technology initiative, and how satisfied your end users will be with the product. Cloud computing can shift the equation further, by allowing you to 'Rent' solutions, providing you with the option to innovate as new systems come to market. According to a recent article by CIOReview.com, 'Spend now, or spend later - you'll spend either way!'.

It's a financial decision - spend now or spend later. You will spend either way...

Digital Disruption - It's Good for Your Career!

90% of businesses report on having a digital strategy in place, but the rapidity of the business changes have lead to a large skills gap. According to a Capgemini report, 77% of companies consider the lack of digital skills a hurdle to their digital transformation. By keeping abreast of technological innovations, working on cutting edge projects and taking your professional development into your own hands, you are putting yourself at the front of the hiring queue. The ability to both understand business drivers, and also manage and define technological advancements is still an extremely sought after skill, and one that a digital project manager can capitalise on when looking to progress in a corporate environment. Transformation in a digital age requires speed, so if you display an appetite for innovation, and an ability to accept risk and change, you will stand out as a potential leader for the digital era.