LIFE EXPRESS : Project with its short falls

Diana Sullivan. GNOV09GLM071

Enterprise Business Application

Project: Life express( a sophisticated computer aided system that enabled

the company’s more than 10,000 agents nation wide to conduct business with their customer.

It will let an agent using a laptop computer ,develop a thorough financial profile of a customer , identify and explore lenox’s most appropriate policies, conduct an initial structural analysis, compare in detail how how lenox stacked up against’s competitors rating and performance and generate all the necessary paper on site to consummate a sale.

Results On time delivery of system and met with all

the specifications of senior management.

Proper testing and company wide

implementation slightly behind schedule

Positive feed back by first agents about

hardware configuration and software.

Conflicts:Disconnect: Not moving fast enough in

training and implementation

Disconnect: Only 40% of their product line

is on system where as competitors like

Manchester Mutual has managed to put all of

its insurance products plus a good chunk of

securities offerings into its system.

REASON WAS OBVIOUS BUT NEGLECTED:

Causes:They were neglecting the fact that large no of

their agents are younger where as agents of Lenox are at learning curve.

It was no where showing failure of information system. It was delaying because data was not available for inputting and testing.

During the planning stage it is not considered that competitors have half range of products to the lenox ,

It is clearly the failure of strategy and not of the information system. 

Why results differ from both point of views:

Management was comparing both the EBA’s

and evaluating the performance of IT System

without considering the differences and

shortfalls of business strategy and

organizational structure and efficiencies.

Where we lacked:Business and Organization strategy were not

aligned before starting the projectNo clear accountability of the roles.Should not consider limitations of different

function and resources while planningNot decided clear performance indicators for

deciding performance of EBA at various stages.Not decided a timeline for each of three stages.I failed in communicating the progress at each

stage to the management.

Lessons learned:Success factors critical in Enterprise Business

application ImplementationProject management and methodology should be Business-

drivenShould have a Clear vision and proper planningManagement should be commited for support &

sponsorshipData management and qualityMapping solutions to user requirementsProper Performance indicators to be decided beforehand to

check performance of the systemFramework should be Robust and expandableAccountability and role should be clear to all.