Ortecha conducted an independent review of a Microsoft Dynamics implementation programme at S&W Group. The review identified governance gaps, delivery risks and cost exposure. The programme was stopped before further escalation, avoiding approximately £1.4m in additional spend and enabling a redesigned initiative delivered successfully in nine months.
Scope:
Independent ‘drains-up’ programme review
Interviews with sponsors, vendors and the project team
Cost and deliverable assessment
Governance gap analysis
Impact:
£1.4m cost avoidance
Programme stopped and reset
New initiative delivered in nine months
Delivered under budget
S&W Group relied on a legacy, in-house practice management system that had become costly to maintain and difficult to evolve.
To modernise the platform, the firm launched a Microsoft Dynamics implementation programme with a systems integrator. The programme began with clear intent, but over time delivery began to drift.
This created financial exposure and delivery uncertainty. There was no independent validation that the programme would deliver the required outcomes.
Leadership needed an independent view of the programme’s trajectory and whether it would deliver the expected business value.
S&W Group asked Ortecha to conduct a “drains-up” review of the programme. The engagement built on a long-standing relationship with the firm’s technology leadership, having supported a number of technology initiatives over the past decade.
Ortecha’s experience reviewing complex technology programmes, allowed the S&W to bring in an external perspective that was both independent and pragmatic.
Ortecha was asked to assess:
Using Ortecha’s expertise and findings would provide senior stakeholders with a clear, evidence-based view of whether the programme should continue in its current form.
We focused on three areas.
Stakeholder interviews:
Vendors, project sponsors and delivery team members were interviewed to understand how the programme was being run and where issues were emerging.
Plan review
The programme plan was reviewed against cost projections and expected deliverables. This analysis highlighted a number of structural challenges in scope and delivery.
Governance assessment
Project governance was examined to identify gaps and weaknesses in oversight and decision making.
The conclusion was clear. In its current form, the programme would not deliver the required business outcomes.
Senior stakeholders made the decision to stop the programme.
That decision avoided approximately £1.4m in additional projected spend and prevented further diversion of internal resources.
The initiative was then redefined with a narrower scope using a COT solution. The redesigned programme was delivered successfully within nine months and under budget.
What had been a drifting transformation programme became a controlled delivery initiative aligned with the firm’s operational needs.
Independent programme reviews are not about criticism. They are about clarity.
By taking an evidence-based view of the programme, S&W Group avoided further financial exposure and reset the initiative on a more achievable footing.
The redesigned programme was delivered successfully within nine months and under budget.
Sometimes the most important decision in a transformation programme is knowing when to reset.
S&W Group is one of the UK’s fastest growing accountancy and advisory firms, supporting 25,500+ clients across the UK and Ireland. It operates in a highly regulated professional services environment where operational stability is critical.
Partner, Technology Transformation
Partner, Technology Transformation
“We have worked with the team for many years to augment our technology resource capability. I see them not only as a trusted partner, but actually as an extended part of our technology organisation.”
– Rob Talson, Chief Information Officer at S&W Group
