InfoSENTRY Assessment and Recovery of National Association IT Project

Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington D.C.

Status Assessment and Project Recovery for a
National Association’s Donor, Membership, and Subscription Management System

InfoSENTRY prepared an independent assessment of a system conversion project in 1998 for a national association with an annual revenue stream in excess of $30 million. The national membership association had been underway for nine months with an upgrade and conversion of its donor, membership, and subscription management system. What was to be a simple project for the internal staff had morphed into a information technology project quagmire that was behind schedule, well over budget, and in danger of not meeting core business requirements. The association’s internal IT management and staff were roiling with turnover. The association’s revenue stream was 90% dependent on the system involved in the upgrade.

InfoSENTRY prepared an assessment of the project’s status within two weeks and provided three alternative approaches to concluding the project. InfoSENTRY grounded its assessment on its DELETE, DELAY, and DO™ approach to establishing core priorities for project success. Each alternative included a cost-benefit analysis and a basic project management plan. One of the alternatives included terminating the project. Two alternatives involved recovery strategies, each with a different set of rewards and costs for the organization.

The association selected one of the alternatives immediately and contracted with InfoSENTRY to manage the recovery project. InfoSENTRY assembled a small recovery team that involved internal and external programming resources and an InfoSENTRY software test manager. InfoSENTRY managed the project on-site, completing the project on schedule and on scope by the end of the third quarter in 1999. The timing was critical because of a demonstrated inability of the application to operate after the millennium change.

InfoSENTRY is an independent consulting firm with no business agreements, consulting arrangements, or joint marketing agreements with hardware or software vendors.

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