IT Project Completed Six Months Early? Yes–Believe It or Not!

We have all heard about runaway IT projects and all the reasons things go bad. In Edward Yourdon’s outstanding book, “Death March,” he says data and metrics “suggest that the average project is likely to be six to 12 months behind schedule and 50 to 100 percent over budget.”

There is one project in my 30 years of IT experience that was completed six months early and under budget. Happy memories of this project came flooding back a couple of weeks ago when Liz contacted me out of the blue. She was in Austin for a conference, and we had not talked since I was in Columbus, Ohio more than 10 years ago.

Liz was the senior project manager on the statewide electronic medical records (EMR) implementation for all the department of human services inpatient facilities in the State of West Virginia.

We reminisced about the balancing act needed to achieve success. Yes, we had a realistic work plan and schedule based on two similar statewide, public sector EMR implementations. Budget and schedule contingencies were factored in. The software we deployed had a proven track record. The client executives were very supportive and remained engaged throughout. Liz maintained tight control of the plans and schedules and expertly guided the team. The team had a perfect balance of healthcare, state government, change management, and EMR skills and experience. And a knowledgeable partner performed independent risk analyses all along the way.

The real secret of our success came from the medical records leaders from every facility who actively participated in the design, configuration, testing, and procedures and training development in Huntington. After a smooth go-live at the Huntington pilot, these  leaders all said that they were ready to deploy and asked to accelerate the rollout across the state. Executive management enthusiastically embraced the new approach, and we finished six months early and under budget. No death march required.

Believe it or not!