Event Reducing the Risk of Project Failure: Using Agile in Government IT
System Error: Reducing the Risk of Project Failure
Overview
Working with a high level Taskforce, IndigoBlue supported the Institute for Government in their exploration of the key challenges facing government as it spends around £16 bn on ICT each year. The report, System Error, recommended a new dual approach to government ICT that emphasises adaptability and flexibility in procurement and delivery while retaining the benefits of scale and collaboration across government.
It described these twin tracks as 'agile' and 'platform'. Both these elements now feature prominently in the Government's ICT strategy, which promises that Government will "apply agile methods to procurement and delivery to reduce the risk of project failure" and introduce a "common ICT platform".
While implementing these changes may prove to be extremely challenging, a pilot project sponsored by the Home Office and the Met Police, led by IndigoBlue, demonstrated first hand the benefits of incremental delivery using an Agile approach while still maintaining the control craved by IT management within Government.
Evening Seminar presented by John Wright
08 NOV 2011 | Free BCS PROMS-G Event
This evening seminar, organised by the BCS Project Management Specialist Group, focused on how the pilot project helped shape the Institute for Government's agile thinking within the System Error report, and the steps Government have already made towards implementing some of the recommendations in their report.
John Wright is a Senior Consultant with IndigoBlue and was the Project Manager of the pilot project featured within the Institute for Government's System Error report. Since the release of the report John has continued to promote the use of agile methods within Government through presentations to Government CIOs and supporting SOCITM's Agile Pathfinder Programme.
John's presentation was in three parts:
- The System Error Report: Slides from the Agile Business Conference Keynote outlining the report and the progress made since its publication
- Project Amberhill: the Agile Pilot Project from the IfG Research in the report
- Agile Project Governance: What does it look like? The needs and implementation of governance for Agile projects, particularly enterprise-scale projects
More Information:
System Error: Reducing the Risk of Project FailureSPEAKERS
John Wright
John Wright is a Senior Consultant at IndigoBlue. He has 20 years of IT project experience having originally started his career at Price Waterhouse and subsequently worked with numerous global companies including JP Morgan, Sony Music, Reuters and BT. John’s hands-on approach to mentoring and coaching has assisted many companies in the adoption of Agile working practices, including The Guardian, Carphone Warehouse, IFDS, The Telegraph Media Group and the IfG.
WHAT WE'RE SAYING
Today's highly competitive and rapidly changing markets that see the rise and fall of the likes of Nokia and MySpace places business imperatives on companies. In particular, companies need to be innovative, introducing new products, updating others to react to changes in the market (or predicting or even creating these market changes).