A New Year is here, and with it the potential for a vast array of new technologies. 2014 was a year of rapid changes, and there is no sign of a slowdown ahead.
Techwire recently talked to several technology leaders to ask them what they expect to see next and what they think is important for the industry and government in the upcoming year and beyond.
Alex Castro
CEO, M Corp
This is the year of picking winners. Government and private-sector organizations have experienced the devastating financial and reputational effect of projects that exceed budgets and schedules while failing to deliver their planned benefits.
These failures resulted from a fundamental lack of readiness – organizational, operational and technological. These projects were doomed from the start. And many more could follow. In fact, data suggests that if project failures continue at current trends, half of digital transformation initiatives will be unmanageable by the end of 2016, according to an industry report.
Fortunately, California’s current administration is focused on how to avoid past lessons and move into an era of more gainful outcomes with digital transformation projects.
The truth is that there are lots of great ideas, needed initiatives and mandated changes to the government operating environment. With the uptick of government using social media, the thousands of legacy systems needing modernization, the expansion of big data into the conversation, and the scale of more projects moving into the billions of dollars, the swirl is increasing. And so is the risk.
Industry leaders need to take the guesswork out of the decision-making process. The introduction of innovative readiness measurement shows tremendous promise. Metric-driven measurement, added to the traditional heuristic process, will make the difference – no more subjective and relative assessments aimed at simply getting project approval. Understanding the underlying weaknesses and associated risks by scoring the readiness of an initiative will allow decision-makers to fix problems before proceeding that would otherwise cripple projects and, frankly, ruin careers. Secondary benefits include the ability to enhance the planning and budgeting process, and to create a culture of continuous improvement.
Picking winners isn’t luck or magic. It’s dependent on a holistic and data-driven look at the factors that impact success and that allow for more focused and efficient delivery. This definitely should be a major focus in 2015.
