The Problem

A large, global professional services firm was in the midst of replacing the core software used to provide its services. This software was being written and deployed in-house with a $55 million budget for design, development and implementation. Management began to see cost increase projections, a one-year quadrupling of resources and, more disturbingly, a six month extension to the schedule–and wanted an independent review to get the project on track.

The Engagement

Brand Velocity (BV) was asked to perform a Project Acceleration Audit and look at all aspects of the program. With an independent and accelerated project management approach using experienced consultants, BV rapidly assessed the history and current state of the initiative, from initial decision-making to project planning to global change management in the field.

This engagement resulted in an action plan developed by BV with the client to produce a clear roadmap to get the project on an accelerated path. Key recommendations included reorganizing the project, building a master plan, centralizing the project budget, and changing the overall approach to developing and deploying the software.

The Result

The BV Project Acceleration Audit delivered steps to greatly improve the project in key areas as well as specific recommendations to improve efficiencies and accelerate the project overall. This plan detailed a clear path to remove six months from the overall planned project timeline–representing a budget savings of 15% overall. The client received a return of approximately 80x on the investment in BV’s services.