The methodologies required to control and guide how solutions are developed are usually hybrids and require specialist resources with unique capabilities to manage and control the development process.

Our experience indicates that very few projects or programmes deliver to the original expectation. Analysis of the latter often focuses on specific causes and there are usually a common set of reasons. These reasons are all relevant in some way and address why the initiative failed but lack insight into what failed.

Our perspective is that the root cause of what failed leads back to a single cause, which is the lack of effective enterprise programme management (EPM).

Most organisations still don’t believe in the need for an EPM capability. This essential component is often erroneously left for project management to address who may not be adequately equipped, and who are therefore set up to fail. Our experience is that when the EPM capability is constructed, resourced and managed with the “right” intent, projects and programmes consistently deliver to expectation.

We recommend a four-step process for implementing a sustainable and successful EPM project:

Step 1: Define the EPM operating structure
Step 2: Focus on detail of the EPM operating model
Step 3: Define and execute an EPM change journey
Step 4: Continuously test the effectiveness of the EPM operating model and implement improvements