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Something Is Wrong
D2

Independent Delivery Review

A major bank, six months from go-live on S/4HANA. $120M spent over two and a half years. The SI insists the program is on track. Business stakeholders report that UAT is chaotic. The board wants an honest answer from someone without a commercial interest in the outcome.

There is a moment in every large transformation program where the people closest to the work can no longer see it clearly. The SI has committed to a timeline and a budget; admitting problems means admitting their own performance gap. The internal PMO has been reporting green for months; switching to red means explaining why the early warnings were missed. The program sponsor has staked their credibility on the business case; questioning scope means questioning their judgement. Everyone has a reason to believe the program is fine.

This is not a problem of competence. It is a problem of structural incentive. The people who know the most about the program are the least able to give the board an unbiased assessment of its health. What is needed is a structured diagnostic from someone who does not benefit from any particular answer.

We conduct independent delivery reviews using a structured evaluation framework that examines the program across six dimensions: business alignment, value realization, technical architecture, organizational readiness, timeline feasibility, and supplier performance. The assessment is designed to take less than ten hours of client leadership time. The output is not a PowerPoint of observations. It is a prioritized set of recommendations, each with a criticality rating and a clear path to remediation.

The questions you’re probably asking
Is this program actually on track, or are the status reports telling us what we want to hear?
What are the three things most likely to prevent a successful go-live, and what would it take to fix them?
Are the problems we are seeing symptoms of a deeper structural issue in how the program is organized?
Should we continue on the current path, adjust scope, or fundamentally restructure the program?
How does our program compare to similar transformations in terms of risk profile and readiness?
What’s at stake

The cost of an independent delivery review is typically less than one percent of total program spend. The cost of not conducting one, when the program is off track, is measured in months of delay, millions in overrun, and the organizational credibility that evaporates when a program that reported green for two years suddenly reports red. Boards do not forgive surprises. They forgive honest assessments delivered early enough to act on.

The review is most valuable between 40% and 70% of the way through the program. Earlier than that and there is not enough delivery evidence to assess. Later than that and the remediation options narrow significantly.

If you suspect the program is not where the status reports say it is, we should talk.

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