Lifesxpress

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To: Diana Sullivan, CIO Lenox

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1. Key issues

Following the analysis of the circumstances that led to Lifexpress’ current state of implementation, four distinctive issues were identified:

a) Unclear product and company strategy. Lifexpress was conceived to support sales without a clear business direction or go-to-market strategy.

b) C-suite leaders and business managers misplaced accountability for success on IT. Failed to acknowledge that the business is the ultimate responsible for delivering business results.

c) Limited IT resources and qualified manpower allocated to support Lifexpress deployment in an organization that is still learning the value technology brings to the bottom-line.

d) Industry changes and competitors’ capacity to quickly respond and innovate were not anticipated on time.

2. Main problem

The underlying problem is the lack of direction, ownership and sponsorship from business leaders, including the CEO and CFO, and their failure to create a coherent business strategy where the deployment of Lifexpress as a tool would be part of rather than the strategy itself.

Provided that the CIO credibility to deliver has been damaged, it needs to be decided what role to play moving forward and determine who in the business to partner with to be Lifexpress project sponsor and ultimate accountable for success. The sponsor should be in the capacity to lead the creation and execution of a go-to-market strategy; and shape Lifexpress scope, impact, timeline, ROI and expected deliverables.

3. Alternatives

The following alternatives could be considered regarding Lifexpress and the CIO role:

a) Co-lead implementation with current Sales Manager as sponsor.

b) Co-lead implementation with a new VP Sales & Distribution with previous industry-related experience, including sales-related systems implementation, as sponsor....