Technical Leadership:  How to Ensure the Success of Your Complex Web Initiatives

Today’s Web applications are providing a higher level of business value to end users than ever before. In fact, most corporate web sites offer one or more of the following features:

• The ability to efficiently purchase products or services online
• The ability to perform “self-service” and/or “account maintenance” functions without calling a customer service representative
• The ability to submit and validate “transactions”
• The ability to perform the “research” needed to make a decision, complete a purchase or submit a “transaction”

Implemented effectively, these features can help companies increase revenues, improve customer satisfaction and loyalty and lower overall support costs. Yet while the benefits are clear, there can be significant cost and complexity associated with delivering these features and functions.

One of the main reasons that today’s online applications deliver significant value to end users is the increased level of integration with “back office” systems, as well as other applications across the enterprise. Such integration enables customers and partners to perform the same functions online that have traditionally been performed internally by a company’s associates and customer support staff. But as most organizations have come to realize, a high-level of integration can greatly increase the overall scope and complexity of a Web-based initiative.

In addition to integration complexity, many companies outsource some or all of their IT development and maintenance to multiple vendors, often due to a lack of bandwidth or expertise, or to cut costs. In such an environment, a seemingly straightforward Web-based project, which involves a high degree of integration, can quickly grow into a program that includes several interdependent sub-projects. These interdependencies need to be understood and managed in a way that balances the goals of each sub-project with the goals of the overall program. Without effective planning, decision-making and orchestration across all sub-projects, the success of the overall program is at risk. With each vendor/team having its own priorities (which may not align with the overall program goals), it takes significant skill and expertise to guide these efforts to successful completion on-time and on-budget.

This paper describes some of the fundamental challenges associated with integration intensive Web-based initiatives, and provides tips for how to plan and structure your team to ensure success. It also presents a real-world example of how Molecular helped one of its clients successfully manage several interdependent sub-projects, vendors, business and technology teams across geographically dispersed locations to execute a large, complex Web initiative.

Request a PDF of this point of view >>

More Molecular Perspectives >>