- The sponsor of an IT-enabled business change has the dual roles of stewardship and leadership. Stewardship ensures that the business case for the project is sound and that funds and resources are available and used appropriately.
- Leadership is about creating a persuasive, compelling vision delivered through engaging with stakeholders. The focus of both roles varies through the three key phases of any major business solution implementation.
- The first phase involves identification and clarification of the innovation opportunity, which is a fuzzy task with conflicting aims.
- The delivery and implementation of the selected business solution involves complex interdependencies and risks. Finally there is the personal drive to ensure maximisation of benefits.
- Few organisations ensure that they have a skilled and motivated sponsor in place to take on such a demanding role – and this is a key partnership decision by the CIO and CEO, who just ensure that any skills gap is closed through appropriate coaching and support for the sponsor.
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