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162 Chapter 5 • Implementation Strategies

TABLE 5-2 Change Management Considerations
Consideration Army Challenge Strategy to Overcome
Sponsorship or Rotation Engaged leadership
Leadership
Comprehensive transition
Stakeholder Enterprise view Enterprise-level governance
Alignment
Cost Hard to justify $$ Make the case for change
(10–15percent)
Justify based on lessons learned
Project Life Cycle When to start Communications
Iterative process
Culture Resistance to change Sponsorship from within
Education
Communication Number of Communication strategy that includes
stakeholders tactical methods of disseminating
program information

Sponsorship. ERPs require sustained leadership, but army leaders rotate often, and
one ERP implementation could span two or even three sponsors. Sponsors need to be
engaged, not just brought in. They also need to convey the importance of continued
engagement to their successors during transition.
Stakeholder Alignment. The army has traditionally been “stovepiped” (i.e., operating
in silos). The ERP model requires making trade-offs in some domains for the greater
good of the enterprise. These decisions require governance above the mission area and
the domain level.
Cost. Transformation management can cost as much as 15 percent of the program
budget and is one of the first areas to get cut when budgets are trimmed. This is a big
mistake, as the Gartner quote earlier in the chapter shows; therefore, the case for TM
and its value must be made. TM is an investment in the success of the program and
must be portrayed as such.
Project Life Cycle. TM is often left as an afterthought, started just before Go-live. It
needs to start at the outset of the project and continue throughout.
Culture. The army is an organization with a lot of history and tradition. As such it
can be resistant to change. This is not true of everyone, and not of every part, but it
is an issue in the army just as it is in most large organizations. The solution to this
issue is sponsorship from within the army (i.e., it cannot be outsourced). A system
integrator or other consultant can bring experience, tools, and methodologies, but
sponsorship has to come from within. A leader from the inside has to say, “I recog-
nize we need to change, I am going to change, and I want you to change with me for
the good of the army.”