Avoid the Endless Project: Celent

Boston - Insurance carriers have invested heavily in project management, but large projects continue to fail. A new approach is required, according to a new report, “The 18 Month Rule: Avoiding the Endless Project.” The Boston-based insurance practice of research firm Celent LLC released the report this week as a guide to address the pitfalls of large IT projects. The report examines the history of large projects in insurance, including why they have failed so often in the past. Also considered is how insurers define success and failure of a project, often believing a project has succeeded when it has not.  Celent suggests an approach that includes breaking down large projects into a program-a group of related, dependent, and often parallel projects. None of those projects should be greater in length than 18 months. "To most carriers, any project that gets finished and meets the original specifications is a success," said Chad Hersh, a senior analyst in Celent's Insurance practice and author of the report. "Insurers need to focus not only on completing projects on time and on budget, but on shortening projects so that the resulting systems aren't outdated from the day they go live." The report also provides recommendations on how to set up a program management office and how to break large projects up into programs.   For more information, please contact www.celent.com.   Source: Celent