Key elements have been defined that must be in place for programs to have a good probability for success. If even one of those key elements is not properly addressed, the risk of failure increases dramatically.

Two of the elements are as follows:

• having a set of skilled and experienced employees leading the program.
• having another set of employees ensuring that a list of mature management processes is defined and executed to run the program.

There must be an appropriate system development life cycle, which lays out the approaches to designing, developing, testing and deploying the system, along with a robust set of project management disciplines, which include scheduling, estimation, requirements, configuration and risk management processes.

Running a successful, complex IT program requires numerous disciplines, such as requirements management, systems engineering and development management, to name a few.

There are individuals who specialize in those areas, so it’s essential to ensure that you are bringing together the right skills and best practices for each of the disciplines in a coordinated manner.

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