|
Client : Citigroup Asset Management
My Role & Responsibility:
- Overall
Project Management using customised PRINCE2
- Client liaison
and management including EMEA (Europe Middle
East and Africa) Board and operational executives
- Facilitation
of workshops with client Subject Matter Experts to establish “to be”
business processes and workflow; website content and Country variations
using application prototyping
- Management
of onsite/offsite and offshore development resources
Project Scope
- Define and
implement overall Project Management methods
- Define and
implement software development methods and integration with PRINCE2
- Analyse application
requirements in-line with business requirements
- Design,
develop and implement information and functional websites for EMEA Region.
- Review
and recommend Content Management Systems including Vignette, Broadvision, Mediasurface
and Interwoven
- Duration –
12 months
- Overall
Project size - £3.5m
|
Key Drivers for Business Change:
Citigroup
AM’s strategic business objective was to achieve a position in the top 5
global asset management companies.
Citigroup
AM had been formed by merger of Citibank AM, Salomon Brothers AM, Smith
Barney AM and Citibank Private Banking. It was necessary to present a unified
brand identity and country-specific product portfolios to Citigroup Financial
Consultants, staff, third parties and to the general public.
The
Citigroup Global Initiative to deploy a new e-Service platform required EMEA region to implement new web-enabled applications
that were designed for both rapid deployment and optimum re-use/integration
with the technologies and architectures of the main global initiative.
Budget
constraints meant that offshore (India) software development was
selected as the preferred route. However, previous offshore projects in other
parts of the group had resulted in time and cost overruns. Consequently it
was a prerequisite that an external source of expertise was procured to
provide the necessary project management process and control skills using
PRINCE2
Multi-phase
rollout was required due to Marketing commitments, with English Language and
German Language/Country versions in phase one and France, Spain, Italy plus
remaining EMEA regions following in subsequent
phases.
To assure
ongoing maintainability of the website, selection of a Content Management
System that would enable business users to perform regular updates without
recourse to technical developers was mandated.
|
- Implementation
of formalised project management processes (PRINCE2) and software development
methods (SEI CMM
Level 4) allowed CAM to exercise better control over its strategic
business initiatives
- Use
of prototyping crystallised user views of application requirements and
“look & feel” of the web “presence” to convey CAM brand identity
- Return
on investment was optimised by ensuring continuous alignment of the
development project with the original Business Case and Strategic
Objectives
|
- Adoption
of an outsourced offshore development model provided a 30% reduction in
cost compared to UK/European-based development. Implementation of
PRINCE2 approach integrated with SEI CMM Level 4 development processes ensured effective
control was maintained even in this geographically dispersed development
environment
- Overall
“time to market” for new Financial Asset products was reduced by
adopting a more rigorous approach to project planning and control
- “Scope
Creep” which had occurred in previous projects was eliminated
|
