Govt needs a quick win

By Candice Jones for Gartner

Cape Town, 20 Aug 2008

Companies looking to provide technology to government must keep the political process in mind.

This is according to Gartner group VP John Kost, speaking at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2008, in Cape Town. "There is a cycle that occurs when new governments come into power. Companies will not win bids through long-term projects; they need to consider the quick win."

The quick win, according to Kost, is a short-term IT project that can be delivered quickly and show results to voters and taxpayers. "When new politicians are looking for voters, they are not going to want you to implement a full ERP system that will take four years to complete. They want something they can show voters."

He said companies that can deliver short-term projects for the first part of the political term can increase their credibility. Once credibility is raised, ICT companies can then start to consider more long-term and meaningful projects.

No control

However, all projects in governments are lined with problematic situations. "IT businesses working in government have to learn how to deal with what governments deal with. Crises happen. Things like terrorism, typhoons and energy crises."

He noted IT companies must learn to use situations like these to innovate, because that is when governments will most need innovation.

Part of the problem is that citizens will often have high expectations for the planned solutions governments propose, he explained. "These expectations are often not met, because companies can't innovate around the crisis."

Aside from political and economic crises, IT companies often find themselves dealing with situations that are not IT-related in any way, he added. Getting communication to flow across departments and people management can be the downfall of any IT project in government, stated Kost.

While these issues may have nothing to do with IT, they are vital for IT projects to work in government. "The problem is getting the internal cultural issues right. Businesses cannot take on issues that are not under their control. When these issues cause projects to fail, IT companies are often used as a scapegoat."

According to Kost, to avoid this, IT businesses must ensure they are protected against these kinds of issues.