When we were working on creating a solution architecture for a mid-sized regional bank we faced a fundamental problem. The various departments had been purchasing software based on their individual needs. Many of these departments were customer facing and almost every one of them had reports to produce that were regulatory in nature. There were different types of loans that were supported by different applications. We had fundamental issues to solve which application to migrate, how to bring about a uniform customer experience from among the variety of applications, how do we bring in the synergy between the personnel using the different applications. We finally managed to get a final list. The bankers had to again sit and work out a synergy between the products that they were offering and sit down and create a reporting and communication strategy. In the end the project was worth it - but the requirement phase extended and the project was delayed. There needed a lot of personal maturity in handling the situations.
I see such confusions in some IT firms too. A decision is centralized but the source of information is not. The end result is defined but the path is let to others to discover. While personal commitment will carry the projects to successful completion the journey will be tedious and at the expense of time that could have been utilized better.
A journey has to be planned when a goal is defined. A goal has milestones and has to be sponsored and measured on scientific numbers. For the starters we should bring in clarity on what we have and what is wrong. Get the data and problem right and then solve them. Don't solve the wrong problem.
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