What is Project Assurance?
Here are two definitions…one is the classic, and the other is how we at Harness deliver Project Assurance and what makes this different from the likes of PWC, EY, Deloitte and KPMG…and why it is the logical choice for any organisation who wants to de-risk an ERP or CRM implementation.
The classic definition of Project Assurance is…“Project Assurance is a discipline that seeks to provide an independent and objective oversight of the likely future performance of major projects. It uses technical, strategic and contractual expertise to audit project plans and develop a forecast of likely technical, economic, and safety performance and critical success factors.”
So how does Harness deliver Project Assurance and what makes us different?
Simply, we understand the human element of implementing a project. In a classic world, Project Assurance is dry and tedious, focusing on documents, specifications, meeting minutes and agenda.
For us, Project Assurance goes further and we build open, trusting relationships at all levels within your project teams, such that we really understand what is happening, not just what has been written down…and this level of rapport gives us this extra-dimension view of the project.
All projects combine technology, business processes and people. The element that is the most varied is the people, how they are organised, their agendas (both business and personal), their skills and experiences and how they interact with each other. It is understanding this human element that differentiates our Project Assurance services from a dry analysis of specifications.
Our approach to Project Assurance leverages the strategic, contractual and technical expertise in the Harness team to audit project plans and teams to develop a forecast of the potential critical success factors. During our engagement, our consultants work closely with the Board of an organisation.
This service is an investment in projects where there is an important financial decision point beyond which any revisions to the specification become expensive.
Project Assurance helps your organisation to manage risk and improve confidence that the project could deliver to time, quality, and budget.
PA is more than just an approach of audits. It includes reviewing and assessing both the disciplines of the project such as the methodology and process and elements such as leadership and people. These are viewed alongside the context and complexity of the project to identify the critical factors leading to success.
“By combining Harness Project Assurance with Mentoring for your internal Project Manager you reduce overall Project Risks.”
