By the time we were engaged, this organization had tried four times over several years to replace a critical compensation system, without success. Each attempt failed for a similar set of reasons: no one had ever fully documented the business rules driving the system, and the organization lacked the operating model needed to run a deadline-driven, high-stakes replacement. A fifth failure would have meant millions more in losses, and a real risk that advisors and the board would stop believing the organization could deliver complex work at all.
Case Study
After four failed attempts, a broken compensation system finally went live.
This financial services organization had tried four times over several years to replace a critical compensation system. We stepped in mid-crisis, took ownership of execution, and got it done.
Engagement at-a-glance
Industry:
Financial Services and Insurance
Organization size:
~ 500-1,000 employees
Services:
Technical Execution
Project & Program Delivery
Initiative Recovery & Stabilization
Project & Program Delivery
Initiative Recovery & Stabilization
The Challenge
The tool wasn't the problem. The organization was set up to fail.
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Requirements not documented
The legacy compensation system had grown so complex and poorly maintained over time that its business rules existed nowhere on paper. Every prior attempt to replace it had run into the same wall: no clear, validated picture of what the system was actually supposed to do.
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A delivery model built for the wrong kind of work
The organization ran a scaled agile model suited to ongoing product development, not a deadline-driven system replacement. That mismatch left no one clearly accountable for the timeline, and no structure built to manage a program of this size and risk.
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A track record that had worn down trust
Four failed attempts over several years had already cost millions of dollars. Advisors had been promised a better system more than once and hadn't gotten one, and leadership's confidence in the organization's ability to execute complex work was wearing thin.
Our Approach
Taking ownership of a failing program and adapting to what the moment required.
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1
Took ownership of program management and execution
We were already working with the organization in another capacity when the fourth attempt failed. Rather than stepping back, we took direct ownership of program management and execution leadership for the initiative.
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2
Defined and validated undocumented requirements
We documented the business and technical rules driving compensation calculations, then validated them against expected outputs, closing the gap that had sunk every prior attempt.
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3
Built testing and data validation from the ground up
We created test data frameworks and a testing strategy to confirm the new system produced accurate results before go-live, work the organization had never had in place before.
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4
Delivered training, extensive implementation support, and handoff tools
We led change management, training, and implementation support through go-live, and left behind templates and frameworks the organization could use to run its next major program.
Value Delivered
Confidence that this organization could execute complex work again.
Delivered a compensation system four prior attempts couldn't
The organization successfully replaced its legacy compensation system for the first time, after four unsuccessful attempts spanning several years.
Replaced undocumented business rules with validated requirements
Business and technical requirements that had never existed on paper were defined, documented, and tested against expected outputs before go-live.
Shifted the organization toward disciplined, deadline-driven delivery
The success of this program led the organization to move away from a scaled agile model for similar initiatives and toward a more traditional, disciplined Project Management Office structure.
Left behind frameworks to run future programs
Templates for program governance, requirements validation, and testing now give the organization tools to manage its next complex initiative on its own.
Results that reflect the work behind them.
12+ month
Length of the engagement, from program rescue to go-live.
1,000+
Employees & Advisors Impacted
Millions
In sunk costs avoided by halting a multi-year cycle of failed capital project expenditure
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