Providian Trust: Tradition and Technology (A)
Principles of Information Systems GIST 500
Dr Goel
CASE SUMMARY
Providian Trust was a major trust company that provided financial and fiduciary services. Its principal source of revenue came from which include residential and commercial mortgages, and consumer and corporate loans. Michael LeBlanc, the Senior Vice President of Trust, Investment and Treasury, led the project aimed at reengineering Providian Trust's business processes by implementing a major software system called Access plus- an asset management system developed by Select One. . LeBlanc believed that the implementation of access plus would give management the power to control client's accounts and improve the operations in…show more content… Assessing such potential risks prior to beginning of the project would have permitted the committee to devise alternative plans of actions if/when such events occur and thus minimize an upset in the work flow. It also decreases the likelihood of developing poorly thought out, last minute plans and the risk of a project falling apart. In Providian's case the risk assessment was not properly done and therefore the risk factors were not considered when the budget and timeline of the project was developed as such when the worse case scenarios did take place key processes such as testing were altered and shortened to absorb the loss in time and revenue.
Lack of Proper Leadership
Another reason many projects fail is due to a lack proper leadership. One issue mentioned in the case was the fact that many of the project teams felt they were getting their directives from to many people. It may have added to the uncertainty the surrounded the project.
Not Ensuring Solid Business Sponsorship - Lack of executive-level commitment is yet another common factor in project failure. Executive sponsorship is especially vital on projects that affect the culture of the organization such as the one undertaken in the Providian. Even before Stephan Walsh became the new CEO of Providian Trust the project did not the advantage of having its CEO directly involved in its planning and implementation. Mr. Le Blanc seemed to be the only person with a formal
