Workshop Overview:
An old adage goes: “budget, schedule or function - choose two”. For many technology, business and government projects, meeting the targets on even one of these three basic dimensions is daunting. In the 2009 Chaos Report, an annual analysis of information technology (IT) projects, only one third of the projects begun were completed on time, on budget, and with full functionality. Also, a recent GAO study of DoD acquisition projects showed that 56% had “moderate to high” cost/schedule growth.

Why is it so hard to keep projects on schedule, within cost and on scope? While success is dependent on management, it is even more dependent on the early decisions when the schedule, budget and function of the project are first specified. If this is done poorly, then no amount of good management is going to help a project meet even one of the basic attribute targets.
In response to the missed targets, some government agencies have begun to require Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) prior to funding acquisitions. Analysis of Alternatives is the process that guides the analytical comparison of multiple alternatives to be completed before committing resources to a project. AoA ensures that new projects, programs, processes, policies, or other organizational changes have a sound, defensible, executable business case with known risks. AoA attempts to overcome the three main reasons that 50% of all business decisions fail: a poor decision making process, choosing one alternative too soon and working on the wrong things.

This workshop will enable you to use AoA methods in your organization. It will introduce you to tools to support the process and government regulations for it.

Workshop Outcomes:
This highly interactive session will provide:

• Ability to apply AoA in your organization
• Capability to choose the AoA tools that best suit your needs
• Formats for an AoA reports

Workshop Key Topics:

• Budget, Schedule, Function – Choose Two All Three
• Introduction to AoA and expected cost and pay-offs
• The Four Levels of AoA maturity
• The Ten Key AoA Components
• What tools can help in an AoA study

Workshop Length: 2 days
Can be customized to needs of participants