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PROCESS |
The prime contractor for the VALIDATE project was The Open Group.
The Best Practice Reference Set was compiled using the latest methods, guides, tools, and approaches to IT procurement. Twelve different best practice sources were examined:
| Buy-IT CCTA EC Directives EURAP |
EuroMethod ISO 14598-4 DOD/NATO PA |
SA-CMM SOTIP SPICE TAP |
From these sources, a collection was compiled of 900 best practices, which was then condensed (by removing duplication) to produce 300 practices (which are cross-referenced to their original source).
The selection criteria used for selecting the best practices were as follows:
An assessment tool (in the form of a questionnaire) was developed to assist in the identification of practices used by the Procurement Partners.
A set of metrics was compiled so that project performance could be measured consistently. Each metric related to a typical problem area. The result metrics were divided into the following categories: financial, infrastructure, process (by phase), and supplier-related, as summarized below.
Financial |
Infrastructure |
Process (by phase) |
Supplier-Related |
| Supplier discount Penalties Project extensions Payment terms Return on investment Value for money Additional funding Unexpected purchases Budget overruns |
Staff satisfaction Team cooperation Decision making Team satisfaction IT staff turnover User satisfaction User participation |
Performance Project satisfaction Problems detected Rework and corrections Completeness System cost Manpower effort Training Project scheduling |
Complaints User relationship Supplier dependencies Supplier responsiveness Supplier information Supplier cooperation |
Studies were undertaken of a number of real IT procurements to quantify the relationships between specific procurement practices and IT project success.
Thirteen European organizations took part in the VALIDATE project (refer to Project Partners). Each organization was monitored through procurement cycles of varying complexity, over a 6-month period. A total of 35 IT procurement cycles were tracked.
The project looked at the practices that were being followed by each organization through the following phases:
The results of the studies were subject to a thorough statistical analysis, using the common project performance metrics, which aimed to show the relationships between the use of certain practices and procurement project results.
Please note the following:
The results of the analysis were used to compile the Diagnostic Guidebook. The best practices are organized by specific problem area (of which there are 50). Each area lists those practices which were shown to make a difference (positive or negative).
Several case studies were developed, using the procurement practices and metrics data, to highlight the impact of using specific procurement practices.