IO Program Management: The Four Essential Components

In my last post, I noted that IO programs are by nature quite complex. I’m sure that I will be noting this fact more than once in this blog. It is important to understand that realizing the tremendous business benefits that an integrated operations approach offers requires the management of a high degree of complexity.

Given the level of complexity of an IO initiative, effective program management must be in place from Day 1 to stack the deck in favor of success. There are many components and many solutions that must be brought together, integrated and embedded in the work place in a sustainable way. Unless care is taken to establish the right program management disciplines before the initiative begins, the business benefit will erode over time.

Common Pitfalls in Complex Programs

Many multi-component, multi-solution programs fail to realize the business cases that brought them into being for a number of reasons. It is worth looking a list of some of the most common reasons for failure (or at least lack of goal achievement):

Lack of clarity regarding goals and direction
Lack of process and/or management discipline
Lack of or inadequate issue resolution
Poor pre-program planning
Inaccurate budgeting
Resistance and/or lack of cooperation among stakeholders
Conflicts of interest between stakeholders
Misalignment between sponsors and project team (whether it is an internal team or a consulting team)

Similar, but also Unique

While IO programs are similar to other large-scale initiatives, there are also unique challenges which require special attention from a program management perspective. I will be talking about many of these unique challenges in this blog and will also include some specific activities that our IO team at Wipro believes to be of particular importance based on our extensive experience.

One of the unique challenges for the success of IO implementations is significant level of domain understanding required from the implementation team (or teams). This requirement should be a consideration throughout the life of the program.

At the highest level of consideration, we have the four essential components of effective IO program management:

Governance
Stakeholders engagement
Management processes
Sustainability

I will talk about each of these in order in the rest of my blog posts.

The Bottom Line

Knowledge is power, and knowing the common pitfalls attached to a comprehensive and complex IO initiative offers the opportunity to ensure that the right project management components are in place before activity begins. Careful attention must be paid to putting essential program management components in place at the very beginning.

About the Author

Mr.Bart Stafford leads the Wipro oil & gas upstream solution group focused on Production Optimization & Integrated Operations. He previously led SAIC's global digital oilfield solution until the Wipro acquisition of SAIC's oil & gas practice.

As a part of his responsibilities at SAIC and Wipro, he has worked directly with the Digital Oilfield/Integrated Operations programs at Chevron, ZADCO, Shell, PTTEP and Qatar Petroleum. In addition he has been an active participant in industry discussions and conferences focused on these topics. He has also worked with joint industry/academic initiatives focused on providing an educational foundation for college graduates who wish to pursue careers in this domain.

Prior to joining SAIC, he was vice president of product marketing and sales for upstream oil & gas software companies OpenSpirit and Petris Technologies. As account director at CSC Mr. Stafford managed a large outsourcing engagement for a U.S. based oil & gas major as well as delivering management consulting projects for oilfield services clients.

Mr. Stafford started his professional career with Mobil Oil and later moved to Burlington Resources where he progressed through technology management roles. Bart holds a degree in business data processing from Stephen F. Austin State University and a management certificate in energy from Rice University. Bart is a member of the SPE where he is a frequent speaker and conference committee participant.

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IO Program Management:

The Four Essential Components

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