Tech Doesn't Deliver Change - People Do

Director of Consulting & Project Delivery Phin Smith shares his perspective on what really makes technology projects succeed – and why it’s almost never just about the tech:

There’s a tendency, still, to treat technology projects as if they’re about technology. But 18 years of watching how they actually play out – across front, middle and back office – says otherwise.

Some projects over-deliver. Others just about land. A few, even with the right vendors and the same platforms, fall flat. And more often than not, it’s got nothing to do with the software.

The differentiator is people – how they’re structured, how they collaborate, and how they respond to change when things stop going to plan. That’s what drives long-term value.

The Role of Leadership: Not Just Front-Loaded Authority

It’s easy to think leadership’s job begins and ends with green-lighting a budget and aligning the initiative to strategy. But the best outcomes happen when leadership stays present, long after the kick-off.

That doesn’t mean sitting in every project meeting. It means being visible when the scope flexes, when timelines slip, or when momentum wobbles. That kind of presence does more than steer – it reassures.

And while empowering the team is key, empowerment without oversight is just detachment. The trick is balancing autonomy with a clear sense of when and how to step in. Strong project teams need space to move, but they also need to know where the boundaries are – and who’s going to make the final call when a decision lands in grey territory.

That same leadership presence is just as critical when change hits resistance. It’s not unusual. New systems mean new behaviours – and not everyone’s going to jump onboard immediately. That’s where leaders earn their stripes: championing the change, not just authorising it.

Finally, momentum isn’t self-sustaining. Initial wins don’t carry a project through to delivery. It’s leadership that keeps people aligned, engaged, and focused – especially when the next milestone is further away than the last one.

Good Governance Isn’t Bureaucracy. It’s Clarity.

Governance can get a bad rap. For some, it still conjures images of decision logs, RACI charts and red-amber-green dashboards that don’t tell you much. But in reality, strong governance is what makes projects agile, not rigid.

It brings speed – not by cutting corners, but by removing ambiguity. Who decides what? What’s in scope? What’s the escalation route when priorities clash? These things shouldn’t be figured out mid-project – they should be locked in from the outset.

It’s not just about steering groups and programme boards either. It’s about making sure the right people are in the right roles – sponsors who stay involved, decision-makers who stay responsive, and delivery leads who aren’t siloed from the rest of the business.

And it doesn’t stop at project tracking. Data governance often gets missed in these conversations, but when projects hinge on system integration, migration, or reporting – bad data hygiene can quietly undermine the whole thing. That means defining ownership, applying standards, and maintaining integrity across every data touchpoint.

The result? Less firefighting, fewer surprises, and a stronger foundation for the people and tech to do what they’re supposed to do.

Tech Needs Process – and Process Needs People

No surprise here: technology doesn’t deliver value unless people use it, understand it, and want it to succeed. That means process and user experience can’t be bolted on as an afterthought – they need to be considered from day one.

It starts with engaging the people who’ll use the system every day. Not in a box-ticking workshop, but properly. Early involvement in requirements-gathering, real input into how workflows should change, and regular feedback as things take shape.

That’s where project champions come in. The ones embedded inside each function, representing their team’s view and helping translate project decisions back into day-to-day terms. These people are often the difference between a rollout that gets traction and one that’s met with a shrug.

And because technology rarely lives inside just one team anymore, those champions need to work cross-functionally. What ops decides can impact compliance. What risk prioritises might affect finance. Without a mechanism for teams to talk to each other early and often, misalignment is inevitable.

Quick wins help too. Not because they’re flashy, but because they prove the project is solving real pain points – not just delivering against a spreadsheet. They build trust, and that trust is what keeps engagement high when the next release is less visible or more complex.

And once the rollout’s done, it’s not done. People evolve, the business shifts, and new hires need to get up to speed. Continuous support, embedded feedback loops, and visible progress all matter if the technology’s going to stick – and scale.

Bringing It All Together: Why Alignment Really Matters

Getting people, process and technology aligned isn’t about ticking a framework box – it’s about making sure the investment actually delivers.

The firms that get it right are the ones who:

• Keep leadership present, not just accountable
• Make governance practical, not performative
• Get users involved early, and support them continuously
• Create space for cross-functional decision-making
• Stay outcome-focused, not just milestone-driven

It’s easy to underestimate how much this alignment influences delivery. But when things start to drift, it’s rarely because of bad tech – it’s because somewhere along the way, people, process and platform lost sync.

Fix that, and the tech will do its job. Better still – it’ll drive real business value.

If you want to talk about how we can help you get your people, process and technology aligned, don’t hesitate to drop me a message.