When it comes to major IT initiatives like pension system replacement projects, creating a comprehensive change management plan that involves non-IT executives is usually not at the top of the priorities list.  But as a recent tip from Harvard Business Review notes, the cause of failed IT initiatives more often than not exists outside of IT: 

Don’t Fence Them In! Write Functional Requirements that won’t Sabotage your IT Vendor’s Ability to Deliver an innovative Pension Administration Solution

Following up a previous article on creating great functional requirements for your RFP, this post further examines what a functional requirement is and—just as important—what it isn’t. Understanding this key distinction can make all the difference when you’re trying to compose an RFP that accurately identifies your unique business requirements but which doesn’t compromise the IT vendor’s ability to deliver an innovative pension administration system that truly empowers your organization.

Anyone who has had the responsibility of writing or reading an RFP for a pension administration system replacement project understands the importance of clearly written requirements. For the writer, the challenge is to commit to paper hundreds—if not thousands—of requirements from across the organization. For the it vendor, the challenge comes from understanding these requirements with little contextual information about the prospective client or their pension system. Because the RFP is often the only legal means customers and vendors have for relating to, and partnering with, each other early in the procurement process, clear, purposeful requirements are absolutely critical to both parties.