Assure – validating where you are
Whether it is a question of the quality of the deliverable, concerns the vendor has actually done as promised, doubts around the value alignment, or you simply want to shore up your position and independently ratify the business is getting what it paid for – now is the time to assure everything has been done as planned.
Whether you are a stakeholder or part of the project team, we’ve got your back. Our assurance services provide independent insight into whether the project will be delivered with the expected quality, outcomes, and benefits to the agreed plan, budget and schedule – and if it is at risk, what needs to be done to correct it.
With 450 industry specialists, we have the technical expertise to interpret the code, assess the methodologies, qualify the governance and controls applied, identify outstanding risks (and how to mitigate them), and recommend project performance improvement strategies. We also incorporate post-delivery to elevate the likelihood of realising the planned value and benefits. Our post-delivery or post-implementation assurance includes assessment of the proposed transition to operations model, support programs, and ongoing continuous improvement streams.
And thanks to our genuine independence, we apply the same rigour across the full breadth of the deliverable – including third-party vendors and consultancies – without fear of political influence or bias from a partner, shareholder or sell-through target.
When do you need assurance services?
- Over the life of your project, program, or portfolio, the senior executives have changed and may not be familiar with the original business case or the key metrics for success that were originally laid out.
- You need independent assurance to mitigate vendors, large consultancies, or internal third parties manipulating the deliverable to their own agenda (and not your or the organisation’s best interests).
- You have just taken over a project, program or portfolio and need to quickly validate it is where it is purported to be.
- You are delivering a merger, acquisition, joint venture or divestment and need an independent assessment to appease third party stakeholders.
- The initiative is large and complex, and you need independent assurance to validate you have met all of the evolving business objectives.
- Other stakeholders, vendors, consultancies, project team members or even Board members want to run their own assurance program on the initiative (and you want to head them off at the pass).
- Questions are being raised over the quality of the work, the work being completed by third parties or the proposed benefits.
- Delivery isn’t easy and you have ruffled a few feathers to get here, and now need to shore up your position to mitigate risk.
Our Approach
Inner Circle quality assurance services deliver an objective and pragmatic insight into the quality, alignment, and success of the project to verify the initiative meets value and benefits expectations – and where risks are found, we provide evidence-based recommendations for delivery optimisation.
Our expertise in project, program and portfolio recovery provides us with the deep insight needed to assure your initiatives. We know the challenges, we know why projects fail to realise promised value, and we know how to correct the issues and optimise performance. We have the expertise to interpret the code, verify the methodologies, identify the risks, validate the governance and report on the true program state.
Being independent ensures we can apply the same extensive rigour and qualification across third-party vendors and consultancies as we do your internal delivery teams (without fear of upsetting those who pay our wages, or bias from partner obligations).
Our approach is flexible to meet your circumstance. We handpick a team of tried and trusted subject matter specialists tailored to your needs and support them with our exclusive management services. There are no juniors, interns or backpackers learning their jobs on your dollar – only proven experts with the experience needed to deliver high-value assurance programs. With 450 industry specialists to select from, we have the subject matter experts with the experience to precisely match your requirements.
We extend our offering to include post-implementation services including the handover to operations, ongoing support and any continuous improvement programs. These provide insight to potential risks that can impact timely realisation of the expected benefits and value.
What to expect
We engage to your circumstance. We can:
- Provide the entire assurance function across all or part of the project, program or portfolio;
- Provide ad hoc or scheduled Assurance as a Service;
- Augment your existing audit and assurance teams; or
- Provide an independent governance function over third-party assurance programs.
Assurance services ensures:
- You have an independent single point of truth that will withstand the scrutiny of stakeholders;
- You have clear visibility of the state of the initiative;
- You understand how well the deliverable meets the business objective;
- The quality of the code, technology, and deliverable have been independently assessed;
- Any risks and issues are identified (and recommendations to mitigate them);
- The likelihood of the delivery success is known;
- You understand the transition strategy; and
- You have visibility of things that can be done to optimise the project, the transition to operations, and the realisation of benefits by the business.
Why Inner Circle
- Our assurance function is tailored to your situation and delivered by experienced specialists that know what to look for. We are granular in our approach to ensure that if anything is amiss, we find it before anyone else does.
- We have your back – we work with you to remediate any risks, issues or variance from the original plan and business expectations (we don’t use it to usurp you).
- We provide expert insight and recommendations for anything that should be optimised, augmented or revised to meet the agreed scope.
- We stand by our work and can present our findings with you.
- We work to your circumstance and environment. We utilise your tools, methods, and controls (and bring ours if needed).
- We are truly vendor agnostic – we have no partners, alliances or secret shareholders. Our assurance services are truly independent, and we treat vendors and consultancies with the same rigour we do your internal teams. We have your back, not someone else’s sales targets.
- Our assurance teams are managed and supported throughout the process, bring the collective knowledge of 450 battle-hardened specialists, and have access to our globally recognised IP and methodologies.
We’re ready to start, are you?
All it takes is a message (or a phone callphone call).
