Chapter 7: A Dream Project Turns Nightmare--How Flawless Software Never Got Implemented

Vital Roy, HEC Montreal

Canada

Benoit A. Aubert, HEC Montreal

Canada

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

It was in 1996 that Integra^[1], a large Canadian life insurance institution, launched its Banking and Loan Insurance Software System (BLISS) development project with the aim of gaining access to the loan insurance market in small Credit Unions (CUs) across Canada. The company was ready to provide the system free of charge to the Credit Unions on the provision that they commercialize exclusively Integra's loan insurance products. To achieve this goal, Integra entered into a partnership with Intex Consulting, the Canadian subsidiary of a large international information system (IS) integration firm who wanted to gain a foothold in the Canadian banking business. After 1.3 million dollars of investment from each partner and twelve months of intensive efforts, the project came to an abrupt stop. The lessons learned in this case study include: (1) the importance of understanding requirements beyond microlevel user needs, (2) the need to get the enlightened involvement of each interested party in a large complex project, (3) the importance of appraising the specific contribution of each partner in a strategic alliance, and (4) the obstacles faced when entering an unfamiliar market with a new, unproven IS product.

^[1]In order to maintain confidentiality, the name of the companies described in this case, as well as their geographical location and the names of the participants have been disguised.