The Decision Review

Six weeks. One decision you can defend.

A programme can be delivered on time and on budget and still not change anything. The Review makes sure the decision is right before delivery starts: it works through the five Decision Layers from the business down, with three gates that stop the decision being made in the wrong order.

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When it’s the right time

One hard-to-reverse decision.

The Review is built for a significant technology decision that will be scrutinised by a board, an auditor, a funder or a regulator.

  • A contract or platform is ending

    The renewal date is fixed, and nobody agrees whether to renew, replace or rebuild.

  • A selection has stalled

    Vendors have demoed, scores disagree, and the shortlist keeps changing.

  • A programme is in trouble

    Delivery is late and the original decision is being questioned, including by auditors.

  • Two estates must become one

    After a merger or acquisition, someone has to decide which platform survives, and why.

Five layers, five artefacts

The decision pack.

Each Decision Layer answers one question and hands over one artefact. Together they’re the evidence for what was decided and why.

  1. 1

    Business capabilities

    Technology & Product

    What must the service do, and what should get better?

    Capability mapMust-haves and should-get-betters, with every inherited process tested for the value it adds before it hardens into a requirement. Includes a named list of like-for-like traps: the customisations and workarounds that won’t be carried across.
  2. 2

    Data

    Governance, Risk & Compliance

    Who owns which data, and is it clean enough to move?

    Data ownership and risk registerNamed owners, single points of entry, quality hotspots, regionality and regulatory constraints, and what must be cleansed before migration.
  3. 3

    Integration

    Delivery & Transformation

    What connects to it today?

    Interface inventoryEvery interface with its owner, criticality and direction, candidates for a stable API in front, and an explicit decision on existing middleware.
  4. 4

    Application and technology

    Technology & Product

    What are we choosing, and how?

    Options appraisalCriteria agreed before options are scored: fit, five-year cost, group standards, cloud fit, supportability and exit. At least three options against doing nothing, costs as ranges, and what would change our mind.
  5. 5

    Operations and support

    Delivery & Transformation

    Will it be more reliable than what it replaces?

    Incident root-cause viewToday’s major incidents traced to their cause, the ones that will travel to the new platform unless fixed, and the reliability bar it must beat.

  6. The decision

    The How, applied

    What did we decide, and why?

    Decision recordThe decision and its rationale, risks with named owners, deliberate departures from best practice with a way back, and a deferral log with revisit dates.

Six weeks, three gates

Evidence in parallel. Decisions top-down.

Evidence gathering starts on day one, so nothing waits. Decisions are made strictly from the top down, and each gate is a sign-off by your sponsor before the next layer’s decisions begin.

  1. Week0

    Mobilise. Sponsor confirmed, roles agreed against the RACI, document and data request issued.

  2. Week1

    Capability workshops. Guiding principles defined in plain terms, so everyone means the same thing. Discovery for data, integration and incidents begins.

  3. Week2

    Capability map finalised, like-for-like traps named. Data owners named.

    Gate 1Capability map and principles signed off
  4. Week3

    Data ownership and risk register. Interface inventory.

  5. Week4

    Middleware decision. Selection criteria agreed. Incident analysis.

    Gate 2Criteria frozen before any option is scored
  6. Week5

    Options scored against criteria and doing nothing, with five-year cost ranges. Root-cause view completed.

  7. Week6

    Decision workshop, decision record, board-ready pack and readout.

    Gate 3Decision made and recorded

Gate 2 matters most. Agreeing how to judge the options before anyone sees them is the step most selection exercises skip, and the one auditors ask about first.

Roles on both sides

You’ll know what’s needed, and when.

Roles are agreed in week 0 and named against real people before the work starts. Ovett does the work that makes each decision defensible; your organisation owns every sign-off.

  • OV Ovett
  • SP Executive Sponsor
  • BO Business or Service Owner
  • DO Data Owners
  • IT IT or Architecture Lead
  • OPS Operations and Service Management
  • RC Risk and Compliance
  • PF Procurement and Finance
R: Responsible, does the work. A: Accountable, signs it off (one per activity). C: Consulted. I: Informed. Gates are highlighted.
ActivityOVSPBODOITOPSRCPF
Mobilise
Agree scope, roles and gatesRACCII
Supply documents, contracts and incident logsCARRRR
Layer 1: Business capabilities
Capability workshops and mapRIACCC
Gate 1: capability map signed offCARIIICI
Layer 2: Data
Name data ownersCARCC
Data ownership and risk registerRIACCC
Layer 3: Integration
Interface inventoryRCIAC
Middleware decisionRICACC
Layer 4: Application and technology
Gate 2: selection criteria agreed and frozenRACCCCC
Options scoring and five-year cost rangesRICACCR
Layer 5: Operations and support
Incident root-cause viewRICA
The decision
Gate 3: make the decisionCARICCCC
Decision record and board packRACICICI

Every decision stays yours

Ovett is never accountable for a sign-off. A named person in your organisation owns each decision, which is what boards, auditors and regulators expect to see.

Compliance at every gate

Risk and Compliance are consulted at each gate, so regulatory constraints shape the decision rather than arriving afterwards to block it.

What it typically asks of your team

Executive Sponsor
About two hours a week, plus the three gate meetings
Business or Service Owner
Around a day a week
Data Owners
Two or three short sessions each
IT or Architecture Lead
Around half a day a week, more in weeks 3 to 5
Operations
One or two sessions on major incidents
Risk and Compliance
Attendance at each gate, plus a review of the register
Procurement and Finance
Contract terms and cost inputs in weeks 4 and 5

Confirmed for your situation during mobilisation.

Scope and how it’s charged

Defined outputs. Visible effort.

The scope and the artefacts are fixed from the start. Effort is estimated up front and reported every week, so there are no surprises.

In scope

  • One decision about one core system or platform
  • All five layers and the decision record
  • A board-ready summary and readout

Not part of the Review

  • Implementation or migration
  • Running a full tender, though the criteria are ready for one
  • Vendor referral fees of any kind

How it’s charged

  • Effort estimated and agreed up front, charged at a day rate
  • Weekly reporting of effort against the estimate
  • Change control for anything beyond the decision in scope
  • Dependencies shown in the RACI, so any change to timeline or effort has a visible reason

After the decision

Into delivery.

Many clients continue into delivery. Each follow-on is scoped separately, and none is assumed.

Layers 1 and 4

Technology & Product Leadership

Fractional leadership through selection, procurement and roadmap.

Read about this service
Layer 2

Governance, Risk & Compliance

Turning the data register and constraints into governance that speeds up sign-off.

Read about this service
Layers 3 and 5

Delivery & Transformation Assurance

Assurance and partner management through implementation.

Read about this service

Have a decision coming up?

A short conversation about the decision you’re facing, who needs to sign it off, and whether the Review fits. Not a pitch deck.

Book an introductory call