Project comitology: the governance bodies of an IT project and their roles

IT projects often fail due to a lack of organization. Without a clear structure, effective meetings and well-defined roles, even the best IT projects can fail or fall short of their objectives. For a long time, these projects were carried out without effective communication or clear guidelines.

The answer to this problem lies in project comitology. A set of organized committees and meetings to monitor, control and drive forward your IT projects in a structured way.

Agile methods have provided an initial solution by improving collaboration between teams, but comitology complements this approach by structuring decision-making.

The steering committee(COPIL) is often the best-known, but there are other equally important bodies that remain little-known despite their usefulness. That’s why we’re going to detail the 6 essential committees and their missions.

What is project comitology?

Before discussing the 6 committees, let’s take a look at what exactly project comitology is.

Project comitology is simply the set of committees and meetings used to structure and manage an IT project. It’s like the backbone that supports your project and keeps it moving in the right direction.

Setting up a good comitology helps you to :

• Bringing the right people together at the right time
• Make clear decisions and document them
• Monitor project progress on a regular basis
• Solve problems quickly
• Keep a written record of decisions via minutes

The main advantage of a well-organized comitology is that it enables you to keep control of the project, monitor its progress and make the right decisions at the right time. Without this structure, IT projects often become chaotic, with delays, budget overruns and functionality that doesn’t match expectations.

Let’s take a closer look at the 6 essential committees you should set up for your IT projects.

1. Strategic Committee (COSTRA)

An IT project requires the establishment of a strategy, i.e. an action plan designed to coordinate the actions of all those involved.

The Strategic Committee is a logical step in this direction. Its heterogeneous composition gives it a panoramic vision of the project, allowing it to establish dashboards, a state of the art, at different stages of its progress.

It also supports a sponsor, to encourage rapid decision-making and reinforce the commitment of all stakeholders.

In practice, the strategic committee ensures that actions taken are in line with foreseeable developments in the information system. It is therefore essential to the success of a project.

In short, COSTRA :

• Defines the main orientations of the project
• Validates important decisions
• Ensures that the project remains aligned with the company’s strategy
• Helps unblock difficult situations

To set up this committee, bring together managers and decision-makers who have a global vision of the company.

2. Steering Committee (COPIL)

The Steering Committee is one of the governance bodies responsible for giving impetus to the sponsor’s involvement, to ensure that the best decision is taken, and for monitoring the progress of the IT project.

He is the guarantor of consistency between the decisions to be made and the challenges of the operation, particularly with regard to project deadlines and costs.

The role of the Steering Committee is multifaceted: from overall monitoring of project progress, to making decisions in line with the project’s objectives, to directing or modifying actions at the customer’s suggestion, the Steering Committee plays a key role in the smooth running of the project.

In summary, the COPIL :

• Monitors overall project progress
• Makes important decisions
• Adjust project direction if necessary
• Ensures compliance with deadlines and budget

To set up an effective COPIL, you need participants capable of making decisions and enforcing them. The minutes must clearly list the actions to be taken, with a person in charge and a deadline for each action.

3. Project Committee (COPRO)

In this body, the project managers, whether from the customer or the integrator, lead the committee to ensure the smooth running of the project.

The role of the IS project manager is particularly crucial in this instance, to ensure coordination between the various stakeholders.

With this in mind, the COPRO arbitrates disputes that may arise from the organization, the application of the QAP (quality assurance plan), acceptance operations, as well as the handling of modification requests and the conformity of functional or technical choices.

In addition to this arbitration function, the Project Committee ‘s role is to coordinate present and future actions, while ensuring their coherence.

He also monitors functional and technical aspects, by analyzing performance indicators (KPIs) and adapting resources.

In short, COPRO :

• Solves organizational problems
• Coordinates the various teams
• Monitors technical and functional aspects
• Adjust resources as needed

To set up an effective COPRO, clearly define who does what. The minutes should detail the decisions made and the next steps to be taken.

4. The Business Decision Committee (CODEM)

The Business Decision Committee is a decision-making body whose function is to present, but also to arbitrate, the orientations issued by theProject team following a process study.

His role also extends to ensuring that Run takes responsibility for modifications, in terms of analyzing content and changes and their impact on the project.

In summary, CODEM :

• Validates functional orientations
• Arbitrating business priorities
• Evaluate the impact of changes
• Checks that the solution meets requirements

Participants should be familiar with the company’s business processes. The minutes should clearly explain the decisions taken and why.

5. Technical decision-making committee (COTEC)

The Technical Decision Committee is an assembly that coordinates work sites, in consultation with the technical team.

With this in mind, he supervises progress, as well as actions taken and those to come. It also analyzes the risks, with a view to preventing them.

In summary, COTEC :

• Coordinates technical work
• Monitor technical progress
• Identifies and prevents technical risks
• Validates architectural choices

To set up an effective COTEC, bring together technical experts capable of evaluating and implementing solutions. The minutes must be precise and clearly document technical decisions.

6. Maintenance activities monitoring committee (CORUN)

IT project management cannot do without a committee dedicated to maintenance and technical know-how.

This body is the result of the merger between theproject team and the team responsible for maintaining the current Application.

The maintenance monitoring committee has the advantage of fostering information exchange with maintenance teams. Its purpose is to ensure that all maintenance releases are monitored, and also to make the technical and/or strategic choices needed to migrate to the target application or, where necessary, adapt to new developments.

Implementing these governance bodies helps IT projects to run smoothly. By their very nature, IT projects are complex and evolving, and more than ever they need to be deployed within a rigorous framework, embodied by these committees. Their success depends on it, but so does the responsibility of clients and providers.

In short, CORUN :

• Tracks updates and corrections
• Plan technical evolutions
• Eases the transition to the new solution
• Improves communication between project and maintenance teams

Participants should be familiar with existing systems and maintenance processes. Reports should accurately track incidents, corrections and deployment schedules.

How to set up an effective project committee?

Here are the steps for creating a committee structure that works:

1. Define your needs: Identify which committees are really necessary for your project.
2. Choose the right participants: Select people with the necessary expertise and authority. The IT project manager plays a central role in this selection process and in leading these bodies.
3. Plan meetings in advance: Create a regular calendar for each committee
4. Create templates: Prepare agenda and minutes templates
5. Explain roles: Make sure everyone understands their role and responsibilities.
6. Set up follow-up: Use tools to monitor decisions and actions

Conclusion: why are execution skills essential in project comitology?

Setting up governance bodies undeniably helps IT projects run smoothly. By their very nature, IT projects are complex and evolving, and more than ever they need to be deployed within a rigorous framework, embodied by these committees. Their success depends on it, but so does the responsibility of clients and providers. In mature organizations, a PMO can play a decisive role in this transformation by standardizing practices and ensuring consistent governance.

However, structure alone is not enough. The executive skills of committee members are crucial to turning decisions into concrete action. These skills include:

• Communicating clearly
• Make decisions based on facts
• Rigorous monitoring of actions
• Adapting to change
• Anticipating problems

By combining the right committee structure with competent participants, you can considerably increase the chances of success for your IT projects.

Need help structuring your project comitology? Setting up an effective comitology can be complex, especially for large-scale projects. Our expert SQORUS consultants have been helping companies of all sizes to structure and optimize the governance of their IT projects for over 35 years.

Don’t leave the organization of your projects to chance. Contact our experts to benefit from personalized support and turn your IT projects into successes.

Also read in our “IT project governance” file:

• Lowcode platform: the future of application development?
• The use of UIPATH as an RPA solution
• Project comitology: the governance bodies of an IT project and their roles
• Steering and governance of a Finance IS project: which profiles should be involved?
• Steering and governance of an IT project: which profiles should be involved?
• Project governance: what role for the steering committee?
• The actors of a project team: organization, role and skills
• The IS manager at the heart of the development and evolution of systems
• HRIS Manager: what role in the evolution of HR Information Systems?
• IS project manager: what role and responsibility in an IS project?
• Functional consultant: a role close to the business processes
• Technical consultant: a profession at the heart of technological development
• Solution architect: a profession that manages development and deployment
• DevOps Consultant: role, missions and development skills
• Data Protection Officer (DPO): what roles and missions?
• CISO: a key job within the business for system security
• The service delivery manager at the heart of team management
• Scrum master, a key profession for Scrum project management
• Data scientist: a strategic profession at the service of management
• MOA / MOE: how are the roles divided on a project of implementation of an information system?