MOA / MOE: Roles and responsibilities of these teams in a digital transformation project

In a world where digital transformation has become a strategic imperative, the success of a project depends on smooth collaboration between theproject owner and the projectmanager. What are their respective responsibilities? How do they fit together throughout a project’s life cycle?

Today, these terms are used in the sphere of information systems implementation, and there is often confusion between these two roles in companies. That’s why SQORUS now wants to clearly redefine these two notions.

In this article, discover the key roles of these two complementary teams, and their impact on the performance of digital projects. The distinction between these two roles is important for the success of your IT projects.

The project owner defines and manages the project

The project owner’s role is that of a decision-maker. It orders the project. It represents the end-users and is responsible for functional and non-technical expression.

It’s the entity that defines the project’s objective, schedule and budget. Furthermore, the expected result of the project is the production of a product called a “work”.

TheAMOA( assistance à maîtrise d’ouvrage) is the person/team who supports the company in all phases of its project (definition of objectives, planning, budgeting, training, etc.).

It can be internal to the company or external (consultant), when the decision-maker does not have the time or skills to carry out this work. So, for example, when implementing an HR information system, the project owner will have to define the scope of the project, and the processes to be covered: recruitment, training, appraisal and talent management, etc. The project manager is responsible for managing the project throughout its life cycle.

In particular, it plays this role during the various project steering committees. The project owner (or one of his representatives) generally chairs the steering committee, in order to regularly monitor the project’s progress and validate the various milestones (GO-NoGO) enabling the project to move from one phase to the next.

Choosing an experienced AMOA team is a decisive factor in the success of an HRIS project. Find out our Council’s advice on how to select the right AMOA team and maximize your chances of success.

Project management (MOE) carries out the technical aspects of the project

The MOE is positioned downstream from the MOA, and is responsible for the construction and coordination of the work, as well as its successful completion. It implements the requirements expressed by the project owner.

This is the entity chosen by the project owner to technically carry out the work under the conditions of quality, costs and deadlines defined in a HR contract.

Beyond this contractual responsibility, project management plays a central role in the technical translation of business requirements. It takes charge of solution design, development and integration with existing information systems. It also supervises the testing and deployment phases, while ensuring the technical consistency, risk management and operational performance of the deliverables.

By ensuring the concrete execution of the project, the project management team actively contributes to the success of the organization’s digital transformation.

In practice, who writes the specifications?

The drafting of specifications is generally the subject of debate within the company… Functional specifications should normally be supplied by the project owner and given to the project manager.

In practice, it turns out that writing a specification is complex and can rarely ignore (even if it should, in theory) all the underlying technical issues. However, these issues are the prerogative of the project management team, which is often called upon to draw up these specifications…

In fact, a good solution can be the writing of a purely functional specification by the project owner and then the proposal of a more formal version by the project manager, or a collegial writing of the functional specification.

MOA / MOE: an essential partnership

The project owner expresses the user’s needs, and the project manager responds with the technical solution! On a digital transformation project, which is by its very nature complex, it’s vital that these roles are clearly understood and respected, if the project is to run smoothly. The skills of the two teams are different and complementary.

If the former master the business and its uses, the latter will be the only ones able to customize the solution according to the expectations of technical neophytes. So, right from the start of an implementation project, it’s important to be clear about these roles, their differences, and the importance of working together hand in hand to achieve the common goal: a well-functioning information system that’s adapted to the company’s needs.

To find out more about how MOA and MOE work together in practice during the implementation phases, read our dedicated article: MOA/MOE: a key duo in an implementation project.

Conclusion: the importance of synergy between project owners, project managers and project contractors

In conclusion, the success of a digital transformation project depends on smooth, complementary collaboration between the project owner, theproject management team and the project architect.

The projectowner defines needs, sets strategic objectives and validates results.

TheAMOA acts as a real facilitator, translating business challenges into clear functional specifications, while supporting users through the change process.

Finally, the project management team(MOE) ensures the technical implementation of the solutions, while respecting deadlines, budgets and quality requirements.

Each of these players plays a key role in the success of a digital project: the MOA for strategic management, theAMOA for mediation and business/technical alignment, and the MOE for the concrete implementation of solutions.

Do you have a digital transformation project underway or planned? Contact the experts at SQORUS for tailor-made support to ensure the success of your strategic initiatives.