Keep Control: Staying Aligned Through Delivery and Governance

By Giray Takar, Principal Consultant

The TOM and System Implementation Alignment Series

Even with the strongest foundations in place, the delivery phase is where most transformation programmes are truly tested. It’s also where assumptions surface — like the belief that the chosen system and vendor fully understood the client’s requirements. In reality, gaps in due diligence or vague vendor communication often mean critical business functionality hasn’t been fully addressed or challenged. This is the stage where alignment can start to slip: between the TOM and the system, between business and IT, and between the strategic intent and what’s actually being delivered. 

In this second article in our TOM and System Implementation Alignment Series, we focus on the messy middle: how to manage delivery without losing direction. We explore the critical role of vendor oversight, leadership and governance, and how to manage resources and risks while keeping the end goal in sight. 

1. Vendor Oversight & Third-Party Management

Vendors play a pivotal role in either reinforcing or weakening the alignment between your system implementation and TOM vision. Most vendors are focused on delivering the system — not on ensuring it enables the client’s future-state operating model. That’s why structured vendor oversight is critical: aligning vendors to the TOM doesn’t happen by default. It needs to be actively led by the client and supported by a vendor that sees itself as a partner, not just a supplier. 

Effective vendor management ensures that deliverables, timelines, and quality standards are clearly defined and fully integrated into the implementation plan  and that they directly support the TOM’s design, whether that’s optimised processes, scalable architecture, or enhanced user experience. 

Key components of strong vendor oversight include: 

• Clearly defined roles and responsibilities, aligned with the TOM’s operating structure 

• Detailed contractual agreements with SLAs, milestones, and KPIs 

• Regular performance reviews and tracking to ensure delivery stays on scope, on time, and at the expected level of quality 

• Strong issue and risk management to catch misalignment early and maintain control 

• Clear governance and communication frameworks that integrate vendors into decision-making, change control, and stakeholder engagement 

A good vendor understands the TOM and collaborates to shape their delivery around it. They don’t just meet requirements; they help ensure the system is genuinely fit for the business it’s meant to serve. 

2. Strong Governance and Leadership

Governance and leadership were already introduced in Article 1, where we explored how they help set the tone and structure during planning. During delivery, they are what keep TOM priorities embedded into system decisions and trade-offs as real-world challenges arise. 

This is when governance frameworks are truly tested and when leadership is needed most. The ability to make fast, aligned decisions becomes critical to maintaining momentum and avoiding drift between strategic goals and system execution. 

Governance tends to lose momentum when senior engagement fades, decision-making slows, or cross-functional accountability weakens. That’s where effective leadership makes the difference. Leaders who are visible, engaged, and in regular communication with all levels of the programme help keep energy high and teams aligned. 

On one large front office system implementation, the programme sponsor regularly asked where delivery risks might arise and made it their job to remove blockers before they caused wider disruption. That kind of leadership, focused on clearing the path for delivery, is often what separates successful programmes from those that stall. 

Effective governance means keeping decision-making structures, accountability, and oversight active throughout the implementation. This includes maintaining momentum in steering committees, keeping project leads engaged, and ensuring clear escalation routes. 

When strong governance is paired with proactive, committed leadership, organisations are better positioned to: 

• Keep the implementation aligned with business strategy and TOM outcomes 

• Manage competing priorities and resource constraints effectively 

• Ensure cross-functional alignment and adoption across all impacted teams 

3. Resource and Budget Management

Budgets and resources often reveal how tightly your TOM and system implementation are actually aligned. Once implementation begins, managing financial and human resources becomes a dynamic challenge. It’s no longer about setting budgets; it’s about steering them in real time, ensuring every allocation directly supports the TOM and keeps delivery on track. 

This is where strategic alignment really shows up. Resources and budgets need to reflect the TOM’s evolving priorities like process redesign, technology upgrades, or organisational change,  and they need to be integrated with the delivery plan, not managed in isolation. 

Key components include: 

• Strategic alignment: Budgets and resources should map directly to the TOM’s priorities, ensuring the right areas get support at the right time. 

• Integrated planning: Budgeting should be fully aligned with project timelines, milestones and interdependencies, not tracked in a separate silo. 

• Dynamic allocation: Flexibility is essential. Resource plans must adapt as needs shift — without compromising the programme’s direction. 

• Performance monitoring: Regularly tracking utilisation and spend, against clear KPIs, helps spot variances early and take corrective action. 

• Stakeholder engagement: Transparent budget communication helps maintain trust and ensures all parties stay aligned on priorities and trade-offs. 

Done well, budget and resource management provides stability through complexity. It helps organisations maintain control under pressure  and make decisions that protect delivery and long-term value.
 

4. Risk & Issue Management 

Risk and issue management is about staying one step ahead of problems that could derail TOM outcomes or system delivery by proactively identifying, assessing, and mitigating potential risks and issues. 

Key Components: 

• Proactive Risk Identification and Assessment: Early identification of risks—such as technical challenges, resource constraints, or stakeholder resistance—is crucial. Assessing the likelihood and impact of these risks allows for prioritisation and the development of appropriate mitigation strategies. 

• Integrated Risk Management Framework: Establishing a structured framework that aligns with the TOM ensures that risk management activities are consistent and comprehensive across all project phases. This includes defining roles and responsibilities, standardising risk assessment processes, and integrating risk management into decision-making. 

• Continuous Monitoring and Reporting: Implementing mechanisms for ongoing monitoring of risks and issues enables timely detection of new threats and the effectiveness of mitigation efforts. Regular reporting to stakeholders ensures transparency and facilitates informed decision-making. 

• Responsive Issue Resolution: When issues arise, a clear escalation and resolution process is vital. This includes documenting issues, analysing root causes, and implementing corrective actions to prevent recurrence. 

• Alignment with TOM Objectives: Risk and issue management activities should be directly linked to the goals and principles of the TOM. This ensures that risks are evaluated not only based on their immediate impact but also on their potential to hinder the achievement of the desired future-state operations. 

By embedding robust risk and issue management practices into the system implementation process, organisations can navigate uncertainties effectively, maintain project momentum, and ensure that the transformation aligns with the strategic vision outlined in the Target Operating Model. 

What’s next 

Delivery is where the connection between TOM and system execution can be tested. This is the phase where priorities start to shift, constraints tighten, and real-world complexity starts to test earlier assumptions. 

In the final article of this series, we’ll focus on what happens after go-live: performance monitoring, operational readiness, and how to embed lasting value through structured review and continuous improvement. 

How Liqueo can help 

At Liqueo, we specialise in delivering complex system implementations and TOM-led transformation for asset and wealth managers. Our experts combine specialist domain expertise with hands-on delivery experience – so we understand both the strategic intent behind the TOM, and the technical realities of making it happen. 

Whether you’re at the early planning stages or need a reset mid-delivery, we help clients stay aligned, avoid the common pitfalls, and deliver outcomes that last. 

If you’re planning a transformation and want to make sure your system and TOM are working together from day one, get in touch.

Read article one ‘Start Strong: Aligning Vision and Delivery from Day One’ here.