PgMP Practice Question
A multinational corporation is concluding a three-year 'Global Digital Transformation' program. The program has successfully deployed new ERP systems across all regions. The Program Steering Committee is eager to declare victory and disband the program team to reallocate resources to new strategic initiatives. However, the program manager observes that while the systems are live, local operational teams in two key markets are still struggling with user adoption, and final vendor payments are contingent on achieving specific performance KPIs which have not yet been fully validated. The benefits realization plan projects significant cost savings, but these are dependent on sustained, efficient use of the new systems. The Program Steering Committee is pushing for immediate program closure to free up budget. Given this situation, what is the most critical action for the program manager to take by referencing the benefits management plan?
Invoke the program's predefined exit criteria to demonstrate to the steering committee that key benefits sustainment and contractual obligations have not yet been met, thereby justifying the need to delay closure.
Recommend a phased closure, formally closing the completed components while transitioning the outstanding operational and contractual items to the business-as-usual operations team.
Charter two new sub-projects focused on intensive user training and rapid KPI validation, and request an emergency budget allocation from the steering committee to fund them.
Immediately escalate the user adoption issues to all executive stakeholders via a high-priority communication, as outlined in the communications management plan.