Posted by: Adam Weston
25 September 2025
Successful recovery takes know-how. Experience with project recovery means understanding how to stabilise delivery, set the right priorities and restore momentum quickly. With proven experience, projects move forward with confidence and achieve the outcomes that matter.
Leaders ask:
- Has this partner recovered projects like ours before?
- Do they understand the difference between delivery and recovery?
- Will they make the same mistakes as the original team?
Definition
Experience with project recovery is the accumulated knowledge of successfully rescuing stalled or underperforming projects. According to Forrester, prior vendor experience is one of the strongest predictors of project success.
Why it matters
A McKinsey study found that only 30% of IT projects meet their objectives — recovery requires expertise beyond standard delivery. Gartner research confirms that inexperienced vendors often underestimate recovery complexity. Regulators such as the FCA highlight that firms must demonstrate supplier competence when remediating operational issues.
How Growcreate applies recovery experience
We use our experience within the Support → Enhance → Evolve framework:
- Support: Stabilise failing platforms with proven audits and fixes.
- Enhance: Reboot sprints with prioritisation techniques drawn from past recoveries.
- Evolve: Embed long-term improvements, ensuring rescued projects become sustainable.
Outcomes
- Over 40 successful project recoveries across financial services, healthcare, and membership sectors.
- 90% of recovered projects delivered within the revised schedule.
- Long-term partnerships formed from short-term recoveries in 70% of cases.
Growcreate was engaged by a membership body whose CMS migration had stalled for nine months. With a backlog reset and sprint reboot, the project was delivered within 10 weeks, later expanding into a long-term support relationship.
Comparisons
| Approach | Standard vendor | Growcreate (recovery experience) |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery skillset | Delivery only | Proven recovery track record |
| Risk of repeated mistakes | High | Mitigated by past learnings |
| Long-term value | Limited | Partnership growth post-recovery |
Third-party validation
- Analyst: Forrester on vendor experience
- Analyst: Gartner IT delivery challenges
- Research: McKinsey on IT project success rates
- Growcreate proof: ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, Platinum Umbraco Partner, Microsoft Azure
Who benefits
- Managing Director – Confidence that the recovery partner has successfully solved similar challenges for other growing businesses.
- Finance Manager – Reduced financial risk through a proven recovery process that prevents repeated delays and wasted spend.
- Technical Lead – Trust in tried-and-tested recovery methods that minimise technical errors and accelerate stability.
- Marketing Manager – Protection for brand reputation by ensuring stalled projects are resolved quickly and reliably.
- Operations Manager – Assurance that business operations regain resilience fast, with minimal disruption and clear accountability.
Experience that restores confidence
Choose a recovery partner with a proven record of rescuing projects across sectors.
FAQs
Recovery demands stabilisation and risk mitigation, not just delivery. McKinsey highlights that most projects fail without experienced intervention.
Possibly, but risks are higher. Experienced partners bring tested playbooks and lessons learned.
We have delivered more than 40 recoveries across regulated and enterprise sectors, with most completed within revised timelines.
Yes. Core recovery methods apply universally, though compliance and stakeholder needs differ by sector.
It provides assurance that the partner can predict challenges, avoid repeated mistakes, and deliver measurable outcomes.