The three-legged stool is pretty close to a partnership of equals. "My focus is to ensure that we maintain the integrity of the original business case," says Cullen, the business lead. "But we work in tandem. There were times when they would meet with senior finance people and I wouldn't be there, and there were times when I met with the architecture team and they wouldn't be there."

Cullen explains how each leg of the stool works. "These initiatives are far-reaching in terms of who you need to engage," he says. "Finance touches just about every system and part of the organization. So there are dozens and dozens of people in the IT group who need to be engaged. Kent provides that."

For specific Oracle or PeopleSoft expertise, "Paul and Yutta can reach into their bench of expertise, whether for a week, a month or a year," he adds.

Cullen's role is to engage and align the finance community.

"It's pretty seamless," he says. "I judge the success of a project partly on whether, if an outsider came in, he couldn't tell the difference between a Marriott IT person, a business person and a consultant."