An enterprise has an ongoing issue of corporate applications not delivering the expected benefits due to missing key functionality. As a result, many groups are using spreadsheets and databases…

While engaging business users in acceptance testing is crucial, it's a verification step that occurs late in the development cycle; the root cause of "missing key functionality" often lies in inadequate requirements gathering much earlier.

The core problem described is corporate applications missing key functionality, leading to users finding workarounds. Engaging stakeholders early and thoroughly to identify and validate business requirements directly addresses this root cause, ensuring that future IT initiatives develop solutions that accurately meet user needs and deliver the expected benefits.

Establishing risk and value management processes is good governance, but it doesn't directly solve the immediate problem of applications failing to meet functional needs due to poor requirements; it helps manage project selection and oversight.

Prohibiting non-approved solutions addresses a symptom (shadow IT) but doesn't fix the underlying problem of enterprise applications lacking necessary functionality, which will likely lead to user frustration and continued workarounds.