IT or BT? The debate is on!

We have heard of IT, MIS and IS as acronyms to define the information management wing of every company, I just came across a debate to rename this to BT (Business Technology).

This is very interesting, at the core, IT or IS or even MIS describes the function they serve well. By renaming to BT the emphasis is clearly on engaging the business and ensuring that the business can succeed and has the tools to effectively leverage technology to improve efficiency, effectiveness, productivity and bring about change! (or transformation if you prefer).

I am in favor of this rename and new acronym (though we have too many already!)

Here's a link to the posting from CIO.com, Happy Reading!

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Better Resource Utilization - Using Business Applications?

In an earlier post, I had outlined an idea to improve the usability of enterprise systems by creating a unified task dashboard. By having one dashboard for all activities, which could span multiple applications, users/resources can get a holistic view.

In this post, I want to extend this idea and would like to propose to the software companies/product manager’s work on expanding the capabilities of their tasks/work flows and start looking into unified resource utilization!

The first step would be to capture business process execution with accurate tasks within workflows. The second step would be to accurately estimate the time required to perform the tasks.

If and when we can track all tasks across all applications, we should be able to generate data, reports and metrics on resource utilization and be able to estimate current and future work loads accurately and be able to assign the right resources to the right problem and thus improve effectiveness and efficiency of the organization.

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Profile data of migration leader

What skills do you need to become a data migration leader?

If you have gone through my posts on this subject, you will be able to guess!

1. Strategic thinker with excellent analytical skills, able to balance strategy with tactical execution
2. Excellent understanding of business process (flow of information, physical parts/products and finance) and
3. Excellent understanding of technology (Databases (SQL, Oracle), Business applications (ERP, PLM, CRM etc.), programming,
4. Project management whiz

This might be a tall order but start working on each of these skills. Practice makes perfect.

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"

Data Migration: A summary of my posts!

Over the last 3+ months, I have outlined my thoughts on data migration. In order to be successful with large scale implementations of business systems like (ERP, PLM, CRM, BPM etc.), data migration is a key element.

Data migration is often ignored and not enough attention is paid to this portion of the overall project.

The methodology I have outlined in these posts can be applied to a number of projects including data consolidation, server consolidation, migration from one application to another and the list goes on.

The key is to pay attention to the business needs and to make them successful by taking care of the technology and project management issues!

Good Luck.


1. Data Migration: Challenges & Joy!
http://improveprocess.blogspot.com/2009/07/data-migration-challenges-joy.html

2. Data Migration: Challenges & Joy!
http://improveprocess.blogspot.com/2009/07/data-migration-challenges-joy-part-2.html

3. Rules For Successful Data Migration
http://improveprocess.blogspot.com/2009/07/rules-for-successful-data-migration.html

4. Phases of Data migration
http://improveprocess.blogspot.com/2009/07/phases-of-data-migration.html

5. Phases of Data migration
http://improveprocess.blogspot.com/2009/07/phases-of-data-migration.html

6. Phases of Data migration: Analysis
http://improveprocess.blogspot.com/2009/07/phases-of-data-migration-analysis.html

7. Phases of Data migration: Design
http://improveprocess.blogspot.com/2009/07/phases-of-data-migration-design.html

8. Phases of Data migration: Test
http://improveprocess.blogspot.com/2009/08/phases-of-data-migration-test.html

9. Phases of Data migration: Validation
http://improveprocess.blogspot.com/2009/09/phases-of-data-migration-validation.html

10. Data migration: Risks
http://improveprocess.blogspot.com/2009/09/data-migration-risks.html

11. Tips for Successful Data Migration.
http://improveprocess.blogspot.com/2009/10/tips-for-successful-dat-migration.html

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"