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"

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"

Tips for Successful Data Migration.

1. Maintain your sense of humor.
2. Expect delays and/or road blocks.
3. Run the data migration using traditional project principles.
4. Secure alignment and approval from steering committee and stakeholders as changes occur.
5. Appreciate the inter-dependencies.
6. Understand your business process, data, system and application landscape. (Devil is in the details)
7. Get the right software tools.
8. Use the right resources.
9. Plan for down time.
10. Perform at least two dry runs (Wash Rinse Repeat)
11. Develop risk mitigation plan.
12. Communicate your plan early and socialize with all impacted users.

"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"

Unified Task Dashboard! Utopia?

In an earlier post, I had listed a number of emerging or new TLA's (three letter acronyms) in the enterprise application space like ERP, PLM, PDM, CRM, SCM, SRM, BPM etc...As the usage of these of applications and technologies mature within different organizations, users will soon have a set of task dashboards which outline the tasks they have been assigned within each of these applications and when it is due.

this begs the question, if we can integrate applications and have strategies like data integration / master data integration why cant we integrate the applications and create a unified task dashboard?

Most of the integrated software vendors could provide this capability but companies which have chosen best of breed applications will struggle with this unless they learn to federate and build services which can kick off / complete tasks and seamlessly integrate the applications and provide their users with one interface.

This could impact user adoption and greatly increase speed to proficiency of users and is rarely considered during software selection, planning and implementation!

"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"

Best of Breed vs. Integrated Systems

You have probably had to make this decision several times in your professional and personal lives…for example a vacation plan where you have to decide if you want to create your own itinerary and define the trails that would provide you with maximum comfort or adventure (whatever floats your boat) or be part of an overall tour targeted at a group of people who have varied interests…
The decision needs to be based on what each package offers you, cost benefit, return on investment, future value/costs etc.
For most of the processes used within the enterprise, a number of software solutions exist. If you are in the market for a software solution to address current problems / revamp existing application framework or implement a solution based on future requirements you will have to make this decision!
Integrated systems provide multiple applications with a common architecture and consistent user interface so that all modules/functionality have a familiar look and feel. The downside is that some applications may not have the maturity or capability to address all functional areas, causing users in these areas to become disgruntled or slow down adoption.
Best of breed systems, designed specifically to address processes and common problems in certain functional areas, generally provide the maximum functionality to a set of business process. They pose challenges, such as increased training and support, complex integrations with other systems, possible duplicate data entry / redundant data.
There a number of factors to be considered if you want to thoroughly assess the differences between “best of breed” and integrated systems. These factors are
(1) Implementation Cost
a. Software cost / licenses
b. Integration
c. Customization
d. Hardware
e. Resources
f. Consulting
(2) Implementation timeline
(3) Value to business
(4) Return on investment and Payback period
(5) Fit / Adaptability to company specific business processes
(6) Quality
(7) Maturity
(8) Vendor capability and lifecycle
(9) User
(10) Future Support costs
a. Need for additional hardware
b. Software maintenance fees
c. Need for additional headcount
“Best of breed” applications typically have a shorter implementation cycle with an accelerated payback period. I have seen numbers like 6-12 month implementation time as opposed to 18-24 month for integrated systems…12 month payback for best of breed as opposed to 2-4 years for integrated systems.
In summary, the decision needs to be based on business needs and constraints placed by budget and resource availability. Be mindful that each system has its own benefits and shortcomings and plan accordingly.

"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"

How many applications do you need to run your business?

Over the last 10+ years, a number of acronyms have popped up in the enterprise application space. Traditionally most companies started out with in an ERP system and depending upon their business added additional applications to support the business.
What is ERP?
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP is a way to integrate the data and processes of an organization into one single system. This seems to be the commonly accepted definition of ERP systems, if that is true then why do we need so many other applications?
I am going to post a series of blogs on the different applications and describe their roles, capabilities, maturity and why the need for them appeared and who the “big players” of these markets are.
In this post, I am going to list out the applications seen in the landscape and briefly describe their function.
Some of the applications that you would see in the IT landscape are
• CAD (Computer aided design) to support modeling of hardware and electrical/electronics
• PDM (Product data management) systems to support data management
• PLM (Product lifecycle management) systems to support workflow, engineering change, bill of material management, release to manufacturing etc.
• MES (Manufacturing execution systems) to manage work in progress on the manufacturing floor
• CRM (Customer relationship management) systems manage, track and organize its data / contacts with its current and prospective customers
• BPM (Business process management) systems provide process management capability with workflows
• SCM (Supply chain management) systems provide the ability to manage the entire supply chain and support planning, sourcing, manufacturing, delivery and return logistics.
• KM (Knowledge management) to support knowledge sharing of best practices and lessons learned.
• SRM (Supplier relationship management) to support managing vendor relations and lifecycle.
• PPM (Project Portfolio Management) systems used for analyzing and collectively managing a group of current or proposed projects.
• BI (Business intelligence) systems help the business acquire a better understanding of its commercial context.
• EMM (Enterprise Marketing Management) systems manage marketing’s end-to-end internal processes including Web Analytics, Campaign Management, Digital Asset Management, Web Content Management, Marketing Resource Management, Marketing Dashboards, Lead Management, Event-driven Marketing, Predictive Modeling etc.
• HRMS (Human resource management system) or HRIS (Human resource information system) manage all processes within human resources.
Though this list is long, this list is not complete. Depending upon the industry many other applications exists for e.g. LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) is important to healthcare, drug and the food industry…In addition, almost all companies have a suite of internal applications to manage issue tracking and resolution, portals to share information with their customers, suppliers and different organizations…
Now if you step back and wonder why so many systems exist, and perform a root cause analysis the usual culprit is lack of capability to support all facets of the business within one application resulting implementation of best of breed / internal applications as opposed to one integrated systems.
In later posts, I will describe the factors driving “best of breed” Vs integrated systems.
With all these different applications, IT organizations are challenged with (1) integration and seamless of flow of information (2) managing application portfolio and associated costs (3) managing platform obsolescence and ensuring that the whole application portfolio is on the current/latest release levels. These challenges would make an interesting post as well :)

"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"

Keep Your IT Project On Time

3 succinct tips from HBS on how to keep projects on time.

Key takeaways:

(1) align with your projects to business needs and strategy or you will lose
(2) Focus on immediate and pressing needs, "nice to haves" can follow. I have found the 80/20 rule to work well. This aligns well with my mantra "Think Big, Act Small, Move Quickly"
(3) Anticipate delays and plan well. Risk Mitigation and proper project planning always help in successful project implementation and execution.

Happy Reading! http://hbdm.harvardbusiness.org/email/archive/managementtip.php?date=092109

"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"

In Demand – Data Analytic & Reporting Skills

I recently came across a number of articles on the latest hot skill “Data Analytics”.

With the explosion of information in recent years, companies are under severe pressure to capture opportunities ( increase revenue, profit, efficiency and customers) within a limited time period. This has resulted in a substantial increase in positions responsible for data analytics in order to convert massive amount of information (user behavior trending, adoption, etc.) into meaningful data.

By focusing on the technology know-how or purely number crunching abilities, companies might not reap the benefits of hiring additional head count. The ideal hire profile should include good understanding of business operations and processes in order to translate the data into insights.

There has always been a need for people with good analytical skills who can transform information into meaningful strategies for the business to pursuer revenue/cost reduction opportunities…This skill in most cases cannot be taught in school or by courses offered by a number of institutions. This comes about by having hands on experience and innate curiosity and interest in the big picture.

Tips to those who are embarking on this career path, (1) focus on big picture (2) focus on interpreting results and presenting them from a business case (3) technology often changes, methodologies and sound logic rarely do…

For companies, embarking on business intelligence / Data warehouse solutions, focus on business needs and understand your current reporting capabilities and see if your current staff can support the current and future requirements…a new tool might not be productive by itself…a focused training / learning session on adopting best practices in data analysis and reporting might be of great benefit to your current employees and enable them to grow professionally.

"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"

Convert Failures into Success!

I recently came across an article from CIO.com , on why IT projects fail.

It had some data on a study conducted in 2007 study by Dynamic Markets Limited of 800 IT managers across eight countries which showed that:
• 62 percent of organizations experienced IT projects that failed to meet their schedules
• 49 percent suffered budget overruns
• 47 percent had higher-than-expected maintenance costs, and
• 41 percent failed to deliver the expected business value and ROI

This got me thinking about the failure rates…in my opinion these numbers are on the low side. After all, no one wants to admit they were late or did a poor job on key company wide initiatives…

If you are trying to implement a new system, how should you go about it?

I would start with assessing

(1) Drivers for change: why do we need to change our current modus operandi for executing business process? Is there a clear advantage of the new system? Is it going to add value? Are we at risk due to obsolescence of existing platform(s)

(2) Are we ready for change? Even if the new system is the right thing to do, are we ready for change? Do we have the resources required to plan, define, test and implement this new system in addition to taking of care of day to day business? Do we have the discipline to adhere to the rules and logic built within this new system or are we going to modify it so that we can continue with business as usual but in a new locale? Is this a key initiative? If so is executive management aligned with requirements, costs and possible impact on performance?

(3) Do we really understand our current business processes and systems? In most cases, it is easy to blame the instrument (business solutions) and not the musician. If you truly understand your business process and can clearly identify the flow of information, material and finance at each and every step of your end to end processes, then proceed with scoping, feasibility, selection and vendor assessments. If you understand your system (process and business solutions), then in some cases, you may not need a new tool, you can super charge your existing toolset and reap the same benefits.

(4) Software selection, my approach would be is establish a budget based on fund availability. Then benchmark with companies within your space and similar sized companies not in your space. Analyze their success and failure stories, gather as much information as possible on how much they spent and on what. Get information on what vendors they reviewed and why they selected a particular vendor. Now that you are armed, create a check list of must have capabilities to support business process! Don’t focus on technology rather focus on capabilities to bring about success by implementing a new business solution. Be

(5) Implementation, ensure that your change is well socialized and aligned to at all levels, use best practices in IT change management, project management and run the implementation as you would run your business. Focus on your customers and ensure that their success is an integral theme of your implementation. Ensure you test well and properly to ensure that all your processes will execute well within the new system. Establish a super user community ahead of time and implement a “train the trainer” program. This will ensure that your support group doesn’t get overwhelmed upon go-live.

These points are general guidelines, over the next few weeks I will add more details on best practices for each of the bullets.

"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"

What is operational excellence?

As usual I will start by quoting the definition from Wikipedia, “Operational Excellence is a philosophy of leadership, teamwork and problem solving resulting in continuous improvement throughout the organization by focusing on the needs of the customer, empowering employees, and optimizing existing activities in the process.”

If you read through the definition, you can clearly identify the key tenets: leadership, continuous improvement, focus on customer, and optimizing current processes. Simply put, operational excellence is executing in an efficient and effective manner across the value chain with a focus on delivering value to customers.

The Operational Excellence program provides a framework to understand why and how performance needs to improve. The road to achieving operational excellence is by identifying value chain business processes, identifying strengths/weaknesses of them (based on key measurements and benchmarks) and redesigning these processes to align with corporate / strategic goals and ensure that organizations, resources and assets are utilized in the best possible manner.

When you pore through the reference material on operational excellence, you will see terms/phrases like “on par with industry”, “best in class”, “world class”. There are differences in all these phrases, if you choose to embark on operational excellence, focus first to meet/exceed your competition’s performance and then become the best of your peers and then become the best among organizations outside of your industry and region.

Each and every industry and organization/business unit within each company can create and run their operational excellence program. In most cases, value chain processes span across multiple organizations, so the focus should be on process execution (related to handoffs) and ensure the best use of assets and resources across the enterprise. Automation and business process re-engineering have great potential so does streamlining / integrating data and business system like ERP, CRM etc.

"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"

What is PLM?

Product lifecycle management systems (PLM) were developed to help organizations control documentation, product structure and manage engineering change order (ECO, ECN, ECR etc.).

Product data management systems (PDM) have existed for a while prior to the development of PLM systems. The key differentiator between the two being lifecycle management in addition to data management. In most organizations, the engineering change process was

(1) Manual (process) with inefficiencies in handoffs between departments,
(2) Inability or lack of capability to capture financial impact
(3) Lack of awareness of extent/impact of changes and
(4) Unable to meet cycle time expectations.

As organizations continued to mature in their business processes (New product introduction, phase gate product introduction, product portfolio management, design for excellence [DFX, DFM], Excess and Obsolete inventory management, Effectivity dates) and business system usage (ERP, MRP, CRM), a need for a more comprehensive solution became compelling.

Research into product costs over its lifecycle has indicated that a focus on getting the design right earlier in the alpha/beta stages provides the maximum benefit. In order to get the design right so early can be tricky…effective business processes with right enabling technology will be the key to success to improve time to market and reduced costs across the lifecycle.

Three different sets of companies started developing PLM software
(1) traditionally CAD centric software companies, enhanced their PDM systems with additional capabilities
(2) ERP companies enhanced their core capabilities with enhanced workflow and document management features
(3) Pure PLM software vendors, which built their engines on basic needs of their customer base with extensive integrations to CAD (upstream data) and ERP/MRP/CRM systems.

There has been some amount of consolidation and over the years, PLM as a technology has matured and has added more and more features for e.g.
(1) Supplier collaboration
(2) Design / manufacturing outsourcing
(3) MES integration
(4) Digital rights management
(5) Collaboration
(6) Project management
(7) Regulatory and Environmental compliance tracking and management (RoHS, WEE, RoHS, FDA CFR etc.)
(8) Customer needs management
(9) Data Classification and Knowledge management
(10) Configuration management

And this list goes on…

In later posts, I will get in to details around each of these enhanced capabilities and future direction of PLM to support the enterprise.

"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"

The 10 Questions Every Change Agent Must Answer

I came across this blog entry, from Harvard Business School. I highly recommend reading the article and going through each and every one of the questions to see whether you are on the right track!
It's time to do — and get — something different. Here, then, are ten questions that leaders must ask of themselves and their organizations —
1. Do you see opportunities the competition doesn't see?
2. Do you have new ideas about where to look for new ideas?
3. Are you the most of anything?
4. If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would miss you and why?
5. Have you figured out how your organization's history can help to shape its future?
6. Can your customers live without you?
7. Do you treat different customers differently?
8. Are you getting the best contributions from the most people?
9. Are you consistent in your commitment to change?
10. Are you learning as fast as the world is changing?

"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"

Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are metrics used to help an organization define and evaluate how successful it is, typically in terms of making progress towards its long-term organizational goals.

KPI’s can be specified by answering the question, "What is really important to stakeholders?”. KPI’s evaluate business data against business goals and display current status by using easy-to-understand graphical indicators. For example, a KPI can use traffic light icons to indicate that customer satisfaction is exceeding, meeting, or failing to meet goals.

KPI’s are quantifiable measurements, agreed to beforehand, that reflect the critical success factors of an organization.

They will differ depending on the organization. A business may have as one of its Key Performance Indicators the percentage of its income that comes from return customers. A school may focus its Key Performance Indicators on graduation rates of its students. A Customer Service Department’s Key Performance Indicators could be percentage of customer calls answered in the first minute. A Key Performance Indicator for a social service organization might be number of clients assisted during the year.

Guidelines: refer to the posting Metrics

Categorization of indicators
KPIs can be summarized into the following sub-categories:
Quantitative indicators which can be presented as a number.
Practical indicators that interface with existing company processes.
Directional indicators specifying whether an organization is getting better or not.
Actionable indicators are sufficiently in an organization's control to effect change.
Financial indicators used in performance measurement

Are KPI’s and metrics interchangeable?
The term "metric" is generic. It is typically used to mean just about any sort of measurement applied to gauge a particular business process or activity. KPI’s are metrics, too, but they are "key" metrics. KPI’s are meant to gauge progress toward vital, strategic objectives usually defined by upper management, as opposed to the more generic metric used to measure a more mundane (i.e., less strategic) process. The goal is to foster greater visibility, better execution of strategy, faster reaction to opportunities and threats, and improved collaboration and coordination across key business operations

In previous posts, I had outlined SWOT analysis and setting strategy based on the analysis. KPI’s provide a way of measuring progress towards accomplishing the goals set by the strategy. In this post, I have outlined the definition and details regarding KPI’s and in upcoming posts, I will discuss performance management and evolution of balanced scorecards.

"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"

SWOT Strategy

In a previous blog entry, I had described how to go about SWOT analysis. Now that you have completed the analysis and created a matrix of your Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats, let us discuss how you can construct a strategy to address your findings.

You will have to match each component with one another. For example, match the internal strengths with external opportunities and list the resulting Strengths / Opportunities strategies in the matrix chart. This will result in four strategy types, which are:

S-O strategies pursue opportunities that match the company’s strengths. These are the best strategies to employ, but many firms are not in a position to do so. Companies will generally pursue one or several of the other three strategies first to be able to apply Strengths-Opportunities strategies.

W-O strategies overcome weaknesses to pursue opportunities. Your job is to match internal weaknesses with external opportunities and list the resulting Weaknesses-Opportunities strategies

S-T strategies identify ways that the firm can use its strengths to reduce its vulnerability to external threats. Your job is to match internal strengths with external threats and list the resulting Strengths-Threats Strategies

W-T strategies establish a defensive plan to prevent the firm’s weaknesses from making it susceptible to external threats. Your job is to match the internal weaknesses with external threats and record the resulting Weaknesses-Threats Strategies

Here are some examples on the type of strategies based on SWOT analysi:

Strength-Opportunity Strategies
Expand
Increase advertising
Develop new products
Diversify

Strength-Threat Strategies
Diversify
Acquire competitor
Expand
Re-engineer

Weakness-Opportunity Strategies
Joint venture
Acquire competitor
Expand

Weakness-Threat Strategies
Divest
Retrench
Restructure

"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"

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis is a methodology used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving success.

Successful businesses and individuals build on their strengths, correct their weaknesses and protect against internal vulnerabilities and external threats. They can monitor overall business environment and quickly identify and exploit new opportunities faster than competitors.

SWOT analysis can be used for all sorts of decision-making, and the SWOT template enables proactive thinking, rather than relying on habitual or instinctive reactions.

SW – Strengths & Weakness are influenced by internal factors – the strengths and weaknesses of the organization or individual. These are competences and resources that the organization or individual possesses and that are under their control.

OT - Opportunities & Threats are influenced by external factors that an organization or individual faces from trends and changes in their environment. These external factors are not under the control or influence of the organization or individual

How do I go about it?

(1) Start with an objective

(2) Now/Present: identify your strengths and weakness,

a. Strengths

i. What are your advantages?
ii. What do you do well?

b. Weaknesses

i. What could you improve?
ii. What do you do badly?
iii. What should you avoid?

(3) Future/What might be?: identify potential opportunities and threats

a. Opportunities

i. Where are the good opportunities in front of you?
ii. What are the interesting trends you are aware of?

b. Threats

i. What obstacles do you face?
ii. What is your competition doing?
iii. Is changing technology threatening your position?
iv. Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your potential?

(4) Develop a plan of action to

a. maximize strengths to turn them into opportunities,

b. maintain and leverage strengths

c. convert weakness into strengths, create a remedial action plan to improve

d. counter or minimize threats, if not threats will turn into weakness

"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"