Smart Business - White Paper May-17 - V6 - Softools

SmartBusiness©Softools2017www.SofTools.net

DiscussionswithBusiness&Technologyleadersoverthelast12monthshaverevealedaverydifferentsetofchallengestotheprecedingperiod.TheytalkofnewopportunitiesarisingfromemergingtechnologiesandtheincreasinglypivotalroleofITtobusinesssurvivalandgrowth,buttheyalsotalkaboutthecomplexityoftheircurrentinfrastructureandhowinanidealworldtheywouldprefertostartwithablankcanvas.Thisresearchpaperprovidesanoverviewof thekeychallengesbeing facedby those inchargeof information technologytogetherwithaten-pointplanforDigitalTransformationofthebusiness.

Sowhat’sontheCIO’sagenda?

Whilst there are a number of concerns to beaddressed, leadingbusinessestalkaboutfocusingonfour key inter-connected challenges; A: OptimisedBusinessProcesses,B:PerformanceTransformation,C:Digital Eco-system, andD: Application Enablement –removalofnon-coreExcel(spreadsheet)applications.

SmartBusiness

"Ifmoneywasnoobject,84%ofCIOswouldscraptheircurrentITenvironmentandstartagain"

Source:CIOInsight

“OnehalfofCIOssayupto50%oftheirapplicationportfolioneedstoberetired”.

OptimisedBusinessProcesses A

OneExecutiverecentlycommented“Ifyouaskmewhatourprocessisforriskmanagement,Iwouldhavetogiveyoufivedifferentanswers”.Thissummeduptheir frustrationwiththeproliferationoflocalisedbusinessprocesses.Asandwhenaprocessneededtobeputinplace,thelocalteamwouldsimplymakeitupbasedontheircurrentneeds.Thissituationiscompoundedbytwofactors. Firstly,becauseorganisation-wideprocessesareoftenill-definedornotadheredto,functionsoperatewitha‘silomentality’whereloyaltyisprimarilytotheirteamorfunctionwithlittleregardtotheworkingofotherteams–thisleadstodisjointedprocesseswherethehand-offfromoneteamtothenextoftenresultsinabreakdown

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Secondly, without an effective cascade of KeyPerformanceIndicators(KPIs)alignedtoacommongoal, individuals working within the process areoftenworkingatoddswitheachother. Forthebusiness,the implicationsaresignificant.In the absence of a common approach to keybusinessprocesses,it isalmost impossibletoputinplaceanITsolutionthatwill:

a) Provide thedecisionmakerswith the levelofvisibility, control and confidence they need,and

b) Ensurethatpeopleacrosstheorganisationarefollowingbestpractices.

FunctionalSilos

Disjointed

Processes

Howtooptimisecorebusinessprocessesandalignthemtoagreedbusinessgoals?

Challenge1:

PERF

ORM

ANCE

Performance Fall-Off

Time

SustainableGrowth

BestPractices

DevelopCapability

Visib

ility&Con

trol

CriticalPoint

PerformanceTransformation B

Thesecondchallenge is to findawayoftransformingperformanceacrossallaspectsofthebusiness.Butthisisfarfromstraightforward.Thetraditionalapproachhasbeentoidentifycoreprocessesthatneedtobeimproved–suchasNewProductDevelopment,andthentoworkwithinternalsubjectmatterexperts,coachesandconsultantstodefineanddevelopcapabilitiesandbestpractices. Having ‘fixed’ the problem, busy executives then turn their attention to the next challenge.Typicallyhowever,within6to12monthsperformancehasfallenoff–butwhy?Theansweroftenliesinthefactthatthenew‘bestpracticewasnotlockedintotheways-of-workingorDNAoftheteam,keymembersoftheteammayhavemovedon,andshort-termITsolutionssuchasExcelgetadaptedover-timeandfallintomisuse.OneExecutivecommentedthatthechallengeistofindawaytoembedbestpracticessothatfollowingthemisquickerandeasierthandoingittheoldway.

With a common approach across theenterprise, teamswill then learn fromthe past and learn from each other –somethingthatisinherentlydifficulttoachievewithcurrentITsolutions

Howtosustaintheadoptionofbestbusinesspracticesacrossthe

enterpriseovertime?

Challenge2:


EmergenceoftheDigitalEco-System C

Thethirdchallengerelatestotheemergenceofalternativeways-of-workingandcompetition.Historically,successfulcompaniesgreworganicallyorthroughacquisition.

People&Processes

M&A

Suppliers Customers

Virtual&MobileOps

Source:Gartner,2017CIOAgenda

“Leadingbusinessessharestandardizeddigitalplatformsacrosstheireco-systemstoachieveamutuallybeneficialpurpose”.

Wehavealready noted thatun-governedprocesses causeenoughdifficultiesduringorganicgrowth,butacquisitionscanpresentevengreaterchallenges.Fromday1theywillhavedifferentprocessesandsystemsthatneedtobereconciled.Wheresolutionsaresubsequentlyimposedon theacquired business, a degreeof short-termconformity canbeachievedbut thisoftencomesatacosttomoraleandlossofthe‘entrepreneurialspirit’–whichisoftenthethingtheacquiringorganisationisaimingtosecure. Thispictureisthencompoundedbytheemergenceofthevirtualorganisationwherecustomersandsuppliersareviewedaspartoftheextendedenterprise–orwhatGartnerrefertoasthe‘DigitalEcosystem’. Whatcompanydoesnotclaimtobe‘customer-led’andwhatbusinessdoesnothavea‘supplier-led’innovationprogramnowadays?Butmakingsuchprogramsworkiscomplicatedbyalackofcommon systems and processes. Such issues are then further exaggerated through theincreasinglymobileorvirtualnatureofteams–operatingawayfromtheirbasebutstillneedingaccesstocoresystemsanywhere,anytime.

Howtojoin-upandoptimiseallpartsofanextendedenterprise?

Challenge3:

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3

OPTIMISEDPROCESSES+APPLICATIONENABLEMENT+EMERGENCEOFDIGITALECO-SYSTEMS

=PERFORMANCETRANSFORMATION

4

CriticalChallenges

Tofilltheoperationalvoid,businessunitsturn to Excel, and in all large enterprisestherearenowthousandsofspreadsheetsbeingusedtomanagewhatarebusiness-critical operations. Unfortunately, whilstExcelcanappeartobea‘free’short-termfix, it is rarely the answerwhenworkingacross teams of eco-systems includingcustomersandsuppliers.Typicalproblemsquoted include: lack of governance,modification by local users (adding rowsand columns), inability to run real-timereportsandduplicationofdatainput.

TeamA

TeamB Team

C

ERM–SAP-Oracle

HowtodramaticallyconsolidateandoptimiselegacyandExcel-basedapplications?

Challenge4:

ApplicationEnablement–removaloflegacyandExcel-basedApplications

D

Finally,andperhapsthelargestofthefourchallengesisthereliance(orwhatonebusinessleadercalledthe‘over-reliance’)onERPsolutionssuchasSAPandOracle–“whilstaneffectiveERPsystemisanecessityofmanaginganylargeenterprise, it isoftenusedpurelyforadministrationofthebusinessasafinancialandresourcemanagementtoolanditrarelyaddresseswhatareincreasinglyseenascoreprocessessuchasriskmanagement,innovationormajorbidmanagement”.Giventhis scenario, is it any wonder that most operational heads look elsewhere for operationalsolutions?


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Theyareclearlynotstandingstill,andhaverecognisedthat‘doingnothing’isnotanoptioniftheyaretosurviveandgrow.Acrossallsectors,theyareintroducingradicallynewways-of-workingbasedonexcitingnewtechnologies,andtheyaredoingsoinawaythatdrivescompetitiveadvantageandoperationexcellence.Herearefoursimpleexamples:

WhatareSectorLeadersdoing?

However,whilstITingeneral,andsoftwareappsinparticulararenottheonlyanswertosuchbroadrangingchallenges,it isobviouslythepriorityfortheCIO,anditisincreasinglyacceptedasthecriticalenablerbyCEOs.TheescalationofITuptheagendaasthebusinesstransformationdeliverycapabilityiswelcome,buttheapproachtodatehashitonsignificantobstacles:

01

Thefailureoftraditionalsoftwaresolutionsto address the real needs of the business.Historically solutions have been based on whattechnology can do – not what processes orbehavioursneedtobesupportedinpractice.Forexample,over-enthusiasticsoftwaredevelopmentteams create project resource managementsolutionsthataretoocomplexfortherealworld.Historically such developments have clearly notbeencustomerorperformancedriven.

02

The failure of dashboards and businessintelligencesystems.They lookgreatbutareoftenreportingonpoorqualitydatapulledfromamyriad of systems where the underlying datacapture processes are just not in place. Suchgraphicaldashboardsmaybeprecise,buttheyarefrequently accurate. They give a false confidencewhich results in less critical challenge and whichultimatelycanbeworsethannodataatall.

APPINCUBATOR

Appsbuiltbynon-ITSubjectMatterExpertsonzero-code

platforms.ThisgivestheCIOthegovernanceandcontrolthey

require,butminimisestheimpactonscarceITdevelopment

resources.

ERPBOLT-ONS

AppsthatextendthefunctionalityofthecoreERPsystem,butthatarebuiltoutsideinamoreagile

environmentandlinkedinviaAPIs.Thisdeliversenhanced

functionalityatafractionofthetimeandcost.

DIGITALSTRATEGY

Appsthatsupportthedigitalenablementoftrainingandconsultingfirmsorinternal

functions.Thisallowsthemtodelivercompletelynewservices

whichdrivesignificantvaluetothebusiness.

IOTSOLUTIONS

Appsthattakereal-timeorsampleddatafeedsfromdevicesacrossbusinessoperations.ThisprovidesExecutiveswithreal-timeperformancedatawhichenhancesdecisionmakingandcriticalaction

planning.


01 Customerdrivenstrategy cascadingKPIsacrossallteams

Start by creating a strategic framework whichclearlyarticulatesshort(lessthanayear),mediumandlong-termgoals(beyondthreeyears).Ensurethese directly support high emphasis and highgrowth targetmarkets. Then translate each goalintotangibleKeyPerformanceIndicators(KPIs)andtargets,andcascadethesedownthroughalllevelsoftheorganisation.

UseaBalancedScorecard/KPITrackerapplicationtoalignallteamstocommoncustomer-drivenbusinessgoals. CIOAgenda:

02 Commonbusinesstools basedonbestpractice

IdentifythecoreprocessesacrossthebusinessthatarenotcurrentlymanagedinanERPtool.Thiswillinclude processes being managed in third partyapplications, in-house developments and themyriad of Excel based applications. Then groupthem together by type (i.e. risk managementsolutions),andrankthemfromhightolowintermsofusernumbers.Next,focusoneachapplicationinturn,startingwiththemostimportantbyuser

andbusinessimpact,andpulltogetherinternalSubjectMatterExperts(SMEs)andexternalconsultantswhereappropriatetodefinewhatisbestpracticeforyourbusiness.Finally,captureanddeploytheseprocessesinaweb-basedplatform.

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Sowhatcanbedone?ThereisnodoubtthatthecurrentrevolutionintheITindustrycallsforaradicalapproach.Whilsteachorganisationisunique,discussionswithCIOsacrossallindustrysectorsandregionshaveidentifiedten‘buildingblocks’forsuccess.

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BuildingBlocks


Useasimpleeasy-to-useapplicationplatformrunninginasecurewebenvironment.

CIOAgenda:

Source:GCMarshall

“Useafourstepprocessforevaluatingcurrentprocess-applications:KICK. Keep,Incentivize,Consolidate,orKill”.

03 Real-timeperformancedashboards linkedtorealdata

Havingestablishedclear team-basedKPIs linkedto business goals, and implemented a commonsetofprocess-applications,focusnextonlinkingthe two together and on reporting on processperformance through real-time reports anddashboards. Think about what information isneeded to drive decisionmaking at the regular(weekly, monthly, and quarterly) performancereview meetings [PRMs]. Performancedashboardsshouldbethenaturaloutputofyourbest practice processes and not something thathastobemanuallyconsolidated.

Implementsimple,web-based&mobiledashboardsthatpresentkeyinformationtoeachoftheregularperformancereviewmeetings.

CIOAgenda:

04 FlexibleStructures

goingvirtual,goingmobile

Therealityofthemodernbusinessisthattoday’sstructure andway-of-workingwill be redundanttomorrow,sobuildflexibilityintoallyoursystems.Thisneedstocoverusernumbers,andapplicationaccess, but increasingly it must enable virtualteams and mobile working based aroundanywhere-anytimeaccess.Thisdoesnotmeanthateverythingneedstogomobile, but each team will have selective datathat needs to be available at the ‘point-of-use’.Startatthetop–issuetheExecutiveTeamwithtabletsandsmartphonestomonitorandcontrolperformanceinreal-time.

Ensurethatsystemsallowforremoteormobileoperations.

CIOAgenda:

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05 ExtendedEnterprise

linkingallpartsofthesupplychain

Businesses no longer see acquisition as the onlymeans of extending their influence and controlover other parts of their supply chain or newmarkets. Increasingly companies seek tocollaborateorpartnerinordertogaincompetitiveadvantage without incurring the complexity andcosts associated with acquisitions – sometimesreferredtoastheireco-system.

Establishsecureremote-hostedprocess-applicationsthatallowselectiveaccesstoexternalstakeholders.

CIOAgenda:

Lookforopportunitiestoengageyourstrategicpartnersinactivitiesthatimproveperformance.Forexample,sectorleadingbusinessesnowhaveSupplier-ledInnovationprograms.Thissoundsobvious,buttomakeitreallyworkputinplacesecuresystemsthatallowselectiveopenaccesssothatexternalteamscancontributefreely.

06 OperationalExcellence andacultureofContinuousInnovation

Having set up best practice process-applicationsacrosstheextendedenterprise,createacultureofcontinuousinnovationwhereteamssystematicallylooks for performance transformationopportunities.Consider introducing a formal OperationalExcellence programme – perhaps based on theprinciples of Lean-Six Sigma, and ensure that itreflects a combination of rational (performanceagainstKPIs)andcreative thinking. Toavoid theprogrammefallingflatonitsface,ensurethataneffectivegovernanceandimplementationprocessisinplacetodealwithnewideas.

Createtoolsthatstimulatecreativethoughtindailyactivities,andcaptureandevaluateperformancetransformationideas.

CIOAgenda:

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07 ConnectedSubjectMatterExperts(SME) &CommunitiesofPractice

Mostbusinessesaredependentfortheirsurvivaland growth on having expertise in a limitednumber of areas or topics. Think about whatthesewouldbeforyourownorganisation. OneCEOcommentedthattheprocessofcreatingalistof the relevant business key words for herbusinesswasagreatwayofsettingstrategy,asherlist contained all high emphasis products andmarkets, relevant technologies, core capabilitiesandeventheirsourceofcompetitiveadvantage.

Createweb-basedspaceswhereSMEscanoperateasanetworkorcommunityoutsidetraditionalfunctionalsystems.

CIOAgenda:

Thenidentifythe2to3(internalorexternal)SubjectMatterExpertsSMEsineachofthesekeyareas–whoarethey,aretheyreallyexperts,anddoyouhaveanygaps?Finallylookforwaystogetthiscross-functionalgroupofSMEstostartworkingtogethereffectively–shareknowledge,andlookforbusinessinsightsthatwilldrivecompetitiveadvantage.

08 BusinessIntelligence &KnowledgeManagementthatworks

HavingidentifiedSMEsinallkeyareas,findawayofcapturingtheirknowledgeandinsightssothata)thiscanbeaccessedbyyourbroadeco-systemasandwhenrequiredwithoutneedingtocontactthe experts directly, b) it can be protected as ausefulsourceofcompetitivedifferentiation(e.g.as IP, patents or trademarks), and c) that thebusinessislessdependentonthepossibilitythattheSMEmayleaveorsimplynotbeavailable.Donot assume that mining data will solve thisproblem–youwillneedtochangethestructure

Createweb-basedknowledgecubesthatcapturestructuredinsightsbytopic(orkeyword)andtype,andmakethemavailableanywhereanytime.

CIOAgenda:

ofwhenandhowknowledgeiscapturedinordertomovebeyondso-calledbusinessintelligencetotruebusiness insight. Avoid thepossibility that theknowledgewillnotbeusedby classifyingallinsights by type (reflecting varying learning styles) and topics (keywords) – this will dramaticallyimprovethelevelofsearchandre-use.

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09 Exploitrelevanthardwaretechnologies

Thefocussofarhasbeenonprocess-applications;nowlookforopportunitiestoimproveallaspectsofyourcurrentinfrastructure.Over 75%of CIOs stated that theywere activelyexploring the potential of emergent newtechnologies such as the Internet-of-Things IoTthatallowsdevicesinthebusinesseco-systemtoshare data in real-time. However, do not startdownthisjourneyuntilyouhaveconsolidatedandaligned your core business processes andsupporting applications as this will define yourinfrastructurerequirements.

Understandandexploitrelevantemergingtechnologiessuchas:IoT,MachineLearning,KnowledgeBots++

CIOAgenda:

10 Oneteam,oneplatform

Finally,taketimetostopandthinkradicallyaboutyour current software environment. Forwardthinking CIOs have identified three genericapplication types that could potentially address99% of the software requirements: 1) anEnterprise Resource Planning tool (such as MSDynamics, Oracle or SAP), 2) a content & filemanagement tool (such as SharePoint linked toMicrosoft 365), and 3) a web-based processoptimisation platform (such as Softools,SalesForce.comorServiceNow).Thispanaceamight sound idealistic,but scalableandflexibledatabaseslinkedwithadvancedweb-applications mean that this dream is quicklybecomingareality.

Useadvancedweb-platformstodeliverasinglebusinessoptimisationsolutionacrosstheentirebusinesseco-system.

CIOAgenda:

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Sohowisallthislikelytoimpactonthebottomline?Thereisnodoubtthatimplementingeachof the 10 Building Blockswill have a dramatic impact on business performance, but the extent of thetransformationwilldependonthegapbetweenthecurrentstateandyourfuturevision.However,businessleadersidentifythefollowingwaysinwhichbusinessperformanceandprofitabilitywillbeaffected:

PerformanceTransformation

IncreasedExecutivevisibilityandcontroloverbusiness-criticaloperations>improved,rapiddecisionmaking

Transparency

Consistentadoptionofbestpracticesacrossoperationalteams>better,faster,cheaperexecution

PerformanceFocus

Adoptionofaone-teamapproachacrossBusinessUnitsandtheextendedenterprise>joinedupthinking,fewergapsoroverlaps

Alignment

Increasedconfidencethatstandardsarebeingadheredto>reducedoperationalandcommercialrisk

Compliance

Leverageduseoftheweb-platformandSaaScommercialmodel>dramaticreductionsinthetotalcost-of-ownershipacrossallapplications

Cost

Exploitationofaconfigurableplatformwithapplicationprototypingandzerocoding>dramaticreductioninspeed-to-marketanddevelopmentcostscombinedwith100%reliability

Risk

Reducedhardwarefootprintcombinedwithcloud-basedflexibility&scaling>lowerCapExandOpExinfrastructurecosts

Overhead

Platformconfigurationbynon-technicalSMEs>zeroorminimalimpactonstretchedinternalITresource

Resources

Easeofdevelopment&useofoff-the-shelfapplications>adramaticreductioninthenumberandcomplexityofapplications

Complexity Useofasingleweb-platformforallprocess-applications>dramaticimpactontheupgradeprocess,versioncontrol,databack-upandsupport

Dramatic

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About

SOFTOOLS

Softoolsseekstooptimizetheperformanceofbusiness-criticalprocessesthroughtheuseofadvancedwebtechnologies. OursolutionsarecreatedusingthecoreSoftoolsPlatformand integratedAppsthatdeliversasimple,scalableandsecureenvironment,andthatcanbedeployedatspeedbasedonthelatestprovenMicrosoft Azure platform.Our client base includes global corporations such as Coca-Cola, IBM,Vodafone, RBS and Public Sector organizations including Government departments, as well asentrepreneurialteams. Softoolsweb-applicationplatformdeliversbusinesstransformation:

Operations span theglobe, andwenowhaveapresence inall regionsof theworldand industrysectors.WhereverthereisanoperationalproblemtoresolvewhereExcelcannolongercope,companiesare increasingly looking to put in place the Softools platform and associated process-applications thatdeliverthevisibilityandcontrolrequiredbytheleadershipteam,andestablishacommonwayofworkingbasedonrecognisedbestpractices. TheSoftoolsplatformhasalsobeenadoptedbymanyoftheworld’sleadingorganisationstoembedbest practices into the DNA of the business in specialist areas such as: Strategic Change, InnovationManagement, New Product Development, Payer Value Proposition [PVP], Stakeholder Management,EnterpriseRiskManagement,SalesPipelineManagement,KeyAccountManagement,Project&PortfolioManagement[PPM],Issue&OpenItemManagement,KPIScorecards&PerformanceManagement,JobTracking, Contract Tracking, Cost Reduction, Benchmark calculations, Bid Price Calculation & BidManagement,InternalAudit&Compliance.

BESTPRACTICE Businessprocessappsdirectlyfocusedonstepchangeinbusinessperformance

ZERO-CODE Theeasiestto

Configure,Deploy,andUse

SCALE Unlimitedusers

selectingfrom100sofoff-the-shelfapplications

SPEED Minimumtime-to-deploy–‘ideato

implementationwithin24hrs’

SECURE Absoluteconfidencein

datasecurity

Formoreinformationvisit:

www.Softools.net [email protected]. OR

Smart Business - White Paper May-17 - V6 - Softools

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