SEISN Workshop 11th January 2001/1© Cranfield School of Management

Systems Evolution to Meet Business Opportunity

Roger Elvin

Cranfield School of Management

SEISN Workshop 11th January 2001/2© Cranfield School of Management

Streams of Progress

The DRIVER

The CAPABILITY

Where BENEFIT occurs

(doesn’t deliver any benefit)

The HOLD-UP

LAGGING behind

Technology• hardware• software• application packages

Application Development

Ability to Exploit

The BUILD Problem

The EXPLOITATION Problem

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Information Systems in Context

Provides support to people taking

action

Determines the requirements for

Provides a capability that enables new ways of

working

Information System

Processing of selected data to people

undertaking purposeful action

Improvement here delivers an

organisational capability

Business Process/Activity

Organisational tasks carried out by people

with information needs

Improvement here delivers business

benefit

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Attempts to Deliver Value IT Strategy Studies

‘DP Manager’ evolved into ‘IT Director’

Competitive Advantage

The Information Resource

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)

Outsourcing

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Knowledge Management (KM)

… and now “e” with everything?

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Key questions

Is “e” the latest Fad?

How are we to get VALUE from it?

• What is different about “e”?

• What do we have to do differently?

• What new skills do we need to develop?

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Significance of “e”

The dream of universal connectivity has become real

New delivery channels have become possible

(Some) organizational boundaries have been breached

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A new business context

Today, human

interaction is the norm

Tomorrow, computer interaction will be the

norm

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Technology Issues

Layers of Software

• Presentation

– ‘look and feel’

• Channel Process

• Fulfilment Process

– often legacy systems

Different development approaches

Need for integration

• Process

• Applications

• Infrastructure

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Raised Expectations

‘EASY…’‘CHEAP…’‘QUICK…’

Unrealistic expectations

Users are interested in “e”

They want to be involved

Need for rapid delivery

Competitive pressures

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Stakeholder Behaviour

New stakeholder

groups, many outside the

organisation

Help/trainingissues in design

and implementation

You can’t train themX They may

behave irrationally

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Systems MUST Work Well Performance

Security

Data accuracy

A full range of “-ilities”!

• Reliability, usability, scalability, adaptability, …

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Content issues (1)

Trade-off

Time

QualityCost

The time/cost/quality trade-off

X

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Quality discards

Detailed analysis of current systems, to ensure interface alignment

Thorough transition planning

Testing, particularly stress testing

Documentation (of any sort!)

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Content issues (2)

Security is a challenge - getting it right adds

time and cost

Direct access to data

highlights poor quality

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Implementation issues

Who is going to be responsible for an “e” ‘channel process’?

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Different resources

The “e” team

Marketing Designers & Artists

Lawyersetc.

Customers& Suppliers

IT

Seniormanagement

Business users

Technologysuppliers

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The Way Forward?

Programmes NOT Projects

A relaxation of the project paradigm• More shorter, phases

– A focus on progress (speed, visibility)– Learning, coping with novelty

• A “Never-ending Story”– Blurring between development and maintenance

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Key Messages

Organizations need to …

create an on-going Change Capability

build adaptable Technology Infrastructures

adopt a different Mindset about technology-led change

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Organising for changeWhat factors are relevant to success or failure in managing change?

A project ‘culture’ A VALUE-for-money culture

• from ROI to benefits realisation Change oriented organisation structure

• change is as important as ‘day-to-day’ operations Motivating staff to participate in projects

• removing time constraints Setting realistic timescales Building change expertise and experience Integrating IT development into the change management

organisation Overcoming traditional fears and views of business and IT

staff

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“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to

change often”

Winston Churchill

Source: Victor S. L. Tan, “Change to Win”, Times Business International (Singapore, 1994)