Business modelling and planning

 

All too often decisions are made using a highly complex model that accounts for every investment dollar but does not articulate how money will be made.  Worse still, a back of the envelope spreadsheet misses out a fundamental driver that can make or break the business.  The key is to keep it simple but capture the important - focus on the material levers and fully articulate their impact.

 

Marketing

 

Technology industries are supply-side driven.  That's no surprise - it's where innovation comes from.  But when technology takes over positioning and messaging the customer's attention is lost in a cloud of jargon.  Identify the core proposition and strip out the extraneous 80%.

 

Product development

 

Respond to every customer requirement and you risk developing solutions for the few whilst simultaneously missing emergent opportunities.  But bright ideas from the team must be evaluated before committing resources. Getting the balance right requires regular but pragmatic validation at process gates or sprints.

 

Solution impact assessment

 

Organisations continue to spend heavily in IT solutions, but business impact is assessed only at budget review time, if at all. Meanwhile investment on upgrades, maintenance and new features continues to flow. Which can mean good money follows bad.  A simple business impact programme can both quantify the value and identify what needs to be done to maximise solution value.

 

Programme and project management

 

IT project overspends and overruns are common.  And projects are frequently off target because the real business need was not fully articulated or communicated to begin with.  A constant focus on the business case and diligent controls are crucial to keep projects on track.