SAP

In today’s world, IT drives many business solutions and revenues and we see that increasingly many CIOs and CTOs carry business growth goals along with IT goals. This is a refreshing paradigm shift from the old days and different organizations are at different maturity levels in implementing the new paradigm of IT as a growth engine.

A key step towards this transformation is to align IT related costs to Business and the first question that gets asked is “how do you know whether my IT is aligned with my Business or not?” You can identify the alignment with the use of few simple questions –
• Do you know the cost of maintaining a particular business process? An example would be – do you know the IT costs involved in processing a claim payment?
• Do your IT costs depend on the usage of systems? - Would the costs be lower if only few claims are processed in a month?
• Do you prepare comprehensive cost benefit analysis (CBA) before approving IT projects?
• Do you pay for the number of IT staff supporting your systems? Do you invent work to keep them occupied?
• Are you able to defer your system development costs and link that to the growth revenues?

Look out for more on New Engagement Models on Sapphire...!

Author: Jaikrishnan, NEM Deal Consultant, Infosys Technologies[JaikrishnanA@infosys.com]

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SAP’s ASAP Implementation methodology is an industry leading approach to implementing the world’s most powerful ERP solution, so how can IMPACT ™ make it better?  Designed to work together, IMPACT™ and ASAP jointly provide a laser like focus on customer and client value, a robust framework for identifying, valuing, and prioritizing all change opportunities, and a tried and true methodology for implementing SAP in the most cost and time efficient manner available today.

When looking at the interrelationship between IMPACT ™ and ASAP, IMPACT ™ takes the lead and then defers to ASAP during Phase 2 “Design the Details” (Blueprint), while still providing the overarching framework to achieve business results.  IMPACT ™ helps a company explore the bigger picture issues around why they want and need to transform their business by putting client and company value as the metrics for success and failure, while never forgetting that free cash flow and unleashed value is the core objective.

The IMPACT ™ Value for Company (VRM thread) brings value into all facets of the transformation.  Value that is found in Set Direction (the first phase) then becomes the anchor of all decision making from that point forward.  All ideas or proposed changes need to account for the value proposition.  Using optimized value as the core strategy for the business transformation makes the analysis and planning for the transformation relatively simple since we have clear guidelines – does it add value?

Continue reading "IMPACT in a SAP World" »

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You’re probably starting to prepare for the trip to Sapphire 2009.    Who should you meet with?  What booths should you visit and which speakers sound the most interesting?  There’s little time left so this post is designed for the quick skim.

Find us at the Infosys booth if any of the following are applicable to your company:

• You’ve grown tired of waiting to see results from a business transformation
• In your heart, you wonder if the step-by-step methodology from your current consultancy is really the best approach
• Your information is spread across the company ,those systems can’t communicate with each other, and you don’t get the information you need, when you need it, in a format that enables you to quickly make decisions
• Your company can’t answer basic questions that you feel are crucial for your long term success “What value is being delivered?  How does this help my customers?”
• A lot of IT and other projects that have no known tie to share holder value
• Projects frequently overlap and compete for funding and management attention 
• Substantial # of failed projects that seemed like they would be successful at the start 

Why? :

Because if you’ve mentally circled any of the above there’s a good chance your company is suffering from a less than optimal project and transformation approach.  We can help.

Continue reading "Sapphire 2009 Prep Sheet –Questions You May Want to Ask Vendors" »

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Organizations initiate process change initiatives for various reasons, and unfortunately, not all the reasons observed are valid.  Some see trends and innovation taking place in their industry and immediately jump on the bandwagon without really reflecting on the appropriateness of those trends and innovation to the business.  Some perform legitimate analysis on business areas suffering the most, come up with a laundry list of processes to fix, and set in motion financial and human resources to address all those areas without considering the proper prioritization of improvements to pursue.  And there are those firms that radically think out-of-the-box, come up with really bright ideas, and implement just for the sake of being considered cutting and leading edge.

Process changes need to be made for the right reasons.  The promise of business value should drive the need for change, and in selecting what process changes to make, organizations need to understand which specific process innovation can be linked to a source of improvement to shareholder value.  At Infosys, we utilize a thinking tool called the Value Diagram that illustrates the link between value levers to operational levers and metrics to corresponding process-focused change initiatives.  This approach ensures that each identified process-focused change initiative has an explicit link to delivering business value through an observable impact on the performance metrics used to measure each operational lever.  An identified process change may be inherently good and innovative but if it has no direct link to delivering value where the organization needs it the most, then making that process change should not be considered a priority or even critical at this particular point in time.  The Value Diagram helps organizations avoid the commonly observed "shotgun approach" to enabling process changes by forcing hard thinking around what changes really need to take place.

Want to learn more about the Value Diagram and how it can help your organization?  Let's discuss.

Author:  Jon Brizzi, Partner, Core Process Excellence, Infosys Consulting

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Why introduce IMPACT – now?

We have discussed the proper time to start publicly talking about the IMPACT ™ Business Transformation framework and concluded that SAP’s Sapphire 2009 conference and its focus on the “New Reality” for business transformations and strategies was a perfect fit.  During the last post, I mentioned that IMPACT ™ was a collectively exhaustive framework for business transformations but never really mentioned the details.  Our transformation framework covers three large areas: business capabilities, the company (our client) & their customers, as well as the project management of the transformation.

The capabilities of the organization are defined as a combination of strategy, people, process, technology, information and assets that enable a company to create business value for its customers and business partners.  Any transformation (or engagement for that matter) aims to directly change some of the capabilities of an organization to help them become more competitive.

From our experience and the feedback from companies who are aware of IMPACT™, while the focus on capabilities is a pre-requisite for ensuring a thorough and successful transformation, it’s Infosys’ single solitary focus on creating a positive impact on shareholder value and free cash flow.  We don’t mean just during the pitch and proposal part of the engagement – our Value for Customer and Company Threads of IMPACT™ estimate, design, develop and track the value we’ve promised.

Continue reading "IMPACT: A framework for the customer, company (value) and business capabilities" »

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Business priorities have changed enormously with the advent of downturn. Now there is an increased focus on improving efficiency and getting more from every dollar spent without compromising on quality. Business now demands better predictability of expenditure, better forecast and better control on dollars spent.  New Engagement Models (NEM) help achieve these areas and some more by aligning clients’ and vendor’s stakes and interests. More specifically it creates an environment where both client and vendor staffs have direct encouragement to work together towards the common goal of improving efficiency and bringing in predictability.

Continue reading "Increasing Relevance of New Engagement Models" »

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IT Shared Support Services is nothing but the consolidation of IT support services for multiple customers by a common pool of consultants across various service lines to increase efficiencies while lowering the cost of service delivery for the customer.

In general value is better defined in terms of tangible benefits to customers.. and if this tangibility comes in terms of numbers then that is even better.. whenever you look at value in quantifiable terms, there are two parts to it.. value derived over value expended.. derived value being in terms of business results and expended value in terms of costs.. lower the costs, higher the net value..

So how do you define 'Value' in this context.. by adopting a way or model that helps them drive down the costs while increasing the efficiency of business operations, high value is generated.

But in terms of this innovative model there are additional values that can be enjoyed by the customer.. by having
 access to high skilled pool who can be made available on need basis without paying for their full time,
 access to a wealth of knowledge accumulated by working with multiple other customers across industries on similar technologies,
 access to extended support coverage so that your users can enjoy high service availability,
 access to an innovative pricing model involving 'pay-per-use' concepts giving you the maximum flexibility on your budgets,
 access to a model that can be scaled up and down in line with your business dynamics
 ......

Thats what I call maximization of values. Now, wouldn't you be interested in betting your money on this model?

Walk in to Infosys booth at SAP SAPPHIRE 09 during May11 - 14 2009 at Orlando, for more details.

Author: Ramgopal Natarajan, Head, Maintenance Center of Excellence, Enterprise Solutions, Infosys Technologies [ramgopal_natarajan@infosys.com]

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How does a company introduce a brand new approach to planning, designing, developing and running a large business transformation?  While we’ve been talking about our new business transformation framework in client meetings and within our firm, there have been few public conversations about it.

Until now.

Continue reading "A brand new approach ... IMPACT Framework from Infosys" »

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Historically, businesses have implemented process-enabling applications such as SAP with a view to achieve benefits that are clearly stated but not necessarily based upon measurable factors or traceable attributes. The expected benefits, although documented in business cases may, or may not, have been realized but the progress of realizing the expected value has not been followed throughout the program with a view to keeping the expectations attainable. Also, in typical circumstances, the original business case would have been ‘filed’ for posterity and left to gather dust on a shelf, not reviewed until after the point of no return, and after it has become clear that the intended benefits had evaporated while the program leadership’s back was turned.

Even the most attentive of program leaderships may have looked at the return on their investments at some point after the implementations have been completed, accepting the ensuing process performance dip that the much-flaunted bell curve had forecast during the discovery phases conducted many months earlier. Even if documented benefits could have been achieved, several causes of ‘value leakage’ could have arisen but were not prevented.

By setting metrics by which value realization can be tracked throughout the program, with the stated business case benefits as ever-present targets and by ensuring the causes of value leakage are nullified, the anticipated ROI can be attained.

The team at the Infosys booth can discuss value leakage and how to realize value in a program.

Author: Mike Smythe

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Quantifying business benefits has not been the norm when it comes to establishing both small-scale and large-scale programs.  Many companies rush off to planning, designing, and executing the programs without first ensuring that there are business benefits that can even be attributed to these programs.  Or, token or "after-hours" effort is put into sizing the benefits and shared with executive management in order to secure funding, and then forgotten in the course of the program when new information that could materially impact the estimated benefits are discovered.  Or, many benefits are not sized because of lack of data or sheer laziness, and simply classified as "non-quantifiable" or "qualitative" benefits when in fact, these benefits could be quantified with a little creativity and legwork.

Finding, designing, and capturing business benefits are critical to ensuring that a business transformation program is "worth it".  In the end, a program is truly justifiable if it is able to positively contribute to shareholder value through its completion.  Without an explicit link to value delivery, programs may not secure sustained executive commitment and funding, new business capabilities will be developed but may not be what the company really needs, and stakeholders across the board may lose interest once the initial thrill of the program start-up has faded away.

If you have embarked on a small-scale or large-scale program, ask yourself if you know what business benefits you will be getting out of it once you reach the go-live date.  Ask yourself if you have determined how shareholder value is influenced by the program.  Ask yourself if the improvements you are introducing are all directly related to what adds value to the organization, and are not innovations that just appeared to be the cool and trendy thing to do.  Hopefully, the answers to these questions are all "yes".  If not, then this is a great opportunity to explore what it takes to "realize value for the company".

Author:  Jon Brizzi

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In today’s tough time, there is hardly any Organization which has remained unaffected from the jitters of market slow down. The companies are resorting to

·         drastic reduction in budget

·         aggressive business targets to achieve

·         system overhauling for maximizing operational efficiency

Talking about Maintenance of existing IT operations, the companies are eagerly inclined to off-load and blunt in asking for

·         a rock bottom price

·         better quality of service

·          visible value addition by the service provider

·         flexible service offerings tailor made for their requirements

AND this is where Infosys’s SHARED SERVICES offering pitches-in as a classic rejoinder to all the above !!

Continue reading "SHARED SERVICES: Capability in adversity" »

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Shared Services - nothing new.. It's a well recognized term widely used across companies.. mostly done as a means of consolidation of the non-core business functions to improve efficiencies. You may also have heard of this model being followed for HR, Purchasing, Finance etc.. across companies. IT, being one of the cost centers, is also being done on shared model in medium to large organizations that are spread across geographies having multiple business units.

Focussing on the IT operations, you will typically have two major types of activities going on.. discretionary work and non-discretionary work. The former would be strategical in nature following the business vision as a means of increasing competitiveness and market presence.. using IT as an enabler to achieve the goals. The latter is typically a 'Keep-the-Lights-On' work to support the business as-usual and to carry out maintenance activities on the IT systems and applications. Though the key focus will be on the discretionary work, companies cannot afford to ignore the importance of the sustenance activities as it will be the life-line of the ongoing business operations.

However, the current need, due to global economic slump, would be to drive down the costs of maintenance and support of the IT systems and applications to effectively reuse the funds on managing the growth of the business. Many organizations have successfully outsourced their IT operations to many low-cost centers across the world and have realized huge benefits.. Especially, under current situations, CxOs are compelled to find newer ways to further reduce their costs while maintaining the service levels agreed upon with the business users..

Continue reading "IT Shared Services - Is it the right option for you?" »

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If we take a look at the BI space today , BI  has undergone an active market consolidation and the top BI vendors offer integrated suites which make the earlier ‘best of breed strategy’ more or less unconceivable. With so much of focus on integration, it is imperative that clients realize that the benefits of an integrated suite include a greatly simplified technical landscape, resulting in higher agility, faster speed to market and lower Total Cost of Ownership.

Continue reading "The BO world has arrived" »

Posted by Meena Iyer at 07:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In today’s economic environment every organization realizes the need for planning various business functions and processes to achieve optimum results. The uncertainty of the future has made it mandatory to plan and simulate each of the scenarios business will be facing in time of credit crisis and falling demand levels.

Continue reading "Planning and Forecasting with EPM" »

Posted by Meena Iyer at 07:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A blog that highlights how a ‘Performance Measurement KPI Framework’ allows business executives to take a holistic view of strategic goals and link them appropriately to tactical and operational performance indicators.

Continue reading "Get a 360 degree view of your corporate strategy" »

Posted by Meena Iyer at 07:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)