Practices

Information Architecture Experiences

A good information architecture facilitates high data quality (in transactional source systems as well as in data warehouses), 360 access to data from any entry point, ease of systems maintenance, and higher business alignment.  This is accomplished by having common business definitions, single image reference tables, and separation of application logic from data (where possible).  Our Information Architecture strengths are in the following areas:

  • Common Business Language
  • Data Quality Enhancements
  • Campaign Management
  • Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence

 

 

Enterprise Architecture Experiences

Enterprise Architectures define the capabilities of IT systems.  At the highest level there are six components (a) Information Architecture (discussed above), (b) Applications Architecture, (c) Network Architecture, (d) Technology Architecture, which must be aligned with the (e) Business/Process Architecture, and (f) IT Organizational Architecture. A defined Enterprise Architecture helps achieve (a) higher alignment with the business, (b) better controls over IT spend, (c) greatly reduced development time, (d) extensibility (i.e., the ability to leverage built-in capabilities without rework). Our Enterprise Architecture strengths are in the following areas:

  • Architecture Alignment
  • Enterprise Architecture Governance
  • Program Management
  • Architecture Principles
  • Contract Negotiations and Vendor Management

 

 

IT StrategyExperiences

IT has nine core processes, of which IT Strategy is at the core. Its critical for IT to have alignment with the business.  Its also critical that IT be viewed as a value-added asset that has direct attribution to the balance sheet, i.e., run IT like a business. Where a sound strategy is a must, execution is king. Our IT Strategy strengths are in the following areas:

  • Run IT Like a Business
  • IT Baseline
  • IT Balanced Scorecard
  • Program Management

 

 

Process Improvement Experiences

Processes need to be (a) effective, (b) efficient, and (c) consistent. Effective processes achieve their stated goal, which of course can typically be improved. Efficient processes are those that are of high quality and therefore do not require rework (or non-value added steps).  Consistent processes represent those that are mature, reliable, and predictable. Typically automation can help achieve all three of these goals, but is not always necessary.  Some processes are more effectively implemented without the help of technology. Our Process Improvement strengths are in the following areas:

  • Business Process Improvement
  • Balanced Scorecard
  • Program Management
  • Business Alignment with IT
  • Business Analysis/Requirements Gathering
  • Package Selection

 

 

Business Continuity Planning

Year 2000 planning has gone a long way to bringing Business Continuity Planning to the forefront, but not far enough.  A recent survey stated that over 70% of companies focused on IT resumption, and more specifically on the data center. Recent events (Sept 11) have further exacerbated the need for being prepared for an outage.  BCP is often viewed as an intangible, yet many companies have stated that each day of downtime equates to losses in excess of $100,000/day. Our Business Continuity Planning strengths are in the following areas:

  • Exposure Assessment
  • Business Operations Continuity Plan
  • Disaster Recovery Plan
  • Customer Notification and Communications Plan
  • Command Center Procedures
  • Facilities Resumption Plan
  • Application Contingency Plans
  • Telecommunication Contingency Plans

 

 

Project Management Experiences

Good Project Management is not just about being on-time and on-budget; its also about being on-strategy. That is, the content of the project should address the business need as planned. If the business need has changed, then the project manager should act accordingly (including a recommendation that the project be stopped).  We follow a disciplined project management approach and combine this approach with our architecture skills and program management skills. This helps us achieve success. Our Project Management strengths are in the following areas:

  • Implementation Planning and Management
  • Data Warehouse/Mart Implementation
  • Program Management
  • COTS Integration
  • Process Integration

 

 

Advanced Technologies Experiences

Advanced (or progressive) technologies are an asset, when properly times and applied.  Over the years we have worked with a number of technologies and have built up a repertoire of skills. Our Advanced Technology strengths are in the following areas:

  • Technology Assessment
  • Expert Systems
  • Natural Language
  • Probabilistic Algorithms
  • Symbolic Processing

 

 

Sarbanes Oxley Experiences

Sarbanes Oxley falls in the category of necessary evil.  For large companies it becomes a challenge to aggregate disparate processes and for small/medium sized companies it is a challenge to manage the cost for compliance. Our involvement has been very pragmatic focusing on process as well as supporting automation in the following areas:

  • COSO Compliant IT Processes
  • Implementation of Restatement Support Systems
  • Implementation of SOX OLAP for Reporting/Analysis
  • Implementation of SOA for Data ETL into SOX Support Systems