Technology Advisory Group
AEPI's Technology Advisory Group is fully equiped to perform a Technology Audit for your organization and recommend changes that result in the much needed sustained growth for your organization. Our comprehensive technology audit is a functional, departmental, and/or enterprise-wide analysis of the internal business operations and the technology that supports them. An audit helps an organization to determine if their existing operational infrastructure and technology-based initiatives are meeting their business goals and whether the financial investment the company continually makes on IT is cost-effective. The Audit provides an organization with the ability to view:
- the alignment of technology to a specific internal business function and/or process
- the number of departments that support a single business function
- the number of business processes that can benefit from the same technology
- the number of departments that will benefit or be affected by the deployment of a new technology
The end result of a Business Technology Audit is a detailed analysis of the existing operation and the alignment of the enabling technologies that support that operation. We identify potential business opportunities through the use of properly deployed technology and make recommendations regarding technology solutions and alternatives.
TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT
Technology Management can be extremely difficult for a number of reasons. Some of the primary reasons include the rapid change of technology; constant need for new technology solutions to meet business objectives; volume of projects requested; resource limitations on both people and money; and user acceptance and empowerment of new technology.
Based upon this, it is important that an organization have a strong IT staff or available technology resources; a solid information technology infrastructure and a methodology to manage the alignment of business and technology.
AEPI 's Technology Management services consist of a series of different offerings such as recruiting IT staff; providing interim CIO support; and establishing and supporting a Technology Stakeholders Committee.
IT Staff Recruitment
Looking to hire someone to help manage your technology can be a very daunting task. This person should, at a minimum, understand all the underlying technology and have prior hands-on experience; keep up on new technology developments; know about business and have a keen sense of operational processes; as well as have strong customer service and leadership skills. This position, whether they are titled Manager, Director or Chief Information Officer is extremely critical to the organization. Due to the significant role this person plays within your organization, having the wrong person making important technology decisions can have both serious financial and business impacts. You need to know that the person you hire is the absolute right fit.
AEPI is uniquely qualified in the assessment and hiring of technology management staff. AEPI management staff has worked both internally and externally as senior technology managers and understand the experience, vision and technology-savvy required to succeed. We have the ability to question and evaluate candidates easily on their technology expertise, business acumen and persona. We have placed many senior IT professionals and have a high success rate.
Interim CIO Support
AEPI has the ability to provide interim technology management services for those clients who have suddenly lost a key technology management staff person and will require temporary assistance. Our goal is to ensure that the client's technology initiatives continue to move forward and that the client does not suffer any setback due to this loss. Interim technology management services can be tailored to meet each client's specific needs and can be contracted for as short or long of a period that is desired.
Technology Stakeholders Committee
AEPI works with our clients to establish the role of the Technology Stakeholders Committee, develop guidelines, and create a forum with representation from key stakeholders within an organization. The TSC will bring different perspectives and views as well as provide appropriate advice and feedback regarding organizational objectives and priorities as they relate to business technology-based initiatives. The TSC is a decision-making group that is responsible for setting the priorities on technology projects, which should be driven by the goals of the organization's strategic plan.
SOLUTION SELECTION & IMPLEMENTATION
We all realize that two companies can purchase and implement the same technology within their organizations and have dramatic differences in experience. The key to success in deploying new technology is not buying the most expensive, state-of-the-art solution, but in making sure what you purchase meets your requirements; that you take advantage of the full functionality; and that you realize a return on your investment. Purchasing technology to run core business functions requires a well-managed solicitation and evaluation process.
AEPI 's solution selection and implementation services are based upon our Technology Selection Process methodology as detailed below. A good, solid technology selection process should be factual and unemotional. That doesn't mean you should not consider the "human" factor--businesses are made up of people. But technology is about change, and change is one of the hardest things for many people to accept. Therefore, a clearly defined technology selection process should be the cornerstone of your technology management strategy to effectively manage technological change.
The Technology Selection Process
Don't buy technology for technology's sake--buy technology to meet your business requirements and bring value to your organization by enhancing productivity, increasing revenue, and creating better business intelligence.
A good, solid technology selection process should be factual and unemotional. That doesn't mean you should not consider the "human" factor--businesses are made up of people. But technology is about change, and change is one of the hardest things for many people to accept. Therefore, a clearly defined technology selection process should be the cornerstone of your technology management strategy to effectively manage technological change.
So how do you select and implement the right technology for your business? You develop a technology selection process framework consisting of the following steps:
Define business objectives
What are your goals and objectives for this new technology? In essence, what business processes or functions are you trying to enhance with this technology initiative? What value do you expect to gain from this new technology? What are the measurements for success?
Assess business impact
Once you know what you're trying to accomplish and have identified which business processes will be affected by this new technology, develop a workflow matrix comprising the new and existing processes. Understand how information flows into the process, where all the required information is stored, how that information is used, and who has or needs access to that information. Identify any inefficiencies in the current process, and determine how you can re-engineer the process to eliminate those inefficiencies.
Develop functional requirements
Write down and clearly define the functionality needed to support each business process, including the requirements of each task supporting the process. These requirements are crucial in determining how or if the proposed solution will fulfill all your business needs.
Determine the best solution
Once requirements are defined, send your requests for proposal to the available technology solution providers, and ask them to respond in a format that can be compared across solutions. In determining the best solution, create your own filters or criteria for acceptance. Filters should include prioritizing functionalities; identifying your constraints (time, financial, and human); considering your corporate culture (the human factor); and determining your preferred vendor profile (experience, existing customer base, support).
Don't let anyone sell you something that doesn't meet your needs. Remember, if you don't control a sales presentation, what you see and hear will be the product's best features, regardless of whether they are the features you need. Do your homework.
Define workflow process
After you have identified the best solution, compare your existing business processes to the technology's functionality, and begin to document how you will accomplish your existing business process requirements with the new technology. This step is critical, as it will define how you configure the new technology. You can buy the best solution, but if you configure or implement it incorrectly, it can have a negative effect.
Some people think technology should support your current business process, not dictate a new one. While this is mostly true, don't be blinded to opportunities to enhance internal operations based on the functionality offered with new technology. Many times organizations get caught up in developing technology to imitate their current workflow and don't consider how they can enhance the process. This sometimes leads to technology solutions that automate poor processes. If the business process was inefficient to begin with, automating it doesn't make it any better.
Plan for implementation
Implementation requires human, financial, and time resources. It is based on a defined list of tasks and their contingencies (tasks that must be accomplished before another task). The key to successful implementation is not only identifying the best solution and designing the optimal configuration, but also strong project management of tasks, contingencies, and resources.
To begin, list and prioritize all tasks. Assign each task to specific person or group. This will dictate a proposed timeline for the entire project based on the overlap of people and time required for each task. This also helps set expectations for resource requirements and any impact on existing workload.
Once the implementation plan is developed, share it with each member of the team, communicating what other work won't get done or will be postponed in the interim. Continue to communicate on a regular basis throughout the project.
Implement the technology
When implementing the new technology, remember to be flexible. Few projects will end exactly as planned. That's acceptable, as long as the project accomplishes the original goals and objectives within the intended time period and costs. The majority of modifications to the plan will be based on changes in staff, management, or business direction.
Assess the final results
The first assessment should measure the project implementation and how the new technology meets the goals and objectives. Ongoing assessments should determine if the current technology is still meeting goals and objectives and whether the return on investment is still viable.