Category Archives: Blog Post
Weathering the Storm of Organizational Change
The problem: the customers (representing the big 3) were on site every week for a good portion of time meeting with the leaders of the company because we needed to resolve a quality concern. The operations leader said this kept him away from getting his main job done – producing air bag parts. After a little over a week attending the meetings and understanding the issues, I had the answer. Continue reading
Your Business Process Management (BPM) Questions Answered
A BPM system can be a benefit if an organization is technology-savvy (most are not) and already has a strong buy-in, understanding, and governance of BPM organization-wide. If those characteristics are not present, a BPM system will likely bring little value. For example, a client of mine uses a BPM system (ProVision) however does not use it well or take advantage of its value-add capabilities. Continue reading
How can Project Portfolio Management Help Fix a High Project Failure Problem?
WHAT IS SO GOOD ABOUT PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT (PPM), THE CURRENT PROCESS WORKS FOR ME? Continue reading
Soggy Forecast for Cloud Based Systems without Organizational Change Management (OCM)
Without OCM being integrated into a Cloud Based Implementation, you get process breakdown, users reject the system because they do not assume ownership, and IT is not engaged sufficiently because the implementation is being done by a Cloud Based Vendor. OCM is the secret sauce that truly allows organizations to be successful implementing the Cloud. Continue reading
4 Steps to Creating Effective BI Teams
In my experience, companies that implement BI, whether it be from a software system or home grown data dumps, tend to become over zealous with the amount of data now available to them. Correlations are made between data and dollars, performance and productivity, than may or may not tell give you a clear picture for the affectivity or efficiency of your business. The results can leave management drowning in data and unable to make clear decisions. One report might tell you where you need to focus, another may contradict the first, leaving you in the dark. Data can be twisted and turned to benefit any party involved. Politicians have been doing it since the dawn of time. Continue reading
4 Tips to Achieve Successful Testing Completion Earlier Than Expected
How would you like to feel that sigh of relief when you complete all of your testing prior to implementation? Heck, wouldn’t you like to spend more time preparing for the install itself rather than ‘hoping’ all goes well? Well, there are plenty of strategies that companies can take to feel this relief. Key strategies to keep your testing ahead of schedule and on-budget include: Continue reading
5 Ways BPM Can Transform Your Organization
First off, what is BPM? BPM stands for Business Process Management and is a management principle that leads organizations to manage their work efforts via business processes. BPM ultimately supports improved performance through operational excellence and business agility. Now that you know what BPM stands for you might be thinking, “Why would I implement this principle in the work place?” Continue reading
Improving Business Intelligence Performance with Dynamic Cubes
Dynamic Cubes is a good solution for near real-time data warehousing. They are best used on large volume star schemas. PowerCubes or TM1 are better technologies for lower volume databases. Use cases, your system architecture, and the total number of members in the largest dimensions will determine whether it’s best to deploy Dynamic Cubes. Continue reading
A Good Business Intelligence Solution for Midsized Companies
A goal for all successful companies is to move from reporting to the kind of analysis that lets executives adjust strategy in response to rapidly changing conditions. Reporting questions are: What is next quarter’s revenue forecast? Or: What did this customer buy? Better analytical questions are: What if demand falls short of forecast? Or: What is the customer likely to buy next? Answering these kinds of questions is the job of business intelligence (BI) systems. Continue reading
Working Toward Project Success
What factors contribute to project success? Here is a story of a very difficult project that succeeded. Continue reading