tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55807796708488532352024-03-19T14:34:22.989-07:00PureStone PartnersMichael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-63853256044733014802009-05-28T08:19:00.000-07:002009-05-28T08:29:30.219-07:00We're movingWe have moved - the blog is now hosted at <a href="http://purestone.wordpress.com/">PureStone.Wordpress.com</a>.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-25705377406867118562009-05-10T07:39:00.000-07:002009-05-10T07:40:44.760-07:00Is Strategy top of Mind<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; "><div style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; padding-top: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; "><p>I recently read a few blogs from <a href="http://alignment.wordpress.com/" mce_href="http://alignment.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Jonathan D. Becher</a> and it reminded me of a couple of stories. I did a couple of webinars a year or so ago with the lead in being a question about how well do you know your corporate strategies. What I consistently found was that 80%+ of the respondants could not cite the strategy off the top of their head. This is clearly not new research as their are a number of people/companies that cite very similar numbers. </p><p>I think there are a number of factors at play here:</p><ul><li>Corporate Strategy has no lasting communication vehicle. It is often discussed in conference calls and writen on walls, but we have no effective, living tool. We need to build a communication plan around articulating strategy. Here is a reference to an older blog of mine on <a href="http://purestone.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/strategy-maps-for-strategy-development/" mce_href="http://purestone.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/strategy-maps-for-strategy-development/" target="_blank">Strategy Maps</a> that touches on this subject.</li><li>We often lack a consistent framework for Strategy (or a single version of the truth), so we end up with a number of different frameworks for defining strategic objectives. Corporate uses one framework, the business units another, and then each department creates something new as well. What we end up with is too many messages and no clarity into priorities. All of this becomes to difficult for anyone person to understand, so they just go about their day doing the things that want to do or that are easy to do.</li><li>We also have unstated strategic objectives, or as Oski refers to them in a comment on this <a href="http://alignment.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/can-you-say-what-your-strategy-is/" mce_href="http://alignment.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/can-you-say-what-your-strategy-is/" target="_blank">blog post</a>, "shadow strategies" where the organization says one thing, but actually does another. </li><li>There is also personal politics and empire building that is probably more widely used than anyone would care to admit. I have seen too many examples where people talk more about how big their team is than provide the value their team creates. If this is what is top of mind, it is probably an indicator of their motivation. </li><li>We don't have a strategy management process. Strategy is done independently from budget, or we hire some consulting firm to develop it and then the binders and reports are placed in an archive.</li></ul></div></span>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-91470901722169271252009-05-05T08:27:00.000-07:002009-05-06T08:17:31.835-07:00Measuring Anything<p>I recently read a book entitled <a href="http://www.howtomeasureanything.com/dotnetnuke/" _djrealurl="http://www.howtomeasureanything.com/dotnetnuke/">How to Measure Anything - Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business by Douglas W. Hubbard</a>. This was an excellent book and helped me to think about how I could measure ANYTHING and how, when necessary to think about how I estimate values. There are some great exercises to stretch your brain in here.</p><p><br /></p> <p>I hear from my OEM's quite often that they can't measure things because they are too complex to calculate. Think about a Security Vendor. How can they measure Risk Exposure? There's nothing in their database that is called Risk Exposure. How can a CRM vendor measure Campaign Effectiveness? How does a Higher Education vendor measure Educator Effectiveness? These are not simple calculations of x+y=z. But they could be easily calculated or estimated within ranges. </p> <p><br /></p><p><a href="http://purestone.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/key-performance-indicators-kpis-key-risk-indicators-kris/">Risk Exposure</a> may be calculated by evaluating the trend (not necessarily the actual #) of several things, including Security Threats or numbers of Viruses detected, Security Violations by employees such as non-standard equipment or software, Sensitivity of the asset in violation (the CEO having BearShare or Kaazaa is worse than someone in Accounting having Texas Hold 'em), Value of the asset in violation (the email server vs. one of 100 print servers), etc. All of these things combined can give you some sense of what your Risk Exposure is. You may not have a value of Risk Exposure = 123.53, but you may be able to determine a Risk Exposure of High, Medium or Low which could be backed up by all the specific metrics which go into the calculation. </p> <p><br /></p><p>To demonstrate that truly Anything can be measured. I found this website which calculated some pretty difficult things to measure, the Seven Deadly Sins: Greed, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth and Pride. Check it out, it is a very interesting read - <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gnxp/2009/05/map_of_seven_deadly_sins.php">http://scienceblogs.com/gnxp/2009/05/map_of_seven_deadly_sins.php</a>.</p> <p><br /></p><p>ISV's and BPO's need to think about why people buy their software and how can they measure the <strong><u>Effectiveness</u></strong> of their software, not necessarily the <strong><u>Efficiency</u></strong>, see the blog post <a href="http://purestone.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/efficiency-vs-effectiveness-kpis/">Effectiveness vs. Efficiency</a>. I highly recommend picking up the book above and reading through it. Then, schedule some time to review your partner's or prospect's website and literature. Pick out 3-5 things that they say they do for their customers. Then, think about how you would measure that? Avoid looking for things like "We can process 1 kazillion transactions per second...". That provides little or no value to their client. Look for the true Value Statements. </p> <p><br /></p><p>I like what I heard from a Higher Education vendor the other day, when they told me "We help Teachers Teach Better and Students Learn Better". Ok, how can you prove that? How do you measure Teacher Effectiveness and Student Learning Ability? Is it strictly by grades? What about drop-out rates? What about student Engagement? What about class participation?</p>CanyonManhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14169560288579248658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-48594400565942506322009-04-30T07:22:00.000-07:002009-04-30T07:36:18.771-07:00People do what they want or like to doEmployees want to create value, they want to move the company forward. Yet, without clear and concise understanding of what they need to do (and in what priority) most will typically do either what they want to do, or what they like to do. While this is fine, organizations often need people to do the more difficult tasks.<br /><br />If you describe your job or one of your employees jobs as like drinking from a firehose (which seems like all roles these days) chances are you need to be very proactive in determining priorities.Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-41540828287214719592009-04-29T23:28:00.000-07:002009-04-30T07:21:22.908-07:00Beyond the Checkbox - Part IV<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Helvetica;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Chris Tyler from Cognos will be joining us for a series of Blogs focused on driving performance for ISVs and OEMs. We will be publishing his Blogs on Thursdays for the next four weeks. Chris is a subject matter expert on getting his clients to elevate value to their customer</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">s.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This is the final part of this series. In <a href="http://perf-mgt.blogspot.com/2009/04/beyond-checkbox-part-iii.html">Part III</a>, we discussed the typical way vendors address their customers reporting needs, by simply checking the reporting box and delivering little or no value to their customers. Here will discuss a better way.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A Better Way - How to change the game</span></span></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The customer should word their requirement “</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Do you have an analytical application which proves your application improves the performance of my organization as it relates to increasing our win rates by 7% year over year, reducing sales cycle times by 13%, and increasing our deal sizes by 5% year over year?”</span></span></i><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I’m sure the vendor would have a much tougher time checking that box, but, that is what the customer truly needs to know.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLniuq50RSWntDJP1nTjJT7znj5arM4zsF9zAv9R1Kg9VJ5-GuYMKkzDL9CijKIimaitrVZf6Kn5lxp-evfJbmQu3zw_33ME0iT14ZqvJSxzJxANUDnWTpiAaQo3SJT7bxIuTq8t71dJM/s1600-h/Business+Impact+Dashboard+Report.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLniuq50RSWntDJP1nTjJT7znj5arM4zsF9zAv9R1Kg9VJ5-GuYMKkzDL9CijKIimaitrVZf6Kn5lxp-evfJbmQu3zw_33ME0iT14ZqvJSxzJxANUDnWTpiAaQo3SJT7bxIuTq8t71dJM/s320/Business+Impact+Dashboard+Report.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316479249161453602" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 290px; " /></a><p class="MsoCaption" align="center" style="text-align: center; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Figure </span></span></span><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">2</span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">– An example of an analytic report which shows the business impact and provides context as to what it means to the business, what else to look for and what to do next.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Most enterprise purchases are fairly significant investments and the vendors are often very willing to present case studies where the return on investment, ROI, is achieved in, say, 14 months.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Few vendors can actually prove it with their reporting solutions.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">If the vendor has gone through the process to measure the ROI and understand how it achieves the ROI, why not take that same thought process and put it into an Analytical Application that can be delivered?</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">These types of analytical applications tend to increase customer satisfaction and stickiness, and become a significant, additional revenue stream.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">What should the vendor be doing to deliver the value proof?</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">How can the vendor go Beyond the Checkbox?</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here are several ways.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">All of these should leverage and highlight the intellectual property and knowledge of the customer the vendor has. </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Identify the value points</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Identify 3-7 reasons why customers should buy your application.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">These become the value points which translate into metrics.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">These should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time-based).</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span></p><table class="MsoTableGrid" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin-left: 5.4pt; border-collapse: collapse; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border- color:initial;"><tbody><tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><td width="120" valign="top" style="width: 1.25in; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: windowtext; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-left-color: windowtext; border-top-width: 1pt; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-width: 1pt; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: rgb(153, 204, 255); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Domain</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p></td><td width="228" valign="top" style="width: 171pt; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: windowtext; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-top-width: 1pt; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-color: initial; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: rgb(153, 204, 255); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Value Statements</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p></td><td width="235" valign="top" style="width: 2.45in; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: windowtext; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-top-width: 1pt; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-color: initial; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: rgb(153, 204, 255); padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">SMART Metrics</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p></td></tr><tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><td width="120" valign="top" style="width: 1.25in; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-left-color: windowtext; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-width: 1pt; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; border-top- padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; color:initial;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">CRM</span></span></span></p></td><td width="228" valign="top" style="width: 171pt; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-style: solid; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.3in; text-indent: -0.25in; "></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Reduce sales cycle times</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Increase deal sizes</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Increase win rates</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Reduce cost of sales</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li></ul><p></p></td><td width="235" valign="top" style="width: 2.45in; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-style: solid; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.3in; text-indent: -0.25in; "></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Days to closure</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Average deal size growth</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Win/loss rates</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cost of sales</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li></ul><p></p></td></tr><tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><td width="120" valign="top" style="width: 1.25in; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-left-color: windowtext; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-width: 1pt; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; border-top- padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; color:initial;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Security</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p></td><td width="228" valign="top" style="width: 171pt; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-style: solid; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.3in; text-indent: -0.25in; "></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Reduce risk exposure</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Decrease intrusions</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Improve Data Governance and Compliance</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li></ul><p></p></td><td width="235" valign="top" style="width: 2.45in; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-style: solid; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.3in; text-indent: -0.25in; "></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"># of threats identified/thwarted as it relates to system criticality and sensitivity</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">% of critical systems adhering to corporate standards</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li></ul><p></p></td></tr><tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><td width="120" valign="top" style="width: 1.25in; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-left-color: windowtext; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-width: 1pt; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; border-top- padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; color:initial;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Human Capital Management</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p></td><td width="228" valign="top" style="width: 171pt; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-style: solid; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.3in; text-indent: -0.25in; "></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Decrease attrition rates of high value employees</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Improve employee satisfaction</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Properly manage talent pool</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Increase successful recruiting rates</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li></ul><p></p></td><td width="235" valign="top" style="width: 2.45in; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-style: solid; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.3in; text-indent: -0.25in; "></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Attrition rates for top performers</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Employee satisfaction</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">% of employees within 1-2 years of retirement</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Tenure / attrition rates of employees by recruiting source</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></li></ul><p></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Define the metrics</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Build a business glossary to define the metric.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This should contain what we refer to as the “What?, Why?, So What?, Now What?”</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This should be able to explain the intent of the metric.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">All metrics should relate somehow back to the value points identified earlier.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">If they don’t, there is typically no reason to track it.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Setting targets</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The vendor should allow the customer to set targets for the various metrics and if applicable, any tolerances which may be acceptable.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Comparing the actual values from the transactional data to the targets set by the customer, allows the user to see if they are on the right track to achieve their results.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Simplify taking action</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There may be a need to share the content with another user, a user may want to comment on the performance, there may need to be some action plan set in motion to improve the performance, a user may want to subscribe to the content, or there may be a need to drill into the detail behind the metric.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Content should be in context</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Content in context can imply that it is related to the logged in user or is specific to the current view within the vendor’s application.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There are a variety of ways to accomplish this ranging from a tight API-level integration to a loosely-coupled web-based integration using URL’s, all depending on the capabilities of the vendor application.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">About the author</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Chris Tyler has been working for the past 4+ years with Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s) and Business Process Outsourcers (BPO’s) to help them address the specific needs of embedding BI into their platforms.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">He has seen some great successes and some dismal failures.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Some commonalities with the successes are that the vendor delivering the application actually put some thought and intellectual property into their content.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The failures typically did not.</span></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-56573337405118105832009-04-27T23:58:00.000-07:002009-04-27T23:58:01.301-07:00Is a failed action the same as a failure to act?<div><p style="mso-line-height-alt:9.7pt"><span style="Georgia","serif";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;"></span></p><span><span></span></span></div><span><span>Over the weekend, Seth Godin blogged about <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/04/i-need-more-time.html">making timely decisions</a>. It brought to mind a number of items worth additional discussion. One of my favorite sayings is "we should do something" when managers are shown a potential issue. It is usually followed up with a flurry of meetings, too much information, and less than a clear path forward. While frustrating, it became clear over time that we often lack a process to consider, debate, and ultimately put ad-hoc course corrrections into action. It was also appearant that we suffer from a culture that uses information overload to decline action based on the need for additional information. <br /><br /></span></span><div><span><span>To make a little more sense of it, here is a two by two grid that shows the risk and rewards of whether action was created and whether it was correct or not. The goal of this was to highlight perhaps the personal motivations behind action or lack thereof.</span></span></div><div><span><span><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3Rie11BwsqIO2AT7wQ925jiquuK1sDXwKyONjsjC8vDu17V_J4lLThE2EBLcZ6c2NJvPECrtRRqjebnDLQWK7D741-n2QNOAGui2T_qD3wA8yCsX9mha2VxD_QW9UDJfsHFlhQt57PB2/s320/The+Risk+of+Action.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 292px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329509930470127186" /></span></span><div><span><span>Creating action is more likely to cause the extremes in risk versus reward, while delaying or taking no action is often the safer route. While companies need to take risks to lead within the market, employees may not have the same motivations. Is the potential for a promotion, worth the risk of falling out of favor? Do we, as company policy, reward action financially? Is a failed action the same as a failure to act?</span></span><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "></span></span></span></div><div><p style="mso-line-height-alt:9.7pt"><br /></p></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline;"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p></p></span></div></div></div></div>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-70477617779118314642009-04-22T23:00:00.000-07:002009-04-22T23:00:01.478-07:00Beyond the Checkbox - Part III<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; "><span><span></span></span></span></span></p><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Chris Tyler from Cognos will be joining us for a series of Blogs focused on driving performance for ISVs and OEMs. We will be publishing his Blogs on Thursdays for the next four weeks. Chris is a subject matter expert on getting his clients to elevate value to their customers. <br /></span></span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This is Part III of this series. In <a href="http://perf-mgt.blogspot.com/2009/04/beyond-checkbox-part-ii.html">Part II</a> we discussed the ways a vendor may choose to address the needs of their customer as it relates to reporting. We will show here, the typical way vendors address that with a reporting solution.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Checking the reporting box</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When the vendor provides these basic reporting capabilities, I call this “checking the reporting box”.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The vendor is delivering enough reporting functionality to allow them to check a box stating that they provide reporting as part of their application, a common requirement of any company evaluating an enterprise application.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center; page-break-after: avoid; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cV5M7IXl9pvaF2KFteWo-fDwrsmQFgGUMMdeb4GgdqZGxgL_6OtXP4Tgfdivrib37ZhQGzjn4yjbvkjYCKS0QZ7HIn5NaW9qY8hyphenhyphenuByfQWOH6VLQPz1UUpLGRbk3MHKvUzqeee8tr5E/s320/Check+the+Box+Report.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316479235340902914" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 103px; " /></p><p class="MsoCaption" align="center" style="text-align: center; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Figure </span></span></span><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">1</span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">– A common example of a report that allows a vendor to check the reporting box, but which provides little or no value proof.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Having the requirement of reporting included with an application is necessary, but it’s how the requirement checkbox is worded.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The checkbox is often phrased “</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Do you have reporting with your application?”</span></span></i><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The vendor, providing even the most basic reporting capabilities, can then safely check the box, stating </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Yes, we deliver reporting as part of our application”</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I don’t intend to imply that this is a negative.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Operationally, most of these reports are needed and verify that proper actions are being taken and the application is functioning properly.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The customer needs more!</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There are four issues I find with reporting solutions from vendors who simply do enough to check the reporting box.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span></o:p></span></p><ul type="disc" style="margin-top: 0in; "><li class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Their reporting typically does nothing to verify the claims that a vendor makes regarding its solution</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The vendor delivers no intellectual property or thought leadership to serve as a differentiator which leads to more wins and larger deals</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There is little or no charge to the customer for the additional capability and therefore the vendor looks at it as a cost center not as a revenue opportunity</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It does nothing to expand the user community of the vendor’s application within the customer</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: normal; font-family:Georgia;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">About the author</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Chris Tyler has been working for the past 4+ years with Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s) and Business Process Outsourcers (BPO’s) to help them address the specific needs of embedding BI into their platforms.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">He has seen some great successes and some dismal failures.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Some commonalities with the successes are that the vendor delivering the application actually put some thought and intellectual property into their content.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The failures typically did not.</span></span></span></p></span><p></p>CanyonManhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14169560288579248658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-59496139650912425832009-04-21T07:34:00.000-07:002009-04-21T07:42:35.582-07:00Blue Ocean, Red Ocean...If you have not read the book on Blue Ocean Strategy, I would highly recommend it. No matter what industry you are in or how competitive your market is, it should make you think about innovation. Most companies I have worked with find it difficult to integrate innovation into their management cycle, and therefore innovation is done in an ad hoc manner. <div><br /></div><div>While a Blue Ocean (Red Oceans are competitive markets where everyone has spilled blood) market play may not be for everyone, you can think of new ways to measure the business, process improvements, compensation plans, marketing tactics, etc if you create a more formal manner for innovation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Additionally, you might find a great deal of value of reassessing the competitive landscape. It never hurts to discuss how would a new competitor attack the market. All great businesses find themselves under threat from unseen ideas - this may just give you a more proactive manner to see the ideas coming. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-32734000987803725562009-04-16T09:07:00.000-07:002009-04-16T09:09:22.341-07:00Strategy Maps for Strategy Development<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';"><div style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; padding-top: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; background-position: initial initial; "><p>The Strategy Map is one of the more interesting tools in terms of Strategy Development. I know most people want to describe it as a Strategy Execution tool, but I see it as a great check to the overall health of your strategy?</p><ul><li>Do you cover things other than the financial outcomes in terms of your strategic objectives?</li><li>Do you consider the customer voice, or desire?</li><li>Do you know where you are in your strategy lifecycle?</li></ul><p>I know some people like to design complex strategy maps that take months and months to develop with strategic objectives to cover all contingencies. The font becomes too small, and the word optimize shows up too much. </p><p>What if we took a different tact? What if we use the Strategy Map as a santiy tool, to test the strategies to make sure they are top of mind and easy to digest? Instead of creating too many objectives, we focus on clairty of thought. We use the tool to make sure the organization can understand what we are doing and to then use the map to define the initiatives and performance measures that align their department with the overall corporate goals?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div></span>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-23070071056525152302009-04-15T09:57:00.000-07:002009-04-16T08:00:59.291-07:00Beyond the Checkbox - Part II<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic; font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></span></p><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Chris Tyler from Cognos will be joining us for a series of Blogs focused on driving performance for ISVs and OEMs. We will be publishing his Blogs on Thursdays for the next four weeks. Chris is a subject matter expert on getting his clients to elevate value to their customers. </span></span></span><div><span><span><br /></span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;"><a href="http://perf-mgt.blogspot.com/2009/04/beyond-checkbox-part-i.html">In part I of this series</a>, we discussed the relationship between vendor and customer and how there comes a point where the customer determines the need to have reports from the system. In this part, we will look at the typical ways a vendor approaches the solution for those reporting needs.</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Now what</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">One of two things will happen to address the reporting need.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><ol start="1" type="1" style="margin-top: 0in; "><li class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The customer is forced to build their own reports with 3</span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">rd</span></span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> party tools</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The vendor builds and delivers some reports as part of the application</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></li><ol start="1" type="a" style="margin-top: 0in; "><li class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Building a home-grown reporting solution</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Embed a 3</span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">rd</span></span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> party reporting / BI / Performance Management solution</span></span></span></li></ol></ol><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In the first case, the vendor has no control over what the customer is doing.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Because the customer has little understanding of the underlying data structures and relationships, there is a high likelihood that the customer could pull the information incorrectly or misinterpret the data.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This can lead to making bad decisions or incorrect assumptions.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">As mentioned earlier, according to Gartner, this is the primary reason that enterprise reporting and data warehousing projects fail.<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In the second case vendors will often rush to deliver a reporting solution and simply dump out easily accessible data into lists and charts.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I have seen too many reports such as Call Logs, Current Sales Orders, and Customers by Demographics delivered as the basis of a reporting and analytic solution.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Building a home-grown, custom reporting solution can be very costly and will limit flexibility, scalability and capability.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> Additionally, </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">BI and Performance Management is outside the core competencies of the development staff and becomes a resource drain on development resources limiting core application innovation.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">To avoid the resource and cost problems, vendors can choose to embed a 3rd</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> party reporting tool.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">These 3rd party applications generally provide additional capabilities to the vendor and allows development resources to focus on innovation within the core application.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">However, vendors will limit the use of these 3rd</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> party products to delivering basic reporting through interactive reports, fancy charts or even some ad hoc capabilities.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">About the author</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Chris Tyler has been working for the past 4+ years with Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s) and Business Process Outsourcers (BPO’s) to help them address the specific needs of embedding BI into their platforms.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">He has seen some great successes and some dismal failures.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Some commonalities with the successes are that the vendor delivering the application actually put some thought and intellectual property into their content.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The failures typically did not.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p></p></div>CanyonManhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14169560288579248658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-26370534074999625872009-04-14T05:21:00.000-07:002009-04-14T05:46:56.060-07:00Because you can...doesn't mean you shouldWe do a number of things in the name of business intelligence. We say we have to have real time information. We have to have hundreds of reports. We have to be able to look at everything in every direction.<div><br /></div><div>Business Intelligence software promises us this and make this seem like an achievable goal. And yes it would be great to know everything about everything and get a perfect 360 degree view of the organization.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet it is not really <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">achievable</span>, actually not even close. Instead ask what are the goals & objectives of the organization, and how does this support that end. We are very quick to say "we can do that" but we need to temper that with "why should we do that?" Think of the goal of a dashboard - to provide <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">real-time</span> information on a specific subject. I have known many managers that constantly stare at the screen to see if anything moved. </div><div><br /></div><div>What we really need is to understand how to use the function of time and integrate that into a analytical management process. What would you get more out of, a tactical dial that shows us one <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">KPI</span>, or a meeting at the end of the day to review a number of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">KPIs</span>?</div>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-7941404818650857702009-04-08T17:00:00.000-07:002009-04-08T17:00:00.431-07:00Beyond the Checkbox - Part I<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLniuq50RSWntDJP1nTjJT7znj5arM4zsF9zAv9R1Kg9VJ5-GuYMKkzDL9CijKIimaitrVZf6Kn5lxp-evfJbmQu3zw_33ME0iT14ZqvJSxzJxANUDnWTpiAaQo3SJT7bxIuTq8t71dJM/s1600-h/Business+Impact+Dashboard+Report.JPG"></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Chris Tyler from Cognos will be joining us for a series of Blogs focused on driving performance for ISVs and OEMs. We will be publishing his Blogs on Thursdays for the next four weeks. Chris is a subject matter expert on getting his clients to elevate value to their customers. </span></span></span></span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Who should read this?</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This document is intended for software vendors (ISV’s) and business process outsourcers (BPO’s) wanting to increase deal size, win more deals and improve customer stickiness by embedding packaged, advanced analytical capabilities as part of their application. </span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Why should you read this?</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></p><ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l3 level1 lfo3;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The software and outsourcing industries are increasingly competitive businesses and vendors need to continue to innovate cheaper, faster and better than the competition</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l3 level1 lfo3;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Vendors need to provide thought leadership for their customers and demonstrate unmatched domain expertise</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l3 level1 lfo3;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ISV’s and BPO’s need to demonstrate rapid, quantifiable ROI</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l3 level1 lfo3;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">According to a 2008 Gartner report, most enterprise reporting and data warehouse projects fail primarily due to the complexity of the data in business systems, vendors can guide their customers through the complexity</span></span></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The vendor customer relationship</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Every vendor designs, markets and sells its application or services to solve specific problems for its customers. </span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here are a few examples.</span></span></span></p><table class="MsoTableGrid" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin-left:23.4pt;border-collapse:collapse;border:none;mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;mso-yfti-tbllook:480;mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-border-insideh:.5pt solid windowtext;mso-border-insidev:.5pt solid windowtext"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes"> <td width="156" valign="top" style="width:117.0pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;background:#99CCFF;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Domain</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> </td> <td width="348" valign="top" style="width:261.0pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left:none;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;background:#99CCFF;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Value Statements</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:1"> <td width="156" valign="top" style="width:117.0pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">CRM</span></span></span></p></td><td width="348" valign="top" style="width:261.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.3in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2"></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Reduce sales cycle times</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Increase deal sizes</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Increase win rates</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Reduce cost of sales</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li></ul><p></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:2"> <td width="156" valign="top" style="width:117.0pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Security</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> </td> <td width="348" valign="top" style="width:261.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.3in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2"></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Reduce risk exposure</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Decrease intrusions</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Improve Data Governance and Compliance</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li></ul><p></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:3;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes"> <td width="156" valign="top" style="width:117.0pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Human Capital Management</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> </td> <td width="348" valign="top" style="width:261.0pt;border-top:none;border-left: none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;mso-border-left-alt:solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.3in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2"></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Decrease attrition rates of high value employees</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Improve employee satisfaction</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Properly manage talent pool</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Increase successful recruiting rates</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></li></ul><p></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Vendors are engaged by prospects to address their specific business pains.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Through the sales cycle, the prospect will generally evaluate multiple vendors for a match to their needs.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The vendor will demonstrate software capabilities and possibly prove out concepts that will provide the prospect with comfort that the vendor will meet their needs.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The prospect will select the vendor and the two parties will set off on a journey to start solving problems.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Through the installation and implementation process, the solution is tailored for the customer, the users are trained on how to get maximum benefits, and the customer is taught how to maintain the application.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Once the solution is implemented, what happens?</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The customer is happy with the solution; their users punch all the buttons and they just enjoy seeing the applications do stuff?</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sure, but the customer needs some sort of proof that the application is solving their problems.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">They need reports!</span></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">About the author</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Chris Tyler has been working for the past 4+ years with Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s) and Business Process Outsourcers (BPO’s) to help them address the specific needs of embedding BI into their platforms.</span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">He has seen some great successes and some dismal failures.</span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Some commonalities with the successes are that the vendor delivering the application actually put some thought and intellectual property into their content.</span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The failures typically did not.</span></span></span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p>CanyonManhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14169560288579248658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-62456588160854653912009-04-06T17:00:00.000-07:002009-04-07T10:52:36.099-07:00Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) & Key Risk Indicators (KRIs)Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) are an interesting concept, or twist to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Instead of thinking of KPI measuring performance, think of a KPI as really just an indicator that the objective is at risk. They are really the same thing.<div><br /></div><div>If your objective is to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Maintain Salesforce Effectiveness</span>, a solid indicator might be revenue per sales rep. If our r<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">evenue per sales rep</span> is declining, it should be treated as a trigger for a broader discussion on the objective, not necessarily the KPI. At the same time, we will want to analyze a number of other performance indicators for a deeper, richer discussion.</div><div><br /></div><div>When we look at KRIs for example <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">employee turnover</span> is this not just a performance measure against the objective <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Retain Great Employees</span>? </div><div><br /></div><div>In the end though, we are just splitting hairs by calling something a KPI or KRI. It matters far more that we have the discussion about the objective(s), than trying to build seperate processes to measure subtle nuiances.</div>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-33881679848487106092009-04-02T09:45:00.001-07:002009-04-02T11:44:37.276-07:00The Continuous Improvement Meeting - CIMIncluding on this blog, much has been written about meeting management: how to run a more effective meeting, improving meeting outcomes, etc. All concepts in which I am in complete support. I've found, however, that it is very difficult to implement wholesale change into an organization's meeting culture. And there are several characteristic profiles of meeting culture within organizations.<br /><br />Meetings typically occur for the purpose of communicating information, yet most meetings I've witnessed over my career consistently end with no action or accountability to do something. So, what I'm going to suggest here is not a change in your existing meeting culture. Continue to hold the meetings that your organization routinely conducts, for whatever the purpose. But, if your organization is serious about driving operational performance improvement, you need to add a meeting to your schedule. Yes, that's right. I'm advocating yet another meeting. This meeting is specific in purpose. It never deviates its agenda. And it is a critical management tool for driving performance improvement.<br /><br /><br />The continuous improvement meeting or "CIM" has five objectives.<br /><br /><br />1. Review progress against KPIs<br />2. Identify barriers to performance<br />3. Share best practices<br />4. Develop action plans for next period<br />5. Recognize superior performance<br /><br />The CIM is 45 minutes in length, maximum. It is conducted at every level of the organization. This is critical to insure all levels of the operation are aligning their efforts with the strategy. Typically, the meeting should occur weekly at the front line to monthly and/or quarterly at the executive level.<br /><br /><br />The keys to successful implementation of the CIM are:<br /><br />• It is a separate, distinct meeting. Not part of another meeting agenda.<br />• 45 minutes maximum<br />• It is held at the same time & day every period<br />• It must be group meeting<br /><br /><br />One of the biggest gaps in operational performance management is the area of management effectiveness. We tend to focus on effectiveness and efficience of front line contributors. But how exactly does management improve its effectiveness at managing? Try implementing the Continuous Improvement Meeting into your management process and see how much more focus you create around the metrics that are important to your organization's strategy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-88103154152105387702009-03-26T05:23:00.001-07:002009-04-11T11:30:48.325-07:00Meeting Management & Agendas<ul><li>How much money do you spend annually on meetings?<br /></li><li>Do people show up on time, follow an agenda, and end the meetings on time?<br /></li><li>Do meetings regularly create and review actions?<br /></li></ul><div>Meetings need structure and process, yet most meetings happen because of momentum. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">"We always meet on Fridays as a team." </span> We meet to discuss and communicate. Yet this discussion is typically around individual status updates, and less about what needs to happen, or hurdles that need to be cleared.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Shouldn't every meeting have a well defined purpose to specifically create an action. Change "meet to review project status" to "meet to analyze project performance, understand risks, and make recommendations." Now we go from asking people to attend the meeting <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">TO</span></span> preparing the team for the meeting. Roles and tasks should be assigned and materials need to be reviewed prior to the meeting.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Here is a link to Seth <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Godin's</span> blog on the same subject - <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/03/getting-serious-about-your-meeting-problem.html">Getting Serious about your Meeting Problem</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-29679967493191656842009-03-24T04:41:00.000-07:002009-03-24T07:57:26.439-07:00Rewards - The "R" in continuous improvement<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">In continuing to explore a framework for driving sustainable continuous improvement in operational performance management, I'm taking this opportunity to outline the most critical, and often most difficult element of the Expectations-Capabilities-Rewards "ECR" model discussed in a previous entry.</span><br /><br /><br />There has been no shortage of press coverage recently about executive compensation. Even before the AIG bonus debacle of late, terms such as “performance pay’ and ‘retention bonuses’ have become a regular part of the business press vernacular. While we can all debate the ethical, moral and logical merits of these compensation practices, when an organization is implementing a performance management system to drive sustainable continuous improvement, the total reward system, not just compensation, is the most critical lever of change.<br /><br />However, unlike these currently accepted pay practices, particularly in the financial services industry, reward elements within an effective performance management system don’t just translate to paying people more. The crux of an effective reward system is the alignment of rewards, recognition and compensation to the strategic goals of the organization - paying employees for the desired behaviors.<br /><br />As example of a misalignment of rewards with corporate strategy; a personal experience. In a past role, I joined a $300mm public software company to launch a value-added services business unit. The CEO’s strategy was to transform the company from a hardware & software seller to a services-led solution provider; eventually generating +60% of revenue from services. The CEO was making significant investment throughout the organization in this transformation. However, there was institutional resistance to changing the sales compensation plan in order to drive sales people to focus more on selling these services. While corporate leadership was investing in service capacity, training sales people how to sell services and promoting this new value proposition in the press and to the investment community, sales people had no quota for selling services, received no quota relief and had no bonus kickers for including services in their software deals. The result? The strategy failed. Officially, the executive committee decided to refocus on software licenses, acquiring two other software firms two years later. But it was clear that the refusal to change the incentive comp plan contributed to this failure.<br /><br />While traditionally the most difficult element to evolve, in order for any change to sustain within an organization, the rewards and recognition system must align with the expectations and strategy in order to drive the desired behavior that results in improvement in the new KPIs.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-41528876373450731312009-03-17T13:41:00.000-07:002009-03-18T10:36:50.640-07:00Alignment beyond MetricsWhen evaluating improvements in operational performance management, many focus on insuring that the metrics, KPIs and measures are aligned with the corporate strategy. We want to exel in customer intimacy so one of our KPIs will be CSat scores. This is a valid starting point but what happens once the 'right' metrics are established? KPIs are indicators, goals, targets. How then does the orgainzation align itself to those metrics and move them in the right direction? <div><br /></div><div>A simple framework for consideration is the E-C-R model: Expectations, Capabilities & Rewards. Alignment needs to extend across all these components of the operating model. KPIs are expetations; this is what we state is important to the business and will measure our alignment with our strategy. In order to move those KPIs in the desired direction, the organizational capabilities need to be aligned to those goals. Everything from human capital skills, technology, plant & equipment, business processes need to be evaluated and, most likely, retooled. We can't implement CSat as our KPI and rely on the same call handling processes that leave customers' issues unresolved but optimize AHT. Finally, the most critical and most challenging component is the reward systems. From cash compensation to promotions, career pathing, and public recognition, the "R" will ultimately be the driver of change. If the company is in a mature market, with a KPIs of market share and customer profitability, then why is the sales comp plan still focused exclusively on new logo acquisition and bookings? </div><div><br /></div><div>Don't underestimate the change management required to implement an effective operational performance management system, aligning metrics to strategy. <div><br /></div><div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-84809302806394234432009-03-17T07:54:00.002-07:002009-03-17T10:40:36.676-07:00Continuous Improvement - 3 Acts at a TimeOne of the key items we seem to struggle with is creating a process for continued process improvement. We typically look for dramatic and immediate improvements and lack patience to see things through.<div><ul><li>When was the last time marketing sat down to specifically improve its top three marketing programs? <br /></li><li>When was the last time, sales management took the top three clients in each territory to lunch?<br /></li><li>When was the last time you promoted your three top suppliers?</li></ul></div><div>How do we create a mentality and culture of continuous action? Simple, don't think, just pick something and get it done this week. All too often we get stuck in a mentality of trying to figure how to improve everything at once, instead of tasking a bunch of good people with three things to do by the end of the week.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-60695753774568619962009-03-16T10:21:00.001-07:002009-03-16T14:28:53.281-07:00Hope...(Part 2)<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In following up to Sunday's post...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 22px; font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_MU7GJ2KRpM&refer=home"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Depression Fears Subside on Bernanke Remarks, Rally in Stocks</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (Bloomberg)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Always nice to heard it said officially. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-19858579970421420502009-03-15T07:19:00.000-07:002009-03-16T09:23:20.553-07:00Hope...In a Not-So-Brave New WorldThis week brought us a glimmer of good news...<div><br /></div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Citigroup's</span> CEO claimed they were profitable in the first 2 months of 2009, the Dow saw 4 positive days in a row, and Jon Stewart handed <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">CNBC's</span> Jim <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Cramer</span> (and financial investigative reporting in general) a stunning lecture on journalist responsibility. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is fitting after this long economic winter, that spring is slowing coming in starts and fits. In the midst of this good news, we see <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">AIG</span> (under new management) is still paying lavish bonuses citing "best and brightest retention" needs and Bernard <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Madoff</span> is heading to jail amidst controversy that he may be protecting something or someone.</div><div><br /></div><div>Like most things, the beginning of the end of a recession falls under the category of "I can't explain it, but I will know it when I see it." Some good news is a change in the trend and perhaps the indicator that the darkest days of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">winter</span> are behind us. For a while, the market's inability to fall below 8,000 was a hopeful sign though we knew it wouldn't hold with the waves of layoffs and the growing pool of the unemployed. Yet and perhaps most importantly...a sense of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">entrepreneurial</span> spirit is in the air.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Are you ready?</span></span></div><div><br /></div>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-65214698892504093682009-03-12T06:43:00.001-07:002009-03-16T13:45:44.319-07:00Becoming a Trusted AdvisorPart of every sales methodology is the phrase "become a trusted advisor." Yet we devote little time helping people become <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">advisors</span> to our clients, let alone trusted ones. Our sales methodologies are typically geared more towards a scorched earth policy, than a build for the long term approach. Sales people are rewarded for large, upfront contracts that help the company meet short term sales goals. And they are often punished for long sales cycles. Turning over sales reps then makes it more difficult for the next rep, as the client's first question is "how long will this one be around?"<br /><br />It is often entertaining to see how this manifests itself with clients. One can not ask (and certainly not beg - which was entertaining to witness), nor expect it. The right is earned over time.<br /><br />A few things to consider as you are developing your "Trusted Advisor" sales program:<br />1. Are your people intelligent and insightful about the market and their customers?<br />2. Can they talk about the customer's business without selling all the time?<br />3. Can they put the client's needs ahead of their own?<br />4. How well do they listen, and ask insightful questions?<br />5. Are they likable, and trustworthy?<br />6. Are your campaigns and people consistent, or opportunistic?<br /><br />There is a great deal that goes into a "Trusted Advisor" and the program, the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">people</span>, and the organization need to support long term customer value. To get there, you must has a passion for your client's goals.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-69365121162545823772009-03-05T13:29:00.001-08:002009-03-16T09:26:27.339-07:00Analytics & Actionable Information<div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I have worked on many projects where the outcome was "just provide us </span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">actionable information.</span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">" While this is always the goal, I find most people use this term quite loosely, as if it were merely an additional option. In reality this is quite difficult to create. Many things need to come together to create action, and it is far more than just information or a report.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To create effective actionable information, we need to integrate people, information, and tools. We also need to have the right skills at different times. All too often, the expectation is for IT to write a single report that will answer all questions. Yet, what typically happens is that report often just creates more questions as IT cannot predict all of the needs. All this has done is create more </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">activity</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> for IT and delayed action.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Let's look at this from more of a process point of view...how would it look:</span></span></span></p></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmolqh-mQkBRFSHQqeZ4CXVcdlPwup5MpGU2R3hgWqDMo7nn4ajTCo-taGKCIqSHv3OrUh-W_5gPamoTUCC1MqpFhRcx9K346Gyw2_BjKH6gwUyRNT-IQP_hZG8ylSKRnciIj-raY9rJo/s1600-h/AIH+Framework2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmolqh-mQkBRFSHQqeZ4CXVcdlPwup5MpGU2R3hgWqDMo7nn4ajTCo-taGKCIqSHv3OrUh-W_5gPamoTUCC1MqpFhRcx9K346Gyw2_BjKH6gwUyRNT-IQP_hZG8ylSKRnciIj-raY9rJo/s400/AIH+Framework2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309819100534526882" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">First of all, we have a tremendous amount of data. And it would be easy to argue way too much data, hence the need to create some layer of relevance. How often do we get lost looking for what we need, or recreate something because we don't understand the business rules of the data we find. All of this is wasted effort that ends up costing the business money and time.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We have the information we need, now we need a good analytical mind to review the data creating various analytical models or what-if scenarios. What typically happens here is a finance, or IT analyst runs a few numbers. This is probably OK for many instances, but the best options would be to both a mind of the business as well as a statistical curiosity (though at this stage we need more of a statistician). IT and Finance often lack both of these to some degree - as their primarily skill is data or fiscal governance.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Now we have some level of analytical information, but still have some work to do. In general the statistical mind tries to cram in too much detail and wants to discuss the process of discovery, instead of the finding. To transform analytical information into action, we need the business to present the finding in executive terms - the value created. The presentation is more than likely to include multiple reports, synthesized into a couple of charts. The next step is to foster a discussion of the recommendations and potential options. The discussion will focus on gathering feedback and coalescing them into an agreed upon plan. It is common here for people to not feel comfortable with the information and ask for additional information and analysis, but we need to fight the urge to delay and put the best foot forward. There will be times when the need for rework is great, but if the discussion included the right people and the facts then there should be enough to make a decision and move forward.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The risk is creating a culture of endless analysis.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><br /></p>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5580779670848853235.post-66841981504464573642009-02-12T08:01:00.001-08:002009-02-12T08:06:20.535-08:00Defining Operational Performance Management (OPM)<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;">OPM is part of a number of buzzwords within the industry that is often used, yet poorly defined. While it is part of a the Performance Management family (which is also overused, generally accepted, yet not well defined). For us to make the niche more credible it is important to have a generally accepted definition of what it means. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:Arial;font-size:48px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;">I have tried to frame OPM as a methodology, a framework, a process in which the focus is upon creating value with the customer in mind. Where Financial Performance Management strives to improve the budget development and budget management processes to enhance shareholder value, OPM takes us beyond the constraints of the financial mindset. We need to look at the processes and initiatives that drive customer value creation. Processes and initiatives like sales and marketing, operations, supply chain, pricing and discounting, etc. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;">It is clear these two legs (OPM & FPM) must work together, and one should not take priority at the expense of the other. All to often our budgetary process becomes our measure of success, even though it is a lagging indicator. Where OPM becomes particularly valuable is that if we are building customer value correctly, it leads to greater financial results. Are we better off to hit our budgets in a year when the market was wildly successful? If the market grew at 10%, yet one grows at their budgeted 8% - was management successful?</span></div>Michael Ensleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283939028324066818noreply@blogger.com1