Welcome to the launch edition of BUSINESSBOOST — the first in a series of business briefings from Blue Stone Business Solutions, a specialist and independent information technology consultancy business.

In this and future issues we will be addressing what we see as the fundamental building blocks of company Information Systems:

• IS strategy — why you need one, and why it has to be robust
• process design — how analysing and re-designing business processes can reap huge dividends
• system acquisition — how to minimise risk and maximise value-for-money
• contract negotiation — ensuring you are a smart purchaser, and that you get a great ‘deal’
• project management — key factors to consider for the successful management of IT implementations
• IS operations review — could your IS operations withstand a dispassionate, in-depth review?

or maybe one of our specialist services is what is needed?

• project rescue/troubleshooting — what to do when a project goes off the rails, how to get it back on-track
• expert witness — experienced help is at hand if you are considering recourse to law
• due diligence — an in-depth look under-the-bonnet at systems, suppliers, merger/acquisition targets etc
• virtual IT director — want top quality IT management without a rewards package to match? this is how

In any event, I look forward to collaborating with you.

In this issue we consider the concept of establishing a successful IS strategy.

At Blue Stone our primary focus is on working closely with our clients in order to help them be cost-effective buyers and efficient users of the most appropriate information systems available in the marketplace today. By doing so, we aim to help them to achieve a significant competitive edge and to position themselves for the future. The start of this process for many of our clients has been an IS strategy review.

Any IS strategy should clearly encapsulate how your information systems provisions meet both the immediate and future needs of the business. But we have seen a general shift of emphasis over recent months, and have witnessed companies reducing their business planning cycle from 5-year planning, through 3-year planning, to developing robust 12-month plans. In a rapidly-changing and uncertain business climate, with downward pressure on costs, it is imperative that you have a clear vision of how every pound is being spent in order to maximise the commercial return for the business. So it is hardly surprising that these days we find ourselves increasingly being asked to focus not only on the strategic direction that clients’ systems should take, but on targeting short-term ‘quick wins’.

But irrespective of whether your attention is on the long-term or the immediate future, as a totally independent business, Blue Stone’s objective in working alongside your organisation to develop or refine your IS strategy would always be either to maximise the benefit of the Information Systems you have today, to ensure that you have Information Systems that equip you for the future, or to reduce your costs; quite often all three! So, if you recognise any of the following scenarios in your business, you may well benefit from an IS strategy review:

• you have systems which are incompatible with each other, often with an inconsistent look-and-feel and which are incapable of being integrated easily
• you foresee unacceptable risks associated with an over-dependence on key staff and/or weak external suppliers
• some areas of your business may be inadequately supported while others may be served by two or more systems with overlapping functionality, leading to confusion and waste of resources
• you struggle to produce timely management information
• your systems simply have not kept pace with today’s business requirements and have become disproportionally expensive
• your competitors are using their IT capabilities as a competitive advantage to win business from you

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Reflecting on the many IS strategy projects we have conducted over the past 12 months, the common thread is that within the first five days of the project, we have been able to identify significant areas for improvement and/or cost reduction, since our approach and methodologies are proven to deliver. We are so confident of our ability to review the position and come up with practical, cost-effective solutions that we are willing to undertake an initial exercise for you at 50% of our normal rates†. Note that this is not some hit-and-run marketing strategy, since we tend to work with all of our clients over the long haul, fostering long-term relationships at the expense of a ‘fast buck’. But don’t take our word for it, talk to one of our many satisfied clients, a number of whom will be able to tell you about their dramatic improvements in systems capability or significantly reduced IT costs as a result of our involvement. Immediately below we have described one client’s views of the benefits they gained from such an exercise.

†isn’t there always some fine print! This offer is limited to the first 10 days of services provided and is only available for the initial project with a new client.

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Distribution company needed an IS problem ‘sorted’

The company was an industry-leading UK parcel carrier, processing over 30,000 packages per day. But while they were great at sorting distribution issues, they hit a brick wall when it came to solving their own IT problems. They were operating a bespoke distribution planning system based on an obsolete hardware platform. The infrastructure was running out of capacity and the original developers of the system had long since disappeared; nevertheless the company was absolutely dependent upon the system for its day-to-day operations. Management were understandably concerned that:

• the system was increasingly difficult to maintain
• it was difficult to develop because nobody really understood the programs
• if development were to be attempted there was the danger of knock-on effects elsewhere in the system
• if the system broke down, the survival of the company would be threatened; but
• any replacement solution would probably be unaffordable

It would have been easy simply to have thrown money at the problem…

Before we came on the scene, the company’s management had investigated various candidate solutions — but without success. It was time to bring in specialist help. Blue Stone was therefore asked to identify a viable IS strategy that met their systems objectives while at the same time overcoming their concerns and avoiding the inherent risks they faced, all at an affordable cost.

All of this represented a significant challenge. Our first task was to determine and prioritise the key issues facing the company. This revealed a number of specific functional problems, as well as the difficulty in developing the existing programs and the age and capacity of the infrastructure. Next, we came up with, and subsequently evaluated, twelve different strategies capable of addressing to one degree or another the issues that we had identified. These ranged from a simple hardware upgrade to the adoption of new technology, software conversion, the development of a new bespoke system and standard packaged software applications.

We assessed how well each option addressed the key issues, together with the likely risks, costs and benefits. We also considered inter-dependent organisational and process issues and how any transition could be achieved smoothly and with minimum risk. In particular, we found that options that had previously been considered by the company did not adequately address the real issues. As part of our service we were also able dispassionately to assess a number of potential solution suppliers whilst allowing the company’s IT staff to remain focused on their ‘day job’ of looking after their ageing systems.

Our ‘blue print’ for the future

Drawing on our wealth of experience we derived a solution to a difficult problem that was practical and cost-effective. The company’s MD at the time, Ian Pickford, commented “What made Blue Stone’s work so valuable was their ability to ‘think the unthinkable’ — identifying options that we hadn’t considered, while at the same time winning the trust of senior company executives and working effectively with IT staff who could have felt threatened by the process. Blue Stone presented a clear evaluation of the options, both in terms of cost and how they would address our problems, and this allowed us to make our decision and move forward with a good deal of confidence.”

This case study exemplifies the sort of problem our clients call upon us to solve, and is what we’re good at. If your IS strategy is not all it could be, lacks robustness or you're worried that it is either too costly or insufficiently future-proof, we can undoubtedly ‘sort’ your IS problem too.

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Next month’s newsletter will discuss the whole issue of business process and process improvement and will include a relevant case study. Then, over the next six months or so, we will be discussing each element in the total life-cycle of your business systems infrastructure. As we step through these fundamental components, I am confident you will recognise at what point in this cycle your organisation currently sits. As a result, we will look forward to the opportunity of working with you to help achieve identified business benefits and cost-effective solutions. Together, we will make sure that all IT projects are delivered to time and to budget.

If you feel you could benefit from an initial discussion with Blue Stone now, then please let me know, either by phone, e-mail or by clicking here. I look forward to hearing from you.

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