An organisation’s systems often evolve over time without any particular plan or direction. Solutions may be old and outdated, implemented to address a pressing business issue, or were inherited from another businesses.

This can lead to:

• solutions that don’t support your strategy
• difficulties in finding up to date information to drive decisions
• systems which are incompatible with each other and can’t be integrated easily
• excessive IT costs
• areas of the business are either inadequately supported or served by multiple systems with overlapping functionality, leading to information inconsistency and a waste of resources
• over-dependence on key staff or external suppliers
• systems that have become too cumbersome and onerous to support

We’ll work with you to develop and implement a robust, cost effective, digital roadmap and strategy to drive your organisation forward – whether this is capturing more customers, improving efficiency, or disrupting your marketplace.

Our aim is to deliver long term sustainable value whilst keeping you safe from cyber security threats.

This is about problem solving, idea generation or solution approaches to drive value for you.

A typical Digital Roadmap & Strategy will take 7 – 14 days (Depending upon your objectives and business size)

Many organisations simply don’t need a senior IT Leader full time, but do need the benefit of their experience and expertise. We become your organisations most senior IT team member, fulfilling the role of IT Director or Chief Information Officer.

A typical client requires 2 – 8 days per month (Depending on the level of change and business size)

Our IT Leader will take responsibility for:

• IT Governance. How robust and secure are your technology and processes?
• IT Strategy. Do you have the right IT Strategy in place to allow you to achieve your businesses goals and objectives? We’ll review, develop and publish IT Roadmaps to help your business achieve its goals, short or long term.
• Technology Review. Are your solutions robust, with the right functionality and availability for yoiru needs?
• Supplier Management & Negotiation. Are your suppliers delivering the service you are paying for? Are there other suppliers who’ll better meet your needs?
• Cost Optimisation. We’ll own your IT budget and ensure your technology spend is the right fit for your business and goals.
• Risk Management. We’ll assess your IT risks and ensure that significant risks are mitigated.
• Delivery Management. We’ll oversee projects to ensure the safe and efficient deployment of new, or replacement, applications and infrastructure.
• Cyber Security Management. We’ll assess your vulnerability to cyber attack and recommend measures to reduce the risk.

A casual approach to system selection can give rise to a number of common problems. Some of these arise during the selection process (introducing additional cost and delay) whilst others, more seriously, only come to light during implementation, often leading to a failure to achieve the project’s original objectives. These problems can include:

• inability to clearly differentiate between the various systems being considered
• failure to identify potentially relevant suppliers
• inability to motivate suppliers to work with you during the selection phase
• inability of the chosen software to deal with the unique requirements of your business
• significant unexpected cost for bespoke developments and/or tedious work-arounds to address functional shortcomings
• overrun of budget and timescales
• failure to be implemented at all

If you are currently contemplating a major investment then we can help you by:

• helping you articulate the nature of your specific business needs in way that has meaning both internally and to external suppliers
• identify the key features of your business that will differentiate the potential software solutions and set the agenda for the system evaluation
• identify a list of potential candidate solutions for evaluation and lead you through the evaluation process
• carrying our due diligence on your preferred supplier both technically and commercially
• negotiate the contract with the supplier to ensure all aspects of the services to be supplied, the price, how (and when) the system is to be delivered, warranties, remedies and many other legal and commercial terms.

A typical Solution Selection & Negotiation will take 10 – 20 days.

If you are involved in an IT project with any of the following characteristics, then we can help:

• the implementation stalling with a partial implementation covering only a limited sub-set of the envisaged scope
• continual delays in the project
• lack of supplier interest and motivation
• general disappointment with the capability of the system versus expectations
• users disillusioned with the system after all the effort they put into helping to implement it
• training and implementation support resources found to be insufficient leading to processing difficulties and visibility of the failures to outside agencies
• major operational problems after go-live caused by poor preparation and resulting in poor customer service, loss of income or major cost penalties
• performance problems affecting the users and the business as a whole

We start by reviewing all the project paperwork, including plans, project mandates, specifications, proposals, contracts etc and meeting members of your project team, any suppliers and other parties involved in the project. From this review we use our broad knowledge and experience to determine the true status of the project, the options open to you and make recommendations as to how the project could progress to a successful outcome.

If your project can’t be rescued, we’ll help you evaluate what went wrong and, if appropriate, manage the resolution of the dispute with the vendors.

A typical Project Rescue will take 5 – 10 days.

Whether you are buying or selling a business there is always a need to be diligent where technology is involved.

If you are selling a business you may benefit from a Pre-Sale Review. In a Pre-Sale Review we assess, on behalf of the potential seller, your current technology to evaluate whether they are likely to represent an obstacle in the sale process. We will make recommendations as to how cost-effective improvements can be made so that your systems are presented in their best light.

If you are considering buying a business or investing in a business you may benefit from a Pre-Investment Review. In such reviews we assess, on behalf of the investor, a business’s technology in order to evaluate the overall 'health' of the systems and highlight any implications for the future. The information from the review may provide you with valuable bargaining material for your negotiations with the seller but, in any event, you will have a clear understanding of what exactly you are buying into.

If you have already invested in a company, and are not sure about the integrity of the information systems you have acquired, you may benefit from a Post Investment Review.

Our reviews typically encompass some or all of the following:

• an assessment of the ‘health’ of the various systems suppliers, their position in the marketplace, track record, etc (including financial due diligence enquiries if needed)
• an assessment of the currency, suitability and applicability of the systems used to support the business as it stands now and their ability to support future business plans (if available)
• the relevance and suitability of the technical underpinnings of the system (server and desktop hardware, operating system, database, communications systems)
• the availability of suitable support for all aspects of the system, both internally and externally
• the ability of the systems to integrate / co-exist with other information systems
• an assessment of any critical dependencies which exist including potential solutions and/or work-arounds which we can identify
• an assessment as to the position of the systems in their life cycle and an indication of the likely life of the systems, identifying any significant constraints to the life of the system and potential costs
• an assessment of the contractual position, right to use, right to assign, contractual time bombs, etc
• a review of the potential future running costs of the system including identifying potential major investments which can be foreseen and areas where cost could be reduced

Due Diligence typically takes 2 – 14 days (Depending upon your objectives and business size)