When any software application is to be implemented within an organisation it should have been selected to meet the strategy, goals and business processes of the organisation.  Ascari's formal methodology for capturing this information is used to ensure software is implemented for the right reasons and prioritised to address the most important issues first.

Even if your organisation is already running a software package that covers many business processes there could be gaps in its functionality.  Other software applications within the organisation could be used to 'plug' those gaps but are those applications really working well, fully integrated and satisfying the business requirements in an efficent manner?

All too often software is implemented for the following reasons:

"The I.T. guys said it would do the job"

 

"The salesman said it would work for our business"

 

"We needed something that would force the organisation to work together"

 

"That's what other people use"

Driven from the top - matching the organisations requirements

Before any software is considered for anything other than a small project Ascari recommend working through the methodology we use developed by a leading University in the UK.  A software tool is used called ETCH (Electronic Tool for Consensus and Homing-in) to faciliitate the process.

The simple, proven but highly effective methodology is split into three steps.

Phase 1 - [ Consensus ]

Establishing a Consensus in the management team, as to the aims and the priorities of the change programme

This is undertaken as a facilitation exercise in, typically, three or four ½ day workshops to be attended by designated members of the management team.  A software package is used to help drive the discussions and to achieve desired consensus on the important issues. The following are the main components of the Consensus exercise:

• Appreciation of the company’s main strategic aims, and analysis of the most crucial business issues facing the company
• Determination of the key business processes most important in having the most influence on the critical success factors for the company
• A brainstorming exercise to decide upon the areas that would be most suited to improvement tools, with maximum positive impact on the business.

Phase 2 - Homing-In

Homing-in to the organisational requirements and identifying possible solutions.

This is conducted through in depth interviews with each company department, as follows:

• Study of top level process and information flow across the organisation
• Determination of the key business processes and problem areas to be improved
• Identification of scattered systems currently used in the organisation
• Identification of procedural, organisational and cultural issues in the company that will have a bearing on the enterprise-wide improvements and systems implementation
• Development of operational requirements for integrated system specification
• Recommendation of an organisational-wide improvement programme

Phase 3 - Implementation 

Implementation of systems and new processes and their embedding in the organisation so that they are established for the long term.

The Result