IT Efficiency review - Delivering Improvements
As any organisation in the superannuation industry knows, Information Technology constitutes a significant proportion of the annual budget. New hardware, maintenance, running costs, upgrades, software licences, etc. are all a necessary part of maintaining the business and providing services to clients. With such a large investment, all businesses need to ensure their IT function is operating at its peak.
So when our client wanted to conduct an IT efficiency review, they relied on us to deliver a thorough, independent report and comprehensive Roadmap to achieve their Target Model.
To achieve this objective, it was essential to ensure the approach would drive a comprehensive review that focussed on the systems infrastructure, the support required by and benefits delivered to the Business.
IQ executed a five stage approach to deliver the IT Efficiency Review:
Establishment Phase
Reviews such as this require a collaborative approach especially since all areas of an organisation are involved. The client’s situation meant it was imperative that all Executives were engaged up front to ensure the agreement across the board on purpose, scope, responsibilities and process was discussed and understood by all.
The Client Sponsor emphasised the importance of each Managers’ active participation in the Review and this approach helped establish an excellent base on which IQ was able to progress to the Discovery Phase.
Discovery Phase - “As Is” State - IT Application Inventory and Interactions
The scope of the IT Efficiency Review necessitated two Discovery Phases: first to create an inventory of actual applications in use, the second to look at delivery and governance.
IQ ensured the Discovery Phase was a very interactive process with discussions held with each IT Manager. IQ’s Consultants bring relevant industry experience and a pragmatic approach – and that helped build trust and rapport, as well as understanding as to why things operated in certain ways.
The data gathered enabled IQ to begin mapping functional flows and touch points between applications. This highlighted potential redundant, inefficient or ineffective IT applications and/or processes.
The delivery of a comprehensive IT Application Inventory and Application Interaction Diagrams at the end of this stage and the ratification by stakeholders paved the way for the next Phase.
Discovery Phase - “As Is” State - IT Service Delivery and Governance
Attention now shifted to the overall delivery capability of IT as well as the controls and governance in place.
A comprehensive review of both current and past IT projects was conducted, current strategic projects assessed to analyse areas identified as “hotspots” requiring immediate attention within IT.
IQ engaged Business and IT Managers to understand their respective viewpoints on IT delivery. Principal areas of concern were business needs being understood and met, effective communication channels being available and a robust issue management process being in place. At completion of this Phase, a clear “As Is” model emerged and after a comparison to industry best practice, a fit for purpose “To Be” model was developed.
Analysis and Assessment Phase – “To Be” Model
IQ undertook further in-depth investigations into the areas of risk, finance and financial projections.
The Roadmap to the “To Be” model was developed. The Roadmap had to be pragmatic and relevant as well as having a high regard for the realities of maintaining business operations.
Deliverables Phase – Final Report including Roadmap
Within the context of the strategy, the Roadmap detailed animmediately executable strategy.
IQ’s Report has equipped the client with the information required to implement the recommended solutions to begin realising the desired benefits of quality and richness of services, greater efficiencies and effectiveness as well as a sustainable, long term reduction in operating costs.