Remodeling the IT Strategy
The Challenge
Our client has seen rapid growth in revenue and size across multiple markets. This created significant demand for IT related services including large applications, data-intensive modeling, and access to drawings and changes at the job sites.
Being a mid-size business, the size of the IT team was very small, but their challenges were at the same level as any other large organization. This resulted in IT spending most of its resources on delivery and trying to keep the lights on.
CLIENT PROFILE
EMPLOYEES: <5,000
INDUSTRY: Construction
HEADQUARTERS: Texas
With no formalized processes in place, IT struggled with the execution and delivery of key projects. A large project to upgrade their Oracle JD Edwards World ERP system to EnterpriseOne 9.1 encountered significant issues, including multiple delays and weak change management. Being a critical part of their operations, these challenges exacerbated the problems across the board. In addition, a number of crippling IT incidents including drawn-out email outages, data center shutdowns, and other events led the client to ask the question…
Isn’t there a better way to do IT?
The Process
The client asked Smartbridge to perform a current state assessment and recommend a forward-looking IT strategy that will create stability and help secure a leadership role in their industry.
The Smartbridge team developed a fit-for-purpose questionnaire and scheduled interviews of key functional and executive leadership. However, from the first meeting, it was clear that they faced overwhelming challenges with regards to processes, systems, change, and satisfaction despite heroic efforts from their IT department. This required expanding the scope of interviews across departments and operations including foremen and supervisors in the field, warehouse operations, project management, and estimation as well as support groups like HR, Payroll, Finance, and Distribution.
These interviews helped capture issues, demands, needs, and challenges faced by the client across the board. Smartbridge organized, collated, and summarized this input into 24 groups that provided a representational distribution of these demands. The further analysis helped reveal three themes:
Across three focus areas:
This exercise not only helped clarify the situation, but it also provided a platform and a focus on which the IT strategy can be built, approved, and delivered.
The client’s management team was an integral part of the above process and was intrigued by the outcome. They asked Smartbridge to conduct a strategy workshop with their top leadership to not only provide them with an overview but to get their input about the company’s future strategy. The workshop proved very fruitful and paved the way for the acceptance of the recommended IT strategy.
The Outcome
The client has a 3-year strategy and a detailed roadmap that reflects the demands, requirements, and urgency as defined by the functional groups and leaders across the company. A clear direction has been articulated to adopt best practice processes, champion change management, and focus on customer service. It outlines the move to cloud to reduce the server sprawl, adoption of mobility to enable their field force, and an integrative architecture to capture the trove of information from data analytics.
“This IT strategy has clearly identified the need to develop and publish a clear operational strategy as well. It has allowed me to see technology in a different light where it is more than software and infrastructure, it is about enabling business functions to deliver a high-quality product for our customers.
I would recommend Smartbridge to other construction companies who struggle with the same issues and challenges and want to focus on customer satisfaction.”
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