Ian Saunders wrote:
>Your list seems to miss out or give insufficient weight to
>
>1. The business need for the change in the first place
Looking at the list in retrospect, I can see how you would draw that
conclusion. What I showed in the list was part of a technology change
process. There are a couple of things that I recommend happen before
change projects start. The first is that the organization take on an
integrated IT planning process which aligns technology expenditure to
business outcomes.
The second is that the organization become capable at systems thinking to
investigate the nature of business issues before running off with a
recommendation to buy the latest and greatest thing. In a couple of
cases, we've even simulated dynamics to get a sense of the cost of a
problem before thinking about solutions. Application of systems thinking
techniques with clients has meant that a lot of alternatives to new
software have been found that have more leverage in solving the manifest
problem. I can't recommend this enough, and unfortunately, so few
organizations understand their business problems before racing off to
technology solutions.
>2. The impact that the software change/addition will have on the whole
>business.
The technology planning process mentioned above provides an integrated
picture of the impact of new technology opportunities. It also makes sure
the organization prioritizes changes based on overall strategic outcome.
>3. What explicit changes will be required in organisation and people terms
>for it to work successfully?
The posting was very short and didn't cover implementation steps. This is
a question to be addressed in implementation planning, which is completed
before a solution is proposed for approval. Conversations on the topic,
however, start right back in the researching stage, which includes
explicit conversations with affected parties and change needs.
It is also important to understand that most of my current clients
generate most of their technology change opportunities from front-line
people. Some of those people serve on change teams doing evaluation and
implementation work.
>4. What additional changes may be required to business processes to
>accompany the IT changes?
See comments on above point. I'm surprised you also didn't ask about
impact on IT operations when a new system comes in. There are technical
support people whose procedures and practices have to change too. We
teach organizations tools to rapidly document work practices. Part of
what happens in a change process is that these are updated early to
reflect the impact of the new system.
>Your list, which I have no issue with, appeared to miss these out and to
>that end reminded me of IT changes which often (from my experience and all
>the research) disappoint, in terms of return on investment.
ROI on IT is a serious issue. For me, a good part of why this continues
to happen is that the organization doesn't invest the time to understand
its problems and identify leveraged options. A problem is seen and a
solutions gets scoped out and applied to the presenting problem.
It's funny how little systems thinking sometimes goes on in an
organization's work in information systems.
>I am cautious in raising these issues because I sense, in the tone of your
>message, an intuitive concern for the people issues. SO maybe you believe
>or know that they are included. I would like to see them made much more
>explicit.
I hope this explanation has helped. I appreciate your inquiry. I didn't
want to drop a 40 page methodology document on the group and felt that
writing a short summary that generated more conversation would be better.
In looking at your reply, I'm convinced this was the right approach.
>I believe that we have a long way to go to get these issues firmly on the
>table with clients understanding their importance and then committing
>time, effort, energy and money to them.
Actually, my clients are all too aware of their poor ROI on IT. They just
seem to get stuck in blame about it. I wish more of them would take a
systems view about their systems investments. The challenge in raising it
is that I am starting to present to them the truth that they don't try to
understand their business as well as they say they do. This can be
difficult for some to consider.
With metta,
Jason
--"Jason Smith" <jsmith@quantumsolutions.on.ca>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>