The following cases are generic descriptions of actual cases we worked on. No names are being mentioned, to adhere to the strictest confidentiality policies towards my clients.

Case Study #1 – Standardization of IT after a merger

When organizations merge or are involved in a big acquisition, very little attention is paid initially to integrating the supporting information technology. This prohibits people within the new organization from starting to work together. As an undesired effect, your talented people leave.

I got called when there seemed to be no easy way out in a “we” against “them” battle. Usually the obvious is overlooked: standardization is not about what to choose, but that a choice is made. The reason for the oversight was that all participants felt that past choices were good, so there seemed no reason to revisit these choices.

We provided clear policies, guidelines, and standards for the common IT environment, and programs for merging the IT systems found new inspiration. As a result of this new strategy, the merged organization worked with common tooling within a year. The users went back to doing tasks they were supposed to do instead of arguing about IT issues.

Case Study #2 – Removing workarounds to increase reliability

Organizations often rely on the centralized IT effort of the various subdivisions. When an organization faces disjointed and incompatible information systems, the lack of an appropriate centralized platform prevents them from continuing effectively and reliably. Workarounds are usually in place to prevent the ship from sinking.

Removing workarounds can’t be done without a major redesign. As a redesign can be overwhelming, an alternative to massive replacement can be more appropriate.

We provided clear policies, guidelines and standards for the IT environment, and the design of the new IT systems found a good base from which to achieve success. And the solid design lead to the implementation of a reliable system.

When organizations find that a new IT environment operates more reliably, business can focus again on becoming more profitable. In our experience, many organizations have reduced the operating cost of their IT infrastructure by 50%.

Case Study #3 – Test to expose and increase the level of reliability

Many organizations rely on IT infrastructure to operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week. While most organizations are willing to conduct tests, sometimes the time available in the test window is too short. Sometimes the risk of failure during a test is considered too high. Not testing because of the belief that someone works with a verified design or solution is like gambling.

Testing the IT infrastructure is something users must do together with the IT department. Leaving this up to the IT people is asking for trouble when real disasters happen. A well-thought-out test strategy and a successful implementation will document the risk to the organization. The purpose of testing isn’t to show who is to blame, but to raise awareness. The key is to encourage any outcome of a test, the idea being that the test was conducted. Using tools to manage the test process creates structure. It also brings great relief to those who need to plan and execute the testing.

As a result of testing, organizations can find the weakest links in their processes. An informed decision by the executives can now be made to address the issue. A better solution isn’t always spending more on technology. Test outcomes provide valuable input into a recovery plan. In the meantime, reliability increases. There is a natural tendency during testing to fix small issues that affected reliability in the past.