Ensys Consulting

Project Manager’s Checklist

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Elizabeth

There are many reasons why projects fail and you should be aware of the most common types. At Ensys Consulting, we ensure that there are appropriate systems in place to ensure the best result through efficient and effective IT Project Management. These systems are not limited to the typical project governance (Risk Management, Project Planning, Project Reporting, etc…), but also a fundamental set of logical rules.

The checklist below represents a Medium Enterprise scale project best practices that Ensys Consulting endorses.

Supporting the CEO	Are your Steering Committee members and Sponsor experienced and understanding of their roles? Are you trying to get executives to understand IT or project language, or do you communicate in their language? Is your business case targeting IT deliverables or business case outcomes? Can you articulate the business value your project will deliver? Is your Steering Committee reporting focused on efficiency measures or does it also include progress towards value delivery
Supporting the CFO	Can you differentiate between the business outcomes scope and your project scope? What non-financial data is your project building or relying on to assess performance? Are your project roles and responsibilities comprehensive and clear? Are the project’s risks being managed or minimised/avoided? Do your project plans include activities to leverage the delivered asset?
Supporting the CIO & Business Unit Heads	Do you have data to assess your organisation’s capability to successfully execute your project? Do you know your project’s strategic contribution ranking? Does your team have the requisite skills? Aptitudes? Attitudes? (e.g. SFIA Training, Product Knowledge and Experience) Is your project driven by ‘business change’ or ‘technology implementation’? Have you planned what is required to sustain the business change? Are you targeting clear, specific business outcomes or a set of objectives?

Following this strategy could require professional and experienced project management consultancy. We recommend finding an experienced vendor neutral project management consultancy for your important projects.

For more information or advice about successful IT project management, contact us at info@ensys.com.au or www.ensys.com.au

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SFIA Framework v5 released for comment

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Elizabeth

A draft version of the SFIA Framework V5 has been released for comment.

Peter Leather has kindly prepared a summary of the major changes – I have included his comments below:

“All of the GENERIC RESPONSIBILITIES have been updated: mainly re-wording and minor clarification. Level 5 has the most changes.

Eight new skills have been added and 1 removed which (I think) gives a new total of 97 skills.
The 8 new skills for SFIAv5:
#1 Data management
#2 Business architecture
#3 Learning & development assessment
#4 Animation development
#5 Service acceptance
#6 Data centre estate management
#7 IT Contract management
#8 Community management

One skill has been deleted / replaced
# Information policy formation (content merged into Information governance and Information management)

Forty five (45) new SKILL LEVELS have been added and 3 skill levels have been removed – which I think takes the total in SFIA v5 to 342.
# Information governance (was Corporate governance of IT) – level 5

# Information analysis – level 7, level 3

# Information content publishing – level 1

# Technical specialism – level 4 added ,

# Innovation – level 5

# Data management – new skill with 3 levels (4, 5 & 6)

# Business risk management – level 4

# Business Architecture – new skill with 2 levels (5 & 6)

# Stakeholder relationship management – levels 7 & 4

# Learning and development management – levels 7 & 4

# Learning and development assessment – new skill with 4 levels (3,4,5 & 6)

# Animation development– new skill with 4 levels (3,4,5 & 6)

# Information content authoring – level 1

# Testing– level 1

# Service acceptance – new skill with 3 levels (4, 5 & 6)

# Change management – level 2

# Problem management – level 3

# Data centre estate management– new skill with 4 levels (3,4,5 & 6)

# Procurement– levels 7 & 4

# Supplier relationship management – level 2

# IT Contract Management – new skill with 3 levels (4, 5 & 6)

# Client services management – levels 3 & 4

# Professional development – level 4

# Community management - new skill with 1 level (5)

.
Three (3) skill levels have been removed:
# Technical specialism –level 7

# Information policy formation – levels 5 & 6

Overall changes in skill number by level:

Level 7 +3 skill levels; Level 6 +7 skill levels; Level 5 +8 skill levels; Level 4 +13 skill levels; Level 3 +6 skill levels; level 2 +2 skill levels; level 1 +3 skill levels.

As mentioned previously – it is quite a painstaking task to get this information from the web site so apologies in advance to the review team if I have not transcribed this 100% correctly! .

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Ensys Launches SFIAassess

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Elizabeth

Ensys is very pleased to announce the launch of SFIAassess a web-based platform for undertaking SFIA assessments. SFIAassess utilised a proven platform used in over 80 countries around the world. It provides a streamlined system for allowing staff to undertake their self-assessments against the SFIA Framework, also allowing them to submit assessments to their Manager for review.

Businesses which use SFIAasses will gain valuable insights into the skills of their workforce and allow them to identify areas of skill weakness, allowing improved training and development of staff. SFIAassess also assists with improved resource allocation and succession planning.

If you would like to find out more about SFIAassess, contact us at info@ensys.com.au

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Getting More from Your IT Systems

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Ekaterina

In the current business environment many CIOs experience the pressure of tight budgets and a need for fast change delivery at the same time. For this reason, it is very important to get true returns on IT investments.

Effective IT project management helps to reveal hidden project costs and optimise the benefits and value the project delivers. Having experienced IT project managers is a key requirement for business, to ensure that projects and business strategy are both aligned.

A common mistake made with a managed IT project, is that the delivery is focused just on the key deliverables – creating or changing the businesses technical products. An experienced IT consultant will understand and remain committed to the purpose of the project – why it has been commenced and what benefits are supposed to be realised to the organisation overall. Proper project initiation and planning will ensure the project objective is aligned to the business goals, strategy and finance. This experienced approach will reduce costs by commencing only those projects which benefit organisation goals directly.

There are three key factors every IT consultant should consider to ensure effective project realisation:

To prioritize projects: place first only those projects which deliverables have a direct benefit and are aligned to the organisational strategy.
To deliver projects: deploying mature skills and proven processes and tools to maximize the quality of project delivery.
Measure the results: monitor and control the project performance, costs, scope, time and transition of project deliverables into organization benefits.

Ensys Delivering Exceptional Service Again!

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Ekaterina

Two of our accredited consultants, Keith Butcher and David Mitchell have recently returned from a trip to Cleveland, Ohio and New York working with clients at Lorain County Community College and Eaton Corporation. Interest in SFIA framework is growing in the USA with both business and the education sector recognising the benefits SFIA can provide.

Ensys Consulting Exhibiting at CeBIT Again!

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Ekaterina

Over 30,000 business visitors will flock to CeBIT in May 2011 to learn from, meet and do business with over 600 solution providers – ranging from technology giants to innovative start-ups from both the Asia-Pacific region and the around the world.

Ensys Consulting

The Ensys consulting booth is located in the Business Process Management Section at booth N33

Where we will be showcasing our SFIA Technology and Assessment Platform and you will be able to speak directly to our experienced friendly SFIA Accredited Consultants, on this special International framework.

Skills Framework for the Information Age is changing the IT Industry both in Australia and overseas. It is being adopted by many businesses in Australia and SFIA has been made mandatory for all Queensland and Commonwealth Government departments.

SFIA enables organizations to gain clear visibility on the true skills of their most valuable asset ̶ their resources.

We look forward to seeing you at the show!

Posted in consulting | Tagged Business project management, cebit, Ensys Consulting, information technology consulting, it project management, Project management, SFIA, SFIA Technology, SFIA | Skills Framework | Information Technology Skills | Skills Assessment | IT Skills, technology consultants | Comments Off

Challenges in ERP Implementation: Ensys Approach

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Ekaterina

ERP (Enterprise Resource Management) is a complex system, integrating all business activities such as financial, administrative, supply chain management, human resource, sales and marketing, inventory management, procurement, customer relationship management and others. Until recent times, ERP systems were used primarily by large organisations. The current trend is shifting the spotlight to SME’s, as the major part of organisations are now using complex integrated ERP software, with only minor customisations being required. Integration of businesses with e-commerce brings additional challenges to ERP systems implementation.

Currently, there is a great number of ERP software for the various business needs and the first challenge a CIO encounters is to identify the organisations business needs and communicate them clearly to the consultant. Ensys approach to this stage is that the user is ultimate judge of the system performance and our professionals ensure that the system chosen will correspond to the business specific needs and set-up budget.

After mutual consent about needs, goals and objectives of the system are reached, the Ensys consultant gives recommendations about the best suitable ERP software and develops the implementation project. Ensys consultants are able to develop a project within the timeframe and allocated budget, meeting the highest level requirements.

When implementing the ERP software, Ensys consultants recommend a pre-test stage to see the performance of a new system running in parallel to the old system; however, certain other tasks should be performed sequentially – from start to finish. The Ensys professional consultant ensures that all processes work correctly and meet the set-up goals and objectives.

The next step is the implementation of a new system, which is considered as the most complicated stage. Here you have to consider the data transfer in the right format, provide relevant training for staff and communicate changes properly. Ensys consultants provide supervision of project implementation and handle in a professional manner all issues that may arise.

The last step is to evaluate the performance and assess ROI. Ensys consultants provide after-implementation consultations on the ongoing basis to ensure high performance of the new ERP system.

SFIA Training Courses in Australia!

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Ekaterina

Ensys Consulting provides a range of public training courses on SFIA Framework in May and June in major Australian capitals. To register contact Ensys office, there are just a few places left!

SFIA Training Courses in May:

17 May: “Understanding SFIA” in Sydney

19 May: “Understanding SFIA” in Canberra

25 May: “Understanding SFIA” in Perth

SFIA Training courses in June:

7 June: “Understanding SFIA” in Melbourne

17 June: “Understanding SFIA” in Adelaide

22 June: “Understanding SFIA” in Sydney

24 June: “Understanding SFIA” in Sydney

New Office Numbers

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Ekaterina

Ensys consulting has new Office Numbers: Phone: 07 3352 7880 Fax: 07 3352 7885. Effective Wednesday 6 April 2011. Give us a call to learn more about our services!

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Aligning IT & Business goals: Ensys Approach

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Ekaterina

Technology plays a vital role in business strategic planning. However, there is always a gap between IT and business strategies, which companies are trying to bridge. The results of the survey conducted by Economist Intelligence Unit, London (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economist_Intelligence_Unit) in 2008 show that improving IT responsiveness to new business requirements was the top objective for 57% of companies. One of the problems occurring in the IT marketplace today is the difference between what the technology promises and what it actually delivers.

The solution should be cost-effective and maximize the benefits of the technology possibilities. It is not an easy task and the success is hidden in the experience and professionalism of the staff. Not all enterprises can afford the cost of keeping full-time highly qualified specialist; however, an alternative solution can be to engage third party professional IT consultants. With many years consulting experience, Ensys has developed the authentic approach to bridge the gap. Generally speaking, it consists of the following stages:

Assessment of the existing technology and its suitability for the future business requirements.
Cost and benefit analysis of moving to the new technology and its careful selection.
Developing an implementation plan with setting up realistic specific goals and ensuring it will match your business capabilities.
Support and evaluation of technology implementation. At this stage the staff training can be provided.
Ongoing monitoring of technology and its meeting set-up goals.

Therefore, professional consultancy can assist to maximize benefits in IT project management not only in the short-term, but in a long term run, which considerably increases the company performance and improves IT risk management operations.

Sources: ZDNet http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gardner/survey-says-aligning-it-operations-with-business-goals-increases-agility-cuts-costs/2714

TechRepublick http://www.techrepublic.com/article/map-out-it-goals-to-better-align-it-with-business/1057773

Posted in consulting | Tagged information technology consulting, it consultants, it project management, it risk management, technology consultants | Comments Off