CIO's restructuring to survive

The pressures on CIO's are becoming more and more intense.
This is no more obvious than in the big 'nationalised' banks where CIO's who have traditionally had immense investment budgets will have to change their whole modus operandi to a more 'maintain the status quo' approach. However this is not just restricted to banks, many CIO's who csi10 speak to on a regular basis are having to adopt a more 'business as usual', reduce cost approach and forego their hereto fore substantial investment budgets.
Thus, CIO's are finding that to accomodate this new set of drivers they are having to change the department structures and talent mix to ensure they can deliver.
Whilst the CIO will have to fight hard to manitain his place at the executive table, his direct reports should be looking to how they will be affected and make (very significant) changes to their targets, their teams, their expectations........
So where will the new emphasis be?
We have seen the following significant changes already percolating through IT departments:-

Investment / Programmes Dept: Reducing number and seniority of PM's to accommodate smaller, faster ROI projects.
Risk / Compliance Dept: Increasing the number of experienced personnel to adequately deliver and communicate to the organisation.
Support Dept: Looking for ways to cut the cost and increase service levels; investigating or reviewing outsourcing.
Infrastructure: Maximise return on assets, review possible and existing outsource contracts
Education: Maximise use of online / self-help education, reduce permanent headcount

The balance has changed and the CIO faces a dilemma; how do you retain the talent to ensure continued service and take advantage when the downturn reverses, whilst reducing costs and delivering to the new targets.
What significant organisational changes have you in mind?
What is your experience; how have you managed this?

FIRST UK GOLD after the Olympics

In the summer, GB did really well in winning and unprecedented number of golds in the Olympics (19 in all).
Well one more GOLD has been won recently that is worth note in the world of SAP.

SABIC UK have just been presented with the first ever WestTrax GOLD Award for an SAP system to be won in the UK.
What does this mean?
It means that SABIC UK, IT Manager, PAUL ETTRIDGE can now PROVE beyond doubt that his department are adding significant value to the SABIC UK Business.
Winning a GOLD Award (rather than Silver or Bronze) means that the SAP system in SABIC UK has set new Best Measured Values for several of the key criteria measured in the four areas of Cost, Quality, Productivity and Performance.

Bottom-Line: Paul and his team acn PROVE that they run an excellent SAP system that is low cost, high quality and provides great system performance boosting business productivity.

You should be able to PROVE to your business executive the same thing....... see http://www.csi10.co.uk/Solutions/Westtrax/Westtrax.html for more about WestTrax.

SAP Enterprise Support - showing first cracks

SAP has doggedly stuck to its plan to improve the support of their clients in an ever increasingly complex technological world. Their announcement of Enterprise Support and the subsequent 5% increase in maintenance costs has gone down like a lead balloon.
But to date, SAP has stuck to its guns......... the change is coming, staged, gradual but still inevitable ...... OR IS IT??

A recent article identifies the first chinks in the armour!
German and Austrian customers seem to have the law on their side and SAP has given way to allowing them to retain their current support contracts.
A landslide starts with a few loose rocks - the few loose rocks are moving - will it develop into a landslide?
Take a look at the article and make-up your own mind.
SAP Support Contract Concessions

SAP GRC - too technically challenging for some...

A UK based mid-sized SAP customer needed to be able to prove that the security of its systems was of the highest order - this was a business imperative - not a nice to have.
This mid-sized (by SAP standards) company decided that the SAP GRC was the most applicable solution after a trawl of the market and began the implementation 14month ago.
It was initially defined as a 4-5 month programme.
3 re-installs and several major escalations later they are happy to now prove to the business that 100,000's of risk and conflicts are now being managed down to only 1000's.
Why did this happen? Several reasons really:-
- the GRC system is technically very complex and bleeding-edge
- the newness of the solution meant that support was generally less-than-helpful
- SAP resources to help (even in emergency) were very few and far between
- a mid-sized SAP customer does not have the depth and breadth of technical resources to support such a complex implementation.
As the GRC programme comes to a close, the customer can show measurable value-add, and real credit goes to the tenacity and dogged determination of the customer programme team, but the pain of the journey will leave deep scars that will take a longtime to heal.

BOTTOMLINE: Think twice about SAP GRC if you have anything less than a complete and comprehensive bleeding-edge technology team.

Will mid-market SAP survive?

Recent information gathered from a few of my many contacts in the mid-market of SAP UK seem to imply that there is a reducing amount of work in the mid-market. Does this mean that SAP are not making their numbers in the mid-market – is the grand scheme of taking the mid-market not working.
Recent information points to several of the current SAP VAR's pulling out as they miss winning any level of sustainable business. And even more surprising, one of the mid-market support companies is now managed by the receiver.
What will SAP do when they see their channel to market reduce and their support functions that assist that channel disappear.
Watch the SAP mid-market, it could be disappearing before your eyes....

....and more consolidations

I know I have been harping in about consolidation, but it would seem that if you want to sell your SAP consulting business now is the time...... we are looking for SAP consulting businesses for no less than three SAP focussed businesses. It would seem that there is a race to fill the gap left by Axon, Xansa and Diagonal.
If you would even consider selling your business then please get in touch as we will do our best to match you with the right partner.
A great time to capitalise on all your hard work ....... maybe before it gets really tough out there.

Continuing consolidation of SAP service companies...

As the battle for the Axon rages, the continuing consolidation of the SAP market seems destined to continue.
I have talked to 2 of the small but fast growing SAP consultancies in the UK who are looking to make acquisitions in the near future, So who will fill the gap that Axon leaves, who will be the next mid-sized SAP SI which gives the SAP customers a realistic alternative to the big guys.
Currently no-one fills that spot but maybe you know someone who is destined to do just that...... I would be really interested in hearing your ideas; just post them here!