Managing the Shift from Transformation to BAU
Many leaders undertake complex digital transformation projects without considering the full scope of long-term operating requirements. Managed application services help solve this challenge.
Picture this scenario: you’ve finally convinced the business to invest in that new analytics solution that is going to transform the way you plan and make decisions across the enterprise. It’s a big project with the associated capital costs, but it’s going to pay big dividends.
Fast forward 12 months, and everything is going great – for the most part. While the solution has been fully deployed and is already delivering some of the expected ROI, there’s a small (or not so small) problem. And it has to do with people – specifically, your IT people.
While the new system has been eagerly adopted across the organisation – thanks to your careful work to focus on the people and processes associated with the change, and not just the technology – there’s one thing you didn’t think about. That is, the increased workload for your IT team, who have found themselves managing the back-end administration and support tasks for the new tool.
Of course, it wouldn’t be an onerous task if you were overseeing a Google-sized team of technical resources, but you’re not. Like most leaders, you’re running your team mean and lean.
Of those few people you have, some are starting to grumble. Others are getting so bogged down in various BAU tasks on the team’s to-do list, that you’re starting to wonder if they’ll ever have a chance to get back to the various innovation projects you’d like to get up-and-running. The situation becomes even more dire if you’re grappling with a Franken-system.
Now you find yourself faced with a different set of questions and challenges, which is eating into your time and headspace as the team’s leader:
- How do you take some of the routine tasks off your team, so they can focus on work that’s going to transform the business?
- Do you have the budget to hire in and train new staff?
- Do you even have the bandwidth to deal with this?
If only you’d thought of this earlier in the project, particularly when you were pleading the case for funding and resources …
Planning early for the long-term
Sadly, the situation we’ve described above isn’t uncommon. Despite their best intentions, so many leaders still throw themselves valiantly into digital transformation projects, without giving the appropriate thought to how the change is going to affect the people who have to maintain the system once it’s up and running.
Or they think about it, but not until the project is well advanced. It’s hard work (not to mention a terrible look) when you’re back asking for more funding when you’re about to hit the go-live button.
The best time in your project to plan for the long-term operational requirements is always early on. In fact, we recommend factoring the budget for ongoing application management into the business case.
Some partners will offer ongoing managed application services to ensure the long-term success of the project. It’s worthwhile having a discussion with your prospective partners during the selection process to find out how they will be able to support the day-to-day management of the new system, once it’s up and running, to understand some of the budgeting considerations for your business case.
Managed application services
We like to compare it to building your dream house. Once you’ve invested your time and money into building it, you’re going to want to enjoy it. It makes sense to get help with some of the routine tasks to ensure the home remains in its best condition.
In housekeeping terms, you might get regular services from a gardener, or a cleaner, or a handyman. In the world of enterprise data solutions, ongoing managed application services take away some of the day-to-day headaches of user queries and issue resolution, password resets and other routine administration.
Some of the benefits of engaging dedicated resources to manage your new application include:
Benefit realisation
If you’ve gone through the transformation, you want your people to take advantage of the transformation. The right partner will remove the lower value work and bring in a layer of technical oversight, to ensure you’re realising the intended benefits.
Longer-term cost benefits
Even though you will be adding an operating expense to the business case, in general there is the opportunity for long-term cost benefits – particularly when compared to the potential need to hire and train new staff down the track, or bring in contract resources to deal with the increased workload.
User experience and adoption
Any application support plan should have a strong focus on continuity of service and uptime. This reduces greatly the risks associated with performance and improves user experience, which is essential to system adoption and success.
Flexibility
When you bring in the right partner, you can work together to find the mix of support that works for your team. Perhaps you have a team member who enjoys some of the basic housekeeping tasks and wants to keep those in their mix (hey, you never know).
In the end, it’s all about the right people doing the right jobs for the right outcomes – no one can ask for more than that.
We are enablers of change and transformation in Supply Chain, Information Management, Financial Planning & Analytics, Management Consulting, Project Management, and Managed Application Services. Contact us to find out more about how we work with your teams or call 1300 841 048.
