| |
Resistance is Futile
Over the past month the chief technology officer
(CTO) of a Fortune 1000 company rejected a proposed
performance support solution to a business problem
out-of-hand and sight-unseen, claiming confidently
that the solution would "add a layer of
complexity to my environment." What is so
remarkable about the statement is that the business
case presented for the solution projected a net
revenue increase of $18million in the first year and
more subsequently with the performance support
intervention. The calculations included all
required IT support, maintenance, desktop and
infrastructure requirements, ongoing help desk
support, SME support and ongoing support from the
business process owner. The solution focused on a
set of tools used by key salespeople in the
organization that were designed to expedite business
transactions. Measurements showed conclusively that
some minor performance support strategies would
substantially improve the process and, in
particular, increase the rate of business closure.
The proposed performance support solution in this
case used technology and techniques from among
several of the latest and greatest tools that have
been recognized over the past several years by
EPSScentral's annual PCD Awards (see www.epsscentral.info/knowledgebase/awardssamples).
I could have understood (but not condoned) this
CTO's response ten years ago, when service-oriented
architecture, web services and message agents either
did not exist or were disruptive, innovative and
bleeding-edge. But that is no longer the case.
Such tools facilitate rapid development of
performance-centered solutions to problem
environments without having to deal with native
source code, without disturbing fragile and clunky
old platforms - and they typically foster rapid
solution development, maintenance and evolution.
Typical measurements show decreases in development
and maintenance efforts by up to 85%. More
importantly, key metrics for users/performers show
decreases in time-to-competency of up to 90%,
reductions in training by over 80% and general
decreases in total-cost-of-ownership of over 80%.
And, like the example above demonstrates, it is not
all about savings. It is about net revenue
increases in millions of dollars. If, for example,
a group of sales people can deliver and turn around
proposals so that business is closed more rapidly at
the same or greater close rate, then it is time to
stand up and take notice. Did we see a net increase
of $18Million, considering all performance-support
costs and without squandering the investment in the
initial system? Sounds like a good business
decision to me.
In this and many other cases, those immersed in
legitimate quagmires of technology challenges fail
to see the clear business value and regard
performance support solutions as only one more piece
of technology in an already challenging mix. If you
haven't noticed, CTOs have been chewed up and spit
out at an extremely rapid rate since the dotcom
bust. They have generally become very conservative,
protective and territorial about their domains. The
real tragedy, however, is when other chief
executives hand the business keys over to IT in
ignorance of the root causes.
I am reminded of Geoffrey Moore's book Crossing the
Chasm - the classic "high-tech-product marketing
101" text that talks about innovation in terms of
early adopters, early majority, late majority and so
forth. The concern of the IT or business executive
who has internalized Moore's thesis is that
performance support solutions and the technologies
that enable them are the stuff of "early adopters"
and thus represent much risk on may levels. They
think, for example, that there is not a large
installed base, that the underlying technologies are
untested on an enterprise scale, and that it is only
a few lovers of high-tech toys in their
organizations who are their champions. I submit
that this point of view with respect to most classes
of performance support development tools today is no
longer valid.
Take a look at BriteSoft (www.britesoftcorp.com)
and Above All Software (www.aboveallsoftware.com)
in the category of SOA (service oriented
architecture); consider Xegy (www.xegy.com),
Instancy (www.instancy.com)
and ProCarta (www.procarta.com)
for developing knowledge ecosystems with
performance-centered interfaces. We have seen
nothing short of a revolution in the tools for
developing software simulations and documentation
through capture technology such that they are now
commodities, including Firefly (www.knowledgeplanet.com),
Captivate (www.macromedia.com),
Epiplex SimDoc (www.epiance.com),
Datango (www.datango.com)
and more. And specialty tools for enabling
performance in web-based applications that foster
rapid development of integrated but non-intrusive
(with respect to source code) coaches, such as
ActiveGuide (www.rocketools.com)
and 2Work!EPSS (www.thinksmartps.com)
have become commonplace.
In virtually every application that we have seen of
such technologies there is no sense of increased
complexity in the IT environment. To be sure, the
knee-jerk is just that, but reality is quite a
different matter. Those responsible for large-scale
enterprise environments with all of their challenges
are relieved by how such performance support tools
ease their burdens around meeting business
requirements. Increased IT complexity? Hardly.
The design bases of these tools ensure that this is
not the case, at the very least.
So look around, IT executives. There is a brave new
world of products and techniques that address the
most compelling business needs in the context of
today's technology challenges. They are supported by
significant case studies. They are in production
today. These tools are not just for early adopters
and risk takers. They are mainstream and
responsive, to the extent that some are now
commodities. You can push back all you want,
ignoring the fact that performance support brings
order to chaos, as you protect your conventional,
conservative thinking and fiefdoms.
But in end, we are confident that you will discover
that resistance is futile.
Regards,
Gary Dickelman
|
EPSScentral Announces Recipients of 2007 PCD Awards
