IT & Management Consulting

At first glance we might think that this is an issue that involves only the IT area, but it does not. Recent changes in digital channels have had major impacts, and sometimes disruptive consequences for all industries.

So much so, that some organizations had but to make dramatic changes in their business models. ("Digital Clients", "Digital Providers", "Digital Partners", etc.).

Therefore, emerging technologies “have to do their job” in the pursuit of higher business profits.

Digital transformation is advisable when:

• There are initiatives of on-line sales development
• Customer experience needs improvement
• Competitors or the economic sector has widely introduced digitalization
• Your customers or potential customers belong to the "Y" generation
• Marketing strategy needs improvement
• You need to exploit your information from different angles, beyond the traditional reports offered by your transactional systems
• Your company needs to reduce costs, increase profits, improve the quality of products or services, and raise control levels.
• Your company needs to introduce geographical flexibility
• New and more collaborative business models are been redesigned
• There are problems when coping with risks associated to recently implemented

Most companies want to reduce costs due to the regional situation, reduced profitability, and more demanding compliance issues, among others. This specific situation often repeats over time, at intermittent intervals of time: cost slashing periods, followed by others when defined measures cannot be supported. Eventually, it is a cycle which can seriously interfere with a company’s growth.

Costs may either “add” or “destroy” value, therefore, understanding cost structure is pivotal to make a fast, radical, and sustainable cost reduction in business areas, and the IT environment.

Although reducing IT costs may look potentially interesting, it needs a careful systemic approach, because IT functions directly affect a business produce quality.

Cost Reduction is advisable when:

• Profits have decreased
• Competition has lower costs
• Costs keep growing despite the efforts made to reduce them
• A process, an area, or a business, has poor profitability
• Profit or costs of comparable processes or areas are quite different
• Poor Cost Management
• IT cost management is not clear, and its costs are too high
• The IT function cost structure is unknown
• Cost structure and business strategy are not aligned
• Customers argue for the cost of services and/or products
• Regulatory changes made an impact on cost structure

Organizations which take the challenge of streamlining performance, improve profitability, resources, control, and transparency.

The whole of the company must be involved: strategy, processes, organizational structure, technological infrastructure, personnel, and some specific corporate cultural areas, as well. We design and implement technological solutions to cater for any business models. Our methodologies and work approaches are based on "good practices” and follow their corresponding standards. We design innovative solutions, and support our clients until their aims are achieved and they are fully satisfied.

Value Generation improvement is advisable when:

• The company needs to grow and increase earnings
• The sector’s " rules of the game" have changed either by "new comers" or regulations
• Competition is tougher
• Regaining/widening market share
• The organization does not Implement a defined strategy
• Results do not meet expectations after merger, or after one of its business unit has been created/eliminated
• Operational risks are hampering growth
• There is no certainty whether the IT investment is leveraging the business in the right extent
• A company does not know the value IT generates for a business
• IT’s alignment with the business is not evaluated
• Innovation is needed, but it is not clear how or how much
•  

Nowadays, it takes a lot of time and effort to have satisfied customers. Organizations should ensure that their mid and long-term growth include chatbots, electronic payments, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IOT) and Big Data.

The return gained from satisfied and loyal customers, who are eager to share their good experiences, has an extremely positive impact on competitiveness and profitability. Therefore, it is of essence to meet and know our customers. Innovation, quality, convenience, transparency, trust, privacy, personalized and "human" bonds are some of the characteristics that customers value today.

Although GRC is not new to organizations, it has become crucial due to several factors, such as increasing operational complexity, more competitive sectors, ethical and financial scandals, increased regulations, and modern technologies. A company must have an integral approach to GRC’s implementation.

Although organizations have usually resorted to GRC just to mitigate problems, today's leading organizations recognize that it is a particularly valuable tool to help them manage day-to-day businesses, improve their capabilities, and future results; for instance, reduce costs, improve profitability, and predict events.

Even if organizations recognize that their technological infrastructure is crucial and sometimes indispensable to achieving their business objectives, most of them are not able to ensure its security. This may be due to poor ability to make decisions that involve their IT environment, or lack of awareness. Additionally, the rapid incorporation of emerging technologies often widens the gap between existing and necessary control structures.

Moreover, while risks that can jeopardize information security rapidly raise and daily transform their nature, corporate security strategies and "defensive" measures are usually runners-up. In short, organizations are ready to neutralize known threats that have already occurred, while attackers are planning how to take advantage of their future vulnerabilities.

A company or organization conduct changes and improvements by means of projects. However, companies are not always satisfied with their own project management ability, in terms of project election and priorities. Consequently, it is impossible to formally conduct profit management, not to mention achieving the aim desired.

Counting on a robust project portfolio management, to ensure optimal allocation of an organization's resources, leads to the achievement of a company’s strategic objectives. “Management” here includes identifying, selecting, prioritizing, authorizing, managing and controlling a portfolio’s projects and programs, with the certainty that an organization is doing "the right job, in the right way".

Project and Portfolio Management improvement is advisable when:

• Resources are not fully exploited in a Projects’ Portfolio
• Projects yield low quality products
• Few projects have been successful
• Projects are not implemented in the best chronological order to maximize the expected benefits
• There is not a collaborative environment throughout the organization for project development, such as pre-defined common language and roles
• There is no follow-up of project’s benefits to evaluate expected vs. attained goals
• The extent of a strategy’s implementation is not assessed
• There is no early identification of potential problems and risks
• Overall, an organization is not satisfied with their own project management skills

Our services include:

• Project and portfolio management improvement
• Profit management improvement
• Case studies: defining and using methodologies for recording the necessary elements, and implementation support.
• Project Management Office (PMO) Design and implementation
• PMO or co-execution outsourcing services
• Project assurance and/or audit
• Project, profit, and portfolio management training
• Alignment of portfolios and projects’ risk management with operational corporate risk management
• Projects and portfolios’ risk analysis

Interrelated topics:

• Strategic planning (Business/IT)
• Value Generation
• Cost Reduction