IDC: Hitting the Moving Target of Operational Excellence

mo W H I T E P AP E R c.c di.w H i t t i n g t h e M o v i n g T a r g e t o f O p e r a t i o n a l E x c e l l e n c e : ww I d e n t i f y i n g a n d O b t a i n i n g t h e I n f o r m a t i o n N e e d e d f o r 51 C o n t i n u e d S u c c e s s 04.5 Sponsored by: SAP 3 9.80 Raymond Boggs 5.F May 2007 0028.27 I N T R O D U C T I O N 8.805 These are challenging times for firms that have grown to be larger than small .P businesses but aren't yet large or Fortune 1000 businesses. Getting access to the AS right information has never been more important for CIOs who craft and implement IT U 1 strategy or for senior operating executives who provide strategic direction and are 071 responsible for a firm's financial success. But with data more readily available than 0 A ever, the key questions are: What do we need to know? How do we go about getting M , the information we need? mahgni The changing competitive environment places a premium on efficiency, and mar companies that might once have done just fine with legacy approaches to measuring F t their processes and performance are finding life increasingly difficult. The rise of eert technology use has complicated, not simplified development of effective processes S ne and measurement. We now have the ability to examine performance in so many ways ep and deliver that information through so many different (though sometimes S 5 : incompatible) platforms that it is hard to know where to begin. sretrau Of course, internal assessments are only the first step in identifying information qda needs. Customer, supplier, and government constituencies are demanding higher eH levels of performance. Given the sharper competitive environment domestically and lab internationally, the external need for improving information access can be even more olG compelling than pressures from within a company.
This white paper presents IDC's framework for implementing operational excellence (op ex) and helps the reader move toward an effective op ex implementation while avoiding potential pitfalls. Three critical steps — internal assessment, competitive benchmarking, and resource prioritization and acquisition — are described to support development and refinement of successful op ex practices.
C H A N G I N G M I D M A R K E T P E R C E P T I O N S O F T E C H N O L O G Y
In many respects, the most successful midmarket firms are actually somewhat dissatisfied with aspects of basic business operations, especially their ability to identify and obtain critical information. They know that they can do better and that they must do better if they hope to thrive in the future. These firms regularly look at technology to help improve performance by delivering the information necessary to refine effective strategies and identify where and how performance can be improved.
IDC has found that certain technology attitudes and philosophies are associated with competitive success among midmarket firms. While investments in IT resources can often be linked to effective operational results, the attitudes rather than the dollar amount spent set the stage for success. These attitudes can be directly tied to information management practices that work, which, of course, raises the next question: How can companies best nurture the attitudes that are associated with IT and information management effectiveness? C r i t i c a l A t t i t u d e O n e : A d v a n c e d T e c h n o l o g y I s a n I m p o r t a n t C o m p e t i t i v e T o o l
Medium-sized businesses are very comfortable with the idea that advanced technology can serve as a competitive tool, but faster-growing firms are even more likely to embrace this view, as Table 1 indicates. The customers and suppliers that midmarket firms work with have become catalysts for this kind of thinking. Not only are they measuring your performance against firms similar to your own — your most immediate and obvious competitors — but they are assessing your performance against the best practices delivered by major global corporations.
This new competitive perspective, where you are evaluated against the performance of firms that may not even be in ... [download for more]