Getting IT right

So, here's the thing: it's cold and wet outside; Christmas advertising is already taking over; and, perhaps the last thing anyone feels like doing is planning an IT strategy for 2014 and beyond. But, while the financial year end matters more to most than its calendar equivalent, we all know the former is too frenetic. So, yes, it makes sense to make time and give it due consideration. The devil is in the detail, so all of us should ask ourselves three questions. First, what does our IT landscape look like now and how should it evolve? Secondly, what does the IT industry have to offer? And thirdly, how might we prioritise and justify proposed investments in IT? Points one and three are very much down to you, but it's worth considering one approach from Deloitte Consulting director John Lawson. He makes the point that, traditionally, a business case definition is used upfront to gain project approval, but is then rarely revisited. If you want to see real improvements, he says, your business case should "include a clear articulation of value to the business". At first glance, that's not wildly different to accepted practice. However, Deloitte's 'value case' approach specifically links elements of an IT project to business outcomes (revenue uplift, cost reduction, working capital optimisation, etc) in a way that can be understood by both business and IT. Most important, it also attaches KPIs. "The KPIs can be base-lined before the project, but also monitored post go-live in a dashboard," explains Lawson. "Some may be standard financial metrics, but others can be less obvious, such as customer retention in CRM... Non-performant KPIs can then be directly linked to a specific deficiency in the IT solution that can then be remediated either by re-configuration or user training." That said, let's move on to the central issue of what's out there and why it may warrant your attention. And in alpha order only, our top tips concern: back-up and disaster recovery; cloud computing; e-business; mobile computing; security systems, and system upgrades. 1 Back-up and disaster recovery According to a recent survey by disaster recovery and data migration specialist Paragon Software, only 76% of SMEs back up data automatically, 20% do not conduct daily backups and 43% of the latter say that's because it's not an efficient use of their time. Understandable, maybe, but not excusable. According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, 70% of small businesses that experience a major data loss go out of business within a year. Paragon suggests moving to its Hard Disk Manager 12 Business, but there are plenty of tools and hosted data centre services out there. Neil Stephenson, CEO at IT services firm Onyx, suggests some simple soul searching. "All businesses should have procedures in place in the event that a workplace is inaccessible. The ability to relocate staff to an additional site or having procedures in place to allow staff to work securely from home is key." And he adds: "Off-site data storage and hosting, whether in a data centre or in the cloud, is also an essential element of any business continuity plan... Quality providers will also monitor data 24/7 and provide leading firewalls to offer greatest security." 2 Cloud computing While there are now plenty of private cloud solutions, not least from the ERP vendors – all offering well established benefits around hosted IT and support, with defined SLAs – public cloud is looking increasingly attractive, too. Check out Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Rackspace, for example – although the former is by far the biggest. Chris Blessington, marketing director at IT performance management specialist ExtraHop, makes the point that these are now world-class and world-scale enterprise IT environments. "Some of the largest businesses now offload work this way, because [cloud firms] can provide services, including processing power and database services, cheaper than they can." Mainstream ERP software vendors are embracing the approach, most favouring Windows Azure – with the latest being IFS. IFS chief technology officer Dan Matthews says the value lies in improving flexibility and governance while also cutting costs within companies' risk envelopes. "It's not just about moving generic mail servers to the cloud, but also more critical applications, including back-up and recovery." 3 e-business If you're still exchanging purchase orders, material releases and other transaction documents with suppliers by fax or email, you're losing out on significant savings and efficiencies. Although, until recently, automating messaging with smaller suppliers was fraught with difficulties, today, technologies such as Web EDI, as well as managed services make the switch painless and inexpensive. Bill Metallo, vice president with integration specialist Seeburger, suggests that not only does electronically enabling your suppliers deliver rapid ROI, but it also improves visibility for all parties that, in turn, can improve supply chain performance. Other benefits range from faster exchange of business-critical information to better ERP data quality – as well as fewer data processing staff. 4 Mobile computing Mobility – and not just in terms of the usual field service or sales, but also production – is gaining ground. Dan Matthews, IFS chief technology officer, tells of one manufacturer in the packaging sector that is bringing IT capabilities to shopfloor operatives who are equipped with "a bunch of iPods". And the value: supervisors can see alarm lists, who's in the building and how the lines are running without having to go to a display screen. "Mobilising businesses is giving good results," states Matthews. "Since we released IFS Applications 8 in May last year, 25% of customers have implemented at least one of our mobile solutions. If you haven't started to go mobile, then you need to look at that." 5 Security systems Although hacking is assumed to be the biggest source of data breaches, in fact that vector only accounts for 22%. A massive 62% is down to lost devices or inadvertent misuse by insiders. Thus, according to Seeburger executive vice president Rohit Khanna, all too often companies focus on outside threats (subscribing to products and services that detect and block evolving attacks) but lead themselves wide open to internal dangers. For him, the key today is tackling three aspects: BYOD (bring your own device); consumer file sharing technologies; and strategies for sharing and protecting data. "By effectively managing each of these areas, businesses will not only protect themselves ... but also open up to a new level of productivity that embraces ... today's tech-savvy workforce," he asserts. Khanna suggests looking, for example, at implementing MFT (managed file transfer, which provides for peer-to-peer, system-to-system, user-to-system and desktop-to-mobile file transfers) in place of FTP. Why? For its ability to manage data sharing, while minimising risk by centrally controlling and tracking both impromptu and scheduled data transfers. 6 System upgrades You've heard it all before, perhaps, but it bears repeating: manufacturers that do not regularly re-evaluate their IT roadmaps in light of technical developments risk missing business opportunities and efficiencies. Moreover, failure to implement regular upgrades on grounds of cutting costs could force a much more expensive catch-up project later. It's also all about ensuring that your IT is a business enabler, not holding you back – and that money isn't being wasted just keeping the lights on. And that's not only about staying on top of software releases, but also the IT infrastructure. On the software side, though, the big deal may well be consolidation, optimisation and (if you have multiple instances) standardisation of, in particular, your ERP landscape. Easier said than done, but it does improve business agility.