Information andCommunicationsTechnology (ICT)

Strategy Consulting

Consulting

End-to-end ICT consulting services Looking to effectively model your business processes using ICT? You need consulting services that do not focus solely on the applications themselves, but also take your processes and industry-specific imperatives into account.

In the business world, nothing stands still for long. And companies must constantly reinvent themselves if they are to keep pace – they need to regularly review and upgrade their processes, and model them efficiently within the ICT landscape. Studies have time and again identified the key to success: highly standardized, reliable solutions that strengthen competitiveness, and make a tangible contribution to business success. Selecting the right ICT strategy is no easy task, but it is essential for safeguarding the long-term viability of your business; falling behind is not an option.

Expertise in strategy, organization and technology

Industry experts with international experience and a comprehensive skillets, spanning in strategy, organization and technology, develop a made-to-measure plan of action and ICT model for your business. These specialists understand your real-world needs and industry-specific challenges – and can draw on many years’ working in the ICT space and countless successful projects.

KCS develops a business-centric, end-to-end ICT strategy aligned with your goals, which can leveraged to create more concrete designs for the application landscape and a service-oriented environment. What’s more, you gain an in-depth insight into what exactly you are aiming for, and how you stand to benefit. So you have the information you need to make informed decisions on strategy and individual goals – helping you make the most of your opportunities. Our consultants will work hand-in-glove with you to draw up a road-map including prioritized work packages, and provide effective support for its implementation.

Strategic Planning for Business and Information Technology

Providing you people who can talk technology in one meeting and business in another. So you can get someone who understands your business to tell the technology people what to do and how to do it.

Develop a Clear Strategy for Your Technology Service and Support OperationWe help industry leading service and support operations set their strategic goals, improve operational efficiency and drive world class levels of performance, while improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Our proven strategic planning methods leverage input from key decision makers within theorganization, interviews with individual contributors and discussions with key customers to develop the strategic plan and align organizational objectives for maximum business results. In addition, we will align the strategy with customer service industry standards and best practices to ensure your success.Our consultants are experts at helping your organization manage the rapid change and complexities inherent to technology service operations. They have spent their careers running service and support operations and solving the complex problems that challenge the industry.

Support Strategy Development We can help you create acomprehensive strategic plan, KPIsand goals to lead your organization tothe next level of performance. The planwill provide a three to five yearroadmap to guide your organizationaldevelopment and help eliminate thechaos that can result from poorplanning.

We use our proven planning processesto collect input from executives,individual contributors and other keystakeholders to ensure the plan isaligned with corporate objectives. Thecustomer service strategic plan willallow you to prepare for and implementthe strategies and tactics necessary to achieve your organizational goals and objectives.

Our strategic planning process will take into consideration a number of critical factors associated with the service business including:

• Market conditions that impact growth and service demand• The state of the organization, performance gaps and areas for improvement• Service level targets necessary to meet customer satisfaction goals• Resource requirements to meet projected service demand• Staff training and development initiatives• A review of the Service offering portfolio• Service tools and systems to enhance efficiency and productivity• The financial plan for the organization• And more…

Our ApproachOur consultants will facilitate meetings, conduct research, identify requirements and gatherthe necessary data to develop the strategic plan for the service operation. We also create the planning documents and provide an executive presentation to communicate the strategy to senior management and the staff.

Organizational DesignWe can help you design or redesign your service and support organization for maximum efficiency. We will evaluate the current organizational structure, interview key managementpersonnel and determine if the current functional structure is aligned to meet your future strategic objectives.

Our ApproachOur consultants will conduct a high level assessment and provide a report outlining our recommendations for restructuring the organization. We will also provide an implementation plan that will help you:

• Streamline the Organization Structure• Define Span of Control and Accountability• Develop Measurable Management Objectives• Create Key Performance Indicators and Scorecards• Implement Incentive Compensation and Reward Plans• Assist in Developing Management Position Descriptions• Assist in Defining Management Skills and Training Requirements

In conjunction with the organizational re-alignment, processes and operating procedures are examined to determine if they are enabling the organization to deliver the most efficient service at the right level of quality to customers. Service Program DesignWe can help you design an effective set of value added Service Offerings and Programs tomeet your clients needs and generate revenues for the company. Gone are the days of theone-size-fits-all service program. Companies must understand the service requirements important to their customers and a set of programs that deliver real value.Our consultants can help segment your client base to better understand their unique service requirements. Segmentation will help determine customer requirements based on size, market segment, industry and other factors that will allow you to tailor your new service offerings and programs directly to the needs of each segment. In addition, we will evaluate your current delivery capability, identify gaps and make recommendations to ensure you are fully prepared to deliver the new offerings effectively.

Our ApproachWe will examine the fundamental service requirements important to your customers and help you design and implement a set of offerings and programs to meet their needs. We will examine response and resolution commitments, delivery requirements, value added components and the economics associated with delivering the offerings, based on your market segment. Our approach includes a number of steps including:

• Develop customer segmentation strategies for the design of new service offerings• Interview customers from each segment to validate their service requirements• Assess the capability of the organization to deliver the new service offerings• Identify gaps in delivery capabilities and make recommendations to close them• Design new service programs with marketing involvement• Create pricing models for the new programs and offerings• Help develop the service infrastructure to deliver new service programs• Assist in developing and delivering sales training• Assist in launching the new service programs• Monitor client acceptance and satisfaction• Review service revenue growth and costs

We will deliver a comprehensive analysis and customer segmentation strategy, along with a proposed set of service offerings and programs. In addition, we will provide an assessment of delivery capabilities, identify gaps and provide improvement recommendations to ensure your organization is ready to deliver the new offerings effectively.

Global Service ModelsAre your global clients receiving the same quality of service in all international regions? Does your infrastructure enable you to deliver the most cost effective service and support across the globe utilizing staff and technology in the most efficient manner? We can help you answer these questions and assist in designing a global service model that will maximize the efficiency of your operations.

Our ApproachOur consultants have the international experience and expertise to help you optimize the capability of your global service and support operation. We have helped industry leading technology companies totally restructure their international service operations into a more efficient cost effective global service delivery engine. We conduct a thorough review of your global service operation including:

• Assessment of global service capabilities through international site visits• Review of the corporate structure and service objectives• Review of customer satisfaction levels for all international regions• Review of the global technology infrastructure• Review of the financial requirements to deliver global services• Review of service offerings and customer segmentation• Examine skill requirements and resource management issues• Examine the interfaces into regional sales organizations• Compare performance to industry best practices

We aim to deliver a comprehensive analysis of the performance of the current service model in a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) format. In addition, wewill provide improvement recommendations, suggest an optimum global service model for your organization and offer follow on service to help implement changes.

Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. In order to determine the direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand its current position and the possible avenues through which it can pursue a particular course of action. Generally, strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions:

1. "What do we do?"2. "For whom do we do it?"3. "How do we excel?"

In many organizations, this is viewed as a process for determining where an organization is going over the next year or—more typically—3 to 5 years (long term), although some extend their vision to 20 years. Key componentsThe key components of 'strategic planning' includean understanding of the firm's vision, mission,values and strategies. (Often a "Vision Statement"and a "Mission Statement" may encapsulate thevision and mission).

• Vision: outlines what the organization wants to be, or how it wants the world in which it operates to be (an "idealised" view of the world). It is a long-term view and concentrates on the future. It can be emotive and is a source of inspiration. For example, a charity working with the poor might have a vision statement which reads"A World without Poverty."

• Mission: Defines the fundamental purpose of an organization or an enterprise, succinctly describing why it exists and what it does to achieve its vision. For example, the charity above might have a mission statement as "providing jobs for the homeless and unemployed".

• Values: Beliefs that are shared among the stakeholders of an organization. Values drive an organization's culture and priorities and provide a framework in which decisions are made. For example, "Knowledge and skills are the keys to

success" or "give a manbread and feed him fora day, but teach him tofarm and feed him forlife". These examplemaxims may set thepriorities of self-sufficiency over shelter.

• Strategy: Strategy, narrowlydefined, means "the art of thegeneral". - a combination ofthe ends (goals) for which thefirm is striving and the means(policies) by which it isseeking to get there. A strategy is sometimes called a roadmap - which is the path chosen to plow towards the end vision. The most important part of implementing thestrategy is ensuring the company is going in the right direction which is towards the end vision.

Organizations sometimes summarize goals and objectives into a mission statement and/or a vision statement. Others begin with avision and mission and use them to formulategoals and objectives.Many people mistake the vision statement forthe mission statement, and sometimes one issimply used as a longer term version of theother.

However they are distinct; with the vision being a descriptive picture of a desired future state; and the mission being a statement of a rationale, applicable now as well as in the future. The mission is therefore the means of successfully achieving the vision. This may be in the business world or the military.

For an organization’s vision and mission to be effective, they must become assimilated intothe organization's culture. They should also be assessed internally and externally. The internal assessment should focus on how members inside the organization interpret their mission statement. The external assessment — which includes all of the businesses stakeholders — is valuable since it offers a different perspective. These discrepancies between these two assessments can provide insight into their effectiveness.A vision statement is a declaration of where you are headed—your future state - to formulate a picture of what your organization's future makeup will be, and where the organization is headed.

Strategic planning processThere are many approaches tostrategic planning but typicallyone of the followingapproaches is used:

Situation-Target-Proposal • Situation - evaluate the

current situation and how it came about.

• Target - define goals and/or objectives (sometimes calledideal state)

• Path / Proposal - map a possible route to the goals/objectives

Draw-See-Think-Plan • Draw - what is the ideal image or the

desired end state?• See - what is today's situation? What is the

gap from ideal and why?• Think - what specific actions must be taken

to close the gap between today's situation and the ideal state?

• Plan - what resources are required to execute the activities?

Tools and approachesAmong the most useful tools for strategic planning is SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). The main objective of this tool is to analyze internal strategic factors, strengths and weaknesses attributed to the organization, and external factors beyond control of the organization such as opportunities and threats.

Other tools include:• Balanced Scorecards, which creates a systematic framework for strategic planning;• Scenario planning, which was originally used in the military and recently used by

large corporations to analyze future scenarios.• PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological)

• STEER analysis (Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors)

• EPISTEL (Environment, Political, Informatic, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal).

• ATM Approach (Antecedent Conditions, Target Strategies, Measure Progress andImpact). Once an understanding of thedesired endstate is defined, the ATMapproach uses Root Cause Analysis (RCA) tounderstand the threats, barriers, and challenges to achieving the end state. Not all antecedent conditions identified through RCA are within the direct and immediate control of the organization to change. Therefore, a review of organizational resources, both human and financial, are used to prioritize which antecedent conditions will be targeted. Strategies are then developed to target the prioritized antecedent conditions. Linking strategies to antecedent conditions ensures the organization does not engage in activity traps: feel good activities that will not lead to desired changes in the endstate. Once a strategy is defined then performance measures and indicators are sought to track progress toward and impact on the desired end state.

Situational analysisWhen developing strategies, analysis of the organization and its environment as it is at themoment and how it may develop in the future, isimportant. The analysis has to be executed at aninternal level as well as an external level toidentify all opportunities and threats of theexternal environment as well as the strengthsand weaknesses of the organizations.

There are several factors to assess in theexternal situation analysis:

1. Markets (customers)2. Competition3. Technology4. Supplier markets5. Labor markets6. The economy7. The regulatory environment

It is rare to find all seven of these factors having critical importance. It is also uncommon tofind that the first two - markets and competition - are not of critical importance.

Analysis of the external environment normally focuses on the customer. Management should be visionary in formulating customer strategy, and should do so by thinking about market environment shifts, how these could impact customer sets, and whether those customer sets are the ones the company wishes to serve.Analysis of the competitive environment is also performed, many times based on the framework suggested by Michael Porter.With regard to market planning specifically, researchers have recommended a series of action steps or guidelines in accordance to which market planners should plan.

Goals, objectives and targetsStrategic planning is a very important business activity. It is also important in the public sector areas such as education. It is practiced widely informally and formally. Strategic planning and decision processes shouldend with objectives and a roadmap ofways to achieve them. The goal ofstrategic planning mechanisms like formalplanning is to increase specificity inbusiness operation, especially when long-term and high-stake activities are involved.One of the core goals when drafting astrategic plan is to develop it in a way thatis easily translatable into action plans.Most strategic plans address high levelinitiatives and overarching goals, but don't get articulated (translated) into day-to-day projects and tasks that will be required to achieve the plan. Terminology or word choice, aswell as the level a plan is written, are both examples of easy ways to fail at translating yourstrategic plan in a way that makes sense and is executable to others. Often, plans are filled with conceptual terms which don't tie into day-to-day realities for the staff expected tocarry out the plan.The following terms have been used in strategic planning: desired end states, plans, policies, goals, objectives, strategies,tactics and actions. Definitions vary,overlap and fail to achieve clarity.

The most common of these concepts arespecific, time bound statements ofintended future results and general andcontinuing statements of intended futureresults, which most models refer to aseither goals or objectives (sometimesinterchangeably).

One model of organizing objectives uses hierarchies. The items listed above may be organized in a hierarchy of means and ends and numbered as follows: Top Rank Objective (TRO), Second Rank Objective, Third Rank Objective, etc. From any rank, the objective in a lower rank answers to the question "How?" and the objective in a higher rankanswers to the question "Why?" The exception is the Top Rank Objective (TRO): there is no answer to the "Why?" question. That is how the TRO is defined.People typically have several goals at the same time. "Goal congruency" refers to how wellthe goals combine with each other. Does goal A appear compatible with goal B? Do they fittogether to form a unified strategy? "Goalhierarchy" consists of the nesting of one ormore goals within other goal(s).

One approach recommends having short-term goals, medium-term goals, and long-term goals. In this model, one can expect to attain short-term goals fairly easily: they stand just slightly above one's reach. At the other extreme, long-term goals appear very difficult, almost impossible to attain. Strategic management jargon sometimes refers to "Big Hairy Audacious Goals" (BHAGs) in this context. Using one goal as a stepping-stone to the next involves goal sequencing. A person or group starts by attaining the easy short-term goals, then steps up to the medium-term, then to the long-term goals. Goal sequencing can create a "goal stairway". In an organizational setting, the organization may co-ordinategoals so that they do not conflict with each other. The goals of one part of the organization should mesh compatibly with those of other parts of the organization.

Business analysis techniquesVarious business analysis techniques can be used in strategic planning, including SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, STEER analysis, and EPISTEL.SYSTEM: System Pyramid

Successful and sustainable transformationefforts require leaders who know how tomanage change. At the simplest level,managing change means:

• Knowing what you want toaccomplish and creating a compellingvision that motivates others

• Understand stakeholders andcommunicating with them early, consistently and often

• Managing the varying levels of supportand resistance that will inevitablyemerge in response to any change

• Change Leadership is a skillset that isrequired throughout any deployment,from planning and executing tosustaining improvements.

• Change Leadership is essential forboth high level executives and programleaders, who are responsible for settingthe vision, communicate the vision andmake the changes happen.

KCS IT Consulting work is usually done on a per-hour basis.You can requst a quote for specific projects related to IT consulting.We also provide Service Level Agreements (SLA) in contracts for all of our projects for your complete confidence, and be satisfied with the results.

Email : it-consulting@atrc.net.pkSkype : khawar.nehalC-55 Block A KDA Officers, Karachi 75260, Pakistan