Institutionalizing IT Knowledge

More Critical than Ever

Sharon Lee, Director of MarketingScott Niness, VP AMO Practice

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Agenda

• Institutionalizing Knowledge– Current IT Landscape

• Where we find ourselves today• The Real Cost of Unplanned Attrition

– Institutionalizing Knowledge• What is Institutionalizing Knowledge?• Institutionalizing Knowledge as a form of Risk Mitigation• How to Capture, Integrate, and Measure Institutional Knowledge• The history of Institutionalizing Knowledge Efforts

– How an AMO can help• An AMO – Defined• The Proven Benefits of an AMO• Why an AMO leads to Institutionalized Knowledge

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Current IT Landscape –Where we find ourselves today

• What’s happened the last two years?– Companies forced into budget cuts / resource

reductions– Employees asked to play roles not originally

hired for– Employees endured salary and budget cuts

and forced furloughs– Employees have watched their peers get laid-off

• What’s happening now and into 2011?– New job creation will return to pre-2008 rates 1– The technology sector is leading the recovery– There is a heated competition for talented resources– Recruiters are actively pursuing passive candidates

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There has been an Erosion of Trust

Turnover Rates expected to be over 22% 1

1 – Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Current IT Landscape –The Real Cost of Unplanned Attrition

What’s the effect of unplanned employee attrition?• There is potentially un-recoverable knowledge loss• There is a greater likelihood of additional employee attrition• Company must locate, hire, on-board, and ramp up new resources

– Cost of this effort estimated at 8-16 months of the salary lost• There is a large productivity loss

– Remaining employees asked to perform knowledge transfer / training• The business’ confidence in IT to deliver suffers• There is a greater potential for lost business / customers• It makes future application upgrades more difficult and expensive,

as:– Knowledge of the original application is spotty

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Institutionalizing KnowledgeWhat is Institutionalizing Knowledge?

Institutional Data• A collection of both formal and informal data points, such as:

documents, processes, concepts, experiences, etc.

Institutional Knowledge• Accomplished when an organization captures that data and

integrates it into useful knowledge and wisdom.

Institutionalizing Knowledge• Encompasses the journey from the initial capture of the knowledge

to the establishment of processes to keep the knowledge current, relevant, easily accessible, and usable

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Institutionalizing KnowledgeAs a Form of Risk ManagementThe Attributes of Institutionalized Knowledge• Knowledge is captured electronically• Key resources are not the sole proprietor of

information• Processes in place for:

– Effectively utilizing the knowledge– Keeping the knowledge current and accurate– Formal and informal training / knowledge transfer

• Leads to faster more effective resource on-boarding• Builds experienced workers not just trained ones• Focus placed on the process not the named

individual• Organizationally & Strategically aligned to business

goals• Not a technical challenge – a cultural one• Focus on knowledge “re-use” - similar to code re-

use

} Mitigates SignificantKnowledge Loss

}MitigatesProductivity Loss

} Mitigates Business Confidence Loss

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Institutionalizing KnowledgeHow to capture, integrate and Measure

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Institutionalizing KnowledgeThe History of Institutionalizing Knowledge EffortsWhat was done in the 90’s• Companies tried to gain a competitive advantage by institutionalizing

knowledge• Purchased CMS and KM tools• Completed the initial capture, even if only partiallyWhy many failed• Didn’t align to business goals• Went too large – didn’t limit the scope• Didn’t continue to value the culture, enforce utilization, and maintain the

knowledge• Competitive advantage went unrealized• Tools neglectedWhat’s happening now• Interest renewed to mitigate attrition concern• Must be done as a project but operating at bare bones already• Business not convinced and won’t prioritize it

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How an AMO can Help – An AMO - Defined

Application Maintenance Outsourcing (“AMO”) is a disciplined approach that delivers a service-level driven process for performing mission critical application support and maintenance services utilizing the most cost-effective approach available.

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How AMO Can Help –The Proven Benefits of AMO

• Significantly reducing of Support and Maintenance costs• Providing greater availability and reliability of mission-critical

applications• Increasing internal employee morale – focused on core

competencies• Mitigating the risk of key employee attritionv• Providing access to new / different skill sets• Increasing documentation and quality into the overall support

process• Providing consistent monthly reporting with business-oriented

metrics (SLAs)• Providing greater efficiency and performance from development and

support staff• Providing access to the AMO best practices

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How AMO Can Help –Why AMO Leads to Institutionalized Knowledge Using an AMO to Institutionalize Knowledge• First steps in any AMO are:

– Knowledge Transfer / Training / Mentoring / Artifact Capture– AMOs should include best practices around Knowledge Management

• Knowledge must be kept current and accurate– Service Levels must be maintained regardless of resource attrition

• Commitment to funding an AMO represents:– Management’s sponsorship of Institutionalized Knowledge initiative

• AMO’s typically include cross-training and knowledge-sharing– This creates a Primary / Secondary knowledge coverage

• By limiting the scope to “Support only” there is a greater chance of success– You can use an AMO as a Proof-of-Concept

• But keep in mind the knowledge created is your corporate asset– It shouldn’t be used to keep you beholden to your AMO vendor

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Institutionalizing IT KnowledgeKnowledge Transfer Dashboard

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Institutionalizing IT KnowledgeProcess Redesign

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QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION

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Thank YouFor more information email us at: info@allianceglobalservices.com