Improving value from existing technology (more-for-less interview checklist)
Typical client and project profile - you will have several of these characteristics:
• At least 20 desktops, laptops or server machines in your organisation, linked by a network
• A need to improve value for money by sweating existing technology assets
• A need to renegotiate poor technology contracts
• Static or declining IT budgets/spending - so you must improve facilities without asking the Board for more capital
• A need for specialist advice that is impartial and not geared towards outlay on new kit
• A lack of time, meaning a few main players are only available for a few days
More-for-less checklist to improve technology use during spending freezes
Most organisations do not fully exploit their existing technology. We developed our 'more-for-less' surveys for organisations and business cycles where capital spending is frozen. They find improved use of IT that can be put in place without asking the Board for capital. A short burst of structured interviewing is driven by our checklist, which collects previously-fragmented best practice on savings and improvements. This list currently exceeds 300 entries.
How it works
1. Orientation
We gather background information about your business, the time available and potential interviewees. There are about 20 dimensions we can explore to get an understanding of you and your systems. This allows us to select the most appropriate aspects from our master checklist.
2. Structured interviews
We will interview between 3-8 people in your organisation, over the course of 1 or 2 days. There is not enough time in a short visit to inspect systems directly, so we interview people with the most experience of the various systems - desktops, laptops, standard packages, home-made applications, specially-commissioned (bespoke) systems and your procedures and training methods.
3. Recommendation selection
After the interview programme, we analyse your answers. Because our structured interviews are driven by best practice, we have a menu of recommendations for various situations and can efficiently select the best course of action.
4. Report with recommendations
We guarantee to identify at least 10 changes that will:
• improve the efficiency of your technology use
• not involve new capital requests, since the improvements will exploit existing assets or budget provisions, or be self-funding
You are welcome to discuss improvements we have made with contacts within our clients.
What if I don't have any in-house technology experts?
We don't need IT staff, just people who understand what you do now. We can work with external providers, or in-house 'expert users'.