the bad guy in your company and how have him under control

THE BAD GUY IN YOUR COMPANY

… AND HOW TO HAVE HIM UNDER CONTROL

Every company has its Bad Guy.

He is causing nightmares

to most of the VP.

Why ?

Because …

he costs them so much

he is so slow

he always brings complexity

his deliverables are low quality

He is so dangerous that he will cause company’s death.

Who the hell is this bad guy ?

Brrr …he seems so powerful.

It is not him, isn’t it ?

No, it is Mister IS (*) of course !!!

(*) IS : Information system

Really ???

This nice guy is our bad guy ?

Let me tell you a story.

“My young son is fan of computers. He has developed a whole website in less than one week”.

“It took more than 6 months for those guys to develop only one feature. ”

“I was quite lucky this time because it cost me only several hundreds thousands of bucks; for only one feature !!!”

“Remember last year when I had this brilliant idea, it was again Mister IS who prevented me to make it happen. He only adds complexity and cost. “

“The story is not finished. After having waited 6 months for my single feature, the quality of the deliverable was so bad it made our customer nervous.“

So yes, Mister IS(*) is the bad guy.

(*) IS : Information system

This is unacceptable !!!

What can we do ? We have to find a solution !!!

I have an idea.

“Mister IS should only support us. He is the tool, not the core of our activity. We should fire Mister IS.”

And they do fire Mister IS.

One hour later …

Employees are nervousCustomers are nervous

Everybody is very nervous

Except competitors who are very happy

One week later …

This idea was not so good.

We have to find another solution !!!

“I have an another idea.”

???

“Remember the young son of our brilliant VP… The job of Mister IS is a piece of cake. Each department should manage its own IS. We should do it by our own.”

And they ask each department to manage their own Information

System.

Several months later …

What’s going on ?

We have a teamwork issue.

We have a new bad guy.

In fact, since Mister IS left and all departments are doing his job …

We have a lot of bad guys !!!

Wait a minute !

Is it possible that the problem with the Mister IS is not Mister IS but

rather his job?

It can be a good option.

What can we do? The situation is still not acceptable.

I have …

Don’t even think about it !

Let’s ask somebody wiser.

“Dear Mister Yoda, how can we manage this Bad Guy?”.

(thinking)

“An Idea, I have.”

“Ask Mister IS, to give us his point of view,You should.”

Outstanding idea !!!

Hey, Mister bad guy Mister IS, we are not so happy with your job.

Your are slow,

Your are too expensive

You are adding complexity

You deliver low quality

Why are you so bad ?

“OK. Let’s come with me through my journey : Information System project management through 5 stages.”

Stage #1 : The selection.

The selection

“First, despite your perception… I have a lot of success.”

“Everybody wants me to work for them.”

“Demands are much more numerous than resources. So choices have to be taken.”

Be sure that your idea will bring enough value to the company before wanting to start the journey of IS project.

Because competition with your colleagues will be fierce,

Stage #2 : Booking IS resources.

The selection Booking

“Our CFO asked us to optimize resources cost. That’s why they are shared resources.”

That’s why all IS projects must be planed in advance.

Otherwise, minimum delay is necessary to free resources already booked.

“Usually it takes a minimum of 3 months to book resources. Please note that during this period, we still have not started to think about your idea .”

Stage #3 : Designing your idea.

The selection Booking Design

“First, I need to strongly analyze your idea. What will be the consequences of implementing your idea. ”

“I am looking for devil hidden in the details. ”

“Your idea is very beautiful.”

“Unfortunately…”

“I will not design your idea for you.”

“But I will design it for our company.”

“Your beautiful idea is often a nightmare for your colleagues. It may trigger some changes not manageable at all for them.”

“It may bring you some benefits but cost lot of money to set up and run.”

“Because you are naturally focused only to your activity. I need to explain to the others what will be the consequences of your idea to their activities”

“In the today digital age of humanity, Information Systems is one of...”

“…the key assets of the companies.”

“I (Mister IS) am working like an architect for the company.”

“Once I have a clear understanding of what are the Business Requirements for all departments related to your idea, I need to find the best way to implement them in our architecture (information System).”

“I (Mister IS) am also working as a guardian. ”

“Our Company (House)must be kept secure, must be optimized and be able to support further evolutions. ”

“Do you really think that it is a job for your young son?”

Stage #4 : Development.

The selection Booking Design Development

“This is part is usually … a piece of cake.”

“This task may be given to your young son.”

“Development is really a small part of the story…and unfortunately only the visible part.”

Stage #5 : Tests.

The selection Booking Design Development Test

“ I will perform as much as tests as you allowed me to perform.”

“To avoid….”

“This part could be very long depending of the complexity of the heritage to maintain.”

“Checking of this is easier than …”

“Checking of this.”

“So to conclude, it is true that IS projects are long and expensive but they are also risky and consequences are big. So precautions must be taken when managing this change to avoid…”

Well… The Bad Guy may be not so bad. In fact, the Bad Guy may be a Good Guy.

Really …the end ???

The Bad guy is The Good Guy. That’s all ?

But how to be sure that this new Good Guy is really good and not bad.

We needed 87 pages to understand that the Bad guy is a Good Guy. But he is too powerful and too secret. How can we be sure that the new Good Guy …

…is not this guy ?

…is not this guy ?

…is not this guy ?

We must be sure that the Good Guy really is a Good Guy.

How to have the Good Guy under control ?

The answer is …IS Governance.

Information System is a science.

Researches are done to identify best practices.

IS Governance procures framework to help Companies to follow best practices in Information System management…

…and tools to control that best practices are followed.

Business teams don’t need to worry anymore and can focus on their own activities.

This is the happy end of the story.

“I Hope you have enjoyed this story.”

The three mains points to remember :

IS Projects are not just pieces of code writing but a complete change of how the company will work,

IS projects are risky … that is why they are so long and complex,

Best practices exist to reduce risk and give transparency and confidence to stakeholders.

Don’t miss next episode on the air :

The ultimate weapon to give value to your company.

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