Examining IT Strategies employed by Seven Seas TechnologiesBy Pathfinders

GROUP NAME: Pathfinders

STUDENT NAME STUDENT ID TOPIC

MOHAMED HADI M00298076 Introduction

CEDRIC OMMEH M00502567 Strategy

MICHAEL CHITWA M00502568 Service Management Strategy

AKANBI ABDULHAKEEM M00500970 Service Provision Strategy

JOHN MBUGUA M00502145 Knowledge Management and Training

Strategy

MODULE LEADER: Kelvin Harewood

MODULE TRAINER: Mr. Boaz Juma

SUBMISSION DATE: 4th April 2014

Introduction

• SST – Seven Seas Technologies – is an IT company started 15 years ago dealing with IT infrastructure, Business intelligence,Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Data Warehousing, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM –Hyperion Software) and Financial Planning. These services are integrated together through a Fulfilment Request (FR).

• Seven Seas Technologies targets corporate institutions as their main business customers. Some of their competitors include Copy Cat, Dimension Data, Symphony, Cellulant, IST, among others.

Introduction, cont’d.

• Seven Seas Technologies offers its services under two divisions; IT infrastructure and Enterprise Networking.

• Under the IT infrastructure at Seven Seas Technologies, the services offered include server and application environment which entails operating systems, smart building solutions (SBS), data centre infrastructure, access controls (CCTV, IP-CCTV, cabling, environment control, structured cabling, etc.) business applications

• With enterprise networking, these services include peer-to-peer networking, WAN, network security, voice services (VOIP), and perimeter control or security.

• It strategies : service management, service provision , knowledge transfer.

Strategy

• Definition: a longterm plan that gives an individual or orgnisation a

competitive advantage over rivals.• According to the definition of Johnson et al, a strategic decision must contain six (6)

elements namely:-direction, scope, advantage, resources, external environment and stakeholder values and expectations.

• Elements of Strategy• Direction – vision – Where the firm is headed? SST -“ An African company that defines

service excellence in technology driven business solutions”.

• Scope – business activities that a firm engages in on a daily basis. Seven Seas engages

in:-IT service management, service provision, business applications, knowledge transfer and enterprise networking.

• Competitive Advantage – postulated by Michael Porter in his definition of strategy.

eg. Seven Seas knowledge transfer division seeks to distinguish itself from rivals by collaborating with global vendors such as Oracle and Cisco so as to provide quality and internationally recognized IT training and certification.

Strategy, cont’d.

• Resources – A resource is something that an individual or entity can rely on in times of need .In a business context, resources include such things as business relationships, assets and technical expertise. Examples of SST resources: business relationships with global partners, IT infrastructure and human resource.

• External Business Environment – Consider PESTEL factors. External factors such as new laws that might for example bar new firms from entering into a particular market.

• Stakeholders – A strategy has to take into account the view, beliefs and projections of the stakeholders of the business. Stakeholders are people who have a say or some level of power/authority in a business . Aureous Capital African fund that hold a 22% equity investment in SST. The senior management at Seven Seas have to consult the top brass at Aureous Capital before making any final strategic decisions.

Service Management as an IT Strategy• Definition - This is a “a process-based practice designed to align

the delivery of Information Technology services with the needs of the enterprise, while emphasizing the benefits to customers” (Tan, Cater-Steel, & Toleman, 2009).

• HOW IT HAS BENEFITED SEVEN SEAS TECHNOLOGIES• enabled IT to improve service levels by implementing and managing of quality

information technology,

• improved profitability through the use of various IT products that expand profitability,

• balanced resources by ensuring that assets do not exceed expenditure too much and vice-versa,

• controlled costs the through the integration of services and products in the chain of supply , and

• mitigated/alleviated risk exposure to the organization through forcasting of future events and management of risks.

Service Management, cont’d.

• Service Management Under The Data Center And Application Infrastructure (DCAI) Division• OpenLDAP: set of protocols for accessing and maintaining information directories and

services over the Internet Protocol

• Active Directory: designed primarily for distributed network environments

• Backup and Restore

• Managed Backup

• Replication

• Asset Management: coordinated activity of an organization to realize the value from assets

• Service Management Under The Enterprise Networking Division• Storage Area Networks : storage devices over the network to communicate with

computer systems and with each other

• WAN Optimization: collection of techniques for increasing data-transfer efficiencies across wide-area networks

• Application Network Services: suite of best practice applications and services designed to help an organization build, deliver and manage the resources provided to their clients.

• Wide Area File Services: let the remote users access centralized data as if it were local

Service Provision as a Strategy

• What is service provision?

• How does service provision gives Sevenseas business advantages as an IT Strategy?

Money

Recognition

Infrastructure

• What are the disadvantage of Service provision adopted by Sevenseas?

Limited budgets

Competition

Mergers

Service Provision, cont’d.

• How is service provision delivered by Seven Seas?

IP Next Generation Network (IP NGN)

• What are the positive impacts of Service provision adopted by Sevenseas?

New Source of Income

Cost Reduction

Knowledge Transfer as an IT Strategy• Definition: Organizational systems and processes which

knowledge is passed from one party to another to attain results and enhance innovation.

• Knowledge Transfer Strategies Elements

• Certification Track

• Expert Systems

Knowledge Transfer, cont’d.

AdvantagesAll employees are always

at per with their superior staff

Easy to solve problems.

Encourages growth in skills

DisadvantagesExperts needed to run

expert systems

Expensive

Employee absconding