Gundelach Consult

IT Purchase and Support of Business Processes

The purchase of new IT-systems represents a very large part of the investments companies and public institutions make. However, unfortunately it often happens that the intensions and functionality, which were the purpose of the new IT systems, will not be fulfilled or applied. The reasons for this could be many, but two typical scenarios often occur:

• The users develop a specification of requirements based on wishful thinking without having sufficient insight into the technological possibilities – result: The suppliers accept the task without quite knowing if it will be possible to carry it out. They bend the systems and implement a solution, which is characterized by compromises and which does not function properly.
• The IT-system is selected on the basis of exciting functionality and technological possibilities – result: The system is not geared to the business processes, which it is supposed to support. Hereby, the business processes must adjust to the IT system or be redesigned, and part of the system functionality will not be used. 

Both scenarios can be remedied with one or more of the following activities:

• Strategic clarification of the reason for the IT acquisition

• Analysis of the business processes before the specification of requirements is prepared. In this scenario efficiency improvement and support of the business processes become guiding factors in the specification of requirements

• Preparation of a specification of requirements with a focus on functionality

• A tightly managed bidding process

• Supplier supervision

• Implementation support, so the IT system is applied and becomes a natural tool in the business processes

Competences

Our competences are based on more than 15 years of experience in initiation, management, and implementation of IT projects in large and small organizations. In the process we have become acquainted with many of the risks associated with the purchase of IT, just as we have acquired expertise in the decisive interface between business processes and IT utilization.

We work for buyers as well as for sellers of IT systems, but remain impartial and keep a tight focus on which strategic decision constitutes the basis of the IT purchase and how it will affect the people who will eventually work with the system.

Results

The results of our efforts vary as much as the challenges faced by companies and public organisations. We solve tasks involving fire extinguishing and in such cases the result is the best possible solution in a given situation. We also solve problems where we in the first phases assist in the definition of the basis for an IT purchase and thereby ensure the focus in the following purchase process. Tasks involving implementation support is just as much based on human understanding, as on insight into the system. The results can be seen in customer satisfaction and system application.

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