Finding Performance in a Slow Economy
As the economy continues to swirl like the last winter snowstorms companies cast an ever-more-critical eye on operations and spending. Clearly these are extreme times for business with more questions than answers.
One thing is clear. Many American companies have enjoyed a relatively long, and ultimately unsustainable, run of operational inefficiencies for the past two decades. The ability to stay competitive will require all of us to dig deeper and produce more efficiently to resuscitate competitive advantage.
To recover, businesses will have to find their optimal operational pace. Technology will be on the forefront of supporting that pace, putting IT organizations in an excellent position to drive value and lead the way to recovery.
In particular, Ambit Reach believes companies supporting PMO disciplines for lean solution and project culture will provide the greatest gains in operational efficiencies going forward. Within PMO discipline we see two areas where Business and IT can mine significant benefits and ROI:
- Building solutions from a global perspective: Technology choices must be driven by both a clear understanding of the need AND an accurate understanding of how much change an operation can absorb effectively at any given time.
- Retaining knowledge despite attrition and change: Being more competitive means eliminating waste and steps. No organization has time or resources to re-create the wheel or backtrack to learn something that should already be culturally embedded or readily available as a business template or Best Practice.
When IT projects begin to slow down due to changes or unplanned constraints, it is often because project teams have no knowledge or experience base to fall back on. Capturing and retaining intellectual capital project to project is a crucial discipline for IT and project managers and will pay dividends down the road.
Ambit Reach believes companies who focus in these areas in particular will be the first to navigate their way back toward economic stability and growth.
We invite your feedback and comments. Please address your thoughts to information@ambitreach.com.