Solutions
“Churchill's
Adaptive Enterprise” is about a
solution that helps an organization better respond to changing and potentially
detrimental situations by increasing its ability to sense things using pattern
recognition. For example, changes in customer preference signals, or competitive
threats or moves. It then responds accordingly, either with predetermined
actions or collaborative decision-making. Finally, it monitors the impact
of the response, to see whether the response effectively counteracts the
detriment.
Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise
This book solves these four problems:
How can I successfully react to events by making use of the most critical information available and discerning useful intelligence?
The first challenge is sensing and recognizing business events. This can only be done by understanding the types of events that affect an organization. The second challenge is determining the response by understanding the kind of decisions that need to be made, in a specific timeframe. To address the former requires listing, classifying, and prioritizing the events that can have a significant impact on a business. A portal can be programmed to sense and pick up on the characteristics of an event, and alert a decision-maker within a related community for a required response. To address the latter requires breaking down the decision-making process, and determining what information and content is needed or available in a specific timeframe. The book identifies business events, processes, communities, and carefully matches information to them. The biggest problem is in discerning useful intelligence from the glut of information.
How can I successfully implement and leverage emerging technologies that synthe-size business information and intelligence for decision-making?
Organization acceptability or adoption is one of the biggest challenges facing portal projects. Communities need to be identified, and their needs carefully understood. They also need to appreciate what a portal can do, the overall vision and benefits, so they buy in. This requires understanding the enterprise and federation benefits. Business units that fail to buy into the project are likely to proceed with their own project, possibly with similar technologies, which might fail to integrate at an enterprise level. Understanding these challenges and identifying the technologies already in place is important, as the overall approach allows for integration and shared usage.
How can I ensure my project is not just about technology, but that it is also about business and communities?
To ensure that solution projects are not just focused on technology that IT organizations instigate, lead, and control, focus on payback and develop a business-case framework. For many solution projects, this is a challenge, as the benefits are often intangible, like improved employee productivity or decision-making. To address this, build a business case in stages, as evolved through early chapters. Determine the benefits first, both tangible and intangible, and then the costs once the solution is better understood. You must also understand the decision-making processes and identify the indicators required.
How can I ensure my business processes and organizational structure are realigned for the project?
Process and organization investments and efforts need to be equally matched to technology investments. Therefore, all the users affected by the solution must understand the significance of the changes a solution can bring to an organization. Through this understanding, users can start to identify how the processes and organization need to be modified and realigned to accommodate and take best advantage of the solution’s benefits. This is partially realized through the testing in the book, but it is difficult to predict for an adaptive enterprise. Typically, processes and organization are gradually modified through the releases because of the large scope of work required.
This book solves these four problems:
How can I successfully react to events by making use of the most critical information available and discerning useful intelligence?
The first challenge is sensing and recognizing business events. This can only be done by understanding the types of events that affect an organization. The second challenge is determining the response by understanding the kind of decisions that need to be made, in a specific timeframe. To address the former requires listing, classifying, and prioritizing the events that can have a significant impact on a business. A portal can be programmed to sense and pick up on the characteristics of an event, and alert a decision-maker within a related community for a required response. To address the latter requires breaking down the decision-making process, and determining what information and content is needed or available in a specific timeframe. The book identifies business events, processes, communities, and carefully matches information to them. The biggest problem is in discerning useful intelligence from the glut of information.
How can I successfully implement and leverage emerging technologies that synthe-size business information and intelligence for decision-making?
Organization acceptability or adoption is one of the biggest challenges facing portal projects. Communities need to be identified, and their needs carefully understood. They also need to appreciate what a portal can do, the overall vision and benefits, so they buy in. This requires understanding the enterprise and federation benefits. Business units that fail to buy into the project are likely to proceed with their own project, possibly with similar technologies, which might fail to integrate at an enterprise level. Understanding these challenges and identifying the technologies already in place is important, as the overall approach allows for integration and shared usage.
How can I ensure my project is not just about technology, but that it is also about business and communities?
To ensure that solution projects are not just focused on technology that IT organizations instigate, lead, and control, focus on payback and develop a business-case framework. For many solution projects, this is a challenge, as the benefits are often intangible, like improved employee productivity or decision-making. To address this, build a business case in stages, as evolved through early chapters. Determine the benefits first, both tangible and intangible, and then the costs once the solution is better understood. You must also understand the decision-making processes and identify the indicators required.
How can I ensure my business processes and organizational structure are realigned for the project?
Process and organization investments and efforts need to be equally matched to technology investments. Therefore, all the users affected by the solution must understand the significance of the changes a solution can bring to an organization. Through this understanding, users can start to identify how the processes and organization need to be modified and realigned to accommodate and take best advantage of the solution’s benefits. This is partially realized through the testing in the book, but it is difficult to predict for an adaptive enterprise. Typically, processes and organization are gradually modified through the releases because of the large scope of work required.