Author Archive

Normally in my blogs, I write about many different business related topics, ranging from “Making Sound Business Decisions” to “Managing in a Down Economy” to “Best Practices for a BI Implementation”.  Today, I am taking a different direction: highlighting 4 key personality traits that make a great leader.

Almost a month ago to the day, my sister Kelly, who is a graduate from San Francisco State University, and has worked for in the realm of International Education, was contacted by a private education company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). She was offered a leadership position with the company, and with very little hesitation, she accepted the role. Today, November 4th, Kelly started her “New Adventure” and arrived in Abu Dhabi, where she will live for the next two or three years.

Biased perhaps, but what I have recognized is that the characteristics that my “little sister” possesses are those of a natural born leader. The experiences ahead of her are not only going to develop her into the person she will be tomorrow, but it will further advance her role as a leader that many will be able to learn from with her future endeavors of being a college professor.

With these thoughts in mind, and drawing from a proud brother’s view of Kelly’s success, the following are some of her traits that I feel are evident (and required) in most true leaders:

1. Integrity: Defined by Webster’s Dictionary as: “adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.” To me, integrity is the most important characteristic of a leader, and when a leader shows a lapse in integrity, the overall response by society is disappointment.  I consider myself an ethical business leader.  With this comes great responsibility as well as high level of expectations.  In return, a high level of respect is received from both those that I lead and those to whom I have reporting responsibility.
2. Confidence: A true leader is consistently confident and possesses unparalleled decisiveness.  In business, we are taught that “time is of the essence” and it is important that leaders make poignant, informed decisions without undue hesitation.
3. Willing to take risk: Great leaders must take risks and be willing to make sacrifices in order to meet the ultimate goal – SUCCESS.  Leaders understand that short-term personal and professional sacrifices are inherent in leadership roles. These sacrifices are required in order to position themselves for their personal success as well as the success of their company.
4. Passion:  Great Leaders keep passion as core to their recipe for success.  Like the seasonal flu, passion is infectious and will spread quickly through an organization.  If a high level of passion is projected by the leader, this will establish a sense of motivation and high level of morale throughout.  The generation of this feeling must be injected from the top.

In summary, each and every business leader can learn a valuable lesson from Kelly.  By maintaining a level of high level integrity, exuding an extreme amount of confidence with decisive actions, not being afraid to sacrifice or take risk, while maintaining her passion, she is paving the way in establishing herself as one of the top business, educational or political leaders in our future.

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Defined by Webster’s Dictionary, the word “Best”:

“of the highest quality, excellence, or standing: the best work; the best students”.

Every day in business, we are faced with challenges that require us to act quickly and to react even quicker.  As leaders we are expected to make pivotal decisions; we are exposed to different types of challenges, and are expected to accurately address problems each and every day. These challenges we are faced with often take us outside of our comfort zone, and require us to take on responsibilities and make decisions that we sometimes feel go beyond our areas of expertise.

As a manager, I always strive to do things right and deliver a high quality product to my customer, whether internal or external.  But is “doing things right” necessarily enough? Or should management go beyond “doing things right” and strive for ONLY being the best at what you do?

Coincidentally, I had a conversation with my son today who recently began his freshman year at college in August. We discussed the challenges that he is currently facing in college and how the effort that he is putting forth today, lays the groundwork for later success in college, and the successes that he will encounter as he lives the life he chooses as an adult. It was very obvious to me that he was frustrated with the conversation, but later in the evening, it was even clearer that he agreed with me and understood my point.  A BREAKTHROUGH!

The following are some points to keep in mind:

• As a parent, it is important to instill values in your children during their formative years.  Teaching your children that “doing the right thing” is not only important but necessary. Being aware that one is doing the right thing will ultimately pave the path for a productive, ethical and value based lifestyle.
• As a student, it is important to identify one’s successes and identify the challenges that exist. The level of competition today for graduates of Generation Y is far greater than those of Generation X.  Being able to assert yourself and have the ability to identify the fine line between doing the right thing and knowing what it takes to become the best at what you do, is critical. Developing this skill set early will yield significant advantages, and make the transition into the workforce, and ultimately becoming a successful manager far easier. Providing young people today with the tools to be able to understand what it is to exceed beyond “doing the right thing” is necessary.  Students must subscribe to the teachings of the leaders within our colleges and communities, and identify mentors to coach Gen Y in developing the skills to become the best at what they do.
• As a manager, it is important to continue to learn and develop one’s skills. As technology and business changes, it is necessary to maintain the competitive advantage and remain current on today’s business needs. Many top companies enlist the practices of Six-Sigma and ITIL as part of the company’s culture. Enlisting a quality program will assist in removing the effects of errors and to minimize the inconsistency in business processes.  A Six-Sigma program is a huge commitment for a company and not only requires major changes to business processes; it requires a change in culture.  If a company is not prepared to set forth on the Six-Sigma adventure, it is possible for companies to employ certain aspects of Six-Sigma into their business to improve business processes.

In today’s economic environment, it may be more of a common place than not for companies to cut corners in order to save a nickel or dime, yielding a lack of quality.  Now is the time for businesses to focus on quality and set the standard for providing the best possible product or service possible.  Businesses must continue to redefine and work to establish themselves as the business segment leader, as well as the leader in quality and value, when a favorable economy returns.

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Tagged as: active garage, best, best vs right, brian beedle, data center trust, freshmen, hosting, leader, Leadership, manager, mentor, partnerships, right, student

The vendor selection process can be an arduous, time consuming, and stressful task.  Receiving quotes that run the gambit of the budgetary spectrum, deciding which product will give your company the biggest bang for the buck and wondering if saving a dollar or two is really worth the frustration of finding the “right partner”.  Every Project Manager has dealt with these issues, but keeping in mind the following points may provide some clarity and assist with narrowing the decision-making process when seeking a value-added business partner.

1. Prepare a well defined project scope
   • Create a list of requirements. Ensure all aspects of the project are being captured.  Alignment and agreement within the organization must occur first and foremost.
   • Project Scope must outline all roles and responsibilities.
   • Establish all high level deliverable dates and the associated milestones for the project.
   • Sign-off from the Executive sponsor of the project must occur at this stage.
2. Gather a list of recommended vendors and interview each. It is critical that the following points are addressed during the interview process to ensure that the vendor(s) have the resources available and the knowledge to deliver a final product that aligns with the project scope.
   • It is important to determine the level of experience that the consulting team exhibits.
   • Request resumes for the consultants on staff.
   • Inquire as to the specific projects these consultants have worked to qualify the expertise that exists.
     • Do they have relevant industry experience?
     • Speak to them about a “proven approach” to a similar project and how they were successful in delivering in a timely manner.
     • How many dedicated and part-time resources are available?
   • What involvement (if any) is the customer expected to contribute?
     • This is key in determining not only the resources that your organization will need to dedicate, but will also have an impact on the billable hours being allocated for the project.
     • Keep in mind, having an internal resource dedicated to the project is a great way to leverage the “hands-on” experience as a training mechanism.  In addition, these employee costs can be capitalized, reducing the expense budget.
   • Does the vendor’s Project Lead have a Business or Finance understanding or does this person strictly possess a technical background? Depending on the direct involvement of the business users, this is an important issue that needs to be considered.
   • Have a thorough understanding of how your organization is going to be billed.
     • Understand how your organization is going to be billed and at what milestones.
     • What is considered as reimbursable expenses at what percentage is this “capped”?
   • Request three business references in which the vendor has successfully implemented a similar product.  It is acceptable to ask for examples, or a letter of recommendation from former or current clients.
3. Depending on the result of the interview stage, make a request of the vendor to develop a proof of concept. Compare this document to the original project scope
   • Does the Proof of Concept support the Project Scope and required end result defined by your organization?  Ensure that all key deliverables are being met.
   • Ensure that the timelines seem reasonable. Do they align with the deliverable dates of your organization?
   • Don’t hesitate to challenge the methodology or the approach being used by the prospective vendor.
   • Compare the approaches of the different vendors – It is important to keep in mind that you are the subject matter expert, push back on what does not seem reasonable.
4. Negotiation
   • The lowest price does not always constitute the best solution. However, staying within an allocated budget is important. Do what is fiscally responsible for your organization; do not sacrifice quality or functionality just because a vendor comes in with a significantly lower price.  It is important to deliver a product that is going to meet the expectation of the sponsors.
   • It is important to understand what level of post-implementation support, training, and maintenance is included. This can be used as a key negotiation point.

These high-level items touch on a number of areas that should be considered during the vendor selection process.  Of course, there are a lot of other aspects that may need to be considered for your organization which go beyond the areas addressed here. Be resourceful. Don’t hurry off to start a project without doing your due diligence by investigating and selecting a firm that fits your needs. The results of a good implementation can change the way a business functions, the remnants of an implementation that is not successful can have even longer effects
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Tagged as: brian beedle, data center trust, infrastructure, IT costs, IT Finance, Maintenance, Project Management, project scope, vendor management, www.datacentertrust.com

In uncertain economic times, businesses are forced to redefine “business as usual” and come up with a new definition. This new definition must allow companies to not only to sustain business, but drive profitability with the face of uncertainty looming through the window. With a big bite coming directly out of Profit Margin, typically attributed to the lack of consumer spending, how is it possible for companies to survive?

Anyone with any business knowledge understands that the only way to preserve profitability when revenues are down is by reducing costs.  However, proceed with caution here and do not jump to conclusions. Keep in mind, the economic downturn will not last forever.  Therefore a company must be positioned to return to “business as usual” when the opportunity arises.  With these key points in mind, there are many different approaches to reducing costs which will allow for preserving staff, maintaining a high level of product quality, as well as maintaining the high level of customer service that is currently being delivered.

One of the primary areas that hold a great deal of operating cost savings is in the area of IT.  Here are 4 simple cost saving measures that may hold the key to a great deal of cost savings:

• Assess Maintenance and Support Contracts: Depending on the size and complexity of an organization and whether or not a company has an asset management practice, the on-going charges for software and hardware support and maintenance agreements can compound exponentially.  Discovering software or hardware that is no longer being used, then conducting a deep dive into the current base of IT contracts and determining whether maintenance is being paid on these assets , is a great way to pulling the plug on unnecessary infrastructure costs.  On-going cost control and monitoring is an effective way for an organization to implement an asset management program.
• Consider Re-Negotiation of License and Maintenance Contracts: Hardware and Software companies are faced with the same challenges as everyone else in the business world. They are looking for ways to sustain their businesses in a new economy.  Although we look at the down-turn of the economy as a challenge when running and sustaining business, we also need to position this as an opportunity to leverage better contracts. Take the opportunity of a down economy to negotiate better rates and terms.  Consider third party maintenance on equipment; Third party maintenance can be just as good as OEM, at a fraction of the cost.
• Reduce Printing Costs: The average cost per page for personal B&W laser printers average around $0.04 to $0.05. Eliminate personal printers by replacing stand-alone units with more efficient network-multi-function printers. By implementing a multi-function network printer/copier, an immediate savings of $0.02 per page can be yielded.  Again, another expense that can grow exponentially.
• Eliminate Digital Storage Waste: According to Iron Mountain, on average, unstructured data claims 60% of total storage capacity.  Even under the best circumstances, approximately 30% – 40% of data falls under this category.  On average, a company’s storage requirements may grow anywhere from 30% – 50%.  With requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley, the need to maintain inactive data has dramatically increased the storage requirements for all organizations. By outsourcing storage, companies can realize tremendous storage infrastructure cost savings and preserve a more efficient infrastructure.

Although this article only touches on a few different ideas in which financial relief can be recognized by an organization, it hopefully provides examples as to how hidden cost saving opportunities may exist where you least expect them. Take the opportunity to seek out your own hidden treasures and you will find your company positioned strongly for the next economic up-turn.

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Tagged as: active garage, brian beedle, cost saving, datacentertrust, digital storage, infrastructor, IT cost saving, maintenance contracts, outsourcing, printing, support contracts

Making the transition from spreadsheet-based Financial Planning and Analysis to a leading Enterprise Performance Management Solution (e.g., Hyperion, Cognos, etc..) requires commitment, executive sponsorship, and significant adjustment by those involved.  Before moving forward with haste, certain items should be considered to ensure a successful and sustainable implementation:

1. Assess the Current Environment: Before a company can even consider beginning to scope out the analytical and reporting needs of a given organization, it is important to take a careful look at the current environment. Many organizations make the mistake of implementing analytical tools that only produce what is currently being used. The only difference may be a more complex user front end.  Doing this will not create any value for the organization and will only lead to frustration and a low adoption rate.
2. Get to Know Users and Understand User Needs: It is important to meet with the key people in the organization that will be using or relying on the new tool to make business decisions.  Approach these conversations in a way that opens the door so that they are intricate in the design and development.  Keep in mind, fulfilling the needs of the Finance is important, however, providing a tool that has the power to directly impact the business and profitability is the goal.  It is important to have a strong executive sponsor of the project which will assist with driving the project and promoting it through-out the executive team of the company. However, receiving input from the data experts / users of the data will lay the foundation for a useful tool which will have an impact on the day to day operation and management of the company.
3. Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s): During the discussion with management and the users in the organization, it is not only important to understand the business drivers, but also being able to measure business performance by applying KPI’s.  KPI’s need to be measurable, but one simple aspect to keep in mind, is they should be useful. Don’t overwhelm your user base with complex KPI’s that do not add value.  During your information gathering sessions you should be able to get a feel of what is needed, and you may find in most cases there is a common theme.  Some examples of KPI’s include:
   • Profit and Loss
   • Inventory Turn
   • DSO (Days Sales Outstanding)
   • Customer Loyalty/Attrition
   • Market Share Indicators
   • Other relevant measurements
4. Good Project Management Skills Are Key: Once the information gathering sessions are complete and a signed-off proof-of-concept is in place, it is time to create a Statement of Work (SOW). The SOW is a detailed road map of the project. While drafting the SOW, it is important to keep in mind that you are providing a solution to an existing problem. Therefore it is important not to over complicate as this will only create resistance and lack of acceptance. When drafting the Statement of Work, the following should be defined:
   • Project Scope
   • Risks identified
   • Timelines defined
   • Any additional terms of the project

It is a good practice when managing a project of this scope to schedule weekly update meetings and to track the progress of the project to ensure that key deliverables are being met. This will keep the project in line with goals and timelines detailed in the SOW. Lack of diligence can most certainly result in an overage in project budget and delays in implementation. Some others points to keep in mind include:

• Implement in phases and conduct User Acceptance Testing along the way.
• Ensure proper training is made available not only users, but the administrators of the new tool.
• Do not over complicate. In some cases, less is more. Provide a sustainable, usable system that can provide standardized reporting, yet have the flexibility to provide ad-hoc analysis as needed by users.

There are many styles to managing a project in the IT or Finance world. Information Technology people have their own style, understanding, and expertise. Finance and operational people have the ability to bring a different angle that is also very important to a successful implementation. Using the items detailed above as a guideline and engaging the necessary key people upfront, will make a big difference in the success of the project.

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Tagged as: active garage, brian beedle, datacentertrust, financial management, IT Finance, Key Performance Indicators, KPI, management, performance, Project Management, SOW, Statement of Work

In these difficult economic times, companies are creating processes that are not consistent with the ways in which they have traditionally managed their business.  Whether you are the CFO or an entry-level analyst, everyone must actively learn how to re-engineer and strategically manage in this new economic environment.

The expectation of companies’ Board of Directors is simply to increase top and bottom-line revenue (and by extension, profitability), with little concern for everything in the middle. Before you can even consider instituting measures to contribute to the Board’s expectations by implementing cost savings initiatives, it is necessary to develop a well thought out and orchestrated operating plan.  There are many approaches to this. Some companies prefer the “top-down” method, where management dictates the spending of the operating units and it is then up to the operators to manage within their allocated budgets. On the other extreme, management may prefer to push down the responsibility of planning to the operators and ask for a “bottoms-up” approach.  This approach requires the operational managers to develop assumptions and create a detailed operating plan with very little finance intervention.  Typically, the results of the “bottoms-up” approach may not be what you expect, but merely a wish list that even Santa Claus cannot deliver!  Sure, these may very well be extreme cases – most likely the process your organization uses falls somewhere in the middle. In any case, it is imperative that the process be organized and well executed.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT:

Q: “Why would a company be willing to invest the capital in a tool that provides little or no tangible Return on Investment (ROI)?”

A: This question is certainly justified, and the answer is surprisingly very simple: This perception is incorrect.  There is statistical proof which supports a direct correlation between implementing performance management tools and its downstream, positive impact to shareholder value.  Among this positive impact is increased accuracy of strategic capability.

Taking the leap to performance management is a major commitment for any organization and should not be made hastily or taken lightly.  Performance management initiatives do require careful planning, decisive action, and ongoing support from within the organization.  When it comes to performance management implementations, there is a fine line between success and failure.  A well planned-out and executed implementation will yield great success and gain acceptance.  However, a sub-par, marginal implementation with little or no added user benefit, will lead to frustration for the legacy users, leading to further resistance to the new technology and potentially the perception of a failed implementation.  The fine line between success and failure is extremely important to keep in mind.  Moreover, there are several factors that also need to be considered before beginning the journey to performance management, so that the end product delivers results not only in a positive ROI, but also in true business “intelligence”, and not a lack thereof.

A few of these factors are:

• Before the decision is made to move forward, it is important that a thorough assessment is conducted of the current business planning and intelligence environment. One of the most common mistakes that many stakeholders encounter when implementing this type of a solution is poor design.  Take this opportunity to think outside of the box. Challenge the operational business managers who are responsible for preparing the physical operating plans and forecasts to research what is needed to successfully manage their business. Take a look at your current reporting – does it provide value?  You may be surprised to find out that the need of the finance team may differ greatly from the needs of the overall operation.
• When preparing a proof of concept and statement of work, a best practice would be to set milestones and plan in phases. Establish reasonable expectations.  It is okay to under promise and over deliver.  Keep in mind, less may be more. Over complication of models and tools may only cause frustration and not be helpful in gaining user acceptance.
• A successful implementation will require commitment by leadership within the organization. It is true that many of the leading enterprise planning and business intelligence solutions companies pride themselves in offering applications that are typically implemented and maintained by finance departments and require little or no IT support. This in many cases may be true, depending on the skill set of your administration team. However, for small to mid-size companies, these finance department resources may not be available as in larger organizations. Engaging network/server and database administrator resources up front will result in a far easier and more successful configuration of the environment. Before purchasing any hardware, it is advisable to discuss the requirements with your server team/consultants to ensure that your solution is being configured optimally, yet in the most economical fashion.
• Provide training to users with relevant materials and be sure to seek feedback.  (Just because a solution is implemented, does not mean there is not room for continued development and improvement.)

Some of the points discussed in this article may sound quite elementary in concept,   however it is important to step back and not lose focus of these basic principles –  ultimately gaining a deep understanding of what it takes to successfully implement performance management initiatives.

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Tagged as: active garage, brian c beedle, budgets, business intelligence, datacentertrust, management, operating unit, performance management, Strategy, top down, training