I.T. Management as a Service
Profiled)IT(People
Outsourcing I.T. Management
Management competence is the single biggest determining factor for the success of your organization’s I.T. service delivery. It is no longer about the toys. The people make the difference.
Many Organizations are already outsourcing their most critical I.T. Management Functions: Program and Project Management to independent and disparate contractors, without a clear idea on how best to source this function.
Even with good managers you can still fail to unlock the value of your I.T. investments. The problem is that “good” managers in I.T. continue to rely on archaic work practices and inefficient organization models, fuelled by industry hype and poorly understood frameworks. That just costs. “Good” managers still need a good “system” to be successful in their duties.
At Profiled)IT(People, we believe the C.I.O has the core responsibility for leadership. He/she should set the business vision and direction, and be empowered to do this for a responsive organization. Leadership should never be outsourced. Management on the other hand, has responsibility for performance control, resourcing, process, budget, and more. This can be outsourced to free the C.I.O. to truly lead.
At Profiled)IT(People it is the way we organize that creates value for your business. During the last fifteen years we’ve done it, seen it, and could not believe it. We educated, mentored and consulted on it. We’ve fixed enough I.T. departments to recognize just what is needed.
Now we are doing something about it. More and more, our clients request that we manage their I.T. for them, because we do it well. We manage their Projects and Programs, and we manage their day-to-day I.T. operations and support.
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•If you are an ambitious and open minded Director willing to escape mediocrity, we can assist you to drive assessment of where you are, and help you facilitate transformation of your personal management ability, and that of your organization.
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•If you are a progressive and ambitious C.I.O. we can assist you to rapidly progress your I.T. organization towards more mature I.T. service delivery practices.
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•If you are a C.E.O. of an innovative company, we can assist you to construct and implement an agile I.T. ecosystem. This flexible I.T. organization will best support your accelerated business innovation.
After profiling your I.T. department, we will recommend a transformation plan appropriate to your requirements. This plan could include and introduce you to outsourcing your I.T. management. Why are we so confident about our abilities, and the benefits for our clients? Because we’ve done it already for some of the world’s leading organizations.
Why do you need us? With our managers, knowledge, tools and techniques and your investment in solutions, people and suppliers, we will organize your I.T. service delivery to truly empower your business for success. We will liberate your C.I.O. to play a more fundamental role in the success of your company.
All you have to decide is if you are prepared to liberate your business.
Hendrik van Wyk
Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ
The following are questions you may have:
Mark a Consultant asks: “Is Profiled)IT(People proposing to take over the staff management functions as well (performance, development and training, day to day matters, hiring and firing, etc)? How do you propose dealing with risk and key decisions in these areas?
Answer: Yes, we offer to take over the staff management functions through our Capability Management Service applicable to the matrix organization configuration for Projects and Programs, and through our Operations Managers overseeing teams in the Operations and Support domain. We will do this in line with the organization's policies for HR, spending limits, approving contractors, managing third parties, etc. and ensure we have the necessary delegated authority and approval from the C.I.O. during our execution.
We intend to address governance as a first part of our engagement with any client. We've found that topics like up-to-date delegated authority, spending limits, contract approvals etc. are matters that most Generation 1 organizations do not have well under control. The standard practice in these organizations is that most decisions are eventually escalated to C.I.O. level anyway - a bottleneck for efficiency.
Through our mature process framework and procedural compliance and policy management tool we will include these aspects to accelerate the I.T. organization toward maturity, even in this perceived "non-IT" domain. That said, commercial management, governance, policy formulation etc. are not functions we provide. We believe our client should retain control here. We will advise and comply with the directives of the organization.
Mark continues: “Many companies hire seconded or contract people to cover off key positions while they recruit for the full time position. Is this the main focus of Profiled)IT(People’ s services?”
Answer: Our engagement objective is 3 - 5 years. Firstly, we engage as part of a conscious directive to advance the organization toward mature execution.
Secondly, we equip the client organization to scale and tailor its technology services to cater for strategic execution demands. As with all outsourcing engagements, we intend to do such a good job that our clients benefit ongoing from having us around. Our intention is not to be a backstop while a company hires new managers.
Sally a C.I.O. asks: “Why not just hire really good I.T. middle management myself?”
Answer: Middle management is limited in its ability to advance an organization's execution maturity. You need Managers that know how to work in a more mature organization to rapidly advance the company's execution ability, but you also need to equip them with a compatible suite of tools to do it.
Just hiring another manager is not a sure fire way of getting better execution. This is a Generation 1 characteristic; when confronted with a problem it gets a new guy, not necessarily a new way. These new arrivals still have to contend with strong change inertia, and many falter or depart as a result of not succeeding to change the organization towards more mature practices.
The same goes for engaging independent consultants to assist with a transformation. Unless that relationship is quickly defined as an internal/external partnership, incumbent management can just wait for the external irritant to leave before reverting to their own ways.
Engaging Profiled)IT(People is a much more effective way of rapidly advancing your business towards more effective delivery. With the engagement comes a clear message that this is not a ‘flavour of the month’ initiative; the organization means business.
Once we have matured your organization, your management overhead should see a decrease. At that point we will be able to provide similar services with less management overhead, i.e partial assignments or flexible access to management resource where necessary. It is one of our main objectives to save your business management overhead while improving your delivery practices.
Sally a C.I.O. continues: “Where will you source such good middle managers, that have the necessary deep operational experience?”
Answer: Profiled)IT(People is confronted with the same talent short fall as everyone else. The difference is our ability to quickly assess what the shortfall is in any individual and develop that individual to supply that lack. Additionally if the lack is too great no one continues to develop the square peg for the round hole. We have developed a management boot-camp for our associates. Firstly, we assimilate the client's managers in the management pool and re-skill them with new processes and tools through our boot-camp. This is a three to six months process. Those that make the cut go on to your (as a preference) or our other client accounts.
Secondly, we hire people according to our Management Competency Framework (the only one of its kind for I.T. Management roles) and put them through that boot-camp to work within our processes and execution methods. These are the people assigned to transition the customer's business and perform ongoing work on the client’s account.
All our accounts have an Account Executive that shadows the client C.I.O and ensures that the Profiled)IT(People managers continue to meet our client’s expectations.
Peter a Director in crisis asks: “What is the bottom line. When should I call you?”
Answer: Organizations in crisis don't have time for existing managers to change behaviour. If the process is broken and the C.I.O. has ‘fingers in the dyke ‘ he or she is confronted with reality and must choose a new reality or sink with the old.
These businesses must be able to rely on a service that can accelerate a transition to more mature practices rapidly. Our framework, tools and methods allow our managers to rapidly advance our client’s business practices.
The Process and Price
Profiled)IT(People recommends the following approach:
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•Profiling Assessment: We profile your existing I.T. organization to assess its I.T. organizational maturity. This is typically a 1 month engagement with a detailed report providing options for improvement and recommending a course of action. The fee for this engagement is dependent on the size and complexity of your operation.
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•Transition and Deploy: Profiled)IT(People initiates a coordinated engagement to move your I.T. organization towards a more mature practice through the rollout of the Profiled)IT(People Generation 2 or 3 Service Delivery Framework (SDF®). This is typically a 3 - 6 month engagement depending on the size and complexity of your operation. This includes:
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•Functional alignment of staff according to Profiled)IT(People’s Service Operating Framework® and Profile-I.T. Role Competency Framework®.
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•Standardize processes deployment and compile compliance documentation.
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•Continuous innovation process deployment.
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•Assimilating your existing I.T. management into Profiled)IT(People for develop and training, and discerning and deploying the necessary management personnel for the assignment from these managers or other Profile-IT staff if necessary.
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•Strategic Sourcing: Profiled)IT(People will assist you to make decisions on sourcing staff, outsourcing and procurement of products and service to address your business needs for improved solutions, lower cost and mature service execution. It brokers relationships with key outsourcing providers as needed and where required, and as it is needed by the Generation model.
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•Provision of Management Services: Profiled)IT(People engage with you on an ongoing basis to manage and improve your service execution; effectively managing the business transformation and the Operate & Support services (Outsource Management). By assimilating the most competent of your existing management into our organization for training and development you retain their knowledge of your organization where you wish to and we infuse that understanding with ours of the task and execution at hand. By deploying highly competent management professionals, we provide the following at an agreed monthly contract fee:
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•Portfolio Management.
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•Program/Project Management.
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•Operations Management (Software and Infrastructure).
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•Support Management.
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•Capability Sourcing and Management.
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•Vendor (Outsource) Management.
