Simplified Delivery Risk, Quality and Cost in context
Preamble: The article "The Big Idea – The Rise of the Supertemp" noted in part: "Daniel Lee, a Pfizer Vice President, runs a group that leads operational improvement initiatives across the drug giant's far flung global divisions. He first tapped independent talent a year ago, to get an extra pair of experienced hands on an ad hoc basis. His colleagues soon realised that they could use such talent more strategically. They say that an experienced senior professional is sometimes easier to bring in than the traditional consulting team of a partner supported by junior associates who do much of the actual work. Lee and his team now consider including independent professionals in most project-planning conversations. ‘Once you see the talent out there,’ he explains ‘ it's almost a no no-brainer that you would try and tap into."
The Challenge: A plethora of products (Access, Excel sheets, Macros, VB objects) are used to compliment the organisation’s set of core systems – be they SAP, Peoplesoft, etc. These increase the potential risk and exposure to the continuity of business should any of these products fail or require support. More often than not, they are not even listed in the BCP or DRP. Whilst these have been built to bridge functional or data deficiencies, they have also introduced inefficiencies and data integrity risks. To mitigate this risk, an approach has been formulated which allows the replacement of these with a more simplified, integrated and automated range of processes.
The Answer - Technique: A rapid paced technique known as Algomatics™ was deployed. This technique draws upon the principles used by profilers and forensic analysts to ascertain requirements. It then uses algorithms and mathematical techniques to design and build the new process. At all times, data (used by the current process to be replaced) is the working capital for building the solution.