DRIVING STRATEGY EXECUTION WITH
STRATEGIC PLANNING IN IT SERVICES

Facilitate the implementation of business strategy for an IT service provider.

 

The company provided four types of IT service (i.e. service lines), including

  • System management
  • System development
  • System integration
  • Business process outsourcing

It was organized by division (i.e. customer groups)

  • Manufacturing
  • Transport
  • Government
  • Financial services
  • Health
  • Energy
  • Communications

The strategy involved three time horizons

  • Long term (3 years): A portfolio strategy of 4 service lines,
  • Mid term (2 years): A portfolio strategy of 7 customer groups, and
  • Short term (1 year): Divisional competitive strategies

These strategies needed to be implemented quickly, with effective allocation of resources across competing opportunities.

  • Development of a strategic plan with initiatives valued at NPV of $177 million.
  • Assignment of roles, responsibilities, work plans, calendar of activities, and milestones
  • Estimated resource requirements and cash-flow projections
  • Performance commitment by designated parties
  • Unanimous buy-in with C-level management and organizational unit heads
  • Immediate implementation

1. Reviewed strategy

2. Asked each unit leader and C-level executive to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

3. Facilitated a group session with C-level executives and the head of each service line and customer group (15 executives)
–

  • Confronted strengths and weaknesses against opportunities and threats
  • Identified eight critical success factors, rated each across company divisions, and prioritized the most important ones
    1. Resource management
    2. Delivery Capability
    3. Development of new BPO business model
    4. Image
    5. Productivity improvements
    6. Technological leadership
    7. Portfolio balance
    8. Sales leadership
  • Identified two sets of initiatives
    –
    Defense Initiatives

    Improve Resource Management    : significantly improve management of resources to facilitate delivery improvements, productivity improvements and margin enhancement, and Improve resource planning to enable successful delivery against new business opportunities
    –
    Fix Delivery Capability: improve reference-ability and profitability, strengthened capability, avoid out of line accounts and projects, support geographic markets to achieve market penetration
    –
    Growth Initiatives
    –
    Pursue Business Process Outsourcing: close ADPAT deal of $300m/year in the government sector, establish a new process management business model, win a significant proportion of the available ADAPT business, be regarded as the partner of choice in business process outsourcing
    –
    Build RMS in Financial Services: significantly grow business in the Financial Services sector to revenues up to $50m/year plus, and be recognized as the market leader in the Financial Services sector
    –
  • Separated the group into teams and tasked each with the development of a business case for each initiative, including:
    – Objectives
    – Key staff, role and responsibilities
    – Resource requirements
    – Time horizon: start date, end date, duration
    – Work plan and milestones
    – Affected service lines and customer groups
    – Expected results
    – Dependencies
    –
  • Developed a list of minor actions for other less important critical success factors

4. Helped to draw up a summary financial plan with the CFO

5. Set up quarterly progress reviews
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