Welcome to our white papers. These discuss topics that we feel illustrate some aspect of our take on the world. Please feel free to browse . . .

Business/IT Integration

  • A Transformational Framework

Gordon Miller and Richard Williams look at the “how” of measurement-based transformation, presenting a structured approach to making confident, sustained changes in the way IT makes your business work.

Download A Transformational Framework (165.4 KB)

  • What Should a Capability Measurement Model Look Like?

A sound measurement model that links business performance with IT capability is an extremely valuable management tool – and a means for organisations to move forward with much greater confidence. But what would such a model look like?

Download What Should a Capability Measurement Look Like (112.01 KB)

  • Beyond IT performance: measuring true IT effectiveness

Richard Williams and Gordon Miller explore how traditional IT performance measures fail to tell managers what their real IT capability is – or how IT is serving business goals. Using a model containing true capability metrics, IT leaders can improve the quality of their dialogue with the business and ensure that their activities are correctly aligned.

Download Beyond IT Performance - Measuring True IT Effectiveness (79.94 KB)

  • What business processes can do for business leaders

We argue that change agents need to develop habits of systems thinking, so that they can build mental models of the business and how it really works. If they don’t, then they can’t intervene in the development of the business and they become vulnerable to inappropriate – and sometimes harmful – external solutions. By understanding the key questions that must be asked repeatedly of the business, managers can rediscover their responsibility for the direction of the enterprise and execute with confidence.

Download What Business Processes can do for business Leaders (105.93 KB)

  • Show IT Who’s Boss!

Jointly written with Ken Gorf of West Trax, the paper highlights the lack of ownership and systems development by businesses, and the subsequent impact on their ability to sign-off on legislative compliance.

Download Show IT Who's Boss (137.31 KB)

  • IT is not the silver bullet for business ills

This paper discusses the lure of the magic solution – and explains how the pursuit of silver bullets distracts leaders from the urgent need to interrogate the design of the business, and assess its fitness for purpose. Buying a silver bullet is usually an expensive mistake, and it’s one that can be avoided by committing to a clear analysis of what your business needs to do to be successful.

Download IT is not the Silver Bullet (92.71 KB)

The Supply Chain Process

  • The ERP Implementation Trinity: How to deliver on the promise

This paper explains how to successfully integrate ERP into businesses – without the tears.

Download ERP Implementation Trinity (88.38 KB)

  • The Good Habits of Collaboration: Rethinking the Supply Chain

We discuss taking a pragmatic view as to why supply chain management is so problematic, even with the advanced technology available. It helps companies understand where they fit within the supply chain and how individual actions can affect other contributors further down the chain.

Download SCM Good Habits of Collaboration (64.14 KB)

  • Unstoppable Momentum: Making a real change in ERP

This paper discusses why people underestimate the power and difficulty of change, especially when it comes to implementing systems, which, by every rational measure, should result in improvements for all concerned. Many of the principles discussed in this paper are being used in live projects in partnership with leading ERP vendors.

Download Unstoppable Momentum (112.52 KB)