Cypress Resources: White Paper 2

“Reality can destroy the dream;why shouldn't the dreamdestroy reality?”

George Moore

Make Enterprise Growth in The Cloud a Reality

© 2011 Cypress Resources • All rights reserved.

OVERVIEWAs a technical leader you are faced with balancing numerous requests from Business Lines for new technology

offerings while enforcing IT governance in order to maintain system stability and data integrity. This paper offers

you insight to a strategy for appeasing and delivering functionality to Business Lines while constructing an

architecture that offers flexibility (to meet a changing business landscape), scalability, cost-effectiveness, and

provides stability for integration control points to monitor and provide quality assurance.

Using a Business Process Management (BPM) approach you can confidently fulfill technical governance

requirements while delivering specialized, targeted business applications to meet the operational needs and desires

of Business Lines. Business Lines are driven by results and they will find a way to get results. The question for the

organization becomes, “what is most beneficial? Results that can be reviewed, monitored, and responded to? Or

results that are outside the periphery of core systems and can not be linked to “Key Performance Indicators?” If

your organization desires to be a strategic business partner to truly support Business Lines’ operational processes

you must consider a BPM approach to aligning people, processes, and technology.

This paper offers a resolution to the paradox of giving Business Lines their choice of business applications while

also establishing boundaries and structure to ensure a stable architecture and protect system reliability. A pairing of

cloud technologies for functional offerings with a BPM design, implementation, and maintenance strategy delivers

tools Business Lines need while mitigating the risk for the technical sponsor.

Who Should Read This White Paper:

CFOs, COOs, CIOs, CEOs

VPs of Business Ops, VPs of Finance

Directors of Procurement, Directors of Business Development, Directors of IT

Business Line Executives

© 2011 Cypress Resources • All rights reserved.

http://cypressresources.com/knowledge/knowledge-notes

© 2011 Cypress Resources • All rights reserved. Page 1 of 8

“Reality can destroy the dream; why shouldn't the dream destroy reality?” – George Moore

Why is Enterprise Growth Via Best of Breed in The Cloud so Attractive?There are many reasons, but adapting to the latest technology feels most compelling. Your Lines of Business have

needs. As an executive you are charged with leading your team to achieving organizational goals by providing them

the tools to be successful. Lines of Business generate revenue and without the proper tools, they cannot stay

current in the market and adapt to changing demands. Employees have begrudgingly complied, but with a caveat;

they work outside of the system to accommodate the needs of the business. You have recognized this, but your

organization made a significant investment in a solution that was the best choice five years ago.

While a traditional Tier 1 ERP solution has its place in a companyʼs IT architecture it may not provide a best fit

for optimal performance across all Business Line operations. These systems do promote and provide “best

practices”, but creating a “best-fit” requires customization. Where Business Lines have unique needs that are part

of their service delivery and culture, forcing them to conform to “best practices” with less specialized functionality

in order to avoid customization inhibits their ability to leverage their uniqueness as a strength and competitive

advantage. If you do not provide systems to meet their needs Business Lines will develop individual methods,

practices, and external systems to accomplish their business goals. Any systems external to IT’s governance creates

risk of inconsistent or errant information distributed throughout the organization. Organizations that lack

visibility and control over data are deprived of the opportunity to produce key data markers for Business

Intelligence. Entrenchment of your plan in a BPM approach is the necessary insurance to avoid this problem.

BPM directs business requirements to solutions, acceptance and usability.

Today Cloud applications are not only for small businesses. The applications are sophisticated and targeted to meet

specific operational needs of Business Lines. These applications help to managing overhead. IT departments do not

have to house the hardware, support the software, and have specialized skill sets in house. The power of a Cloud

application allows what would be a $1 investment in internal hardware to be used for 10 times the amount of

shared computing power.

The Cloud offers scalability with little lead-time. As new divisions and departments are added the application can

immediately scale-to-fit the changing organization. The bandwidth of the application is inherent and the

organization taps in as needed. It offers “on-demand extensibility” the ability to expand application functionality

when needed by the organization.

BPM: The Flight Plan to The Cloud

The Challenge of Embracing The Cloud Although operating in The Cloud has many operational benefits, is easy to use, and provides more for each IT

dollar, moving to The Cloud requires change and change requires effort.

How do you manage all disparate systems?

• Is your growth limited because your current structure is too confining and difficult to expand?

• Are you limited due to your current framework not meeting needs of business

and processing that occurs outside of your system?

• Do you have a method to determine and identify the area that if reengineered

will yield the greatest increase in productivity?

So let's "land the plane"...



It has often been said that hope is not a strategy. Moving to The Cloud is not an answer to solving failure points

that exist in your business processes. There are no real short cuts at least not without long-term consequences.

Regardless of what technology you decide to embrace you must have business processes that are well defined,

optimized, accepted and understood by the users. If your business processes are vaguely defined and consistency of

use is in question, you are not currently meeting the needs of your operations. So what is your strategy for

embracing enterprise growth in The Cloud and providing your operational Business Lines the technology they

want and need? You need solid ground for launch and landing.

I. The Plan

Here are the fundamentals:

1. Understand your business objective priorities

2. Create standardization in processes

3. Develop distinct process modules

a. Gather appropriate capabilities

4. Establish flexibility

a. Understand that change and adjustment is the way forward

b. Create the ability to quickly build and remove touch points in response to the business environment

c. Build modular processes that are repeatable and interchangeable

The Flight Pattern for Making Best of Breed a Strategic Reality – BPM

“Moving to The Cloudis not an answer to solving failure points that exist in

your business processes.”

Moving to The Cloud is More than a Technical Application Migration.It is a Business Platform Shift.

As CIOs lead their IT organization towards becoming

full-fledged partners in business strategies and

objectives, they will have to lead the Business Lines to

understand that processes drive efficient business.

Business processes in The Cloud require a new approach

for structure and compatibility. With the latest targeted

business applications and BI tools that can accurately

extract data from disparate applications the justification

is getting easier.

A typical view of a business process structure is to

consider processes from end-to-end accounting for all

predecessor and successor implications. With a move to

The Cloud organizations will have to look at their

operations from end-to-end, but modularize the

structure of their processes. Each process must be

separated into modules that are standardized and

repeatable. This structure allows for the most flexibility

to accommodate business needs. The process modules

will be called and utilized on demand and in the

appropriate combinations for the business requirement.

Not only does this dynamic arrangement of process

modules provide a high level of flexibility to address the

rapidly changing needs of the business, it also allows for

more creative and innovative ways to accomplish

business. Organizations will find innovation among

their employees to improve their business in ways they

have not considered.

How do you use BPM to adapt current business

processes – processes managed and driven by current

ERP application modules and processes that exist

outside the system that are nonstandard and

inconsistent? The following activities regarding your

business processes must occur within the BPM based

implementation to produce results driven “modularity”:

1. Discernment – Prioritizing corporate goals.

Prioritizing existing issues and requests to understand

where to focus efforts for the largest and fastest Return

on Investment.

2. Depict and Construct – Outline ideal outcomes.

Sketch solution options and as details are added logical

groupings will emerge. Define the standards for the

groupings so that consistency in usage can be developed.

Acknowledge the exceptions and map these issues back

the root causes.

3. Model and Test – Setup of business cases and

scenarios that provide a walk-through of the processes

within their respective application. Judge transitions

across process sets, applications, and business groups to

ensure that the process sets can perform autonomously

as well as in appropriate combinations. Determine a

user acceptance strategy and pilot the new architecture.


“Processes must be separated intomodules that are standardized

and repeatable…”



II. What are the Pitfalls:SaaS is emerging/has emerged at a rapid pace. There are new niche products launched daily. Yes, you want to

provide your team with the tools to be successful. Yes, you want the Business Line to have the flexibility to operate

as a mature organization while remaining nimble. The Cloud seems like the best alternative given the benifits of

lower risk, more targeted tool, faster implementation and less administrative servicing. Without a defined strategy

for embracing The Cloud however, your organization is risking control, structure, quality assurance and a bit of the

“stick to it” mentality that you often need with any business application.

With such flexibility and ease of implementation, your organization could be at risk of always wanting/trying the

next great thing and never committing. When and what is your expected return? How long do you expect to

maintain an application in the cloud? Do you anticipate maintaning longer or shorter than a module of an ERP?

What percentage of adoption is acceptable? 10%, 20%, 50%...and how are you going to know who is using the

system? The point is that one of the things that keeps organizations working in their current ERP and related

modules is the expense incurred by the organization for implementation and ongoing licensing. If that were

reduced would you change more often to suit the needs of the business?

The model right now is loose and fast, so what is going to keep you grounded? How are you going to tie your

organization together once Business Lines have been given the flexibility to adopt targeted business applications?

Some of the risks to avoid:

• Selecting a new application without vetting all business requirements.

• Implementing new applications and process modules without proper modeling.

• Failing to understand business processes from the perspective of the contributors and benefactors.

• Misunderstanding the details of the business process steps as well as their predecessors and successors.



III. What You Need to Make it Successful:

Your Business Lines need thrust and lift for take-off but something has to keep your organization on course.

What is it going to be? Will it be your enterprise architecture adjusted for The Cloud? The fact is a tool will not

provide what is needed to make your cloud platform adaptable and built for enterprise growth. You need a

foundation. You need control. You need structure. You need to capture what makes your business unique. You

have SOA as the design and offering. You need BPM to make it a reality.

BPM aligns people, processes, and technology to promote effective and efficient Business Line performance.

To implement BPM organizations must accomplish the following:

Realize all current processes – documentation of all systematic or manual processes is necessary to determine

opportunities for modularity

Recognize triggers and drivers – labeling and categorizing the actions or circumstances that initiate parts of a

process will identify the criteria to connect distinct process modules

Perform root cause analysis – identifying the root cause of any obstacles or symptomatic problems that exist within

processes is critical to developing realistic process solutions

Connect distinct process modules across operations – determine desired outcomes of groups of process steps, define

success of the sub-process, and understand the path to exception handling. Use documented triggers and drivers to

map operational paths and train users.

“BPM aligns people, processes, and technology topromote effective and efficient Business Line performance”



Conclusion – Launch and Land Safely with BPM as Your Foundation:Whether you have not yet left the ground or you are already in The Cloud your organization needs a solid

foundation and a measurable flight pattern for The Cloud. BPM will provide your organization with the ability to

meets its goals. A BPM approach will allow Business Lines the tools they need to reach their targets while

maintaining compliance. BPM will foster and create an environment that is more about cultivating innovative and

creative quality solutions than about constraining and enforcing.

By providing all of these ideal conditions in an architecture that breeds consistency, standardization, and ultimately

improved ability for strategic decision making your organization will soar. If you base your plan in BPM you will

have the tools, framework, and quality assurance that a move to The Cloud will not be an abandonment of

structure and governance, but a strategy with clear integration paths. The move will be a deliberate and methodical

plan to empower Business Lines to perform at optimal levels and produce results that can achieve corporate goals.

AboutCypress

Resources:

Based in Birmingham, Alabama, Cypress Resources is a Business ProcessConsulting firm specializing in Business Process Management and Business SystemIntegration. Serving clients nationwide, Cypress Resources aligns people, processesand technology to increase business performance. Its focused approach shortens thepaths to goals, propels initiatives to completion, and averts issues before theybecome problems. Mapping, monitoring and measuring each task is fundamental toCypress Resources’ approach to ensure accountability and optimum return oninvestment. Capitalizing on the strengths of a veteran team of business optimizationexperts for each unique engagement, Cypress Resources delivers profitability andenduring success to middle market and Fortune 500 companies in a wide range ofindustries. Clients value Cypress Resources’ depth of experience, quickresponsiveness and the hands-on value provided by its principals, Carey L. Rome,CEO, and Cathy F. Milazzo, Executive Vice President.

Carey began his career as a Certified Public Accountant and moved into businessoperations after his tenure with Arthur Andersen. While at Andersen, Carey servedas an advisor to mid-sized and Fortune 1000 companies as an auditor andconsultant. Carey honed his entrepreneurial and leadership skills as Chief FinancialOfficer and Chief Operating Officer of two privately held companies. After gainingsignificant experience in finance and business operations, Carey launched CypressResources in 2005.

A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Carey holds a Bachelor of Science degree inaccounting from Louisiana Tech University. He is a member of the AmericanInstitute of Certified Public Accountants, the Business Process ManagementInstitute, the Alabama Society of Certified Public Accountants, the BirminghamRotary, and the Birmingham Monday Morning Quarterback Club. Carey serves as amember of the Board of Trustees for Alabama Retail Comp and is a current Boardmember and past president of the Board for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of GreaterBirmingham.

Since 1994, Cathy F. Milazzo has guided both public and private sector clients withincisive and practical knowledge to overcome challenges and achieve measurableresults in the areas of Information Technology and Information Management. In theprivate sector, Cathy worked with a multi-billion dollar company participating inthe implementation of software solutions that reorganized business processes andintegrated systems. As a manager in the Higher Education, Healthcare, and Stateand Local practices of KPMG and then BearingPoint, Cathy specialized in projectmanagement of ERP and other system implementations. As an independentconsultant, Cathy has served public sector organizations as a client advocate toprovide strategy, direction, and quality control during implementations. A native ofBirmingham, Alabama, Cathy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance fromthe University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Carey L. Rome

Cathy F. Milazzo


http://cypressresources.com

Cypress Resources: White Paper 2

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