tekom-Jahrestagung 2012 - ActiveDoc

International Management
Risks and threats
Levers to choose the right systems and services
Tenders, biddings or requests for quotation, proposal or information etc.
which currently mostly focus on transparency and cost, regularly lead to
wrong decisions when it comes to systems and services.
What is said here mainly fits to systems but most of it is also true for
services.
Good systems and their successful integration into existing environments
require mainly skills on the supplier side that cannot be measured:
Ability to work in cross-functional and cross-company teams or
knowledge sharing to enable common developments. Furthermore, deep
knowledge of special technologies is mostly needed. Not to forget the
engagement of every involved employee.
Instead of a focus on cost, supplier and customer should focus on an
alignment of interests. In addition to that they also must trust each
other to ensure that both parties “run into the right direction”.
The question to be answered during the bidding phase for systems and
services is not: “What is the cheapest solution to my problem?” but “Who
helps me to be competitive and innovative in the future?”
Innovation is missed
If customers don’t manage to choose the right suppliers or partners for
systems and services, they are not prepared for future challenges on
global markets where factor cost always can be underbid. Future competitiveness
needs innovation throughout all product life cycle steps
and via the whole supply chain.
High non conformity cost (NCC)
Empirical experience shows that 60–70% of follow-up cost appear during
or after project execution but their cause is to be found during the
decision phase. NCC examples are:
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Project target missed (time and/or budget)
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Rework before going life
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Rework after going life
What goes wrong during the decision phase?
The wrong questions are asked, misleading incentives such as “savings”
are set and the courage for a big innovation and change is missing. If
expectations are high, small innovations or adjustments to existing systems
won’t deliver sufficient results.
How to do it right?
Cost-focused tenders or biddings are not suitable for systems and services.
Below list of suggestions shall trigger discussions and change
current techniques.
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Don’t incentivise cost savings.
Sustainable long term success should be honored instead.
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Avoid concurrent targets among team members.
For example don’t define for IT stuff that new systems must be avoided
while other team members should spot new innovative software.
tekom-Jahrestagung 2012
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