Transportation Management Report 2011 - Capgemini

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Let’s take a closer look at the current
situation before defining a route to
the future.
In Figure 12, a newly delivered IT
solution should be in the upper right
quadrant. But immediately after
go-live (or sometimes even during
development) IT quality and business
fitness will start to decrease. New
releases and additional hardware and
software help to slow down or even
turn around this process.
Strategy for change
But what if your IT solution is no
longer positioned in the upper right
quadrant? The strategy to choose
depends on the status of your current
IT solution.
Scenario 1: Change IT solution
If both technology and functionality
are under average, the best way
forward is to replace the IT solution.
This allows for a relatively fast
turnaround, a single integrated
architecture, and support for all
current and future scenarios. The
downsides are potentially high
investment and disruption of ongoing
business. Migration planning should
be very thorough and focused on
minimal impact on the business.
Although it means going with a
completely new IT solution, it could
still be the best way to migrate.
Scenario 2: Upgrade IT
If technology is under average, but
the functionality is still supporting
your business, the way forward is to
upgrade the IT.
The main question in this scenario is
always: How do you build a business
case for an IT upgrade if there is no
business urgency, especially in times
of economic downturn?
The first step is to assess the business
continuity risks. At what point in
time will IT cause business risks that
are no longer acceptable? How long
can your business do without order
management or track and trace, for
example? For an hour? For a day?
When business continuity is assessed
and if it turns out to be at risk,
the next phase is to define which
components of the IT solution are
critical, from a business perspective.
These should be prioritized and may
require custom built software.
In this scenario, migration planning
should be focused on business
priorities - which functions can you
not afford to lose or are differentiators
for the company’s customers.
Scenario 3: Upgrade functionality
If functionality is under average but
the technology of the IT solution
is in good shape, impact is limited
and a sound platform can handle
the addition of services. In this
scenario it is normally easiest to
create a business case and compare
IT investment with business benefits.
Even when the capacity of the IT
department is limited, a sound
business case could justify the use of
external resources.