Sequoia Strategy Group

Keep it Simple, But Modernize

 

  1. Complexity is the enemy


  3. Processes are the means, not the ends


  5. BUT


  7. Saving money by not modernizing can be a fool’s errand

We can help

Our experienced consultants can assess a situation quickly, get to the meat of the matter, and redesign your processes to focus on the desired results with the minimum of complexity.   And we know when it is worth it to upgrade and when it is not. 

Sequoia Strategy Group has been helping companies get more out of their Business Strategies, Operations, and Information Technology for over 20 years, through recessions, bubbles (and their bursting), and through periods of real growth.  We are a team of highly successful general management and IT executives. We provide  SOLUTIONS THAT ENDURE.


Contact us:

info.request@sequoiastrategy.com

650-690-2197

Keep It Simple

Things rarely get complex because we want them to be complex.  They get complex because we want them to be better. Nowhere is this more true than in the world of business processes and IT operations. 

As businesses have grown, they naturally get more complex - more markets, more geographies, larger organizations, and specialized talent.  The common response has been to install processes with define accountability and ownership.  But often, these don’t seem to give the answer.  Who in the last few years has not gotten caught up in “Business Process Reengineering” and “Six Sigma” programs?  The motivations and objectives behind these are all sound and desirable.  The problem comes with the single-minded pursuit and blind obedience to the implementation gurus.

Over the last few decades, IT departments have continued to refine their internal processes and how they deal with the business stakeholders, including Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Configuration Management, Release Management, and so forth.  While these are al good things to have, and certainly you want to keep getting better, too often we lose sight of the objective, and the tool becomes the end in itself.

The results are too often: 

  1. •A lot of money spent

  2. •Processes that more often choke operations than enable them, and

  3. •A lot of organizational frustration.


Processes are important.  However, they are tools to help you do your job - NOT ends in themselves.


But Modernize

All of us are constantly besieged by new version of what we just installed.  Constantly upgrading can be a treadmill to financial exasperation as well as operational complexity (see above).

However, falling behind can be just as bad.  We have seen situations where clients have stayed with older versions of systems to the point where the vendor can  no longer support them, the systems won’t run on new hardware, and new employees think they have stepped through a portal back in time.  THis can be even worse than the pain of upgrading. 


This is a constant dilemma.  However, it can be addressed logically, and we can help.  Our experience leads us to look at the question in a balanced way that leads with the needs of the business.  The answer may not be the obvious one.