Telecom Outsourcing Delivery Not Discovery. Insights from EnterprisePM

Transcription

1 Telecom Outsourcing Not Discovery Insights from EnterprisePM John Hogan January by EnterprisePM. All rights reserved

2 not Discovery Transition & Transformation (T&T) Programs. The Challenge. WHEN A PROBLEM SHARED ISN T A PROBLEM HALVED Enterprise PM estimates up to 30% of resource time budgeted to T&T Programs is expended obtaining, discussing, assessing, and agreeing data in order to reach decisions. This emanates from the constant necessity to share data in a physical environment across large numbers of disparate teams, although often not all of the people who need it are often engaged. It is poor use of people s time. The cost outstrips the benefit, and leads to significant amounts of reworking with the frustration that accompanies it. Assimilating large data stacks requires clarity not confusion, access not discovery, certainty not debate. Every conversation, every meeting. every analysis is time bound. A problem shared can become a cost doubled. After 15 years at the sharp end delivering large global T&T programs, my experience shows that the programs were not delivered that successfully. Projects were eventually delivered. Resource costs often ran over budget, as commercial opportunities were delayed or squandered. Across the business cycle, from bid propositions to in-life account management, a common theme emerged. Significantly more time was spent discovering information, and validating it, than delivering actual business outcomes. Despite the effort put in, decisions were often made on the basis of insufficient or inaccurate data. Proposals to clients were challenged, often having to be reworked, adding cost, and leading to frustration. PMO s toughed it out. Project Teams worked long and hard to fix issues, yet client confidence sank as projects went off plan, revenues were delayed, and costs increased. A significant amount of budget was being used to deliver not very much. $(Value) DISCOVERY $Cost Figure 1.1 The Cost of Discovery Telecom Outsourcing Not Discovery Insights from EnterprisePM 2

3 The lack of a single source of data, trusted across stakeholder communities, is the root cause. It is this that drives all of the additional effort and hard work that should, and could be avoided. A typical T&T data stack draws information from spreadsheets, shared information sites, databases, documents, s, reports, and meeting summaries. It is derived from client data, internal business functions, and 3 rd party vendors, covering commercials, billing, inventory, network design, vendor costs, performance, resource, and change management. Interpreting all of this data into known outcomes, from which the right decisions can be taken, is possible with a lot of hard work, but it is a landscape that is constantly shifting with the complexities of change management, scope creep, and moving baselines. Resources are sunk into these activities for at least 18 months on major T&T deals. Frustration and stress can cause people to leave projects, and so valuable, tacit knowledge is lost. Projects do not carry budget for extended information management work streams. That s understandable. Delicate contract negotiations post down select, are usually geared to reducing price, not increasing it. Clearly, a strategic change in approach to the management of data needs to happen. T&T Programs. The Risks There are 6 risks associated with the data challenge in T&T Programs, which can form a vicious cycle if not carefully managed. 30% of resource time is focused on data discovery, not delivery for up to 18 months * Decisions are made using inadequate data leading to errors resulting in client loss of confidence Project Delays ensue due to data discovery timeframes and as decisions are challenged Un-budgeted additional resources are often engaged to fix issues in key areas Revenue is delayed consequentially, and in parallel benefit delivery to the client People leave the project frustrated. Knowledge is lost and the cycle begins again Project Delay Poor Decisions Revenue Delay DATA DISCOVERY Client Confidence Sinks More Resource Cost to Fix Problem Figure 1.2 The Risk Cycle in Data Management * Experience across 20+ major T&T projects Telecom Outsourcing Not Discovery Insights from EnterprisePM 3

4 T&T Programs. Incremental Cost of Discovery Time spent discovering and reviewing data severely impacts the delivery of the obligations and commercial benefits the Programs are designed to achieve. Not only is the time invested significant, buy there is a growing cost associated. The following graph illustrates not only that 30% of resource time is invested in discovering data, and all of the activities that surround that, but that the cost of that investment incrementally increases over time. Resources Allocation & Cost 70% Discovery 30% 70% Discovery 30% 70% Discovery 30% 70% Discovery 30% Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Current Cost Figure 1.3 Incremental Cost of stable 30% resource discovering data A lack of meaningful data shared collaboratively across functions results in silo working, as individual stakeholders strive to deliver on challenging bid timelines and contractual obligations. Resource budgets are consumed long before they were predicted to. Costs spiral out of control with no known outcome. Using data, often of uncertain origin, interpreting it, validating it, and agreeing positions, leads to decisions tainted by assumption and guesswork, further compounded by change management, scope creep, and a moving baseline, which adds additional layers of complexity. A decision made only to be informed the goal posts have moved. And so discussions begin afresh. This is a huge frustration for everyone involved. Projects, or elements of projects, go off track and revenues are delayed. Meanwhile, clients lose confidence. Working all night to fix issues becomes business as usual, and can lead to people retention issues, such is the sense of frustration. Telco s have long faced these issues, perhaps without realizing the source of the problem is data management. The current predicament is about to be inflamed by two new challenges. Telecom Outsourcing Not Discovery Insights from EnterprisePM 4

5 T&T Programs. The Dilemma Organizational change, as Telecoms businesses look to re-structure, and the management of data are the new challenges on the immediate horizon. They will increase pressure on T&T Programs if not carefully managed. Firstly, data is increasing in volume as more and more information and communications are digitized. What we now call Big Data. As the challenge intensifies, it is critical not only to become efficient, but proficient in the management of these increased data streams. It is not tenable to continue to manage in functional and system driven silos. Secondly, Telecoms businesses are actively pursuing simplifying the way they work, including offshoring functions into lower cost economies and recruiting staff to support new investment areas. A steep learning curve lies ahead. The likelihood of data management continuing to impose constraint on resources is certain. The likelihood of that impact significantly increasing is high. The risk of business cost benefits being compromised by hiring external resources to help assimilate this data into meaningful business outcomes is a very real one. T&T Programs. The Opportunity Managing data efficiently will address the delivery challenges that T&T Programs face, and solve both the cost and resource allocation issue simultaneously. Key Direct Benefits: Reduced Cost. Remove the need for ongoing data discovery and unlock the resources Reports & Dashboards. Data certainty delivered in real time to business stakeholders Improved Value. Get to decisions faster to maximize commercial opportunities Program. Data certainty leads to accelerated delivery Client Relationship. Agreed baseline data leads to clarity, and drives client confidence Business Development. Clarity of data will provide customer and market insight enabling companies to grow their business more rapidly Key Indirect Benefits: Empowerment. People focus on their core roles. The risk in staff retention is reduced Knowledge Retention. Unlocking the real value in Big Data requires a managed solution. It s not just about what data is, but what you do with it. A business strategy combining methodology, process, and governance, underpinned by software that provides data analytics in real time, to those who need it, when they need it, is the key to making best use of resources in T&T projects. A step-by-step approach to achieving goals will deliver clear benefits. Telecom Outsourcing Not Discovery Insights from EnterprisePM 5

6 IDC ASIA PACIFIC DECEMBER 2013 There are precious few data scientists in the market, who have the specific industry expertise and business acumen. Without these people to lead the process, many organizations don t know where to look for the low hanging fruit. HP DECEMBER 2013 The Big Data phenomenon could cause more problems than solutions unless CIO s are well prepared and move from the suppliers of technology to the provider of business solutions What are the requirements to exploit your data assets? Expert advice to develop governance and methodologies Output based on source data, not interpretation Clear data with known outcomes already agreed by internal stakeholders, clients, and vendors factored into the process The end of tiresome meetings, discussions, and reviews discussing what data is correct Dashboards and Reports provided in near real time to the stakeholder community Empowered People no longer frustrated by the discovery curve Programs & Projects delivered to agreed Plans, with Financial targets met or exceeded Telecom Outsourcing Not Discovery Insights from EnterprisePM 6

7 Our 1View software provides Dashboards aggregating multiple data sources, visible to Stakeholders in real time. Financial Management P&L Pricing & Forecasting Resource Analysis Benefits Tracking Billing & Rate Cards Expense Management T&S Spend VS Budget Legal Fees External Fees Contractor Fees Training Costs Client Data Baseline Data True-Up Lock Down Baseline Stakeholder Agreement Client Vendor Data Link to 1View Inventory Costs 1EPMS 1VIEW Dashboard PMO Dashboard VMO Dashboard CFO Dashboard COO Dashboard CIO Dashboard VMO RFQ s Service Design Discount Analysis Service Management Inventory SLA s KPI s Transactions Orders MAC s Figure 1.4 Complexity of Data Management in T&T Programs 30% of time in T&T Programs surrounds managing data in one way or another. Business must enable PMO functions to focus on delivery. After all, wasn t that what they were asked to do? The External View GARTNER 2013 Business simplification is the next challenge for T&T Programs IDC DECEMBER will mark the serious beginning of Big Data as a Service (BDaaS) How to take advantage EnterprisePM offers a wealth of industry experience and expertise to assess and establish exactly what any business function within the Telecom industry requires to take best advantage of it s data assets. Telecom Outsourcing Not Discovery Insights from EnterprisePM 7

8 Why EnterprisePM? EnterprisePM focuses on Rethinking, Redefining and Realising business value in Project and Vendor Management. We define PMO and VMO as enterprise business functions focused on the execution of business change and strategy. These are key disciplines that businesses will need to develop and evolve to avoid project failures and realise full return on their investments. To deliver on this, organisations need to: RETHINK the way they manage processes, systems and information to allow them to assemble reliable and accurate data across all of their activities in real time. REDEFINE processes, systems, measures and success factors to align to operating and managing portfolios in a way that drives simplification, transparency, accountability, excellence and sustainability. REALISE maximum value through the disciplines and consistent implementation of those redefined processes, systems, measures and success factors supported by the right systems and tools EnterprisePM utilizes a simple and comprehensive methodology that challenges the historic view or the traditional way of doing things with our solution, 1EPMS. Re-thinking the how will enable you to redefine the what and ultimately the outcome realization the value. That value presents itself through single, intuitive, accurate and actionable views of the traditionally disparate data sources in an organisation. What we in EnterprisePM call 1View We partner with you to: Rethink your current paradigm Redefine your delivery and sourcing strategies, then Realise transparency through consistent data analytics and a single source of truth in 1View We aggregate data in 1View, not integrate, to; Drive cost effective value outcomes Expedite speed of value delivery Remove the complexity of disparate system integration Reduce the risk profile through operating expense commercial models to reduce commercial risk Empowering you and your vendors to: Control business case and value realisation Continuously improve quality and timeliness of delivery over time Identify and focus on the real priorities and opportunities Telecom Outsourcing Not Discovery Insights from EnterprisePM 8

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