At one level this is a relatively simple tool, requiring the management to select a key area of business activity and to audit performance in that area, comparing to previous performance levels and, ideally, benchmarking against known best practice and performance levels. The information generated by these audits will then be used to identify unsatisfactory performance and enable measures to be introduced to bring about improvements.
The business areas that should be regularly audited, in any business, whether public, private, or not-for-profit, include: External Environment: well established tools and techniques are available and used to scan the external environment for information on issues, events, and trends that will impact on the strategies and performance capabilities of the organisation. The quality of this information, and the interpretations of it, is critical, as it is the foundation stone of the strategic planning activity that follows. An audit of processes, tools, and techniques, and the quality of output, is essential in ensuring that the strategic planning process is provided with high quality, relevant, valid information.
Competitors: although an element of the external environment analysis activity, this deserves a separate mention. Monitoring and-or benchmarking – variations of auditing – of competitor performance is essential. Competitors are, by default, in the same business, and gaining knowledge of competitor performance levels, in as many key areas as possible, will bring benefits to any organisation in any sector.
Strategic Planning: often an area of activity that is not evaluated, because it is carried out by the senior executive levels of management, but should be. In addition to the information gathering discussed above, the level of expertise in strategic planning of the managers, the rationale and justification for the chosen strategies, the processes used to communicate the strategies throughout the organisation, the level of support and resources provided for implementation, the performance of existing and previous strategies, are all areas that should be audited in order for optimum performance to be continuously achieved.
Leadership: separate from the Strategy audit, the quality of leadership should be audited regularly. A set of competencies for leadership, at all levels in the organisation, should be drawn up, and the leadership performance measured against these. Development activity should also be based on these competencies, and on eliminating or reducing weaknesses identified by the audit.
Culture: the existing culture that blend of beliefs, values, perceptions, behaviour, that makes up the culture of the organisation should be regularly audited and compared to the culture that is desired by, the objective of, the organisation’s leaders. Particularly at times when the organisation is planning or undergoing major change, information gathered from these audits will be invaluable.
Financial: where, although there is usually a framework of management and financial accounting processes, there is a need to rigorously and regularly audit the effectiveness of these, to ensure that the budgeting and accounting activity is as productive as possible.
Suppliers: one of the most critical areas of any organisation’s activity, the start of the supply chain, supplier performance, including the performance of those in the organisation who audit supplier performance, must be audited, rigorously and regularly. Now accepted, in parallel with research & design and strategic planning, as one of the foundation stones of quality assurance, any weakness in supplier performance can damage the organisation, sometimes irreparably. Auditing ensures that optimum performance levels are maintained.
Physical Resources: the quality of and use of physical resources, such as raw materials, operational equipment, technological equipment and systems, furniture, fittings, and buildings, all need regular auditing to ensure that the most appropriate resources are purchased, installed, maintained, and used effectively.
Human Resources: this entails auditing the quality of human resources employed by the organisation, the way in which they are deployed, how well they are trained and developed, as well as what opportunities and channels exist for progression. Every aspect of human resources activity should be audited at all levels, from operational up to and including executive level.
Equality: encompassing diversity, discrimination, and equality of opportunity which are all key areas that if not audited regularly to ensure high levels of performance not only abiding by legislative requirements but also contributing positively to the culture of the organisation will lead to conflict, dissatisfaction, lower morale, lower motivation, and ultimately lower levels of performance.
Internal Customers: often ignored, the level of satisfaction of internal customers the next department, individual, or team, that handles the next stage of production or service creation is critical. Overwhelming evidence shows that dissatisfaction of internal customers, leading to breakdowns in communication and cooperation, is one of the major causes of poor overall performance.
Distribution: of the products and-or services provided by the organisation is an essential element in making the organisation successful. Auditing this process will ensure that logistics best practices are in place, and that distribution activity is contributing positively, in terms of financial costs and corporate identity, to marketing, sales, and customer service efforts.
External Customers: auditing the satisfaction levels of external customers is a critical activity that should be carried out on a frequent basis. Customers here include all those at separate points in the distribution chain, through to buyers and end users. Information drawn from these audits will ensure that the organisation is in tune with and can respond appropriately to the needs of its most important stakeholders its external customers.
Stakeholder Relationships: stakeholders are any individual, team, external organisation, that has a legitimate interest in the performance of the organisation. This could include, depending on the sector and specific organisation: employees, unions, parents, relatives, local or national media, local authorities, emergency services, shareholders, financial institutions, funding bodies, governors, national or international governments, strategic partners, and of course, a variety of external customers. Relationships with each of these, in their own way, are critical, and should be audited regularly to ensure that they are as healthy as possible.
Quality System: deliberately listed as the last area to be regularly audited, this is an audit that should be carried out in addition to all the individual audits listed above. Whether an organisation has an externally certificated quality assurance management system, or an internal only system, there should be quality criteria set for every critical activity, event, stage, and process, from the starting point to the final point of the supply chain from the earliest stages of design and supply activity to the point where the product or service is in the hands of the final, end-user customer. Quality criteria that describe required quality levels, performance levels, and outputs, are essential to the success of any organisation. The quality system, including the internal and external auditing processes, should be audited to make certain that it is performing as intended that is, assuring that the required quality standards are being met, and of course, continuously improving.
Effective auditing will bring a number of benefits to the organisation. The first group of benefits are those where obvious weaknesses or problems are identified, including: identifying where immediate improvements could be made; identifying emerging trends that may signify corrective, defensive, or offensive action is needed. The second group of benefits are more subtle, and include: identifying the actual situation, rather than what is perceived to be the case by management or specialists; increasing the pool of knowledge that individuals and teams can learn from; ensuring that the operational activity is, as intended, supporting the strategic objectives: establishing a culture that expects performance to be regularly audited and evaluated: establishes a culture that is driven by continuous improvement activity.
Unless an organisation continuously audits and evaluates its performance in all key areas, it cannot know for certain where poor performance is occurring, and it cannot take corrective action because it is not aware of the problem, or it does not have sufficient information on which to base appropriate action. Rigorous, regular auditing will provide a flow of valuable information that the organisation’s management can use to decide on operational changes that will improve performance in critical areas. Applied across the whole organisation, this will provide the strategic objectives with a stronger foundation of support, and ultimately more chance of success.
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Given this backdrop of explosive growth opportunities, the challenges for VAR executives becomes managing for revenue growth and targeting the highest margin opportunities – in initial sales and throughout ongoing client relationships. Professional services automation software applications give VARs a competitive edge and make the difference between struggling to grow and harvesting profit from the abundant growth opportunities.
Advantages for VARs who use Professional Services Automation Software
1. Executive Insight
VAR businesses usually start by selling a primary set of products and services. As they become more successful, they add more products and services, ultimately bundling them up in ways clients want to buy them. Most VARs look at their business through “business practice” lenses – areas of marketing and delivery that bring together the multiple disciplines needed to constitute a client solution. Basic start-up system tools don’t fit any more, VARs need professional services automation software tools that manage and report products the way clients buy them, through the lens of a practice.
#Example of how PSA Software can help improve executive insight
As an example of this, think of a network practice that combines elements of hardware (servers, routers, and hubs) with software (security messaging and e-mail), along with client education and even network monitoring and management.
A CEO view lists all the practices and ranks them by key performance indicators: revenue, growth rates, and margins. Practice managers can see how their projects are unfolding and with drill downs, identify what’s working and what?s not.The important point is that with the help of PSA software, VARs can put their fingers on the pulse of the business and tell where the market is expanding or contracting.
2. Client Visibility: All clients are important, but in reality, some are more important to your bottom line than others. Once you understand a client?s lifetime value – revenue, projects, invoices, and opportunities with the help of a PSA software – you can shape your interactions with them better.
Look at yourself from your client’s point of view
Clients see their relationship with the VAR as the sum total of their experiences with sales, receivables, service incidents and other interactions.
For a VAR, getting such specifics for even one client is usually a tedious one-off spreadsheet exercise. And when it’s done, the rest of the organization usually doesn’t share in the insights. As a result, the type of effective follow-up activities you want to have routinely – whether it’s having an executive make a remedial call or initiating an incremental sales opportunity don’t happen.
Professional services automation software changes all that. It gives executives the most critical elements of any client’s transactions at a glance: practice revenues and margins, buying patterns, service incidents, and invoice payment. It gives insights about the client’s experience with the VAR and shows the value the client brings to the VAR.
Using this knowledge can trigger a well placed call from a senior executive at the right time to reinforce your position and lead to a deeper relationship. It’s the information you need to set priorities, ensuring you take care of your best clients and nurture the most promising ones.
#Keep tabs on ongoing interactions to improve revenue growth
Many executives measure the health of a client relationship by the number of interactions between the firms, recurring order patterns, and by increasing order size. The converse is an increasing number of calls to a support center about a repeating, nagging problem, or too many on-site visits that do not lead to any sales. Finding shifts in buying patterns through PSA software can act as an early warning system to help you prevent a good client from getting away and recognize where new strategies may reignite purchases.
#Making yourself visible to your clients increases trust
The ultimate deliverable is your ability to create trust and business value for your clients. Opening up to let clients see their own daily interactions with you saves your client time and money, and you too.
By using PSA software portal clients can answer their own questions like have my payments been received (and applied to the right invoices), which invoices are outstanding, which orders are still open (and is any delivery info available), how many service calls have been placed recently, and how many (which ones) are still open.
Once an order is placed you set up a project to design, install, get the system operational, and ultimately accepted. During the project your clients can use the PSA software portal to understand the status of a project, use it for internal reporting purposes, and use it as a communication platform.
Forward thinking VARs are using professional services automation software to monitor the acceptance process and even ensure that a project delivers on its business improvement or ROI projections. During this process, a savvy practice manager will be looking for sales opportunities for after market services.
3. Marketing Effectiveness: Capturing true marketing costs and performance improves your capture rates and minimizes wasteful spending.
There is an old marketing saw that says 50% of advertising dollars are wasted – we just don’t know which 50%. Unfortunately, that principle is true for VAR marketing expenditures too. Through professional services automation software, you can collect true costs for all aspects of your lead generation efforts and compare them to sales achieved. It’s powerful information that ensures winning propositions are used again and less than stellar efforts are jettisoned. Knowing the cost per lead and success rate of every campaign brings marketing operations closer to the company’s mission of growing revenue and high margin opportunities.
#Watch pipeline activity to identify where you can stimulate growth
Pipelines are hard enough to manage, even if you aren’t dealing with sandbagging or missed executions. Professional services automation software generates real-time reports for the sales executive, CFO, and CEO that detail the movement from proposal to order to shipment and acceptance. Reports that help you understand proposal conversion rates, internal execution, and how successful your employees are when visiting on site. Knowing this can help you identify good sales execution, spot remedial work for individual sales people, and decide what needs to be done to help cement a good relationship with a client.
#Use client feedback to productize opportunities
Every VAR maintains a support center for ongoing client support and project installations. Data from these interactions can be a treasure trove of new opportunities. PSA software identifies important call issues so you can examine them for add-on product and sales opportunities. Getting a lot of calls about start-up issues at the end user level? Perhaps an onsite introductory training class is needed. Do clients have insufficient skills in their IT departments? Maybe it’s time to consider a managed services offering.
PSA software for VARs can provide the facts to make informed decisions about when to productize services for repeatable, high margin sales and to help you spot emerging areas clients are inquiring about.
#Accelerate upgrade opportunities through insight into your clients’ installed environments
By its very nature, the technology industry is always racing towards the next breakthrough. Unfortunately, end user clients can’t possibly keep up with the relentless adoption of the next big thing. In fact, they often don’t maximize the use they get out of any piece of equipment and may not be aware of savings opportunities that come with some upgrades.
It’s easier to sell when you know how and when the client buys. Many IT directors have a budgetary model that subscribes to the notion of being fully depreciated. Knowing when equipment depreciation occurs can trigger sales activities to harvest this built-in financial understanding. Creative sales executives will also see this as an opportunity to offer new contractual terms that extend beyond a single project or delivery. For example, they may take a deal off the street by replacing all of a company’s PCs over a three-year period, as the systems become fully depreciated, and offering special payments terms to take the sting out of lump sum payments.
4. Internal Operations: Managing technology implementations means running projects on-time and on budget. Real time awareness can detect margin leakage before it becomes a problem.
#Tight control of new technology introductions can speed revenue and contain ramp-up costs
Becoming market ready for each new technology is not a small or inexpensive undertaking. PSA software with good project management functionality enables you to identify and control key ramp-up tasks such as obtaining licenses, employee training and certification, setting up development environments, arranging your product distribution network, and so on. Technology ramp up is a huge internal project that requires costly capital outlays and profitability often depends upon skillful project and budget management and preventing cost overruns. PSA software tools give you time and cost management insights to use to help guarantee a prepared staff and an on-time rollout at a cost you expected.
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As a freelance writer and business consultant, a lot of people come to me with a business idea and want my help to write a formal business plan.
Contrary to what many aspiring entrepreneurs think, writing a business plan isn’t the first or most important step to start a business. For most people-especially those who have not yet started a business-this is actually one of the last things you want to do in the start-up and get-off-the-ground phase.
This article is specifically designed for those brave souls who have never started a business, have a burning desire to do so, but don’t know where to start. Here are 10 practical, learned from the school of hard knocks, that will help you avoid common pitfalls and get started right. (And keep in mind that these are intended for businesses that need little to no start-up capital.)
1. Read
Before you do anything else, read these four books in order: Cash Flow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki, The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki, Burn Your Business Plan by David Gumpert, and The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.
2. Dream
Take time to create your business “spiritually” before you create it physically. See it in it’s best, most perfect state, as a world-class operation. How does it look, feel, taste, smell, and sound?
Entrepreneurship is one of the hardest things you will ever do, and your business must invigorate and excite you consistently, otherwise you won’t last through the hard times.
Write these dreams down–this is not a business plan, just written dreams, plans, goals, and brainstorms. The formal business plan will come much later.
3. Research
Before you invest a lot of time and money in your dream, do adequate research to find out if your idea is viable and sustainable.
In this step, you basically want to ask and answer a lot of questions, such as these: Will the market support your idea? What evidence do you have to support this? What discontentment exists that your idea solves? Will it unleash an ideavirus? Who else is doing it, and how successful have they been? What will you do differently? Do you have a readily identifiable market? Do market trends support the idea, or will the idea be obsolete in a few years? Do you need funding? If so, how much and by when? What technology can be leveraged in the business? What skills do you lack necessary for the business?
Remember also that hands-on experience can be the most useful form of research–you may want to implement your business on a small scale at this stage to see what the market tells you.
4. Form an Entity & Ensure Legal Compliance
Assuming you’re convinced that your idea will work, now it’s time to make it real and form a business entity. You need an entity for four reasons: to be legal, to maximize tax savings, to decrease liability, and to maintain control.
Your basic business entity options include a sole proprietorship, LLC, S-Corporation, and C-Corporation. Meet with an attorney and a CPA to discuss the differences between them and choose the appropriate entity for your uses. This will cost about $125 if you do all the paper work yourself, or between $200 and $500 if you use a professional or an attorney.
In addition to your entity, you must also ensure that you are legally compliant in all other areas. For example, if you have employees, you probably need Worker’s Compensation Insurance. A good attorney will help you safely navigate all of the legal issues you will face.
5. Generate Revenue
This step is absolutely critical. Too many newbies try to do too much at once, and are so concerned about things like image that they spend tons of money, time, and effort on logo and branding work, marketing brochures, advertising, etc. While all of those have their place, they should be paid for BY the revenues generated by the business.
Now that you’ve had your time to dream, it’s time to be extremely pragmatic about applying them. Do whatever it takes to generate revenues, even if it means door-to-door selling. No dream, however inspiring, will ever be realized unless you can pay for it to materialize.
6. Create Financial Systems
Now that you have cash flow, it’s imperative that you manage it wisely. Account for EVERY income and expenditure, no matter how trivial, and maintain impeccable records. You’ll be glad you did come tax time.
The most common accounting software programs are Quick Books and Quicken. Or, you can use a quality bookkeeping service, which can help you with payroll and quarterly taxes in addition to keeping your records.
7. Begin Writing an Operations Manual
An Operations Manual gives you the ability to leverage your efforts and duplicate yourself by providing simple, step-by-step directions that anyone can follow to perform any task.
Systematizing your business is the most important thing you will ever do, and you can never start soon enough. Systems, of course, will be refined over time, but it’s critical that you get them down in writing and keep them updated.
You may also consider using a professional writer to write your Operations Manual.
8. Create Marketing Systems
Many novices want to immediately start spending money on advertising, without knowing the costs and/or benefits. It’s been said that advertising takes a lot of money, while marketing takes a lot of time.
For start-ups, stick with marketing; in most cases, you have time, but you don’t have money, and marketing is generally more effective anyway. Advertising is costly and relatively ineffective. Start-ups should be obsessive about managing finances wisely, and very cautious about spending money.
Advertising would include things such as billboards, radio and TV ads, flyers, yellow page ads, etc. Marketing usually boils down to direct selling of some kind, whether it be telemarketing, door-to-door sales, customer referral programs, etc.
If your idea and delivery systems are good enough, the business should market itself virally anyway. In any case, find something that actually gets results, stick to it, and create and document systems in your Operations Manual.
9. Refine Systems, Replace Yourself, More Refining, & Document Religiously
In the first year or so, you will most likely be performing most, if not all, tasks yourself. This gives you the opportunity to learn and work out necessary details, but it won’t be sustainable when it’s time to grow.
With an Operations Manual in place, you can now begin hiring and training others to replace you. Once they’re replaced, then continue to oversee and refine the systems consistently.
Also, you must be absolutely religious about documenting every aspect of your business. For example, if your business does door-to-door sales, all salesmen should document how many doors they knock, how many people they actually talk to, and how many people bought.
Over time, this data will prove to be invaluable as you seek to refine your systems; without real numbers you have no idea what’s working and what’s not.
10. Write a Business Plan
The final step in the start-up process is the one that most people think they should start with. Here’s why it should come last: if you want it to secure funding, investors will want to see a proven track record before they invest anyway, and if you do it after the first nine steps, you can now do it right, with actual numbers, facts, and statistics rather than unfounded assumptions.
Furthermore, this gives you an opportunity to reconnect to your dreams after wading through a lot of trials.
And, like an Operations Manual, you can always use a professional writer to write your business plan.
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The concept of trilogy is similar to trinity, but trinity refers to divinity and it is a religious concept while trilogy refers to things and often to artistic works. Trilogy is a whole that is expressed in three parts and each part is a unit of its own and in itself. For example, it could be a movie or a novel that is produced/written in three separate parts but which plot is interconnected among those parts.
This article is titled the perfect business trilogy because it refers to the three businesses which I believe are the most effective and profitable in the world today. Furthermore, it shows how to combine these businesses in a perfect system to boost the profits and reduce the inherent risks found in any business or enterprise.
These three businesses are Internet Marketing, Real Estate and Trading. I will describe these businesses now and then I will show you the system. Let’s start with Internet Marketing.
Why I say that Internet Marketing is one of the most profitable businesses in the entire world. Simple. Just analyze the benefits . . .
1. You can start an online business virtually with no cash on hand.
2. You don’t need to purchase any equipment nor machines, except a computer with Internet connection.
3. You don’t need specialized knowledge nor previous experience.
4. You can do it from home.
5. You can be your own boss, choose your own schedule and working environment.
6. The profit potential is very high.
7. You can set these businesses on autopilot and receive passive income.
8. You can get multiple streams of residual income.
9. You can start within minutes.
10. You can reach a vast audience without ever having to deal with anybody personally.
If I would make a complete list of benefits I would need several sheets of paper. Most people have a logical reason to want to make money on the Internet. That reason is that these businesses offer big returns on time and money invested.
Think about how many hassles you would have to go through if you would want to start an offline business. In my opinion, the Internet beats 99% of other opportunities out there. The good thing about it is that anyone can do it. Anyone with enough passion and determination can turn their hobby into a profitable venture online.
Remember that there is not only one or two methods to make money on the Internet, but many. Bellow are just a few examples . . .
1. You can sell e-books and software.
2. You can be an affiliate.
3. You can sell advertising space from your websites.
4. You can sell items on online auctions.
5. You can sell web hosting and memberships.
These are just a few examples. There are many other businesses. I have just mentioned a few common and profitable Internet businesses here, but as you can see you have different options to choose from.
Now, the second business that I mention above is real estate. There are some simple and basic reasons why real estate is a very profitable business. One of the reasons is that we humans are reproducing too fast. Our specie is growing on the planet at an exaggerate rate.
Land can not be manufactured. We are running out of space which makes the price of land increase in value really fast. Also, few things can offer so much value to somebody as a house or an apartment unit. Shelter is one of the three basic needs. Everybody needs a place where they can live.
Usefulness plus scarcity equals high prices. Also supply and demand play an important role on that equation. The reason supply is scarce is exactly what I mentioned above: too many people on Earth.
Throughout history investing in real estate has being profitable because it is a useful tangible thing. Today we have the problem of over population which makes it even prettier. Investing is not the only way to make money on this business though. There are traders too.
A trader on this field basically flips properties. For example he may purchase a house with the intention of selling it back as soon as possible and realize the big profits quickly. Another thing they do is to buy in preconstruction.
With the price of houses increasing so fast, a trader/investor sometimes purchase properties with the intention of selling them quickly. Many investors sell the properties even before construction ends. They simply assign the contracts to other willing investors. Then the first investors make substantial profits without having to close on the deals themselves.
There are many different ways to make money on real estate. Here are just a few examples.
1. Buy rental properties and be a landlord.
2. Buy land that it is expected to appreciate in value. Wait a few years. Sell the land and buy more.
3. Flip properties. Buy in preconstruction and similar deals. Once the properties appreciate in value, sell them and buy more.
4. Buy discounted mortgage notes. This is part of the cash flow business. Purchase discounted mortgage notes cash. This way the investor controls the property without owning it.
5. Purchase tax certificates. Attend government auctions and buy land for pennies on the dollar.
6. Get a real estate license, become an agent and sell mansions. With prices so high today you don’t need to sell many properties to make good money this way. The draw back is that this is too competitive, but there is competition everywhere anyway.
7. Buy distressed properties, fix them and resell them.
Etc, etc, etc; you get the point. There are many things you can do. These are just ideas and comments. These are examples of what some business people do to make money in real estate. There are other possibilities, but I think these are the most common and profitable ones.
The third business is trading online. I am referring here to trading Forex (The Forex Exchange Market). Forex is very risky, hence the high claims of how profitable it can be. Maybe you have heard a lot of hype about Forex lately. This is basically the market where you can trade one currency for another. It is the world’s biggest and most liquid market today.
You can trade Forex from the comfort of your own home. In fact most online brokers allow you to open demo accounts today and try your strategies with play money before you compromise real capital. Trading is the third business that I mention on this trilogy. Bellow you can find more ideas about this concept.
It may take some time for you to learn how to be successful on these businesses, but the basic idea is to participate on all three of them. The main purpose of this article is to show you how these business can be profitable and relatively easy to implement.
If you could combine the profits from each you could further boost your income. For example, in my opinion, the safest of the businesses above is Internet Marketing. It requires relatively low investment or no investment at all. So, the idea is to start an online business that produces good profits for you. Once you are getting substantial income from your Internet Business you can proceed to learn how to trade successfully.
You can use part of the profits you get from your online business to trade online. Then part of the profits you get from trading and Internet Marketing can be used to purchase real estate.
This is a simple concept, but it can be very effective. Can you see why I think these are the most profitable businesses in the world? I give you generalized information here, but you can find more details in my other articles. I really think this is a perfect business trilogy. It is a method to combine three highly profitable businesses and increase your overall gains.
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Software application development has only been around since the late 1970s. Compared to other industries and professions the software industry is still very young. Ever since organizations began to use computers to support their business tasks, the people who create and maintain those “systems” have become more and more sophisticated and specialized. This specialization is necessary because as computer systems become more and more complex, no one person can know how to do everything.
One of the “specialties” to arise is the Business Analyst. A Business Analyst is a person who acts as a liaison between business people who have a business problem and technology people who know how to create solutions. Although some organizations have used this title in non-IT areas of the business, it is an appropriate description for the role that functions as the bridge between people in business and IT. The use of the word “Business” is a constant reminder that any application software developed by an organization should further improve its business operations, either by increasing revenue, reducing costs, or increasing service level to the customers.
History of the Business Analyst Role
In the 1980s when the software development life cycle was well accepted as a necessary step, people doing this work typically came from a technical background and were working in the IT organization. They understood the software development process and often had programming experience. They used textual requirements along with ANSI flowcharts, dataflow diagrams, database diagrams, and prototypes. The biggest complaint about software development was the length of time required to develop a system that didn’t always meet the business needs. Business people had become accustomed to sophisticated software and wanted it better and faster.
In response to the demand for speed, a class of development tools referred to as CASE (Computer Aided Software Engineering) were invented. These tools were designed to capture requirements and use them to manage a software development project from beginning to end. They required a strict adherence to a methodology, involved a long learning curve, and often alienated the business community from the development process due to the unfamiliar symbols used in the diagrams.
As IT teams struggled to learn to use CASE tools, PCs (personal computers) began to appear in large numbers on desktops around the organization. Suddenly anyone could be a computer programmer, designer and user. IT teams were still perfecting their management of a central mainframe computer and then suddenly had hundreds of independent computers to manage. Client-server technologies emerged as an advanced alternative to the traditional “green screen,” keyboard-based software.
The impact on the software development process was devastating. Methodologies and classic approaches to development had to be revised to support the new distributed systems technology and the increased sophistication of the computer user prompted the number of software requests to skyrocket.
Many business areas got tired of waiting for a large, slow moving IT department to rollout yet another cumbersome application. They began learning to do things for themselves, or hiring consultants, often called Business Analysts, who would report directly to them, to help with automation needs. This caused even more problems for IT which was suddenly asked to support software that they had not written or approved. Small independent databases were created everywhere with inconsistent, and often, unprotected data. During this time, the internal Business Analyst role was minimized and as a result many systems did not solve the right business problem causing an increase in maintenance expenses and rework.
New methodologies and approaches were developed to respond to the changes, RAD (rapid application development), JAD (joint application development), and OO (object oriented) tools and methods were developed.
As we began the new millennium, the Internet emerged as the new technology and IT was again faced with a tremendous change. Once again, more sophisticated users, anxious to take advantage of new technology, often looked outside of their own organizations for the automation they craved. The business side of the organization started driving the technology as never before and in a large percentage of organizations began staffing the Business Analyst role from within the operational units instead of from IT. We now have Marketing Directors, Accountants, Attorneys, and Payroll Clerks performing the role of the Business Analyst.
In addition, the quality movement that had started in the 70s with TQM, came into focus again as companies looked for ways to lower their cost of missed requirements as they expanded globally. The ISO (International Standards Organization) set quality standards that must be adhered to when doing international business. Carnegie Mellon created a software development quality standard CMM (Capability Maturity Model). Additionally, Six Sigma provided a disciplined, data-driven quality approach to process improvement aimed at the near elimination of defects from every product, process, and transaction. Each of these quality efforts required more facts and rigor during requirements gathering and analysis which highlighted the need for more skilled Business Analysts familiar with the business, IT, and quality best practices.
Future of the Business Analyst Role
Today we see Business Analysts coming from both the IT and business areas. In the best situations, the Business Analyst today has a combination of IT and business skills. Each organization has unique titles for these individuals and the structure of Business Analyst groups is as varied as the companies themselves. However, there is a core set of tasks that most Business Analysts are doing regardless of their background or their industry.
The Business Analyst role becomes more critical as project teams become more geographically dispersed.
Outsourcing and globalization of large corporations have been the driving factors for much of this change recently. When the IT development role no longer resides inside our organizations, it becomes necessary to accurately and completely define the requirements in more detail than ever before. A consistent structured approach, while nice to have in the past, is required to be successful in the new environment. Most organizations will maintain the Business Analyst role as an “inhouse” function. As a result, more IT staff are being trained as Business Analysts.
The Business Analyst role will continue to shift its focus from “Software” to “Business System.”
Most Business Analysts today are focused on software development and maintenance, but the skills of the Business Analyst can be utilized on a larger scale. An excellent Business Analyst can study a business area and make recommendations about procedural changes, personnel changes, and policy changes in addition to recommending software. The Business Analyst can help improve the business system not just the business software.
The Business Analyst role will continue to evolve as business dictates.
Future productivity increases will be achieved through re-usability of requirements. Requirements Management will become another key skill in the expanding role of the Business Analyst as organizations mature in their understanding of this critical expertise. The Business Analyst is often described as an “Agent of Change.” Having a detailed understanding of the organization’s key initiatives, a Business Analyst can lead the way to influence people to adapt to major changes that benefit the organization and its business goals. The role of a Business Analyst is an exciting and secure career choice as U.S. companies continue to drive the global economy.
Training for the Business Analyst
The skill set needed for a successful Business Analyst is diverse and can range from communication skills to data modeling. A Business Analyst’s educational and professional background may vary as well–some possess an IT background while others come from the business stakeholder area.
With backgrounds as diverse and broad as these it is difficult for a Business Analyst to possess all the skills necessary to perform successful business analysis. Companies are finding that individuals with a strong business analysis background are difficult to locate in the marketplace and are choosing to train their employees to become Business Analysts in consistent structured approaches. First, organizations seeking formal business analysis training should examine vendors who are considered “experts” on the field with a strong focus on business analysis approaches and methodologies. Second, you will want to examine the quality of the training vendor’s materials. This may be done by researching who wrote a vendor’s materials and how often they are updated to stay abreast of industry best practices. Third, matching the real-world experience of instructors to the needs and experience level of your organization is critical to successful training. Business analysis is an emerging profession and it is critical that the instructors that you choose have been practicing Business Analysts.
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Are you struggling to make a profit? Are you challenged in reaching your next success level? Would just like to reach your desired business goals faster?
Then “THE TOP 10 SECRETS OF OUTRAGEOUSLY SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISES” is a *must* for you. These business secrets are the *BEST OF THE BEST.* These secrets were not gotten from a book or seminar. Rather they represent the wisdom I gained from coaching & consulting hundreds of businesses over the last 21 years … from the soloist entrepreneur to multi-billion dollar companies.
I GUARANTEE if you apply any one of these top 10 secrets with conviction and commitment, you will experience quantum leaps in your business.
MINDSET SECRETS
1. *EXPECT* TO WIN… *EXPECT* TO SUCCEED
While we all experience highs and lows in our business, outrageously successful enterprises EXPECT to succeed over the long run. For such enterprises,
Success is the ONLY option.
To what extent do you EXPECT to succeed in your business? What less empowering expectations currently undermine your success? Make a *decision* today to succeed. “Cut the cord” on all other possible outcomes.
2. LIVE AND BREATHE YOUR MISSION STATEMENT
While most businesses have crafted a mission statement, it is not enough just to have one. Outrageously successful enterprises live and breathe their missiion statement … in every goal, every strategy and every project of their business. It is the life force and the reason for everything they do.
Do you have a compelling mission statement for your business? Do you communicate it – both in words and actions – to every client, every prospect, every employee? If you asked any one of these stakeholders what is your mission, would they know what to say?
Post and read your mission statement daily. Include it in all your collateral materials. Live and breathe your mission statement in every goal, decision and action. This one principle will make your business a compelling magnet for greater and greater levels of success.
3. ALWAYS ASK THE MILLION $$ QUESTION:
***** “Where is the opportunity in this situation?” *******
Within *every business challenge,* there is an extraordinary opportunity for a HUGE breakthrough. Even with the most difficult challenges, outrageously successful enterprises never see challenges. They ONLY see opportunities. They constantly ask: “Where is the opportunity in this situation?”
Where is your focus right now in your business – on the challenge or the opporunity? Make it a habit with every challenge to ask: “Where is the opportunity in this situation?” that one question will blow open the doors to new solutions, new strategies and new possibilities to take your business to the next level.
4. BECOME THE ULTIMATE BUSINESS “ROMANTICIST”
Outrageously successful enterprises are constantly “IN LOVE.” Yes, that’s right. They LOVE their customers. They LOVE their employees and vendors. They LOVE their visions. They LOVE everything about their business.
This priniciple is not something you get from a book. It comes from the very heart and soul of why you are in business. When you are “in love,” it shines forth in every client interaction, every exchange with a prospect, every dealing with a peer or vendor. Remember the old cliche, “People don’t care what you know; they want to know that you care.”
Are you “IN LOVE” wiith your clients and prospects? Are you “IN LOVE” with the benefits you offer? Are you “IN LOVE” with every aspect of your business? If not, why not? What do you need to change about your attitude, beliefs or actions to become the “Ultimate Business Romanticist.”
STRATEGY SECRETS
5. LOOK AT MARKETING AS A *CONTINUUM*, NOT AN EVENT.
Contrary to conventional business thinking, marketing does not end with a sale. Outrageously successful enterprises know that marketing is a perpetual process. And, contrary to most business practices, these enterprises focus more than 50% of their marketing efforts **after the sale** — such as ‘post sale” follow-up, repeat business incentives, backend selling, referral marketing, etc. They know that the greatest revenues are generated *after the sale.”
How do you see and practice marketing in your business — as an event or a continuum? What *post sales* and prospect follow-up activities can you incorporate as the focus of your marketing efforts? This one shift n your marketing focus alone can increase your revenues 100%, 200%, even 500% … more than any marketing action you take in your business.
6. CONSTANTLY “MARKET UP”
Within every target market, there is a high end and a low end market and everything in between. Million $$ enterprises constantly stretch their marketing sights and target prospects that most businesses would think impossible to acquire as clients. They constantly “market up” to high end prospects … a strategy that catalyzes their business to a much bigger game.
What specific prospects … or kinds of prospects … would you love to have a clients or customers but think it is impossible? Think out side the box and think BIG. It could be celebrities, politicians, admired companies or CEOs, leaders in your community, rolemodels, etc.
Pick one high end prospect to start. Build a marketing campaign to reach that person or company. This strategy requires persisitence, yet is well worth it. From my own first hand experience, ”marketing up” can skyrocket your reveneues and business exposure instantly and multiply your profits for years to come .
7. MAKE “ADDING MORE VALUE” YOUR #1 CRUSADE.
Outrageously successful enterprises are in the business of creating value. They have a stgrong conviction to contribute to more and more richness to their cleints’ lives and businesses.
In everything they say and do. they let clients know “you matter. Your well-being and success is important to us.” They focus on “what do I have to give?” … NOT “what do I have to do to get a sale?”
Where is your focus right now — on adding value, or making the sale? Make a list of at least 10 ways yo can increase the value of your products and services. Implement the easiest one ideas … starting now. Make “adding value” a routine business priorty. When you do, your products and services will sell themselves.
PERFORMANCE SECRETS
8. OPTIMIZE, OPTIMIZE, OPTIMIZE
Outrageously successful enterprises are masters at achieving the greatest return at the lowest possible risk. They constantly look for ways to reduce the amount of time, money and energy to achieve their ultimate goals.
They take what works and see if they can make it better, faster, cheaper. They know the “what if” implications of every new strategy, goal, product or service. They are pros at maximizing performance tradeoffs.
Do your know the profitabilty of each product or service you offered? Do you know what clients are the most expensive, demanding or time-consuming to serve? If you doubled your client base, do you know the implications on costs, revenues and the operations of your business?
To optimize your business results, think highest and best use of your time, energy and money. ALWAYS THINK HIGHEST AND BEST!!
9. MULTIPLY PROFITS THROUGH THE POWER OF LEVERAGE.
Most businesses build their enterprises in a haphazard way. Outrageously successful businesses grow their businesses from a place of leverge. They look for new ways to convert their current assets, strengths and opportunities into new revenue streams. They constantly take inventory and seek ways to profit from untapped capabilities and underutilized resources. They integrate marketing activities into a single business strategy to maximize results.
How can you leverage
*** your current assets (eg., your client base, employees),
*** your current strengths (eg., your knowledge base, processes),
*** your current resources (eg., your business network, capital),
to quickly grow your business?
How can you revamp your marketing activities so that your products and services sell each other? Leverage is one of the most under-utilized principles for multiplying profits in business.
10. DEVELOP A BIAS TOWARD ACTION
Outrageously successful enteprises understand that, in today’s economy, windows of oportunity are often measured in months … not years and decades. They know they cannot wait for the perfect strategy, the perfect solution to capitalize on these opportunities. They must act quickly if they want to thrive in these highly changing times.
What new projects, strategies or opporatunites are you stalling in order to achieve perfoection? What new practices, support structures or habits will accelerate your bias toward action?
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Fat Loss 4 Idiots Secret
Fat Loss 4 Idiots Secrets
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