Outfront Solution Design

Over the past few years I have done a lot of work with local government in South Africa.  I would dearly like to say that it has been a pleasure.  In all my time as a software developer and database designer/implementer I have never seen such a shocking state of disarray.  I actually thought that I had slipped into some sort of horrible nightmare the first time I was exposed to the management systems of some of our municipalities.  The state of the data that is used to run these organizations is not up to date and none of the various components within the system have data that correlates exactly with the next.  These people would be better off moving back to a paper based setup than trying to work with what they have.

The major challenge here lies in the fact that these organizations are usually short on cash.  The irony here is that if they were running efficiently through sane systems, they would probably not have these money problems.  I despair when I see how much money is wasted on commercial systems that never seem to work properly, when the central government could put funding into developing an open source toolset that could be rolled out to all the local government players.  These tailor-made solutions would attract a once-off development cost and a country-wide maintenance plan.  To top it all these could all be linked in together to form a national reporting framework, which would facilitate better government practices.  The solution is simpler than it would first appear to be.

In closing, a unified approach to information systems in all spheres of government would go a long way to solving many of the problems faced by civil servants.  Such systems could be developed at a fraction of the cost of proprietary software, whilst at the same time providing jobs and experience to local budding software engineers (meaning that the expertise necessary to run and maintain said systems would all be at our fingertips).  These systems could generate additional revenue through rolling them out throughout Africa and elsewhere.  Proper systems would also ensure that all data countrywide would conform to a standard and gradually be “scrubbed” to a point where it is clean and usable.  If some of these suggestions are not followed we will plummet over the precipice into data oblivion, never to return.

Outfront Solution Design is born out of a desire to bring effective information, work-flow and control systems to organisations ranging from small start-up businesses to large non-profit concerns. We have an extensive shared wealth of business process and data quality management knowledge that serves us well in helping organisations become more effective and efficient.

Generally when you mention IT systems to people, they are thinking of all the “geek” stuff in the basement. Make no mistake, we are on top of all that. We are however capable of much more. What really gets a business (or other organisation) up and running are the things that the founders dreamt about before the bricks and mortar were put in place. The ideas that got people excited in the beginning. Unfortunately there is no “silver bullet” IT system that can turn these dreams and ideas into a viable model. Systems are just tools like spanners and bulldozers. Sadly, the expectation of management is often that these systems will solve all problems with a minimum of effort. This is not the case. I list below some of the levers that can make a system integrate effectively into your organisation:

• Before contemplating an IT system, make sure that you have logical, well defined and documented business processes in place. If you don’t have a good map you are going to get lost for sure.
• Make sure that you have a team of advisers on hand who can speak your language, as well as the other language that is used by the geeks. You need a translator or you will get what the software people want instead of what you have so carefully laid out in your business process documentation.
• IT systems are like machines in that they need maintenance. Make sure that there is an infrastructure in place to deal with any problems that may arise from the running of the system in production. Although systems need to be thoroughly tested before being implemented, there are usually issues that still creep in whilst running in production.
• Make sure that you have a plan in place for managing you data quality and integrity. Your data is your business, so think about how much it is really worth to you and how much you need to protect it.

Some of the other services we can offer as part of our quiver are as follows:

• Consulting on transferring your organisation onto an Open Source platform.
• Document management set up and implementation.
• Asset Auditing and management solutions.
• Process Automation.

We at OSD don’t see Open Source Software (see http://www.opensource.org/) as the Holy Grail, but rather as a very effective tool for getting businesses off the ground quickly and inexpensively. It helps that there are so many organisations out there using and developing Open Source software, as it means you are getting a well maintained, best of breed product.

So if you are as serious about effective and efficient business methods and practises as we are, but have had the wool pulled over your eyes by other consultants who speak a foreign language (even though it sounds like English), you should really give us a call. We would gladly seize the opportunity to come and advise you on a way forward. We are able to run IT projects from the very early planning phase, right through to implementation. We have a passion for designing best practice business processes, work-flow optimisation and data quality management procedures. We will help you start a new organisation or streamline your existing business so that you can begin to truly maximise your profits and quantify your expenses.

I hope to be in touch with you soon to book a zero cost exploration of your needs as a business. We assure you of personal and friendly service at all times.

Outfront Solution Design came about as a response to business challenges that seem to exist in most companies using high tech information systems in order to get the job done.  The use of these technologies involves a big paradigm shift from more traditional methods of dealing with data, business workflow and business intelligence.  If one looks at information technology related projects that have succeeded you will notice that most of the effort has been spent on needs discovery, business process design, system design and planned implementation.  Gone are the days where the geeks had a planning session with business (usually with both parties completely missing each other’s point of view) and then went back to their darkened room and frantically coded a solution that wasn’t what the business required.  This is where we come in.  We provide the glue and discipline that gets all parties on the same page.

We assist business in figuring out what they really require from their processes, workflows and eventually well orchestrated systems.  We convey the results of sessions with business to the development team/s (which we are capable of assembling and running, although this is not our core business) and make sure that communication channels remain open right through the design, development and implementation phases.  It is important that changes to scope and design occur as early as possible in any project, as the later they are brought up the more expensive they get to put in place.

Once the systems are in place, companies often believe that they can relax and ride the wave.  Like any machine or system, maintenance is required.  Data quality management is key to keeping any information system working accurately and smoothly.  This maintenance has to be regular and thorough to be effective.  Document management is also key to the success of any organization.  Documents need to be subjected to proper version control if they are to be accurate and current.  The risks involved with many branches of the same document existing on your staff’s personal computers is huge.  Clients always end up receiving the incorrect version of a document at some stage, and this can cost your company the deal.

So make the smart choice.  Talk to us or someone like ourselves before you start that exciting new project.  We specialize in making these kinds of projects work, so that you can concentrate on your core business.  Relying on our expertise is the smart move.