"The project went great and was successfully delivered, then we handed it to Operations.” If that sounds all to familiar, you are not alone. One of the major reasons initiatives fail is because Project delivery is the start of activity, not the finish. Operations is the key to successful initiatives continuing to generate value for organizations.
Analysis of current Operational state, current Projects/innovations approach, gaps in process, tools, and people. Develop approach to build a robust Operations area that is resilient to outages.
Understand critical business area and build redundancy where required to maximize efficiencies. Understand and balance the strategy of the organization with the capabilities of the Operational support area with the cost/financial model desired.
Understand how finances are currently tracked and outline foundational gaps. Develop a strategy for look back, current state, look forward to understanding and stay on track for budget. Establish key controls.
Reduce risk by understanding compliance with contracts, licenses, financial controls (Regulatory - SOX, GAAP, FISMA, PIPEDEA, DPA, FRC, etc. - Frameworks - CoBIT, ITIL, etc.), where are the assets, what are the control processes used.
Modern approach looking at all activities with the end in mind. Strategic mindset leveraging inhouse and customer driven toolset.
Clear success criteria with established maturity guidance. Active participation established with organization culture to drive positive actions and results.
Clear measurements, performance, history, audits & compliance with mitigations, sourcing & delivery strategies. Dashboards and reporting to communicate clearly to all party’s status & direction.
Organized approach reflecting on culture specific not only to enterprise but to each key area of the business. Stakeholder driven with key risk mitigation strategies.
Is both an art & a science. Communications is really the way to keep everyone in the know and aligned with the objective.
Similar to Project communications, Operations communications is about notification, change management, and engagement. We follow common practices but work carefully within an organizations culture to drive an engaged team.
