Police Product Insight magazine (Feb-March 2014) featured my Viewpoint article: Why the angst over IT. There has been much debate and consternation in policing circles, and more widely, about having joined up IT and systems that support end to end processes. It is an old issue that predates my spell as Director of Criminal Justice at the Police IT Organisation.
I have long advocated a rapid, incremental approach to systems development and business change. I developed the ideas in my book, The Information Edge (Pitman/IMgt, 1997) where I argued that traditional legacy systems could be hidden behind a much user friendly and agile layer that protected end-users from the complexity of old systems and the changes as the legacy was replaced.
From the continuing debate it is obvious that lesson has still not been learned, most notably because of the fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) created by vested interests of traditional suppliers of major systems and senior managers who worry their knowledge will become irrelevant. However there are glimmers of light from surprising quarters – the UK government.
Attitudes to consultancy have hardened since the financial crisis and the end of the bubble. Consultancy is no longer well regarded and is even being seen as part of the problem. In particular the reliance by public and private sector organisations on consultants in long term roles is perceived as an abrogation of management responsibility. A new approach is needed.
Solidus is a consultancy that uses the creative discipline of design. Our practical approach uses knowledge, an open mind and a belief that there is a solution. It works whether it is being used to solve a problem, to turn around a difficult situation or for blue-sky thinking to create new strategy, products, design or technology. We, associates and our predecessors, have been using it in all those fields for more than 60 years.
For once I am practicing what I preach. It feels strange to have been inspired by my own writing; revising Creating and Developing a Consultancy made me think. It has been a good while since I properly reviewed my personal objectives and the Solidus business plan. Now I have what I believe to be a new vision; I am reinvigorated and excited by the possibilities.
We have gone through the whole planning regime: personal objectives, SWOT (and all the other) analysis and come to understand our capabilities. We have considered the state of the market for Solidus’ services and how I should shape them to maximise the opportunity.
As part of business planning assignment for a start-up company being spun out of a university department Solidus completely restructured the service offering and its development road map. The Professor originally envisaged proving his service to individuals via a web site and marketing through a highly developed professional network. However, the service was not sufficiently automated to cope with high numbers of individual customers. As a result the proposition was changed to begin with corporate clients who could support more hands-on servicing and would fund further automation to allow expansion into the individual market.
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Solidus has more than thirty years’ experience of high-level information management and technology strategy. Martin Wilson wrote the book, The Information Edge, for the Institute of Management/ Financial Times Millennium Manager series. He is currently revising it for a new edition reflecting current technology changes.
Solidus works with leading technologists to stay up to date with technology change so that IT can be aligned with client’s business strategy and operating models.
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