Modern technology has increased competition
among the business community which has left no room for those entities that
slack in the planning and execution of their strategies to meet their
objectives successfully and profitably. Businesses that are unable to maximize
their return on investment (ROI), would invariably fade away on to the
horizon sooner rather later. Once strategies are planned it becomes imperative
that they formulate proper procedures to ensure that they are efficiently
implemented and executed to meet the final objectives.
Strategic enlightenment
This is not what is happening in most
businesses, and when the implementation and execution is constrained the final
objective would never be realized. A book very well compiled and received by a
large cross section of the business community titled “Maximizing the ROI from
IT investments” co-authored by Thomas Pisello and Paul A. Strassmann documents
this issue in enlightening detail.
They contend with very relevant facts to substantiate
their reasoning that after much investments being expended on software development
only about 65% of it succeeds. They also point out that only 50% of projects
are completed on schedule, on budget and achieve functionality. The book also
conveys some startling statistics claiming that only about 15% of all
businesses would achieve overall perfection in all spheres of their business
operations.
If what Thomas and Paul are enlightening in
their book is true in practice then there is a very urgent need for all
companies to look at their business modules with a microscopic eye and rectify
the issues without any delay. Every business whether big or small, would need
to look at their operations and find the right solutions to ensure that they
tread on the perfect path towards their objectives. This calls for the
intervention by a professional who has the experience and the expertise to look
intently at the overall operations and find the perfect solutions. In business
jargon we would call it a “solution architecture document” which would try to
close every loop hole there would be that is constraining the business
operations.
The solution architecture document
This document would come to be, if it has
not already been compiled by some progressive thinking entities, to be the
bible of all businesses going into the future. It would be the solution
architecture document which would guide the company from inception to
completion of projects, including marketing, sales, distribution, and every
other operational aspect. The solution architecture document would look into
every little detail in the different operational processes and whilst
addressing them extricate the specific problems and find the perfect solutions
to rectify them.
Drawing up of the solution architecture
document and expertly monitoring the process would need the inputs of a
qualified and experienced solution
architect, a new breed of professionals within every industry. Entrepreneurs
would know that every business would have it specific issues and it would be
very rarely that what would be relevant to one would be an issue in another.
Hence each business would need to be looked from its own perspective and that
is where professional expertise is required when you draw up the most important
solution architecture document.
The solution architecture document would
identify the different ways that the company collects its market intelligence,
how it would be analyzed and the way it would be assimilated and the right
solutions found to counter competition. The financial aspects would also be
needed to be looked at through a microscope because it is often said that a
“penny saved is a penny earned”. It is only when the two ends of the financial
thread join perfectly together that you could sit back and be contended that
your business is meeting its planned and executed objectives to bring optimum
results.
Advantages of the solution architecture document
Businesses that have been in operation for
decades would have their own strategies in place which would have brought them
rich dividends in the past, hence would have a sense of complacency built
around them. The new trends that we see especially in the use of information
technology strategies within any business module would keep the top line of
these businesses intact to a certain degree but it is the bottom line that they
would need to be looking at prudently.
The overall market for everything is
growing and that fact could be easily substantiated with the steady growth in
world population in general and in every individual country in particular. There
would not be any doubt that they would be losing their market share slowly
unknowing to them. If the trend goes on at one point their business would not
be able to break even and sustain itself and disaster could strike. This has
happened to many businesses and when they are faced with such a predicament it
would already be too late to initiate evasive action.
It is in such a context that the solution
architecture document becomes very important, because it would bring out every
aspect of the business onto the table and pinpoint where the issues are and
what actions to rectify them are needed. To ensure that this document is
precise in its formulation the business would need to expert services of a
qualified and experienced solution architect who would not only draw it up but
monitor it on a daily basis to ensure everything detailed out is followed as
good as the gospel.
Conclusion
Every business whatever their standing in
the market would need to have a solution architecture document and that should
be their bible. Following it to every letter written on it would be imperative
as everything on it is intertwined with one purpose, and that is to ensure that
the two ends of every activity in the business meet at the right juncture
without the minutest of deviation. There should be perfect harmony in every
aspect and there would not be any room for complacency, slack, tardiness etc.
The solution architecture document should
be implemented with military precision if you are to see your business grow and become not just a successful business but a business phenomenon.
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