This is a blog about the space (or the link if you prefer) between information technology and the businesses that use it. It is about combining perspectives from the IT industry with those of organizations in other industries. It is a blog about technology hypes and trends as much as it is about the gap between hype and reality. Or you could say it is just about common sense and a practical view on business IT.
As we move into the new year the current industry climate in the UK is one of deep uncertainty. In the past week I have spoken with two UK business leaders who are delaying purchasing decisions in 2019 because of Brexit speculation. But Brexit isn’t the only pressure UK industries currently face. In 2017 the…
If you believe industry watchers and analysts, the Field Service Management (FSM) market could as much as double over the next five years, to around $5 billion. That growth is being driven by businesses putting strategic emphasis on selling long-term services and guaranteed ‘outcomes’, as well as hikes in consumer expectations around service quality and…
In the years that we have been working with artificial intelligence (AI) in IFS Labs I’ve talked to many of our customers and have seen a lot of use cases out there. One of the most important topics being discussed is data! And don’t make the mistake of ignoring it, data is the single largest…
At a conference earlier in Q4, I asked the 300+ attendees “are you happy with your service organization and delivery?” Not a single hand was raised. Service organizations around the world know they are lacking key capabilities that would enable them to take their businesses to the next level. They may have first-time fix and…
The simple act of returning products, parts and subcomponents back into inventory involves multiple steps and business entities—from the customer to your service organization, supply chain, receiving departments, subcontractors and even a repair depot operation. Not all software has the functionality to effectively manage reverse logistics which risks potential lost revenue, missed service-level agreements and…
Talent management is more than just training and appraisals. To support business excellence your talent management systems and processes must provide the mechanisms to achieve the right level of skills at the right time. The importance of talent management in modern business We live in a technology supported world, where robotic automation, artificial intelligence and…
Corporate performance management can help your business deliver its strategy and drive required results. Discover what it is and how it can support business excellence? What is Corporate performance management Corporate performance management has as many different names as definitions, but in short it is the communication hub linking strategy with operations. It is sometimes…
Strategic delivery in modern business requires a balance between control and flexibility, risk and opportunity, and good timing. Don’t go the way of the dinosaur, use the right enterprise solutions to support your agile strategic processes. Warning! Static strategy can lead to extinction With their size, speed, aggression, big teeth and an abundance of food,…
Business excellence is about achieving more with less by doing the right thing, the right way at the right time. This is the first blog in a four-part series which sets out the core platform from which your business excellence journey can accelerate, by using techniques from the worlds of Finance, HCM and Strategy, and…
Artificial intelligence (AI). Internet of Things (IoT). Augmented reality (AR). These are the technologies companies in the industries IFS serves want to implement because they can transform their businesses. These two- and three-letter acronyms (TLAs) are what most of us think about when someone utters the words ‘digital transformation’. While AI, IoT and AR are…
