What is a JAR&A Pulse Measurement?

A broader discussion of what constitutes a Business Information System, ERP, or IT Pulse Measurement

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Do you have concerns about your I.T. function or about a specific project?

Are you debating whether to replace your existing financial and operational systems with a new E.R.P.?

Are you concerned that your company is not keeping pace with I.T. or is going in the wrong direction?

Do you have an E.R.P. or I.T. project that is stalled?

Are you wondering where you can obtain an independent third party opinion?

An I.T. pulse measurement by Dr James Robertson may be just what you need.

WHAT IS AN I.T. PULSE MEASUREMENT?

Dr Robertson's pulse measurement is a structured, interview based investigation into a problem that YOU define.

The pulse measurement comprises:

1) One on one interviews with your executive team.

2) One on one interviews with key business users of I.T. at various levels as appropriate to the focus of the investigation.

3) Interviews with I.T. staff and service providers coupled with review of critical systems as appropriate to the focus of the investigation.

4) A structured analysis resulting in a concise structured report based on the factors discussed in Dr Robertson's book "The Critical Factors for Information Technology Investment Success".

This analysis identifies and prioritizes the "Critical Findings" and recommends prioritized "Critical Actions" arising from the investigation. This is accompanied by a concise evaluation of the problem under investigation in terms of the criteria presented in the book.

5) Optionally the report may be followed with a formal presentation or briefing to your executive team and possibly other audiences.

6) Optionally Dr Robertson offers a critical issues workshop process to formulate specific response to the findings, such as definition of critical business requirements for a system (new or existing).

7) Optionally Dr Robertson offers advisory services with regard to implementation of his recommendations. This can comprise ad-hoc consultation or scheduled consultation which can take place on a retainer basis if that is appropriate to your requirements.

The I.T. pulse measurement has been developed to give a concise assessment of the health of your I.T. or other organizational issue through a limited scope, limited cost professional intervention that will give you greatly improved understanding of the problem in question and how to resolve it.

The findings are presented in a practical, no nonsense, manner that cuts to the chase in terms of the action required.

The pulse measurement is tailored to your exact requirements and will typically require from one to ten days of Dr Robertson's time giving a cost effective, high value, high impact diagnostic intervention.

"The lights have just gone on" -- exclamation by Executive Director of a client organization at the end of the second day of a pulse measurement when Dr Robertson provided a summing up of the investigation to that point and diagnosed the root cause of a project that was nine months behind schedule.

Over the years Dr Robertson has conducted dozens of pulse measurements for organizations of all types and sizes with regard to the full diversity of business systems, ERP’s, etc.

Out comes have included turning around a decision of a client executive to scrap a system based on a one day investigation, turning around a failing four hundred million Pound Sterling project with a one day visit to London, identifying a fundamental defect in an implementation that was in the process of putting a client organization out of business and equipping the chief executive to take a new direction. There have been many other cases of IT departments turned around and major expenditure prevented

It is not uncommon for an IT pulse measurement to save a client millions and sometimes even tens of millions and sometimes even AVERT BUSINESS DISASTER

Click here to email us now to discuss your requirements and obtain a proposal without obligation

The Essence of the Pulse Measurement

A concise high impact investigation that quickly delivers an accurate diagnosis of the cause of system problems in Business Language that makes sense to executives coupled to prescription of practical and actionable treatment

IF you have the SLIGHTEST RESERVATIONS about whether you are obtaining the full value from your Business Systems and ERP investments;

or are in the least bit concerned that your systems are HARMING YOUR ORGANIZATION;

or your project is stalled;

or you want a view on the best way forward;

or you want to embark on procurement of new systems and need high level guidance;

or simply want an independent second opinion on any business systems related matter;

then contact us NOW

The fees are MINIMAL relative to the savings that many clients have experienced

And IF you are NOT fully satisfied with the service after the first day you may terminate the engagement and pay ONLY travel and expenses outside of London

For more information visit the main Pulse Measurement page

Click here to email us now to discuss your requirements and obtain a proposal without obligation

Random Selection of Articles by Dr James Robertson

CIO 010 Is I.T. Really Moving "SO FAST we cannot keep up with it"?

TxM 004 Section 1.2 Typical needs

Std 027 COBOL – old software CAN be retained (with reference to Bridgestone)

Many organizations replace COBOL systems because they have been told they are obsolete, this article dispels that myth

Std 010 Procurement: 02 Laboratory Approach to be Applied

The Business Simulation Laboratory is a fundamental component of a successful project. This document specifies the manner in which the laboratory will be run

It is vital to test the software and the configuration thoroughly in the laboratory with the express purpose of breaking the software and the configuration by testing situations that cause the software either to fail or to fail to return the correct result

One the software and configuration have been adjusted to the point where it is NO longer possible to cause failure then the configuration can be used as a platform for configuring workflow, developing and testing reports and business intelligence models, developing policies and standards, developing training manuals and interactive training material and training staff

The project should ONLY go live once all the above had been successfully completed and ALL staff are trained up in the laboratory

At this stage the Certificate authorizing deployment should be signed by all parties. As you will see further down the page this is a fairly onerous certificate and should ONLY be signed if ALL parties are FULLY satisfied the software and configuration is fully stable and all elements that are necessary for a successful deployment are in place

TxM 031 Section 3.4 Knowledge and experience required for a senior SEPT taxonomist

Std 021 Procurement: 12 Information required from Third Party Software Suppliers

In some cases bidders may need information from third party software suppliers who are providing services or information to the client, this document provides basic information for this purpose

SNw 053 Strategic Essence: The Missing Link: Part 5 -- Discovering Strategic Essence

Overview of a simple and reliable process that you can apply to determine the strategic essence of your organization

TxM 029 Section 3.2 Introducing Dr James Robertson, PrEng - The ERP Doctor

TxM 025 Section 2.8 Comparison between a full-house ERP SEPT re-implementation and a Data Warehouse SEPT implementation

Cnf 084 ERP and IT in Strategic Management

The application of ERP and IT generally in strategic applications, how to configure systems from a strategic perspective and how to manage them from a strategic perspective

Dr James A Robertson PrEng The Business Information Systems Doctor

Business Systems NOT delivering?

Call the Business Systems Specialist

Dr. James Robinson

Dr James A Robertson -- has been involved in the effective application of Business Information Systems, including but NOT limited to ERP, since 1987 and in the profitable and effective use of computers in Business since 1981.

Drawing on a diversity of experience, including formal military training in Quick Attack techniques at the Regimental Commander level, Dr Robertson has developed highly effective methods of investigating any sub-optimal Business Information Systems situation -- be it an established system or a stalled project or any other source of Executive frustration -- quickly and concisely diagnosing the root cause of the problem and prescribing concise practical actions that Business Executives can effectively act on see the Pulse Measurement page and also the Sample Reports page for redacted real reports.

He has also developed highly effective methods of strategically enriching systems to unlock the full potential of existing investments, see the Precision Configuration page and couples this to architecting small pieces of clever software that harness the full potential of your investment, see the Software page.

If you are having problems with your systems, your project or your IT Department, call The Business Systems Specialist
James@James-A-Robertson-and-Associates.com

Business System Failure is RIFE -- we offer insight into why this happens AND WHAT is required to prevent it.

Failure is at epidemic levels with massive damage done to client companies -- if you are NOT aware of the extent of the problem please visit the About Failure page for a catalog of major failures running to billions of Pounds and Dollars.

All evidence indicates that the established players do NOT know how to deliver stable, reliable high value solutions that WORK.

There HAS to be a better way!

This website provides information relating to that way with a large collection of white papers, presentations, standards documents, etc that you can use to start bringing the situation under control

We also offer high level advisory services with regard to the application of the principles advocated on this website

We offer an ENGINEERING APPROACH to addressing these issues

By Engineering I mean the formal, structured, highly disciplined, highly systematic, highly practical approach that consistently delivers results in ALL areas of human endeavor where formally trained and certified engineers are the ONLY practitioners permitted to operate -- think large buildings, factories, motor vehicles, aircraft -- highly complex systems that work at a level that we take it for granted that they WILL work and where failure is all but unthinkable and, when it happens, attracts immediate public attention and rigorous investigation directed at ensuring that such failures are prevented in the future -- in fact, everything that the management consulting industry that implements complex software systems is NOT

This approach is discussed further on the Engineering Approach page.

Book -- The Critical Factors for Information Technology Investment Success

In 2003 I undertook an in-depth analysis of all the information and experience that I had gathered with regard to the factors giving rise to Business Information System failure including ERP and general IT and classified this information into a number of categories including "The Factors Causing Failure" and "The Critical Factors for Success" based on this I developed a two day Course "The Critical Factors for Information Technology Investment Success" which is still offered today.

Based on this I wrote the book of the same name, which is available in electronic form here for download:

Search Articles

Random Selection of Articles by Dr James Robertson

Cnf 081 Insights of Knowledge Management in a Global Recession

A discussion of the importance of Precision Configuration as a vital component of unlocking the full value of business information system investments as part of a Knowledge Management culture

Prd 018 The Fundamental Components of the ERP Doctor approach to ERP Implementation

Std 027 COBOL – old software CAN be retained (with reference to Bridgestone)

Many organizations replace COBOL systems because they have been told they are obsolete, this article dispels that myth

CIO 003 The Challenge of I.T.

TxM 059 Section 7.3 The essence of the solution

TxM 027 Section 3: Why JAR&A, Who is James Robertson, required Knowledge and Experience

CIO 005 Take Another Look

Prd 027 What the ERP Doctor can do for Executives with Ailing ERP systems

Cnf 053 Engineering Maintenance Management Methodology With Radical Rethink About Clinical Data Code Design

The current clinical data codes, ICD 10 and CPT 4 are exceptionally weak as information classification, management and analysis tools and massively inhibit the creation of clever clinical and medical software, there is a huge opportunity to redesign these codes and use the resulting intelligent codes to develop very sophisticated health management systems drawing on engineering maintenance management and other techniques in order to provide solutions for areas and countries with a limited number of healthcare practitioners

Cnf Shw Showcase of Conference Presentations

The following presentations best represent my conference speaking experience and technique each presentation is tailored to the subject matter of the conference, all follow the same broad theme of the importance of strategy, the factors that cause failure and the critical factors for success, most relate to the Business Information Systems / ERP / IT field although some branch out into related topics drawing relevant parallels as a former member of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa and former Toastmaster presentation technique, animation, etc are reasonably well developed and refined -- I specialize in talks that at some level challenge the status quo and raise the bar in the subject under discussion