Revisiting the Business Information Management Re-Engineering … · 2020. 9. 28. · and Business Process Re-engineering Strategies? The key differentiator of BIMR is the sole focus

EMC Proven Professional Knowledge Sharing 2010

Revisiting the Business Information Management Re-Engineering (BIMR) Strategy: A Never-Ending Cycle Eugene Demigillo

Eugene DemigilloPartner Enablement Program ManagerAPJ Partner Support CenterEMC International SARL (Singapore Branch)[email protected]

2010 EMC Proven Professional Knowledge Sharing 2

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 3

WHAT IS INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE? ............................................................................ 4

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES IN ADOPTING INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGIES? .......................................................................................................................... 5

WHAT IS BUSINESS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT RE-ENGINEERING (BIMR) STRATEGY? (REDEFINED) .................................................................................................................................. 6

WHAT DIFFERENTIATES BIMR FROM BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING STRATEGIES? .............................................................................. 7

HOW DO WE EXECUTE THE BIMR? ............................................................................................. 8

REWARDS OF EXECUTING A SUCCESSFUL BIMR EXERCISE ............................................... 10

WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF NOT BEING ABLE TO DO BIMR? ............................................. 11

WHY IS BIMR A NEVER ENDING CYCLE? ................................................................................. 12

BIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................. 13

Disclaimer: The views, processes, or methodologies published in this compilation are those of the authors. They do not necessarily

reflect EMC Corporation’s views, processes, or methodologies.


Introduction In an article I submitted a couple of years ago, I brokered the idea of establishing a Business

Information Management Re-Engineering (BIMR) strategy. This is an information infrastructure

engineering/re-engineering strategy that aims to establish the process of adopting and managing

information infrastructures within a company. The establishment of BIMR is not only meant to aid in

the proper, swift implementation and immediate adoption of new information storage, protection, or

security solutions into the business; BIMR will also aid in conducting future information

infrastructure management improvements.

So why do we need to revisit the BIMR strategy? Because three years have passed and still I see

that implementation of most Information Infrastructure technologies is completed without aid of a

formal adoption strategy. I have not encountered any information technology vendor who has a

methodology of helping customers immediately adopt information infrastructure technologies.

Rather, clients are doing the adoption on their own, sometimes with little consultancy effort from the

vendor. It takes these businesses time to adopt the new technologies, further delaying the time for

them to reap the “promised” benefits of their new acquisition.

More often than not, it is left to the customer to establish their information management processes

and strategies after an infrastructure or solution is implemented. While technology vendors try their

best to ensure a successful implementation, it‟s post-implementation and operation where failure

occurs. What causes those failures? It can be attributed to several factors: hardware or application

failure; environmental failure; but more so, adoption failure.

All information infrastructure component vendors (servers, networks, storage, application,

peripherals) know how to address application and environmental failures. But “adoption” failures are

best not left to the customer. Infrastructure component vendors should collaborate and work

together regularly with the customer to make all solutions work harmoniously. It‟s not only about

who owns which component, but how information flows across each component of the

infrastructure. Consider Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software providers. They must not

only understand the customer‟s current business processes and practices, but also help re-

engineer these processes to align with the new software architecture, features, functionalities, and

quirks.

Technologies have evolved greatly the past three years, and greater and better technologies will

follow. Thus, there will be a continuous need to revisit information infrastructure management

processes to ensure the immediate use of the technology, its successful deployment, and the

immediate rewarding of the client to benefit from these technologies.


Let‟s analyze how crucial the BIMR strategy is to the continuing business growth and development

of customers, and why it is a never-ending cycle.

What is Information Infrastructure? Information infrastructure is loosely defined in the market. Some define it as the convergence of

telecommunications and networks. Some refer to it as integrated solutions fusing information and

telecommunication technologies. Some define it as simply an infrastructure “comprised of software,

servers, storage, and networks.”

The term information infrastructure was coined from the “National Information Infrastructure (NII)”, a

product of the High Performance Computing and Communications Act of 1991. It was also a

telecommunications catchphrase popularized during the Clinton Administration. But I prefer the

definition of Pironti who, in 2006, defined it as:

“…all the people, processes, procedures, tools, facilities and technologies that supports the

creation, use, transport, storage and destruction of information.”

To me, this definition encompasses all “the” components and drivers of information infrastructure

technologies. Contrary to how technology vendors would define their solutions to their customers as

…a complete, reliable, and efficient environment for managing customer information as the

strategic asset it is. They all should include information management processes and procedures,

essential components in the proper deployment of information infrastructure. Processes and

procedures have to be in place to help expedite the deployment and adoption of the technology,

and reap the benefit of protecting information.

What we call information infrastructure should encompass not only the components (hardware and

software) that go into an information infrastructure, but also the strategies of deploying, utilizing,

and managing the information infrastructure. We need to ensure that our customers not only get the

right systems (hardware and software) to store, protect, and manage their most critical asset –

information – but to also ensure that they are supported in the swift adoption of the technology.


What are the challenges in adopting information infrastructure technologies?

By simply looking at and understanding the Top 10 Business and Technology priorities in 2009 from

Gartner EXP, we can see what really challenges them. At the top of the heap is “Business Process”

Improvement.

The processes of operating, managing, and maintaining the information infrastructure is

encompassed under business process improvement, as there are processes involved. Sometimes,

customers can also forget and neglect the value of their information, take it for granted, and leave it

in the hands of technology vendors, who may not know which customer information is critical or not.


Other challenges to the swift adoption of information infrastructure technologies:

1. Product knowledge

2. Traditional habit

3. No end-user deployment

4. Lack of business process mapping

What is Business Information Management Re-engineering Strategy? (Redefined) To understand Business Information Management Reengineering (BIMR) is to understand Business

Process Re-engineering. BIMR is a strategy that aims to develop the standardization and

formalization of a customer‟s business information management practices, policies, and

procedures, including improvement analysis and reengineering recommendations. This would help

customers leverage their existing investments in information management software, platforms, and

solutions or identify process improvements through reengineering or new technologies.

BIMR can help customers identify potential risks or bottlenecks in their processes that may

adversely impact their business. Without BIMR, customers would not become aware of these

impacts until a disaster occurs.

This may be a pioneering service that information infrastructure technology vendors can offer to

customers. Rather than enforcing our own methodologies, we collaborate with the client to identify

and implement technology-adopting policies and procedures. Our customers may be surprised

about the availability of this service and may initially be hesitant to participate. One strategy to

overcome their hesitation is to present an overview of the exercise prior to a formal engagement so

they can be fully aware of its objectives and the expected outcomes and benefits.


What differentiates BIMR from Business Process Management and Business Process Re-engineering Strategies? The key differentiator of BIMR is the sole focus on establishing the strategy to standardize the

processes of storing and managing information (data) within a business. Whereas:

“Business process management (BPM) is a management approach focused on aligning all aspects

of an organization with the wants and needs of clients. It is a holistic management approach that

promotes business effectiveness and efficiency while striving for innovation, flexibility, and

integration with technology. Business process management attempts to improve processes

continuously. It could therefore be described as a "process optimization process." It is argued that

BPM enables organizations to be more efficient, more effective, and more capable of change than a

functionally focused, traditional hierarchical management approach.” Source: Wikipedia

and “Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a management practice that aims to improve the

efficiency of the business process. The key to BPR is for organizations to look at their business

processes from a "clean slate" perspective and determine how they can best construct these

processes to improve how they conduct business. Reengineering is a fundamental rethinking and

radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in cost, quality, speed,

and service. BPR combines a strategy of promoting business innovation with a strategy of making

major improvements to business processes so that a company can become a much stronger and

more successful competitor in the marketplace.” Source: Wikipedia

As with Business Process Reengineering, BIMR can be a radical approach to redesigning an

existing process. With the implementation of a new information infrastructure solution, changes may

indeed be radical to most traditional operations. As with Business Process Management, BIMR has

to be holistic in approach as information now is leveraged across the business where efficiency and

better performance is drawn from the users of information. Thus, information accessibility and

availability is key.


How do we execute the BIMR?

1. BIMR should have management as sponsors.

2. As there is no clear study yet in the process of defining the BIMR, I can only associate it with

Business Process Management. In the AIIM Business Process Management research, all

respondents asked to identify the sponsor of BPM Initiatives, could do so .

Independent survey from AIIM, Business Process Management (BPM) 2008. Commissioned by EMC, IBM, and Risetime.

3. Understand all the existing information management processes

It is crucial to get all the processes involved and their details to ensure that no step is

left uncovered. Sometimes, the smallest and simplest operational procedure can

have the gravest impact on the business.

IT personnel providing the infrastructure and support should know the application

users, owners, and administrators..These individuals will be participants to the new

change.

4. Identify which process will lead to a high value/impact result

Assess which processes will greatly impact more individuals and which ones the

least. Choosing which processes to start with will depend on the skills and

experiences of the collective that will run the project.


5. Determine the business value of those processes

How does the process affect the business and/or each department within the

company?

What will be the success results criteria?

6. Understand the process details

Be guided by the „4 W and H method‟ of questioning: What? Where? When? Who?

and How?

What are the different steps or phases of each process?

What are the applications, systems, and tools used in the process?

What is the duration of each step?

Where is the process executed?

Where (in which step) can the business be directly affected?

Who owns or is responsible for each process or step?

How are they executed?

7. Re-design the process

Define what is doable, measurable, and least costly.

8. Assess the performance and identify and implement improvements

How does the process affect the business and/or each department within the

company?

If the process encounters problems, what is the impact to the business?


Rewards of executing a successful BIMR exercise Executing a BIMR hastens the delivery of Total Customer Experience by:

• Delivering a documented business process change (before and after) that allows customers to

easily recognize and visualize improvements

• Facilitating the immediate adoption and integration of information management solutions to the

processes, policies, and procedures of the customer

• Delivering immediate appreciation of benefits derived from the implementation of information

management solutions

• Concluding and closing implementation projects faster

Results from a survey conducted by AIIM (below), shows how Business Process Management can

help an organization. In the same manner, the same context that we associate BIMR with BPM

results in the same benefit to a company.

Independent survey from AIIM, Business Process Management (BPM) 2008. Commissioned by EMC, IBM and Risetime.


What are the impacts of not being able to do BIMR?

Simply put, by not establishing the process of adoption, it will take customers more time to utilize

and reap the benefits of their information infrastructure investment. But more so, they would also

potentially be vulnerable to human error. Looking at a survey conducted by Arco in 2001 on the

major causes of data loss, human error comes in second at 32%.


Why is BIMR a never-ending cycle? Why do I feel that BIMR is a never-ending cycle? Improving business processes in managing and

protecting information is paramount for companies to stay competitive. Over the last 10 to 15 years,

information infrastructure technologies have changed tremendously, alongside business demands

for better information management and infrastructures to be in place, in proper use to ensure that

information is available, and that information infrastructures perform at their most optimal operation.

These technologies have now become competitive edges for business to deliver new values within

their companies and to their customers.

Yet despite all of this, there is still no strategy from information infrastructure vendors to provide the

service and support in the proper “adoption” of their key technologies. More often than not, vendors

brag about being able to implement successfully, simply by installing the hardware or software and

making them work. But operating and managing them are still left to the customers.

Continuously, businesses will grow and evolve according to the market evolution. Newer and better

information infrastructure technologies will emerge. As such, technology vendors should not only

look into selling and implementing these technologies, but to also support the customer better in

defining and executing standard business information infrastructure management processes and

improvements that enable early adoption of these technologies, improved total customer

experience ,and faster return on investments.

I hope no one takes this as Jerry McGuire-like mission statement. I won‟t be shouting, “show me the

money!” Probably you will ask, if you get this right.


Biography

Eugene Demigillo has over 19 years‟ experience in Information Technology and

Telecommunication. His work experiences span Sales, Presales, Marketing, Technical/Application

Consultancy, to Project Management roles. Currently, he is the Partner Enablement Program

Manager for APJ looking after Partner Enablement Program content, structure, and system

developments, as well as establishing new enablement programs that aim to drive partner

independence and confidence in selling EMC products and solutions.

Spikes Cavell: The Bull Survey (1998)

Documents

Revisiting the Business Information Management Re-Engineering … · 2020. 9. 28. · and Business Process Re-engineering Strategies? The key differentiator of BIMR is the sole focus