transforming smes using opensource technology platforms

Transforming SMEs using opensource technologies

By:

Mangesh Wagh

Signy IT Solutions Pvt Ltd, Pune

Signy IT Solutions Pvt Ltd 2

Typical organizational goals

Minimum basic goals• Increase revenue

• Reduce costs

• Increase profit margins

Critical sub-goals• Create, establish and enhance brand

identity

• Expand geographical reach

• Increase revenue opportunities

• Increase number of customers

• Attract and retain talent by creating encouraging working environment

• Ride on current trends

• And more…

Can’t imagine any organization not having

these goals, can we?

…however critical issue is ‘rate of rate of growth’. Not just ‘rate of growth’.


Automating business processes – must for boosting ‘rate of rate of growth’

• Business Process Automation is generally associated only with cutting down costs and hence increasing profit margins.– Process automation is generally related to ‘efficiency’ only.

• However, that’s not the only objective.– Yes. It helps in increasing revenue too.

– Yes. It helps in increasing revenue opportunities too.

– Yes. It helps in expanding geographical reach too.

– Yes. It helps in building your brand too.

– Yes. It helps in creating a great working environment too.

• Automating business processes makes the organization ‘effective’ and ‘efficient’ both.

….and that achieves high ‘rate of rate of growth’ and accelerates transformation.

4

Transformation/s

Juggernaut

Small

Lets not miss middle steps in our zest to become ‘small to medium’ and ‘medium to large’.

Signy IT Solutions Pvt Ltd


Problems for SMEs

• Lack of awareness on possible solutions

• In case of attempting automations, high quotes by vendors complemented by low budgets

• Lack of overall IT exposure

• Lack of experience of working with consultants

• No internal champions who would drive such initiatives internally

• No internal team members who would support such initiatives technically

• Lack of formal procedures and discipline

….as SMEs are always fighting with some fire. No time for strategic planning.

And that’s where process automation sounds intimidating and/or impossible for SMEs.


How we can help SMEs

Consult– Analyze organizational needs

– Identify the critical areas

– Identify IT solutions

– Prioritize improvement areas

– Create a blueprint i.e. action plan for 1 or 2 or 3 years

– Recommend best practices – a ‘dos’ list, a ‘not to do’ list and more

– Identify vendors

– Continuous involvement for continuous improvement

Implement – Create a micro action plan

– Execute the action plan

– Ensure complete implementation and success

Operate– Complete technical support

– Ensure service continuity

– Ensure promised return on investment

APPROACH Transformation through web applications


Management horizon

• First we need to see all the dimensions which an organization needs to manage.

• And then map technology solutions to those areas.

Organization’s management dimensions

Central processes

Support functions

Core functions

Internal teams

Function-wise processes

Hierarchy based roles

Cross functional roles

External associates

Top management

Employee associations


Business applications - Marketing

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• Sales Force Automation

• Lead Management System

• Own Social Networking Portal

• Dashboard Application for Sales & Marketing

• Event Management System

• And more..

Marketing

HROperations

Finance

We recommend the best solutions, implement and maintain those solutions.


Business applications - HR

• HR Management System (HRMS)

• Leave Management System

• Recruitment management System

• Training Management System

• Learning Management System

• And more…

HR

OperationsFinance

Marketing



Business applications - Operations

• Project Management System

• Workflow Management System

• Collaborative Work Management System

• Time Tracking System

• Any specific process management system

• And more..

Operations

FinanceMarketing

HR



Business applications - Finance

• Accounting System

• Payroll System

• Invoicing Application

• Finance Dashboard Application

• And more..

Finance

MarketingHR

Operations



Other applications

• Document Management System

• Knowledge Management System

• Learning Management System

• Roster Management System

• Inventory Management System

• Purchase Management System

• Vendor management System

• And more…

We can have an endless list here. However, our job is to recommend and implement solutions which pin-pointedly solve business problems and help transforming the organizations.

Wise implementation plan helps hassle-free high ‘rate of rate of growth’.


Yes… your applications will be

• Under complete control of yours

• High quality

• Easy to access

• Easy to understand

• Easy to use

• Highly available

• Secure

• Robust

• Scalable

• Easy to maintain


Myths and truths about automation – part I

• It sounds intimidating– That’s largely because we think ‘we have to do it in a single shot’, ‘we have to do a lot of

changes’, ‘it is a single project’, ‘it is going to take a whole lot of time’.... So on and so forth .

– We don’t have to rush and ‘do-all-in-one-shot’. We can find the best way which manages perceptions and rate of rate of growth at the same time.

• Process automation sounds threatening– This is largely because somehow a negative picture is painted. Process automation is

understood as something which makes people jobless.

– Because a few corporate giants have taken that path of ‘layoffs’ in the name of process automations.

– Process automation, instead, improves working environment – it is a way to achieve more with same number of people.


Myths and truths about automation – part II

• Process automation is made to perceive as extremely difficult – That’s largely because vendors want to charge a bomb for such projects.

– That’s also because the myth that every automation initiative should be integrated with the other such initiatives.

– There is absolutely no need to get mesmerized with the thought of ‘integrate all’. We can find optimum solutions for automating and improving business processes. We make it easy for the customers.

• Process automation is made to perceive as extremely costly– That’s, again, largely because vendors want to charge a premium price.

• Process automation is a ‘change’ – a natural resistance to change is a big block– This can be managed by effective communication.

– The truth is – nobody resists his/her own progress.


Why web apps

Web applications can be accessed from anywhere.

Web applications do not require any complex "roll out" procedure to deploy in organizations. A compatible web browser is all that is needed – e.g. internet explorer (IE).

Browser applications typically require little or no disk space on the client.

They require no upgrade procedure since all new features are implemented on the server and automatically delivered to the users.

Web applications integrate easily into other server-side web procedures, such as email and searching.

They also provide cross-platform compatibility in most cases (i.e., Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) because they operate within a web browser window.

Web applications can be easily made compatible for mobiles/ smartphones/ hand-held devices.

Thanks to Wikipedia for this slide.


Why opensource

• Lower total cost of ownership – No recurring licensing

• Reduced dependence on software vendors – You have complete control

– Mitigation of vendor collapse or product discontinuation

• Low turnaround time

• Easier to customize

• Community keeps making things better

• Good chance to learn from the community

• Robust, secure & scalable

Reinventing wheel is not a good idea, is it?

Plenty of ready platforms are available. Such platforms can be readily implemented, customized to our liking and made to perform.

However, the key remains is how we utilize if not exploit value out of them.


Delivery model

• Consult– To workout the best solutions

– To tell you what not to do

– To ensure the groundwork for increasing your return on investment (ROI)

• Implement – To ensure success and be accountable

• Operate– To ensure continuity and growth

We can deliver the best value by 3 pronged approach: Consult -> Implement -> Operate ->

However, we are open to ‘consult only’ or ‘implement only’ or

‘operate only’ or ‘consult and implement ‘models.


Philosophy - H2O

• We believe in H2O philosophy i.e. – Honesty,

– Humility

– Ownership

• H2O has evolved over the years with our experience of working in progressive economies like India, Kenya etc.

• We have understood that markets with lesser penetration of IT need some hand holding when it comes to injecting new applications or IT enabled services.

• We have seen people / companies spending and losing huge amounts on small and large IT projects, reason being lack of honesty, humility and ownership on IT vendors’ part.

• In all H2O is the base of our work culture.

Contact

Mangesh Wagh

Co-founder, Director

Signy IT Solutions Pvt Ltd, Pune

Email: [email protected]

Cell: +919561096003

mailto:[email protected]

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