The engine to power the next generation of African miners which is flexible, scalable and affordable!

by Johan Theron, Director at Deloitte Consulting

The new mining environment in South Africa and Africa is all about entrepreneurial flair and fast reaction to volatile commodity markets. These miners want flexible, scalable and affordable back-office support.

This article was written by Johan Theron at Deloitte Consulting. If you have any questions or would like to arrange a more detailed discussion, contact Johan at jtheron@deloitte.co.za or +27 12 482 0514

It seems like there is a new scramble for Africa under way at the moment. Africa’s rapidly urbanising and increasingly affluent populations are certainly an attractive potential consumer market, but the real driver is global hunger for Africa’s mineral wealth. There’s also no doubt that Africa’s attractiveness as a market for goods and services also ultimately depends on the profits from mining Africa’s minerals.

The markets may be hungry for African minerals but they are also highly volatile—and look set to remain so. Long-term planning is thus much more difficult, but mining still requires significant long-term investment. Strong demand has also bred strong competition: it is now feasible to exploit smaller, less concentrated ore bodies. As a result, there are many more mining operations across the continent, and ownership is not nearly as concentrated as it once was. In part, at least, this trend is driven by Africa’s determination to participate much more actively in the mining value chain in order to ensure that more benefits remain on the continent.

In South Africa, in particular, the need for black economic empowerment has seen the birth of many junior miners, some of which have been hived off from larger entities. However they were formed, these ventures are primarily aimed at spreading South Africa’s economic wealth more broadly.

This changing mining landscape is driving the emergence of a new breed of entrepreneurial miners.

A new breed of miner

These new-generation miners are a far cry from the traditional mining houses with their impressive head offices and centralised, highly skilled finance, HR and IT teams. The new miners are building up their businesses—thus they are concentrated on exploration, followed by the creation of the infrastructure to support a mining operation and get the product to market.

All of this activity is, one should not forget, taking place at a time of severe fiscal constraint. Overheads thus need to be kept low, and fixed costs are much preferred because they make planning much easier. At the same time, as I noted earlier, demand has bred fierce competition: these companies definitely need to be run efficiently and to meet their delivery commitments.

These conditions place executives in a tight spot. Their main focus has to be entrepreneurial as they help to clinch new deals and partnerships, and generally create the strategy needed to prosper. They don’t have time to worry about day-to-day back-office operations although, at the same time, of course, they are dependent on them for cash flow.

A long established solution to challenges of this nature is, of course, to outsource some of the vital but non-core processes like payroll, HR or IT. Talking to these executives, it becomes apparent that payroll and IT are the processes most outsourced, but that other processes are rapidly catching up. The benefits include reduced risk and increased efficiencies—not to mention cost savings that, in our experience at Deloitte, can reach 30%. Benefits also include the flexibility to scale operations up or down according to business strategy, better regulatory compliance, a stronger control environment and access to global skills as needed.

Next-generation mining outsourcing for next-generation miners

Mining is one of the engines of our country’s and Africa’s future prosperity. I believe that this new breed of miner cries out for a new outsourcing model in which the key non-core back office processes are outsourced to a single vendor. The reason behind this thinking is, I think, compelling.

The first element of this thinking is that mining companies need to standardise on best practices appropriate to their sector. The days of extensive (and expensive) customisation are over. Both the systems and the back-office processes they enable should become background utilities comparable to water and electricity.

This is a welcome development because at one stroke it prevents companies from remaining hostage to the status quo—especially as the status quo might not have been optimal in the first place. It also means that software upgrades are easy and quick as there is no need to undergo the expensive customisation process each time.

Another key driver for today’s miners is the need to be able to predict costs accurately. This ability helps protect the bottom line and gives companies the flexibility to invest in their core activities.

Pulling all of this thinking together, I would propose the creation of an integrated solution based on an enterprise system that is preconfigured with best-practice mining processes. I would argue that it makes sense to outsource the financial processes that are enabled by this preconfigured system to the same vendor—along with the necessary IT infrastructure. It’s a winning approach because it enables process efficiencies across what is essentially a tightly integrated ecosystem. Along with these process efficiencies come significant cost reductions, as well as an easy-to-manage relationship with a single vendor.

The benefits for the next-generation mining house are manifold. As I have made clear, these operators are entrepreneurial in nature and are heavily into the investment phase of their life cycles. This type of approach gives them the freedom to focus on their core business strategy, secure in the knowledge that their non-core business back office operations are taken care of—and are optimised for the mining environment. The fixed, “pay as you go” cost structure means that CFOs can plan better, and can focus their efforts on growth activities.

A solution constructed along these lines has the advantage of being quick to implement (anything from four to six months would be standard, in our experience)—and it gives the small or mid-sized mining house a Rolls-Royce engine that it does not need to own or manage, but that that will give it the power it needs to do great things. Deloitte makes pioneering on the world’s final investment frontier easy.

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Filed under: Executive Leadership, Mining, Energy & Resources, access to global skills, Africa, back-office support, best practice mining processes, business strategy, CFO, cio, control environment, core business, cost savings, Deloitte Consulting, energy, financial processes, flexibility, IT, IT infrastructure, mineral wealth, minerals, mining, mining outsourcing, outsourcing, outsourcing model, payroll, preconfigured system, predict costs, processes, regulatory compliance, resources, single vendor, South Africa

Kamal Ramsingh of Deloitte Consulting on the state of information technology in South Africa

Kamal Ramsingh (Technology Head at Deloitte Consulting, South Africa) was asked to comment on the state of information technology in South Africa. If you would like to contact Kamal, his email address is kramsingh@deloitte.co.za.

A Comment on the State of IT in South Africa

by Kamal Ramsingh, Head of Technology, Deloitte Consulting, South Africa

When I was asked to comment on this subject my first reaction was a desire to obliterate the historic perception of South Africa being the poor cousin of the west that patiently waits for the Christmas “hand-me-downs” from Europe and the US. On reflection I came to two key realisations. Firstly, proof of us no longer being the “poor cousin” can be found via a quick trip to Dubai Duty Free – iPads there cost the same as back home – with a guarantee restricted to the UAE only! More importantly though, my second realisation was that there is significant activity around IT – in all sectors of our economy – but with very little tangible progress in areas that matter. So, like any good consultant – my thoughts have been framed in terms of key indicators and relative scores.

Government as a key buyer of IT services

The past year (or so) has been adequate proof of the spending turmoil in the public sector. SITA has a new CEO and we await its transformation with bated breath. Apart from the GCIO post still being vacant, the DPSA now has a new minister which will have its own implications on timing of next steps on IT. The good news, of course, is that Minister Padayachie drove the recently published “Vision for 2020 – Setting the ICT Agenda” document. Hopefully this will mean more traction for a focused ICT strategy. With the DPSA also having oversight of SITA – we would like to think that we could also expect a more meaningful deployment of IT within the public sector to improve service delivery and enhance government effectiveness.

Scoring for the Future: Government has not adequately supported the IT agenda to date. They have been lacking as a strategic spender that shapes and drives demand as well as a key enabler through legislation and standards. This is a fundamental risk as other African countries are rapidly presenting more attractive options for IT. The future does look brighter and we can but live in hope. Score of 4/10.

Private sector access to innovation

If the rate of market entry of Indian SI firms in anything to go by, then we must represent one of most lucrative markets on the planet! We have representation from all major global SI’s, Indian SI’s product vendors and consulting firms. There is definitely no apparent shortage of access to global IP or innovation. We also finally have PayPal and even Amazon delivers to SA now!

Scoring for the Future : We believe that we have successfully dispensed with the “poor cousin” stigma. Our businesses have viable access to global IP and our country is continuing to attract product and service organisations from around the globe. We definitely have work to do in broadening citizen access to the internet in historically underserviced areas. Score of 8/10.

Skills pool and Development

Minister Padayachie recently noted in the “Vision 2020 document” that it is financially more lucrative to hire and re-train a foreign graduate than it is one from our own country. Our dependency on foreign. low-cost locations such as India has – over the years – created a significant skills deficit in the IT domain. This has had a multiplier impact in acting as a deterrent to new entrants into the sector. As a consequence our pipeline of talent is notably weak with a vast majority of experienced practitioners reaching the latter part of their careers. As a consequence, there is limited succession planning in technology organisations and massive challenges in staffing key leadership positions in the same organisations. Our lack of planning and creating and integrated education process has significantly impacted our current ability to make a meaningful impact into most IT areas – without strategic partnering and sourcing with other countries.

Scoring for the Future: We have a lot of ground to cover – starting at the grass roots level and reaching far into the private and national government levels. The recent job creation commitments from the DoC created a stir – but thus far remain as the only real commitments made. We have to also mention that SITA’s use of the Integrated Financial Management Systems (IFMS) programme to attempt to stimulate both the SMME sector and the creation of local technology skills is commendable– but is still academic.  Score of 2/10.

Made in the RSA – Home-Grown innovation

We are often very critical of the constant flight of entrepreneurs and technology ideas to US shores. We are equally in awe at the mass of technology start-ups originating from India. This must beg the question … why not “Made in the RSA”?  It is my opinion that the total lack of a venture capital market for technology innovation must be blamed for both the flight and resulting absence of home-grown innovation. We have the CSIR that makes a business of R+D but lacks in the ability to commercialise. The Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) has been created with this primary objective in mind – but it remains a state agency and subject to the boundaries that come with this status. Let’s not forget the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) that is mandated to seek and fund innovations that enhance service delivery. We definitely have several viable channels and mechanisms that can be used to enhance local innovation – but yet we lack them. We need more Shuttleworths to really put us on the map!

Scoring for the Future: There is definite merit in the structures that are in place. Even the IDC has a VC fund that can be used for local content based technology start-ups. However, we should look to borrow from the Americans and Indians and promote the creation of a real VC “fund” for technology specific innovation. This will have the immediate effect of stimulating new SMME development in the sector – which is the engine room of any economy – and we are lacking this. Score of 5/10.

Telecommunications as a key enabler

No discussion on IT can be complete without a meaningful swipe at the telecommunication operators. The fact is that our telecommunications cost, availability and quality are significant inhibitors to the adoption of key technologies such as Cloud Computing, “Everything” as a Service and Enterprise Mobility solutions. The strategic intent to grow our Business Process Outsourcing sector remains under pressure as a consequence. The rapidly emerging market for mobile application development will see a significant step-up in the number of new entrants. These will come in the form of students and young entrepreneurs, all of whom will be dependent on the high availability of low cost broadband services.

Scoring for the Future: Whilst some strides have been made in this regard, the cost of telecommunications remains a significant and self-imposed barrier to meaningful entry into the new practices of IT. This is a material challenge as the majority of the next (and the next) evolution of applications and technologies will assume these fundamentals are in place. Score of 5/10.

Based on these indicators several key points of conclusion are appropriate. Firstly, we believe that both public and private sectors have meaningful access to thoughtware, innovation and services that are in-line with anywhere else in the world. In this sense, we are fully connected into the global economy and should comfortably shake-off the “poor cousin” mentality. We also believe that there are important and relevant channels for innovation and research.

However, we have to accept that we (as a country) are significantly behind the curve when it comes to the development of key skills. Whilst we are convinced that Government has a key role to play in releasing significant spend on IT towards improved service delivery – we are also key proponents of the philosophy of partnership between the Public and Private sectors in order to create the appropriate environment for cultivating growth for IT in SA. This environment must include establishing a VC market for technology innovation and alleviating the historic challenge of the cost of telecommunications.

Finally, and probably most importantly – we as a country lack a singular vision for our role in the global IT economy and with that, we lack a single point of ownership to make this vision real. We are clearly expending a fair amount of effort at multiple points but actions in the absence of a clear vision can amount to wasted energy.

There has never been a better time than the present to capitalise on new waves of technology and in so doing, leapfrog past leaders through innovation and collaboration.

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Filed under: Information Technology, Centre for Public Service Innovation, cio, cloud computing, CPSI, CSIR, Deloitte, development, DoC, DPSA, enterprise mobility, GCIO, government, ICT Agenda, IDC, IFMS, information technology, Integrated Financial Management Systems, IT, Kamal Ramsingh, SITA, skills, talent, Technology Innovation Agency, telecommunications, Vision for 2020

The Risk Intelligent CIO – Becoming a front-line IT leader in a risky world

If you have any questions relating to this article and/or the attached whitepaper, we welcome you to contact Sidesh Maharaj at Deloitte Risk Advisory South Africa. Sidesh’s email address is simaharaj@deloitte.co.za.   Click Here to view Sidesh’s LinkedIn profile.  

Unfettered communication is a key characteristic of the Risk Intelligent Enterprise. We encourage you to share this article and attached whitepaper with the senior executive team at your company. The issues outlined herein will serve as a starting point for the crucial dialog on raising your company’s Risk Intelligence while solidifying the important role of the chief information officer.

The Risk Intelligent CIO – Becoming a front-line IT leader in a risky world

In a business world as fraught with new risks as it is entwined with new technology, chief information officers (and those they report to) are increasingly aware that IT-related problems can come at a staggering cost to an organisation’s bottom line and reputation.

At the same time, perceptive CIOs realise that simply managing technology risks – however effectively they do so – is insufficient. Rather, they understand the imperative to exploit technology to manage risk across the entire enterprise, not merely within the IT department.

With heightened sensitivities around the issue of risk management, CIOs and IT professionals face both challenges and opportunities: to improve their IT department’s risk practices; to elevate their role from low-profile caretaker to high-value leader; and to harness the power of technology across the organisation to attain a higher level of risk management, operational excellence, and competitive advantage.

Grandiose goals for the IT shop? Far from it. Prescient CIOs already realise that information technology has a critical role to play in corporate governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance efforts. And they know that any organisation-wide initiative should be tightly aligned with IT projects, priorities, and processes.

The current high-risk environment provides a unique transformational opportunity for IT leaders with the vision and ambition to grasp it.

Imagine the benefits to your IT department, your entire organisation, and your career if you:

• reduce the cost of regulatory compliance with a comprehensive approach to managing multiple and changing requirements
• increase the efficiency of risk management through automated controls and real-time monitoring of risks
• improve your organisation’s ability to prevent, detect, and correct critical risk issues with integrated systems and processes
• reduce the burden on business operations by helping coordinate existing risk management functions and eliminate redundancies
• enhance the quality of risk information by initiating or participating in an organisation-wide effort to standardise risk management principles and language
• help improve strategic flexibility for mitigating risks to existing assets and for enhancing risk taking for reward
• provide a “comfort level” to the board, C-suite, and other stakeholders that the full range of IT related risks is understood, monitored, and intelligently managed
• help to transform the culture into one that considers all decisions from a risk-based perspective
• initiate a process to document all risk decisions and associated trade-offs
• begin an initiative to document, integrate, and maintain various IT risk requirements in a single repository
• integrate and coordinate risk assessments, moving the organisation towards a self assessment program to empower the business

These accomplishments are all within the grasp of The Risk Intelligent CIO. We encourage you to download the full article and share this information with your executive team and your network.

Download the white paper . . . .  The Risk Intelligent CIO

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Filed under: Executive Leadership, Information Technology, Risk Management, cio, Corporate Governance, Deloitte, eliminate redundancies, increase the efficiency of risk management, IT Risk, mitigating risks, reduce the cost of regulatory compliance, regulatory compliance, risk assessments, risk information, risk management, risk practices, technology risk

Deloitte Tech Trends 2011 – The natural convergence of business and IT

Over the past three months, I have posted articles from the Deloitte Tech Trends 2011 series. This post includes all ten articles from the Deloitte Tech Trends 2011 series.

Deloitte’s annual Technology Trends report examines the ever-evolving landscape of technology put to business use. Topics are chosen based on their potential business impact over the next 18 months, with input from clients, analysts, alliances and our network of academic leaders. This year we identified 10 important trends, clustered in two categories: (Re)Emerging Enablers and Disruptive Deployments.

(Re)Emerging Enablers are trends that many CIOs have spent time, thought, and resources on in the past – perhaps multiple times. This year these familiar topics deserve another look due to specific factors in the technology or business environment.

Disruptive Deployments are trends that present significant new opportunities – offering new business models or transformative ways to operate. The technologies themselves are not necessarily disruptive, but when deployed as discussed, they could disrupt the cost, capabilities, or even the core operating model of IT and the business.

Download the full article . . . . Deloitte Tech Trends 2011 – The natural convergence of business and IT

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Filed under: Executive Leadership, Information Technology, Risk Management, Talent & Human Capital, cio, Deloitte, technology trends

Deloitte Tech Trends 2011 – CIOs as Revolutionaries

CIOs as Revolutionaries is the fifth of 10 articles I am publishing from the Deloitte Tech Trends 2011 series

CIOs shift from stewards of, to catalysts for, business revolution

For years, technology advocates have called for CIOs to take a seat at the executive table. But the subtext has typically been as a steward of the business. This played well in the paradigm of IT as a support function and cost center, working downstream from the business strategy. This model also made sense for technology investments focused on automating core business processes. CIOs helped usher in waves of technology advancements, using ERP, client-server and the internet to drive efficiencies. It was about automating what the business needed to do – doing what the business had normally done, but doing it better, faster and cheaper.

More recently, companies have invested in automating what the business needs to know – information automation – increasing the visibility of information as a critical strategic asset for decision, action and even direct monetization.

In 2011, CIOs need to be more than business stewards, and potentially more than strategists as well. That’s because cloud, social computing and mobility are fundamentally disruptive capabilities, shaking up business models and transforming how business is done. Indeed, the technology agenda is the business agenda, and CIOs are the executives positioned to pull them into alignment.

In addition, the next-generation workforce has radically different abilities and expectations regarding information. They demand and deserve the tools to work effectively, usually in collaboration and not normally at a desk or in an office. These factors have broad implications for what an organization sells, how it engages with stakeholders, how it allows them to interact with each other and how work is performed.

But CIOs as revolutionaries? That may seem over the top, but think of what revolutionaries actually do. They challenge old rules, break up established institutions and overthrow business as usual – in the name of the greater good. As business innovation shifts to the edge of the enterprise, with more finished services delivered from somebody else’s cloud, the old way of doing things is poised for a shake-up.

That said, CIOs can’t rise to these new roles without demonstrating their ability to “mind the store” – improving efficiency, maintaining existing service levels and delivering on traditional business needs. And even then, yesterday’s pressures won’t go away. CIOs are still expected to control costs in traditional IT service areas. But those who can help the business to channel disruptive technologies can move beyond business strategist, translating innovations into meaningful contributions to the bottom line, creating aggressive plans to the future and leading the charge.

Download the full article . . . . CIOs as Revolutionaries

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Filed under: Executive Leadership, Information Technology, business innovation, business steward, cio, CIO as revolutionary, cloud, Deloitte, disruptive technologies, mobility, social computing

Deloitte Tech Trends 2011 – Almost Enterprise Applications

Almost Enterprise Applications is the third of 10 articles I am publishing from the Deloitte Tech Trends 2011 series

Business units have historically had a love-hate relationship with IT. In the early days, IT was an esoteric specialty, far removed from core business competencies yet consuming a big piece of the budget. IT was often seen as unresponsive, expensive or flat-out ineffective, but business leaders saw no other choice for essential process and information automation. IT was left to balance these harsh perceptions with the practical reality of providing secure, reliable and scalable solutions with zero tolerance for fault or failure.

Individuals and departments have taken on this re-emerging self-service approach before. In the 1990s, the client/server trend gave almost anyone the ability to put a small server under their desk and build a Visual Basic application to help perform their job. This eventually resulted in a sprawl of apps that were outside the control of, and not subject to the disciplines of, professional IT. Some of these apps were eventually determined to be central to the business, and the lack of formality in their pedigrees created risk for the business. The CIO often had to adopt or rationalize these efforts.

As a result of the cloud revolution, Software- and Platform-as-a-Service (SaaS, PaaS) capabilities are being eagerly embraced by many business leaders for reasons including predictable results, easy and rapid availability and a demystification of IT. Put simply, the resulting almost-enterprise applications can offer transparency in the value and cost for services, in terms understandable by the business, without the overhead too often perceived with central IT departments.

Download the full article . . . . Deloitte Tech Trends 2011 – Almost Enterprise Applications

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Filed under: Executive Leadership, Information Technology, cio, cloud, Deloitte, enterprise applications, information technology, PaaS, Platform-as-a-Service, SaaS, Software-as-a-Service, technology trends

The key to implementing successful technology projects

Buttoning down the business case

by Georgina Stubbs, Deloitte Consulting

While the occurences of implementing large Enterprise Resourcing Planning (ERP) projects are reducing in some industries, the successful implementation of other technology projects, and ERP upgrades, is still one of the key issues that keep CIO’s – and sometimes the entire executive team – awake at night.

Technology projects have some unique challenges regardless of the solution being implemented – and often, the more sophisticated the solution is, the more challenging the implementation. Many of these problems echo the challenges faced by large ERP implementations over the past two decades – overruns in budget and time; expectations that are not met; benefits that are not achieved; unexpected costs and effort levels such as increased maintenance and support and downtime due to system failures. New systems can also change the way the organisation does business – changes that are either resisted completely – or result in inefficiencies despite assurances that these changes are aligned to ‘best practice’.

While the debate on how to define a successful implementation project is ongoing, Deloitte has found that an approach based on a clear business case – the cost / benefit analysis – works best. The business case is the foundation of a successful project of any nature and should be carefully and diligently compiled before the project is approved. A sound business case will provide the tool against which the degree of success or failure of the project can be measured. In essence – if expected benefits are not achieved, the project has failed and / or – if projected costs (and here we include project duration – as this has its own costs attached) are exceeded to an extent where the benefits are no longer viable – the project has failed.

However, because challenges facing the success of technology implementation projects are similar to those experienced with ERP implementations, we have had many opportunities over the last 10 to 15 years to learn how to address these challenges, issues and problems – and in some cases, avoid them altogether. It is critical therefore, to put these issues on the table as early as possible – in fact, in most cases, before the project is even approved – to ensure that you get the maximum benefits from your technology implementation and no ugly surprises regarding the cost.

Read the full article . . . . The key to implementing successful technology projects

You may contact Georgina at gstubbs@deloitte.co.za or visit the Deloitte Consulting website

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Filed under: Information Technology, best practice, budget, cio, Deloitte, enterprise resource planning, ERP, implementation, inefficiencies, information technology, overruns, project, technology, technology projects

Cloud is not a silver bullet

Evolution or revolution? Or maybe both? In an interview with SAP Spectrum, Mark White, CTO Deloitte Consulting, and his deputy William Briggs discuss why cloud computing is the next giant step in IT – and how it will revolutionize business models.

Experts say that the cloud represents a new chapter in how enterprises can better use IT. Why do they believe that?

— Mark White —

There are three broad answers to the question what companies want to achieve by using the cloud. Number one: they want economic advantage. In fact, you might say they have a preference for operating expense over capital expense or they have a preference against a large upfront payment. So cloud, particularly public cloud, offers the opportunity for preferring operating over capital expense and for having a monthly subscription over a large upfront capital cost.

The second answer is speed to solution or scale of solution. The head of HR might say I need the resumé screening site up next week, not three months from now. Doing that with the internal IT team can take weeks or months. But in the cloud, it only takes hours or maybe days to go from identifying the need to identifying a service provider. As for scale of solution, there are actually two parts. In one I can pilot, test, or try out my new HR resumé sourcing system in a limited fashion with the external cloud provider. If it goes well, I can scale it up to the full scale and scope of my business demand. The second part is the global perspective. For example, it could be that I have quite a sophisticated IT capability in Germany but need a working group to do business in the Czech Republic, where my company’s IT capability just doesn’t manifest well. So what you are finding in some companies is that they’re going to a cloud to provide services for the remote, less developed, or emerging markets of their organization.

The third answer is efficiency of resource. Let’s use an SME example. SMEs are the most aggressive and complete adopters of public cloud services today because in the cloud they have access to solutions at a level of sophistication or capability that they can’t afford to implement internally.

Read more . . . . Cloud is not a silver bullet

Have any questions? Visit the Deloitte South Africa cloud computing website and speak to our specialists

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Filed under: Information Technology, cio, cloud, cloud computing, Deloitte, IT, technology

Effective IT transformation begins and ends with people

IT functions that embrace and aggressively develop their people will increase the likelihood of achieving change, becoming more adaptable, and, ultimately, find new ways to support in the drive to create new revenue streams and profitability.

The evidence is mounting — the people dimension of IT transformation will require more and more attention as IT functions look to redefine how they contribute to their company’s bottom line. If CIOs are to achieve their objectives in the midst of constant and increasingly fastpaced change, one key component will be leveraging this human dimension of their company more effectively to better align IT with the business and to support the creation of value across their company. Addressing critical people and organisational challenges can go a long way toward doing just that. In the years ahead, we believe those IT functions that embrace and aggressively develop the people dimension of IT transformation will increase the likelihood of achieving change faster, becoming more adaptable, and, ultimately, finding new ways to support their company in the drive to create new revenue streams and profitability.

Download the full article – The Evolution of IT Transformation

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Filed under: Information Technology, cio, Deloitte, IT Transformation

Analytics for the sustainable business

In an age where companies across industries are placing increasing emphasis on sustainability and climate change, leaders are looking for more and better information to guide their decisions on sustainability-related issues and initiatives. Already, many companies are gathering increasing amounts of sustainability-related data across their operations, ranging from measurements of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to logs of their employees’ travel miles to records of their facilities’ energy consumption patterns. We believe that the next logical step is for organizations to implement business intelligence and data analytics capabilities that can help turn raw sustainability data into actionable business insights. Through analytics, leaders can obtain the fact-based guidance they need to make informed decisions about how their organizations approach sustainability and climate change issues.

By applying analytics to reliable sustainability data, leaders may be able to more effectively:

• Identify which of their sustainability decisions, actions, • and investments are actually achieving their intended goals
• Detect signals of sustainability-related risk or opportunity • early, even when those signals are faint or hidden in exploding volumes of data
• Determine the possible outcomes associated with • different courses of action
• Allocate resources to efforts that have the greatest • likelihood of satisfactory returns
• Understand the interplay of economic, social, and • environmental factors associated with the entire value chain of a company’s products and services
• Take into account the perspectives, behaviors, and needs • of multiple stakeholders, recognizing the dynamic nature of stakeholder expectations and appreciating the nature, implications, and impacts of changes

 

Read the full article . . . . Analytics for the sustainable business

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Filed under: Information Technology, business analytics, cio, Deloitte, sustainability