The Business Of Working With IT Moderator: Rick Treese, Advanstar Panel: Thomas Falconer, Source...

The Business Of Working With IT

Moderator: Rick Treese, Advanstar

Panel:

Thomas Falconer, Source Media

Ken Hoffman, Standard & Poor’s Investment Services

Ben Telling, Hanley Wood Technology Group

The Business of Working with IT Thomas Falconer

Web Publisher SourceMedia

March 2007

www.advisormax.com

10

Working with IT Business Essentials

Common development/IT issues Problem: Constantly and consistently over-scheduled and under-staffed Mitigation: Be completely clear, concise, focused, detailed with your

business plans, your vision, and your requirements

Problem: Fiefdom and attitude issues “We don’t do that” “That will have to go into the pipeline just like everything else.”

Mitigation: Engage, discuss, talk shop rather than pull rank and talk priorities. Have at least a basic understanding of:

API CMS UGC Open source SQL

Problem: Ownership, final decisions Mitigation: Very clearly articulated and widely known direction from senior

management about who owns what decisions

11


Common development/IT issues

Problem: IT/Development budget constraints Mitigation: Evaluate open source options if possible (CMS;forums;blog

tools, etc) Drupal is free: off-the-shelf CMS can cost upwards of $300K

Problem: IT/development must-haves, such as source control, platform requirements, such as Unix vs Windows, PHP vs .Net, etc

Mitigation: Understand the realm of possibility within your organization, and imagine what you want and need within the realm of possibility

Engage with CTO Form alliances on the development team Be flexible

12

Working with IT Business EssentialsEmerging media immersion

Live on the web Know about, even marginally, new development technologies like

ruby on rails, drupal, as well as .net, sql, others Shop online, a lot (zappos.com) Sign up for a regular podcast; visit secondlife; read blogs Subscribe to paid content sites Read pure web media; salon, gawker Participate in social media

Facebook, myspace, LinkedIn

13


Business requirements drive development Business analyst who works for the business lead Based on clearly articulated vision and business plan Designer who articulates the vision, reports to the business lead

User Centric Focus Use any available metrics to make decisions Get a business/metrics analyst to dig through the log files Use referrer urls, onsite search terms and content popularity to drive

content and application decisions

14

Communicating with IT Take Aways

Ensure IT knows the business reasons for initiatives

Make sure developers have the business product big picture

Collaboratively build clearly documented technology functionality requirements

Ensure product scope, dates and deliverables are documented and agreed

Put in place regular project meetings to ensure progress is communicated and problems identified early and addressed

Let performance, user response and feedback guide development through feedback and close attention to metrics.

15

Communicating with IT Take Aways

Perhaps some recommended activities

Work on the Web

Use wikis for internal knowledge sharing

Try blogging to understand tool use

Perhaps some recommended reading

Social Life of Information, John Seely Brown http://www.sociallifeofinformation.com

Wikinomics http://www.wikinomics.com/ Dan Tapscott

Wealth of Networks, Yochai Benkler http://www.benkler.org/wealth_of_networks/index.php/Main_Page#Read_the_book

Eric Von Hippell Democratizing Innovation http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/democ1.htm

Permission to reprint or distribute any content from this presentation requires the prior written approval of Standard & Poor’s.Copyright (c) 2006 Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Presentation for American Business Media“The Business of Working with IT”

Ken HoffmanSenior Director, New Product DevelopmentStandard & Poor’s

March 29, 2007

17.Permission to reprint or distribute any content from this presentation requires the prior written approval of Standard & Poor’s.

About Standard & Poor’s

Around the world, the search for financial insight—independent, objective viewpoints and opinions that reflect rigorous analysis—has one common starting point…

Around the world, the search for financial insight—independent, objective viewpoints and opinions that reflect rigorous analysis—has one common starting point…

• Ratings

• Indices

• Equity Research

• Investment Advisory Services

• Data Services

• Risk Solutions

Standard & Poor’s


About Me

• At Standard & Poor’s for more than 12 years.

• Held product management positions in many areas

within the company.

• Affected more than $250 million of information

products launched into the debt and equity

marketplace.

• Currently leading the Platform Management &

Development team for the Equity Research Services

business unit of Standard & Poor’s.


Product Development at Standard & Poor’s

We create products for participants in the financial markets from

the intellectual property of our analytical and editorial staffWe create products for participants in the financial markets from

the intellectual property of our analytical and editorial staff

Financial Advisors

Consultants

Asset Managers

Pension Funds

Hedge Funds

Issuers

Investors

Credit Analysts

Portfolio Managers

Corporations


Past Product Development Experiences

A Familiar Approach?A Familiar Approach?

RequirementsGathering

Specifications IT Review Development Launch

Spec Changes

New Specs

New Specs

New Specs

NewRequirements

Spec Changes

Product Management Business Analysis Group IT Group


Past Product Development Pitfalls

• Large volumes of specifications…often misinterpreted

• Extended development

• Compromises to features / benefits to make deadlines

• Finished product less than what was required

• Missed market opportunities

• “We’ll put it in the next version” syndrome

A Familiar Outcome?A Familiar Outcome?

What Happened?


Past Product Development Pitfalls

• Specifications may not take into account IT skill sets and levels of understanding about the development environment.

• IT is often forced to make development estimates based on unfamiliar functionality or new technology.

• Development phase becomes more than just implementation. IT must learn, innovate and re-invent. Creates too many unknowns.

• Communication channel between IT and the Business side was weak. As a result, IT does not know how the applications they are developing fit into the organization’s goals.


Situation Analysis

• Legacy product losing market share.

• Technology not updated.

• Client base changing – younger, more technologically savvy.

• Content is referential, becoming commoditized.

• Disparate content sets are not contextual.

We needed to:

• Create actionable, meaning full content and present it in a manner that provides efficiencies for the user.

• Use modern technologies (Web 2.0, AJAX…etc.).

• Prune commoditized content.

…and we needed it quickly!


A New Approach

• Identified a small dedicated team from all functional areas to serve as a working group for the development of a new product.

– A project leader, designer, 2 developers, 2 editors, business analyst, marketing director. (Sales, analytical, client services…etc. as needed).

• Instituted an upfront “Design – Test – Learn” process.

– Inventory all data sets, content types, authentication and permissioning utilities, dependencies, available hardware and software, skill sets…etc.

– Design the user interface together with cross-functional team including IT. Determine content interaction and flow, functionality, pixel dimensions, colors, fonts, scalability…etc.

– Build prototype that actually works…not “smoke and mirrors”.

– Visit clients, hold focus groups…Learn!

– Tweak prototype based on feedback.

– Adjust databases, servers as needed to support the new UI.

– Release prototype into production.


Results!

• Everyone is accountable from the beginning.

• Nothing to misinterpret.

• Compromises and resolutions occurred during design, not

during development.

• Enable us to create a working prototype in 3 months to share

with clients.

• Development period was dramatically reduced.

• Fully working product available on-time and on budget

• Increased confidence in IT.


Analytic services and products provided by Standard & Poor’s are the result of separate activities designed to preserve the independence and objectivity of each analytic process. Standard & Poor’s has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of non-public information received during each analytic process.

www.standardandpoors.com

Business And Technology Tools For Working Together

Ben Telling VP Of Product Development And Production Systems

Agenda

Overview A Quick Case Study Tools For Working With Technology Personal Lessons Learned

Overview

Hanley Wood Overview

Hanley Wood is a leading-edge business to business media and information company reaching audiences in residential housing and commercial construction. We have four operating divisions that produce magazines, web sites, trade shows and events; collect, analyze, and interpret industry data; and create custom marketing solutions

Four Operating Divisions– Business Media– Exhibitions– Marketing– Market Intelligence

Corporate Support– Technology Group, Accounting and Finance, HR– Executive Management

My Role At Hanley Wood

Reporting To The CIO, I Am The Vice President of Product Development and Production Systems For The Hanley Wood Technology Group With Responsibility For

Publishing and Editorial Systems Content Management Systems Customer Management Systems All Production Systems Custom Website and Software Development

Major 2007 Business Media Related Projects

K4 and InDesign Rollout Content Management Solution Enterprise CRM Solution 11 New Magazine Web Site 6 Major Web Site Upgrades

A Fictitious Case Study Of XYZ Company

What The Strategy Proposed

Copyright 2005 Velociteach

Senior Management at XYZ Company Creates A Strategic Vision For A Solution That

• Increases Revenue

• Increases Productivity

• Increases Value

• Have a Rapid ROI

• Utilize New Technology

What The Business Requested


Stakeholders, Unsure Of The Details Behind The Vision, Create Requirements Based Upon

•What They Actually Need Today

• What They Think Management Wants

•Where They Think They May Need To Go

What The Business Analyst Understood


Business Analysts Interview Stakeholders And Create Requirement Based Upon

• What They Hear From The Business

•, What They Know About The Existing Systems

•What They Know About The Existing Processes

• What They Believe Technology Needs

What Technology Designs


Having No Clear Business Owners To Interact With, Technology Takes The Requirements And Designs A Solution That Is Based Upon

• New Technology

• It’s Understanding Of The Business

• A Desire To Ensure The System Will Do Anything The Business Could Ever Need

• What The Budget Allows

What It Cost


Due To Poor Communications, No Clear Owners and Strained Working Relationships The Project Overruns Due To

•Expensive Technology

•Multiple Reworks

•No Clear Budget Management

• Many Project Delays

What Was Finally Implemented


After Massive Overruns, Poor Communications, And Lots Of Finger Pointing The Final Solution Is Delivered With

• Missing Functionality

• Defects

• Missing Or Inaccurate Workflows

•Slow Performance

•Legacy Features

What Was Supported


Unfortunately Projects, Training, Support and Deployment Are Forgotten Until The Last Minute. This Results In

• Frustrated Users

• Failed Deployments

• Loss Of Productivity

• Limited Support

• Unhappy Customers

What The Business Really Needed


What The Business Really Needed Was A Simple Solution That Would Allow The Business Users Drive The Business Forward Cheaply And Effortlessly

So What Went Wrong

Poor Vision Definition No Drill Down On Needs No Clear Business Ownership Miss Communications No Overall Project Management No Continual Interaction With The Business

Tools For Working With Technology

Communications

Communication Is The Most Important Part Of Having The Business And Technology Work Closely Together. Tools To Ensure This Occurs Include

A Standard, Business Focused Methodology Regular Senior Management Updates Frequent Meetings With Product Owner Regular Verbal and Written Status Reports Regular Requirements , Design and System

Reviews Frequent Meetings With Cross Functional

Oversight Team

Business Owner

Sometimes called the Product Manager, The Business Owner Is a manager on the business side that has the following responsibilities

Ultimate Authority On Requirements ROI Responsibility Accountantability To The Executive Sponsors Manages The Oversight Committee Gives Technology And Business Teams A Clear Point Of

Escalation To Resolve Issues

Project Management

The Project Manager is a key component in the success of any complex project. They bring the following skills and control to a project

Task and Milestone Management Risk Management Communications Management Resource Management Project Transparency Project Accountability Financial Management

Team Approach

A Tool For Creating A Successful Solution Is To Create An Oversight Committee That Is Accountable For The Project And Include All Aspects Of The Company. This Group Should Include Representatives From The Following Groups

Business Management Business Staff Operations Staff Technology Management Technology Staff Accounting and Finance Staff

Example Of A Team Approach

Executive Sponsor Executive Technology Sponsor Business Owner Technology Owner Project Manager Business Analyst Implementation Team Oversight Committee

Personal Lessons Learned

Approaches That Work

Clear Project Ownership Clear and Measurable Project Goals A Close Working Team Between Business And

Technology Work In A No Blame Environment Cross Train Business and Technology Staff Project Management A Plan With Multiple Small, Manageable Project

Deliverables Clear Communications

Approaches That Create Issues

Assume That It Can Be Done Faster And Cheaper Then Is Quoted

Pass Requirements Over The Wall and Assume Things Were Understood

Project Ownership and Management By Committee

No Executive Sponsorship No Clear Business Goals Work In An Us and Them Culture Large, Unmanageable Projects With No Sub

Phases

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