The business apps went down now and then.
The supplier fought symptoms.
One honest answer to: are we on the right track?
A mid-size advisory and engineering firm. Business-critical applications were regularly unstable or unavailable, and the IT supplier mostly fixed symptoms. The board wanted to know whether they were on the right track. We gave that answer, substantiated and independent.
The challenge
The disruptions were the symptom. Not the disease.
Business-critical applications failed now and then. The supplier kept resolving the incidents, better some times than others, but no one knew whether that touched the real problems, or only the symptoms.
- 01
No structured architecture. No standardisation; technology was managed ad-hoc and reactively.
- 02
Major security risks. No uniform policy, end-of-life servers with unrestricted internet access, an unsegmented network.
- 03
Single points of failure in the base. Outdated remote access and server rooms; one fault could take down a lot.
- 04
A supplier fighting symptoms. No documented processes or steering; predictable management was nearly impossible.
The question was not which fault to fix first. It was whether the business was on the right track at all.
The approach
First measure. Then judge.
An independent assessment in two streams, business and technology, with a business impact analysis as the base. No sales pitch, a factual picture.
What does the organisation want?
Interviews with the board, portfolio holders and key users: which applications are critical, what downtime is acceptable, which dependencies and recovery objectives (RTO/RPO) apply.
What is really going on?
Documentation and contracts reviewed, and with physical access the infrastructure, network, workplace, server room and backup/recovery assessed against common standards.
The external service tested
The support process, the supplier and the steering examined: is it steered on the real problems, or on today’s incidents?
One decision-ready picture
Interim reporting and a joint evaluation, resulting in a management summary and a roadmap, so the board could decide, including the cost of doing nothing.
The solution
A substantiated answer, and a way forward.
What stands now: an honest answer to the core question, the key problems and the biggest risks named, and a concrete direction with a roadmap, decision-ready for the board.
To the core question “are we on the right track?”: on the current state, no, and exactly why.
An IT vision and a governance frame for IT decisions, structure instead of ad-hoc.
A redesign to a (hybrid) cloud and a modern workplace, no more investment in outdated local infrastructure.
A professional support and steering structure, with a roadmap, including the cost of doing nothing.
“We knew it grated. Now we know exactly where, and which way to go.”
The result
From firefighting symptoms to a substantiated decision.
- -Business-critical apps regularly unstable or unavailable
- -Symptoms fought, underlying problems unknown
- -No architecture, standardisation or steering
- -Not knowing whether the course was right
- ✓An honest, substantiated answer to “are we on the right track?”.
- ✓The key problems and the biggest risks named and prioritised.
- ✓A target architecture and a roadmap to the cloud, decision-ready.
- ✓A steering and management model, including the cost of doing nothing.
A similar challenge?
No pitch. One conversation.
One conversation in which we determine whether, and how, this works for your organisation too.
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