Strategy and Technology Alignment

F2X helps to better align IT with business needs, ensuring that strategic priorities are achieved in the most cost-effective manner.

Boards often want to know is the business getting value from its technology investment. Is the level of risk carried in legacy systems becoming unacceptably high? Are the areas where the business needs to excel and sustain competitive advantage underpinned by best in class technology and processes?

We work closely with Boards to answer these searching questions. To do that effectively we draw on our extensive experience of working with some of the UK’s leading companies and our ongoing research programme into sustained competitive advantage through technology and process improvement.

The results are impressive. A middle ranking support services company transformed its internal and external profile through aligning business and technology strategy and is being seen as a market leader. A global professional services organisation is enjoying the fruits of understanding its core competencies and allowing other organisations to take on non core technology services.

Transformation Programmes and Roadmaps

Ambitious companies set ambitious goals whether it is a Jim Collins ‘BHAG’ or a target to exceed city expectations, transforming operations is often required to create the level of customer experience or cost base required to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Transformation more often than not requires fundamental change to processes, technology and teams. There is no silver bullet which delivers transformation. But one thing we are absolutely clear on is leveraging technology in the right way will be an essential ingredient of success.

Transformation programmes and roadmaps are useful but the real art is carefully determining which approach suits the organisational environment.

F2X works closely with senior management and delivery teams to ensure the essential ingredients are in place. Each organization is different and requires its own approach built around well established key success factors. When the combination of factors is blended in the right way the results are compelling.

IT Strategy and IT Architecture

Senior managers and business leaders are continually looking for ways to get better value from IT. Whether it be to enable a transformation programme or re-assess current fit for purpose, F2X works with you to understand your company’s business objectives and to develop an appropriate strategy and IT architecture roadmap to ensure you meet these goals.

IT strategy covers a wide range of functional areas such as applications, data, infrastructure, networks, organisational capability. We understand that most IT functions already have plans to develop the systems and supplied services they manage. At f2X we use our best practice framework to weave a path that adds additional weight to what already exists and provides reassurance to the Board of the suitability of the direction set.

A recent client engagement ensured that IT was closely aligned to business ambition through a series of frameworks which ensured the Exec team fully understood the rationale for investment in specific business areas.

Product Evaluation and Software Selection

Often IT strategies and architectures require a change in systems. Drawing on our broad experience in construction and engineering, financial services, professional services and retail sectors, F2X assists in the evaluation and selection of software packages and architecture frameworks aligned to your sector’s needs. Our independence ensures that the right selection is made for you business. We are not tied to any software vendors so we are able to provide advice and guidance across a range of products:

• SOA frameworks and BPMS
• Workflow and rules engines
• ERP
• CRM
• Job costing, works management, scheduling and project management
• Web portals
• …and a variety of sector-specific products

New Market Opportunities through Technology Exploitation

The F2X approach enables clients to transform their organisation’s capability to introduce new products to market, understand their position relative to competitors and to exploit opportunities rapidly and efficiently by linking business needs to innovative enabling technologies.

F2X helps drive strategic decision-making to exploit existing and new market opportunities. Our ultimate objectives are to:

• Support companies in developing a vision about how future business opportunities can be supported by technology
• Create improved dialogue between business and technology teams through simple scenarios and use of common terms to enable improved innovation and responsiveness
• Link this vision and innovative thinking back through the technology function, so that IT becomes more aligned and responsive to business and market needs

Our unique Performance Framework Discovery process provides unrivalled operational experience to design and deliver pragmatic yet innovative solutions to implement strategies and solve business problems. Using a unique coaching and partnering approach we ensure that both business and IT teams take full ownership of the improvements, and in collaboration with F2X deliver the required programme and benefits.