A leading global life sciences organisation had built separate data teams to serve the federal reporting needs of the company and a data office to introduce new enterprise-wide common governance and standards. Competing business demand, accelerated by the potential of AI, indicated a need to reshape these teams into one specialist function.
Initially, we were selected to provide Strategic Advice to shape the direction of travel and build upon the success to date; Real world industry insight, evolving best Data Analytics and AI practice, together with an Interim VP for the data office. The interim role focused on leading, stabilising and energising the team, defining a prioritised strategic initiative portfolio, reshaping the budget and optimising delivery. These roles were highly successful, delivering a measurable step-change in morale, engagement and performance in only a few months.
We also worked with both business and technical functions to assess the key capabilities required for a new Data and AI function, identify new operating model options, provide project specific data architecture skills and support the recruitment process for a new CVP for the wider team.
With the new CVP in place, we were selected to design the new Vision and Operating Model for the function working collaboratively with the internal teams; Identifying where to play and how to win, developing playbooks to engage with IT and lines of business effectively, structuring the new organisation for success.
We helped a global media organisation assess the current maturity of its then federated IT Asset Management processes and articulate a vision, strategy and operating model for a new, global ITAM function
Working in close collaboration with the new Head of ITAM, Enterprise Architecture, Sourcing and FinOps, we defined a stretching but pragmatic ambition; Hardware and Software assets scope, responsibilities accountabilities and ways of working, organisation design, technology tooling, 5-year roadmap and business case.
We were also asked to carry out an annual maturity assessment to monitor progress, identify risks and suggest improvements. After 1 year, the team had achieved huge success, both in terms of savings, but also critically line of business buy-in and adoption.
We have worked with many clients of all sizes and complexities on a range of EA initiatives; creating a new EA function, coaching architects to become lead enterprise architects, business, data and software engineering architecture strategy, developing and testing AI based hypotheses for change, external QA.
Often we have been called upon to develop playbooks to help business and technical staff understand how best to engage with EA functions; what they do, how they do it, who is involved. One recent example was the creation of a Mergers, Acquisitions, Integrations and Divestments (M&A) playbook for a highly acquisitive global company.
This company had a well established and successful corporate development process for M&A, but had previously not focused on data and technology integration with the parent company. Working with a cross-section of global and regional experts, we developed an integrated playbook designed to identify and address risks for data and technology during due diligence, then plan for staged integration from the close of the deal. This playbook has now been adopted as standard practice in the firm, with a team of dedicated EA specialists assigned.
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