IT Department Review

About this service

They may not excite enthusiasm, but the processes by which business transactions are dealt with underpin your business operation. Could you be doing things more effectively or at less cost? Do any of these symptoms apply to your organisation?

• Over-reliance on manual and paper based control and administrative procedures
• A weak level of controls and efficiency - causing customer to be dissatisfied
• Difficulties in reconciling and accounting for all transactions that point to gaps in the control environment
• Duplicative and non-complementary processes and the emergence of ‘information pockets’ and ‘black holes’ across the organisation
• Delays in fulfilling customer expectations, meeting deadlines and producing reliable management information
• Management information based upon spreadsheets produced off-line from the main system(s).

If these look familiar, or if a major change is planned, the business may benefit from a review of key processes. Such a review is particularly relevant when core computer systems are being changed or you are taking on a new business system. No matter how good it may be, a new system will not ensure that what people do around it is optimum for the organisation. It is, however, usually an excellent time to re-appraise and update existing practices to make best use of the functionality contained within the new systems.

What this service provides

Our starting point is to understand the required inputs, processes, checkpoints and outputs and analyse the existing situation to determine where improvements could be made. We would then place these in perspective by:

• Delivering a series of models highlighting the areas where potential improvements can best be realised
• Identifying threats and assessing the risks associated with any course of action, including that of doing nothing
• Conducting a business impact evaluation, including the costs and benefits of possible changes in processes
• Agreeing with you the nature and extent of necessary change and developing a suitable action plan.

Following discussion and agreement with you, the final result would be a series of agreed improvements that, if required, our team would help you implement.

Why and when you might need this service

Businesses don't stand still – they constantly change in order to cope with and take advantage of market and economic conditions. All too easily, however, the underlying processes, controls, checks and balances that support the day-to-day operation get left behind and become outdated. At best this may simply mean that unnecessary tasks are undertaken, wasting time, effort and money, or at worst it may give rise to gaps in control or management information that can allow problems to go unnoticed until they are of critical importance.