The Automated Company

By Darryl Taylor and Kai Bass

Information Technology (IT) is infused into our daily lives in an irreversible way. At one time, a company with solid IT systems may have had an advantage over the competition. Today, there is no way to keep pace with the world, handle the torrent of data needed, or even interface with your customers without IT systems. A solid IT infrastructure is the ante to enter the game.
But IT is more than racks of blinking LED’s or colorful Web pages that bring information at your command. At its heart, your IT infrastructure – software and hardware working together – automates your business processes. The harmonious interweaving of systems and infrastructure with people and processes is at the core of The Automated Company. Achieving that harmony is what this book is about.

All companies have some limitations of their time and resources. Success is achieved by targeting the use of your resources to bring about the greatest advantage to your company. Automating your company is no different. But, unfortunately, we have found that Business folks and Software Engineers quite often have trouble communicating. This lack of understanding makes it difficult for the groups to work together effectively. Rather than accelerate your success, IT infrastructure seems to slow your progress and business processes overflow with “exceptions” or “off-line steps”.

The intent of this book is to illustrate a step-by-step planning process that beings together Business needs with Software Engineering deliverables. The planning process is presented as if you are planning for particular department (in most examples, the Sales and Marketing department for Ektrom Coffee Machines – a fictitious company created for our story and examples). However, the process could easily be applied to a specific functional area or expanded to plan for an entire company.

To make it easier to digest, this book is divided into two sections:

The Story:
The story immerses you in the troubles of the Sales and Marketing department of the Ektrom Coffee Machines Company. Although the company and all of the characters are fictitious, they illustrate many real life problems and distractions standing in the way of success. In the story the characters apply our tools and planning process. This provides an easily readable illustration of the planning process at work. Also, the reactions of the characters are many of the same reactions we have observed in real-life.

The Methodology:
The Methodology section of the book provides an overview of the entire planning process. The methodology is presented in easily executable steps, each with a clear input, participants, and output. Throughout we offer illustrations and tools that you can use. The sections are clearly divided so that you can jump to any particular point or use any particular step (or tool) that you need. Many of these tools can be used individually to resolve business problems you may face.

Finally, I should point out that we are NOT academics – and this book is NOT the summary of a study or experiment. Rather we are craftsmen, with five decades of Business and IT experience between us – and this is our way of providing you with the tools and processes we have created based in our hands-on experience. It is our hope that you also find these tools useful. And from that use you find yourself more successful... or at the very least, avoid some pitfalls that were “learning experiences” for us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Darryl Taylor
• Release date: Dec 9, 2013
• ISBN: 9781310611971

Darryl Taylor

Darryl is an IT professional with more than two decades of experience with commercial and high-tech companies as well as independent consulting experience. He has extensive experience with program and project management, software development and deployment, IT systems management and architecture, and business process design.

Book preview

THE STORY - Ektrom Coffee Machines:

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Chapter 1 – All Change

A Personalized Golf Ball set with the Corporate Logo. Samantha gushed. Thank you SO much, it’s exactly what I wanted.

Everyone around the table laughed as Samantha held the gift up to her face like a game show hostess flaunting a coveted and yet to be won, prize.

How many of those do you have left? Matthew asked.

Steven made me order five hundred of those awful things, explained Jennifer. Don’t worry Matt, there’s still lots more to go around.

Around five years ago it was Becky, the VP’s Admin, who was celebrating her birthday. As usual, her boss Steven had forgotten all about it and so hurriedly grabbed the first thing he could find in the promotional cupboard, a Personalized Golf Ball set emblazoned with the corporate logo. Since then, Jennifer had made the giving of the dreadful gift a tradition, presenting it to every one in her team as part of the birthday lunch she sponsored every month.

Jennifer was the Director of Marketing for Ektrom Coffee Machines; a medium sized company started in 1953 by Tomas Ektrom, that today employees a little over fifteen thousand people. Jennifer was from good Irish stock, which blessed her with raven hair and green eyes, but cursed her with pail skin that the sun could burn, but never tan. She stood at around five foot five and while not the athletic type, she found time to keep in reasonable shape, whenever her job would allow. Her boss, Steven, had been the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for around seven years, and Jennifer had reported to him for four of those.

Jennifer and Steven could not have been more different. While Jennifer placed a lot of stock in developing people and relationships, Steven was a numbers man, preferring to trust metrics more than his own staff. To Steven there were only two outcomes from any situation, success or failure. Success was expected and excuses for failure were not tolerated. If you didn’t meet his goal then you simply failed to understand his instructions. Steven was also an ambitious and ruthless politician. He had swiftly climbed the ladder to the Vice President on the back of a hugely successful regional sales campaign and promises to drive that success across the organization if he had the right role.

Turnover in Steven’s area had been predictably high but Jennifer had hung on, partly because of her loyalty to her team and partly because the Marketing team had very few metrics compared to the sales team, so there was usually someone else in line to take the brunt of the disdain that marked Steven’s monthly staff meetings.

Jennifer’s team had nothing but respect for their boss. She had proven to be as skillful at protecting them from the wrath of the VP as she was at marketing campaign development. When her team had made mistakes she had taken the hit for them herself, rather than try and spread the blame or slip them under the radar. For Jennifer, failure was a learning experience and success something to be rewarded.

Jennifer was enjoying the lighthearted banter of her team when her cell rang. She checked her phone to see the name of James Ektrom, the CEO and son of the company’s founder. She answered the phone, moving away from the table and heading for the door and some privacy.

Hello Jim, what can I do for you?

One thing that Steven worked hard at was trying to ensure that his team had as little contact with the CEO as possible; he handled everything facing upward. Consequently, Jennifer was surprised by the call, but then remembered that Steven had not shown up today.

I need to talk to you. Could you come to my office right away?

Of course, Jim. I was having lunch with the team, I can be there in fifteen minutes

Thanks. The line went dead and Jennifer hurried back to her team to make her apologies and to ensure someone was there to pick up the lunch tab.

As Jennifer maneuvered her car out of the parking lot her mind started racing as she tried to reason why Jim would want to see her now. She concluded that either there was an issue and Jim could not get ahold of her absent VP today, or more likely, Steven and Jim were discussing a marketing problem and she was the fall guy. The problem was she couldn’t for the life of her think of any marketing issue that would warrant Steven needing a patsy.

***

A little over twenty minutes later a very hurried Jennifer found herself alone with Jim in his office.

What was the occasion?

I’m sorry?

For the team lunch… what was the occasion?

Oh. It was Stephanie’s birthday

I love that you do that. My father would always find some way of celebrating his employee’s birthdays. He wanted them to know he cared.

I give them a corporate golf ball set

I’m sorry?

Jennifer immediately felt awkward. She was quite sure Jim didn’t want to know the details of her team’s inside joke, but since she was little late she had said the first thing she could think of. Reluctantly she babbled through the explanation of the gift, blushing as she did so.

Jim laughed. Excellent!

Jennifer offered a sheepish smile.

Well you needn’t worry about Steven finding out, he just quit.

So that’s what this was about.

He has decided that his career is best served with one of our competitors. He offered two weeks notice but I decided to let him go. I’m not sure I entirely trust him with our business while he has one foot out of the door. The statement hung in the air for a while. Jennifer, I’d like you to take his job. I think we need a change in temperament in Sales and Marketing. It seems to me that a group that faces our customers should be a little more… people friendly. Jim relaxed into his chair.

Besides, it was obvious to me that Steven wouldn’t stick around much longer. He’s a very ambitious man and I’m afraid that my role will not be available for some time, if I can help it, Jim quipped.

In fact, I’ve been thinking for a while about this day and how I would deal with it. I made it my business to get to know each of Steven’s teams as best I could. As you know my father had developed a tradition for promoting from within whenever he could. It’s clear to me that you are not only the best qualified to replace him, but also the best situated to help me move our Sales and Marketing department forward.

Jim stepped away from his chair and looked out of the window. He had the typical Scandinavian traits, tall, around six foot three, blonde, and blue eyes. He was fifty-five years old but looked like he was in his forties. He had a reputation of being an intelligent, hard working, thoughtful, firm but fair man. Jennifer had always liked him.

Jennifer, you know as well as I do that the market is changing. I believe in the franchise relationships we have with our channel partners, but some of our competitors are taking to direct sales, leveraging the Internet. I don’t hold with that approach. Our partners have helped us to be very successful in our market and I think we owe them our continued support and trust. But I do think we can do a better job of working with them. I know Steven disagreed with my logic and wanted me to embrace direct sales, I think that was partly why he left.

Jim turned to Jennifer.

Steven saw our channel partners as a necessary evil. An untrustworthy accomplice we had worked with because in the past we had little choice. I have had many conversations with the CEO’s of those partners who felt there was no love between us. I want you to change that. We seem to have spent as little marketing dollars as we could to help our partners and it shows. Our services to them are weak and cumbersome. Jim walked towards the front of his desk.

It would be easier to get development funds from Ebenezer Scrooge than Ektrom! That’s what one man said to me. Jim sat down on the desk and eyed Jennifer.

So what do you say Jennifer, I need someone to fix that for me. Do you think Vice President of Sales and Marketing is something I should arrange to have stenciled on your door?

Chapter 2 – What Now?

Jennifer had decided to head for home early. It was 3 pm on a Friday afternoon and she had a lot to think about. She had said yes of course, and Jim had quickly sent out the announcement email, instating her as VP effective immediately. It was obvious the only activity in her new department for the rest of the afternoon would be speculation about the manner of Steven’s exit and the formulation of a million questions she couldn’t yet answer, so her first act as VP was to let everyone go early. She had her admin setup an all team meeting for Monday where she would, as her father would say, address the troops.

Pulling up to her house she was relieved to see her husband’s car in the drive. David was obviously on call today. She and David had met at college. Jennifer had always thought David looked a little like Willem Dafoe, with his piercing steel blue-eyed gaze and strong jaw line. He had been the one to woo her, although he seemed to remember it differently. A romance quickly blossomed and soon after she had graduated they were married. After David had graduated they had moved to Chicago where he began his internship at the Children’s Memorial Hospital.

David handed her the freshly brewed coffee he had started when he saw her pull in. Jennifer was sitting at the kitchen counter and had already recounted her day. David had always been her biggest supporter and today was no exception.

This is fantastic news, Jen. Jennifer Waterstone, Vice President of Sales and Marketing… I like it!

Jennifer smiled weakly

What is it? You don’t seem that happy about this

It’s just… Jennifer struggled for the words. Steven had such a hold on the team. Everything was metrics and targets.

Well you can change that.

I just don’t know how. Everyone was so defensive that we never really shared what we were doing. I mean, I know about sales, but I’m not sure I know about sales at Ektrom. I have no idea where the strengths and weaknesses lie. How can I lead the team without understanding how they operate?

David looked up from his coffee. Now you’re starting to sound like your father.

Is that a bad thing?

No, no, not at all. But it strikes me that perhaps he would be the best one to offer advice. I remember him telling me that, when it came to warfare, half the battle was understanding the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses. Sounds like the same thing to me.

Perhaps you’re right.

Jennifer fell silent, sipping on her coffee and obviously deep in thought.

David returned to the coffee maker and grabbed another cup. He walked it back to the kitchen counter, placed it down and walked up behind Jennifer where he placed his hands on her shoulders.

Jen, I have every faith in you, and it seems to me that so does your CEO.

Thanks, hon. She reached up and clasped his hand. I think you’re right. I think I’ll give Dad a call.

****

Sunday found Jennifer alone at her father’s house; her husband had been called in for an emergency at the hospital a few hours before. Her father, Major John Connolly, lived his retirement alone after his wife Patricia had passed away four years ago. The ex-military man kept himself fit and active. He had developed a keen interest in social politics and had taken several college classes to get him out of the house. A little over five feet nine he was an average looking man, with a short, military style haircut and keen blue eyes.

Jennifer and her father finished Sunday dinner and settled in the den over a coffee to chat. A few cooking classes had made the Major a pretty decent cook, which was a skill he enjoyed exploiting to have his daughter come visit him on the weekends. John was proud to say that his daughter had always confided in him when she was troubled and was glad to help her however he could. For Jennifer her father was a beacon, always there to guide her when she was lost.

So basically, you have a team of people you now lead. You know them socially and have a broad brush understanding of their roles but little knowledge of their capabilities?

That’s about it, Dad

"Well it sounds like you’ve all been a through a lot. I’ve come across people like Steven before. Driven by blind ambition without any interest in the welfare of his reports, except what they can do for him. Stepping-stones up the chain of command. You’re going to have to deal with some personnel issues. They’ll be defensive and unwilling to trust you right off the bat. But I don’t believe that’s a problem for you. You’ve always had a way with people and I brought my