Management Consultancy

Achieving return on investment

Crocus understands the importance of achieving a return on investment (ROI) from your IT infrastructure and applications – otherwise, what is the point of the investment?

Whenever a client engages with us, we expect them to have the objectives and metrics needed to measure the success or failure of a project. Those metrics should be linked to measurable business benefits, which in turn drive the ROI calculation.

We believe that all of our clients should be made aware of the ROI and particularly the metrics of success. The latter should be accepted by the supplier as part of the relationship.

Furthermore, we appreciate the need, wherever practical, to demonstrate prior to a project that it will give a return, and to give a timeframe in which you can expect this to be achieved.

To ensure that projects are driven to the correct metrics, we prefer to be involved when the metrics are being set. If unrealistic expectations are set, any project is likely to be seen by senior management as being a limited success.

Process re-engineering

For any company, the process of change is relentless. Business has evolved (partly due to technology advances) from being departmentally-driven to being process-driven.

This affects all aspects of the use of IT - especially with ERP systems, which need to reflect the processes through workflow controls, exception reporting and management dashboards.

We have had years of experience in the re-engineering process. If you need help planning, managing, monitoring or executing the process changes, please talk to one of our directors.

Operational Performance Audit Reviews

The old adage of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a recipe for inefficiency and poor productivity. In a business environment that is continually changing both externally and internally, any process or operation needs to evolve to meet shifting needs.

As your volume of business increases, simply expanding the headcount is not the answer. The structure often has a finite capacity, so it’s necessary to understand performance and productivity levels throughout your organisation.

Our directors welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can help to improve your business performance in the areas of financial and HR systems.

Version upgrade planning and management

Implementing new versions of software is a regular phase of the IT cycle. There is no way of avoiding this process as software companies withdraw support from older versions. But the complexity of the changes bring larger challenges every time – including the need to provide a seamless changeover for the company’s operations and system end users.

Crocus is constantly involved in upgrade projects for Oracle products, currently focused on the Payroll V9.1 upgrade. We understand the areas of change within the products as well as the impact on your IT infrastructure, integrated applications and bespoke software components.

We have already met and overcome some of the issues that you will be facing.

Please talk to one of our directors about planning and executing your next upgrade process. We could save you weeks of work and help you to avoid some potential problem areas.