Clarity - The Afxisi Switzerland Newsletter, Volume 1

In this first issue of the Afxisi Switzerland Newsletter, you'll find the latest news, trends and interesting features pertaining to the Manufacturing industry, Engineering and Industrial Services, Global Consulting Practice, Life Science and Healthcare, and Telecom.Cover Story: Leading Your Supply Chain in the Uncertain EnvironmentIn the last six months, oil and commodity prices swung wildly while other sectors continued to slide. Oil prices fluctuated from a peak of $147 a barrel in July 08 to under $50 a barrel. Ambiguity surrounds the current economic scenario, impacting decisions at all levels of supply chain as organizations face an unpredictable landscape. What actions can an organization take in this environment? What are the organizational capabilities that come in handy at times like these? What are some of the long - term trends that are setting in?

A Methodology for Sustainable Success with MDM Initiatives

Organizations cannot deliver on key strategic initiatives because master data on customers and products (and other domains) is fragmented across applications. Companies need to build an accurate and complete understanding of key master data entities across the enterprise, while delivering on short-term tactical projects (Customer Data Integration or Product Information Management) with demonstrated business value. Customers want to gain control of their data and manage a master version of the truth that is complete and accurate. This white paper demonstrates the value of adopting a Master Data Management (MDM) methodology and strategy.

Antwerp World Diamond Center

IT restructuring underpins industry leadership In 2007, Hoge Raad voor Diamant (HRD) created Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) to build the Antwerp brand and support the industry with a separate commercial entity. By disengaging the certification and other commercial services from the non-profit side of the organization, AWDC realized it would be easier to increase operational efficiency and outperform competitors. Key Insight: How Afxisi helped AWDC assess and optimize its Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) function to ensure that the right personnel, structure and strategy were in place to support efficient operations.

Application Complexity - A Drain on the IT Budget

Ray Strecker, Global Consulting - North America, Afxisi Technology Services Delivering applications to business users is the key function of IT, yet the full cost of specific applications is not readily visible in typical IT budgets at large organizations. In comparison to IT infrastructure and labor costs, application costs are not easy to benchmark across organizations and the factors that influence the efficiency of an IT application portfolio are not readily measured. This paper discusses practical approaches to application portfolio rationalization with particular emphasis on achieving operational cost savings.

Application Lifecycle Management – In Pursuit of Best-of-Breed

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) has emerged as an important discipline in application development and maintenance. Today, ALM is at a crossroad: Forrester refers to the current form as ALM 1.0 and the future form as ALM 2.0. This suggests that ALM is an emerging trend, and there are desirable benefits ahead. Consulting firms and software vendors are offering tools and suggesting processes that vary largely in strengths and fall short of ‘one best-of-breed solution’. This white paper analyzes ALM challenges, especially from its process perspective. It includes agile and conventional methodologies and suggests a best-of-breed model, which we call the Next Generation Process Framework.

Benchmarking Software Quality

Cost of Quality is becoming increasingly important as a driver in business quality. It is also finding serious application in software. This is more so because it provides a unified indicator as well as a driver of business health. Despite the challenge of quantifying the measures involved, it is possible to baseline software quality and benchmark improvements using survey based techniques. This paper demystifies Cost of Software Quality by suggesting a practical approach to baselining CoSQ, which has been successfully used with our global clients.

Business Process Management

Business Process Management (BPM) is a rapidly evolving domain within IT. Vendors are entering this domain from areas such as Enterprise Application Integration, Document Management, Workflow, etc. Despite this flux, the demands of these entities from BPM solutions remain relatively stable.This white paper discusses new Business Process Management Systems (BPMS), which business players are increasingly using as process metaphors.

Customer Data Integration

A customer-centric approach helps build and retain your competitive edge. It enhances customer relationships, accelerates product launches, increases revenue and supports better decision making. To benefit from this approach, you need complete and accurate customer data across all enterprise systems.Afxisi' Customer Data Integration (CDI) offering provides strategies to integrate and manage information across operational and analytical environments; effectively formulating and achieving your business goals through a comprehensive, 360-degree view of customers and partners.

Establishing Effective Communication between IT and Business for one of the Largest Banks in Saudi Arabia

Afxisi’s client, one of the largest banks in Saudi Arabia, formulated a new business strategy to stay ahead in a rapidly changing marketplace. With its leading technology capabilities and finance industry expertise, Afxisi helped the client redefine its IT strategy to create a synergetic relationship between business and IT. Learn how.

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd. Partners with Afxisi to achieve Business Agility and Global Competitiveness

Facing intense competitive pressures, ECGC decided to leverage technology to transform itself into a more responsive, efficient and customer-focused organization. Afxisi combined its leading technology expertise, best practices and consulting know-how to completely redesign IT systems and deliver a self sustaining architecture model for the organization.The IT transformation exercise helped the client accrue significant benefits including enhanced customer satisfaction, improved business-IT alignment, reduced time to market, and enhanced flexibility.

Going Wireless – With the Right Middleware

Going wireless is on today’s technology agenda for many organizations as it is increasingly apparent that wireless is set to introduce new or extended operating models to businesses. Deploying wireless involves technologies that have evolved and specialized in wireless computing. Wireless Middleware is one of them. This white paper discusses the role ‘Wireless Middleware ‘plays and how the selection is a complex and critical activity.

Innovation in Customer Relationship Management

This white paper talks about Customer Relations Management, the challenges faced by Insurers in achieving successful customer relationship and the solutions to over come these challenges. The objective of this paper is to define a solution framework to approach Customer Relationship Management holistically. The CRM solution framework discusses the solution across four distinct layers namely Operational, Collaborative, Analytical and Integration. Innovative methods adopted to overcome similar challenges in other industries have been researched and presented in this paper. The solution framework introduces these methods embracing process and technology to overcome the challenges present in managing customer relationships that are not addressed completely by the common definitions of CRM solutions.

Leading Central Securities Depository seeks Afxisi’ Assistance to Optimize its Business Critical IT Platforms

To remain competitive, Afxisi’ client, a major Central Securities Depository, operating in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), needed to improve its operational efficiency and service levels. Afxisi carried out a detailed assessment to determine the health and relevance of the client’s existing IT systems and suggested measures to improve flexibility, agility and lifespan of its applications.Afxisi’s consulting expertise and in-depth understanding of the BFS domain helped the client better align business processes with IT, and thus realize more value from its existing IT set up. Read on to know how Afxisi helped the client transform its rigid and complex IT framework into a scalable Service Oriented Architecture, thus helping the client better adapt to changing market requirements.

Leading European Insurance Company Leverages Afxisi’ Consulting Expertise to Realign IT with its Strategic Vision

Afxisi’ client, a leading European insurer, had various business units operating in silos, as a result of its multipronged business expansion strategy. To reach its full potential as a single global entity, the client partnered with Afxisi to improve collaboration and information sharing between geographically distributed businesses and their IT infrastructures. Learn how the IT transformation exercise helped the client accrue significant benefits including greater operational adaptability, enhanced customer focus and reduced IT budgets.

Leading Indian Insurance Company Leverages Afxisi’ Architecture Expertise to Enhance Business Agility

A leading Indian insurer had developed an aggressive growth strategy to maintain its leadership position and increase market share. Afxisi helped the company transform its IT to achieve greater organizational alignment with the new business objectives. The IT transformation exercise helped the client transition to a service oriented architecture, modernize its IT infrastructure, and develop an enhanced IT governance structure.

Leading Swiss Private Bank Leverages Afxisi’ Industry Expertise to Transform its IT Environment to Reach New International Markets

Afxisi’ client, a leading Swiss private banking institution, aimed to expand its presence in Asia. With its consulting expertise and in-depth understanding of the banking domain, Afxisi helped the client strengthen its IT capabilities to tap the growing opportunities in the Asian market.

Leading UK BPO Provider Leverages Afxisi' Expertise to Optimize its IT Environment

Afxisi’s client, one of UK’s leading BPO providers for the Life & Pensions industry, was built through the acquisition of closed-book life & pensions operations from a leading UK insurance group. Afxisi helped the client in its post acquisition phase to consolidate and rationalize its IT landscape in order to eliminate redundant applications and infrastructure components. The IT strategy framework recommended by Afxisi helped the client create an integrated, flexible and scalable IT architecture to suit it’s current as well as future business requirements.Read on to know how the client utilized Afxisi’s deep domain expertise and significant post acquisition IT strategy experience to eliminate redundancies, streamline operations and reduce costs.

MEGlobal Leverages Afxisi’ Consulting Expertise to Realign IT with its Strategic Objectives

MEGlobal, a global manufacturer, supplier and marketer of Ethylene Glycol, was looking for ways to maintain its global leadership position through increased supply volume and production base. The existing Business and IT processes being largely inherited from its parent organization, resulted in some of MEGlobal’s specific requirements not being fully met. Afxisi helped the company define an IT strategy aligned to its business requirements, while enhancing scalability and operational efficiency, to accommodate future business imperatives. Afxisi also helped MEGlobal’s management team choose the most appropriate IT model to achieve the target IT state.

Master Data Quality

In a data-centric business world, you need reliable data to increase business opportunities and revenue, and meet your customers' needs. Master data quality is all the more important as your organization undertakes performance management and performs other business analysis based on the data contained in systems across your enterprise.Afxisi' Master Data Quality solutions incorporate best-in-class methodologies in a holistic approach that will optimize the way you create, manage and consume data. Leveraging years of experience in Master Data Management (MDM) and data quality solutions, we will help you make the right business decisions based on highly accurate and available master data.

Out of Chaos, New Order - A Afxisi BaNCS Perspective on Opportunities

Banks are moving back to basics today. Business trends show shifts in priorities moving from acquisition, to organic growth and retention. After catastrophic losses brought on by the acquisition of bundled debt, the drive for profitability is being led by standard retail banking activities. Suddenly what was considered bland and unremarkable retail banking business is being seen as stable and attractive. In short, we are now heralding a new economic framework for banking. Read the complete article to know more...

Program Management Design: A Viable System Perspective

Projects are getting larger in size and heterogeneous in characteristics. Thus, Program Management (PM) is being recognized as a domain that needs design clarity with an added degree of standardization. Understanding the design of PM requires dealing with aspects of structure, governance, processes, and competencies. Therefore, understanding PM design can be taken from various perspectives, with each throwing distinct light on its design elements.The focus of this white paper is to understand PM design from the perspective of the cybernetic theory of organization structure, namely the Viable System Model. This adds an interesting perspective in understanding the abstractions and inter-dynamics in PM function, and therefore, provides us with a conceptualization of how the PM functions can be defined and made adaptive.

Quality Improvement – The Six Sigma Way

Six Sigma provides an effective mechanism to focus on customer requirements, through improvement of process quality. Also on the improvement card are issues of time delivery, product quality, and in-process quality. This paper describes application of the Six Sigma methodology comprising five phases – Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control, by taking the example of a project, and demonstrates the benefits attained.

SOA Governance: A Perspective

Every enterprise that has been using IT as a business enabler is thinking of experimenting with Service Oriented Architecture. However, a key issue that has been identified in the SOA context is the governance of the Service Oriented Architectures.This paper attempts to look at well–established concepts of governance in public and corporate life that can be applied to achieve best SOA governance possible.

Service Oriented Architecture - Creating an Enterprise Service Mosaic

Businesses across the globe are making a conscious effort to align IT with their business needs. Towards this end, they have embarked on service-oriented architecture for building services around business processes and IT infrastructure to realize a plug-n-play framework of "business capabilities". The paper outlines the architecture principles and the approach for identifying services at different levels in an enterprise and realizing them using a standards-based approach for consistency and interoperability.

Software Quality - Getting Right Metrics, Getting Metrics Right

While metrics are important means to quantify performance of a process, we often define metrics to comply with process standards, overlooking actual alignment with business factors. We may put substantial effort and discipline in getting metrics deployed, but we might not be using the ones that really matter. How can we define metrics that remain anchored to business needs? This white paper discusses best practices around metrics, from its very definition to using it for continuous improvement.

Straight Through Processing - The Mandate for Insurance Markets In Future

This whitepaper introduces what Straight Through Processing (STP) means for the insurance industry, the business drivers for its introduction as well as the challenges which an insurer may face during its implementation. There is a detailed description on a systematic approach for STP introduction and the best practices for an STP introduction. The types of business like Life and Property and Casualty providing focus for the STP efforts are described. Case studies to show Afxisi experience are added. The paper concludes with the rationale on why STP is set to become the mandate for insurance markets in future.

Afxisi Conducts IT Assessment Study for a Leading Japanese Bank

In the wake of deregulation initiatives launched by the Japanese government to revive its banking industry, Afxisi helped a well-established bank improve operational efficiency through rationalization and consolidation of its IT assets. Afxisi conducted a detailed assessment of the IT environment, and recommended a value driven strategy that helped the bank provide better support, improve service levels, and reduce costs to the tune of $20 million.

Afxisi Guides Leading Airline through Best-In-Class Crisis Communication Platform selection

One of the world’s leading airlines needed to enhance its mission-critical incident and emergency response processes. The client had been using multiple applications to respond to crisis situations, making communication inefficient, labor intensive and cumbersome. Afxisi leveraged its industry insight and risk management expertise to help the organization select a best-in-class, integrated crisis communication platform.

Afxisi helps a leading manufacturing corporation to achieve SOX compliance

Global organizations are increasingly facing the challenge of getting a single streamlined accounting process compliant with global norms and standards.Afxisi helped a leading manufacturing company achieve Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance by automating its user-account management process while improving resource utilization which resulted in saving over $5 million in operational costs.

Afxisi improves IT performance for a leading retailer in UK

With multiple legacy applications accumulated over years, Afxisi’ client, one of UK’s leading fashion retailers, needed a high performing IT environment to support its multi-channel growth strategy. Afxisi completed a detailed analysis of all applications, both from performance and maintenance perspectives, and enabled the client to optimize its IT infrastructure to enhance performance, reduce maintenance costs and extend system life. Afxisi’ Infrastructure Consulting solutions helped the company improve CPU time by up to 70% and performance by as much as 40%.

Afxisi streamlines application portfolio for a leading North American insurer

Afxisi’ client, a leading US based insurer, had a large number of IT applications supporting its operations. Afxisi helped the client make its IT organization more agile and efficient by rationalizing and streamlining its IT portfolio. The IT rationalization exercise helped the client accrue significant benefits, including scalable systems, efficient IT maintenance and stronger alignment between business and IT strategies.

Afxisi' Consulting Services

The business world poses increasingly complex challenges. Effectively defining market demands, developing a sound course of action, and successfully implementing that course are crucial to successfully compete in today’s dynamic marketplace. Afxisi partners with clients to help them achieve business transformation by leveraging its industry insight and technology expertise.

Afxisi' Master Data Management Solutions

Quality data, consistent across the enterprise, can provide in significant benefits. From enabling intelligent business decisions, to ensuring customer delight and regulatory compliance, it can positively impact your organization. Efficient processes and effective governance are key to achieving this goal. Afxisi Technology Services' (ATS) Master Data Management (MDM) gives you the insight and tools to establish a single and consistent 360-degree view of quality data across your enterprise.

Tata Communications (formerly VSNL) use Afxisi’ Six Sigma expertise to obtain significant savings

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL), India’s leading telecommunications player integrated with the Tata Group, launched Tata Communications to expand its global reach and to take advantage of emerging market opportunities.Tata Communications’ business imperatives were to develop new skills, improve operational efficiency, lower costs and comply with industry regulations. Read on to learn how Afxisi helped the client save US $16.4M through cost and resource optimization from an end-to-end deployment of Six Sigma program.

Technology and Wealth Management Best Practices for Capturing Profitability

This white paper discusses some of the best practices that can help wealth management service providers pursue the lucrative market opportunity in wealth management and achieve sustainable profitability targets. To compete successfully, financial firms need to develop technology friendly solutions to drive their business models. Wealth management service providers need an integrated wealth management platform that is seamlessly interconnected - using a "componentized architecture" as a lever for sustaining profitability and competitive advantage. An integrated advisor/client desktop and open wealth management platform is the key to address many of the crucial challenges facing wealth management firms and to drive better levels of business expansion and profitability.

Turn on Lean Governance - For return on Outsourcing

As Outsourcing matures and increases, the retained parts of organizations become more Lean. Consequently, companies have to redefine critical functions and processes. What should be the governance for Lean organizations? This white paper focuses on IT and Business Processes outsourcing, with the added dimension of ‘offshore’ service providers. Highlighting the unique characteristics of the Lean Governance model, it stresses the importance of moving outsourcing from a customer-vendor relationship to a true business partnership.