Strategic Technology Assessment

Understanding IT Contribution to Business Growth and Profitability

Recognizing the growing importance of information technology (IT) in improving the effectiveness of business strategy implementation—as well as the increasing need for clients to maximize their return on IT investments—GMT has created a value-added alliance with Solutions Consulting, LLC (Solutions).

Due to its unique business model, Solutions has quietly become a premier and highly cost-effective provider of IT assessment, IT strategy development, IT/business architecture development, system planning, business case analysis, software selection, system implementation, and ongoing system support services. In cooperation with its parent company, Perot Systems, Solutions offers a comprehensive portfolio of services that address the full spectrum of business and IT planning, implementation, and support needs.

GMT and Solutions: A Cost-Effective, High-Impact Alternative

The GMT/Solutions partnership is a perfect fit for clients seeking to maximize the value of consulting services in a flexible, cost-effective manner.

With its enterprise-wide perspective and IT planning process, the GMT/Solutions partnership helps clients to effectively evaluate, plan, design, and implement high-impact information technology capabilities. Resulting IT systems are closely aligned with top-level business goals and objectives, enable effective strategy deployment, and directly contribute to both the top- and bottom-line results of the enterprise.

Because clients can leverage the specialized expertise and experience of both partners—without having to support the infrastructure and overhead costs of a larger consulting firm—the GMT/Solutions partnership makes good financial sense for clients. The two firms custom-tailor their services to the needs of each client—resulting in a flexible, cost-effective solution.

Rapid, Thorough Identification of IT Challenges

A key capability developed by GMT and Solutions is a diagnostic assessment that examines clients’ IT systems in light of their contribution to the top-level strategy for the enterprise.

GMT’s broad expertise in business strategy development and deployment—coupled with Solutions’ business acumen, deep technology knowledge, and industry experience—helps clients to rapidly demystify the IT environment and understand its real contribution to the business.

The GMT/Solutions IT assessment enables clients to:

	Thoroughly understand the current state of both IT systems and the entire business.
	Assess IT systems’ strategic alignment with the business—as well as the client’s industry.
	Identify IT opportunities and risks that could impact business strategy, plans, and current operations.
	Develop action-oriented tactical and strategic recommendations for utilizing IT to advance the organizational agenda.
	“Knit” the IT assessment into an overall diagnostic effort aimed at the entire business.

A GMT/Solutions IT assessment typically takes just six to 12 weeks, depending on the size and complexity of the organization, the availability of key client resources, and the overall scope of the diagnostic effort.

Creating Realistic IT Metrics and Improvement Plans

GMT and Solutions have created an IT assessment capability that results in practical performance measures to gauge the ongoing contribution of IT systems—as well as improvement recommendations that are inherently achievable.

Following the IT assessment, client organizations benefit from:

	An easily understood evaluation of IT capabilities and performance—from a business value perspective.
	Real-world benchmarks that provide practical yardsticks for measuring IT performance, asset value, and competitive strength.
	An executive-level IT scorecard that highlights the current state of IT support—as well as needed improvements.
	Practical, action-oriented recommendations for improving return on IT investment—and reducing IT risk to the business.
	A framework for ongoing assessment of IT alignment with evolving business strategies, plans, and models.

For many client organizations, the GMT/Solutions assessment offers their first look at IT capabilities from this practical, organization-wide perspective.

GMT/Solutions: Delivering Enterprise-Wide Benefits

The GMT/Solutions IT assessment offers a number of other broad benefits that can significantly impact a client’s long-term strategic performance. These include:

	An enhanced executive understanding of the company’s strategic IT capabilities, competitive position, and overall value proposition.
	Improved visibility into the real strategic return on IT investment—and where improvements can be achieved.
	Greater organizational awareness of the true requirements for business and IT strategy alignment.
	An improved basis for integrating IT into the development and deployment of new business strategies and models.
	A substantially reduced risk that IT will negatively impact the business strategy development and deployment process.

The GMT/Solutions partnership recognizes that IT systems cannot be assessed and improved in isolation. Instead, IT systems must be understood in light of the overall business position—and IT evaluation must be integrated into an overall business assessment.

The resulting IT strategy is then driven by true business needs and priorities—and will have a far greater impact on the long-term success of the business.