White Papers and Thought Leadership: learn from our Experts

Educational White Papers: real information, real value

Do you get frustrated with IT companies who can't tell the difference between marketing blurb and genuinely useful information?

We understand how you feel! It annoys us too - especially when documents that claim to be 'white papers' turn out to be nothing more than descriptions of how great a particular product or system is. So that's exactly what we've tried to avoid with our own white papers.

Our Olympic experts thought that, instead of hearing us pitch new products at you, you'd probably prefer to discover how to get the best out of the systems you already run. Or, if you have decided to invest in new technology, maybe you'd like to know how to avoid the most common pitfalls.

Either way, this page is full of information we hope you'll find valuable about:

• CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
• Business Process Review and Workflow
• IT Strategy
• Business Intelligence

If you have any questions about our white papers, or anything on this page, please feel free to contact us.

CRM White Papers

CRM (customer relationship management) is very much the buzzword in successful organisations. Unfortunately, CRM systems have a mixed legacy; and when projects fail, they often fail dramatically.

Rather than singing the praises of specific products, our CRM white paper series examines the underlying reasons that CRM projects so often fail. The two papers describe the necessary strategic and tactical foundations for a CRM implementation to succeed:

• The Strategic Truth about CRM: Three pre-implementation requirements for CRM success – discusses the strategic requirements that organisations must meet before their CRM system can contribute effectively to the organisation and keep delivering long-term value.
• The Tactical Truth about CRM: 10 steps to avoid CRM project failure – outlines ten critical tactics that need to be employed when implementing a CRM system.

Business Process Review and Workflow White Papers

Working effectively is sometimes less about the products you use than about your processes and practices. Certainly, workflow technology can speed up the time it takes to complete a task. But what if that task was totally unnecessary in the first place?

Our Business Process Review and Workflow white paper series shows you how to save time and money by ensuring your business processes are as effective as possible.

• Business Process Reviews: Fixing it BEFORE it gets “broke” – explains how to review business processes, the benefits and challenges involved, and notes the warning signs that indicate a review is needed.
• Workflow Automation: Help or Hype? – investigates how and why the problem processes identified in  Business Process Review can be automated, and runs through typical challenges.

IT Strategy White Papers

Ensuring that a company’s IT strategy aligns with its overall business strategy is a major challenge.

Our IT Strategy white paper helps you ensure your business technology supports your overall business strategy, and shows you how to make the most successful use of IT in your organisation:

• Keeping your Hands on the Wheel: Why your Organisation needs an IT Steering Group – explains why companies need an IT Steering Committee to make good business IT decisions, and to ensure their IT supports their organisational strategy.

Business Intelligence White Papers

To make good business choices, decision-makers need good information. Unfortunately, that information is often submerged beneath an ocean of unrelated data that obscures the relevant facts.

Our Business Intelligence white paper explains how business intelligence tools can help support strong business decision-making:

• Business Intelligence Foundations: Business Case for Organisation-wide access to BI – shows why business intelligence is relevant for employees at all levels of your organisation, and discusses the different kinds of information needs your various staff will have.