The relationship between your domain and digital

Every business is unique. We each have our own processes, our ways of communicating, our principles and beliefs. Each of us has a unique domain model. In this, every business is the same.

Why are we all different? At some level, we each believe our way is best; not for everyone, but certainly for us. Our culture – our processes – makes for our advantage.

Sustaining competitive advantage

In business, we want to preserve any advantage we have as a result of our identity and operating methods. We cannot afford to fade into the crowd on the basis of the tools and systems we use; we must have solutions adapted to our specific needs.

We rely on solutions that support who we are, not platforms that force us to become like everyone else; we need solutions modelled on our way of working.

Focus

A solution based on your business – your needs and processes – allows you to concentrate on your strengths. It helps you avoid the distraction of the ever more frequent fads that dominate the interconnected world.

Room to grow

Solutions that model your current business are good for today. To accommodate tomorrow, you need flexible solutions; designed to adapt to growth and changing market conditions, to enable innovation, to allow continual improvement of your processes. You need solutions that provide you with actionable feedback on their efficiency.

Digital information solutions

Information is the currency of communication; it supports process. Information flow is business’s lifeblood.

Whether between individuals, across departments, or to suppliers and customers, information has a digital dimension. It needs to be stored and transported, as content. And the content needs to be available for reuse.

Building on process

For a solution to have value – now and in the future – it must complement and support processes. Understanding of your processes must precede the solution design. Only then can the solution reflect your identity, align with your brand, and provide the correct experience to those consuming your content.

A solution built on your processes reinforces your competitive advantage.

Integrated information systems

Processes cross departmental boundaries. So too must the content within a successful system. Whether your solution is built on a single platform, or aggregates disparate task-focused elements, you must share content. It needs to pass seamlessly between stakeholders.

This requires a holistic view of your organisation. It will be complicated and complex.

Progressive implementation

Any solution requires a balance – between the value it generates, the expenses it incurs (capital and operational), and the complexity it surfaces. A phased approach – gradually adding functionality onto a foundation designed for the whole enterprise – provides the greatest opportunities with the least risk, while leaving you room to evolve and adapt to change.

Consequences of the wrong solution

Solutions that are not appropriate to you – to your processes – shackle your business; they deprive you of opportunities, they hamper value creation. Solutions built on technology before process are not your solution; they are a vendor’s: a cookie-cutter approach to business.

The Excolo advantage

Excolo believes that fit-for-purpose content solutions are the key differentiator between successful modern organisations, and the also-rans.

Solution before system

Appropriate solutions must begin with the business’s needs. You cannot simply throw technology at the problem: there is no silicone bullet.

This does not mean you should discard existing platforms. They may provide the base for a fit-for-purpose solution; they may be stepping stones along the way.

A partnership

Excolo’s expertise lies in understanding the intricacies within systems and processes, and relating those to the multi-channel landscape. We translate your domain model into plans to implement fit-for-purpose solutions that proactively support your business – now and in the future.

This starts with a partnership, to fully map the connections within your domain and processes.

Scope

Building on the process model, we help your stakeholders identify the best implementation approach, balancing the desire for quick returns with the longer-term value of appropriate infrastructure.

We provide a clear framework and prioritised roadmap for implementing your fit-for-purpose solution, with a defined scope and realistic performance criteria. This provides a benchmark against which potential platform vendors can be measured – based on how well they support your needs.

© 2014, Excolo