Quarterly December 2011 - Odfjell

highlights
ODFJELL QUARTERLY magazine
Re-imagine Odfjell ICT
to contribute to a
sustainable business
By Matt Duke
8
Making the business sustainable is an
area that IT is being called upon not only in
Odfjell, but also in many other enterprises
around the world.
The world is changing, and with that change
the reliance on technology and computers
has become pivotal. If one should consider
your work, and how computers are used,
how much could you achieve without reliable,
functional and secure IT systems? For
better or worse, most of us are directly or
indirectly reliant on IT systems. In Odfjell
reliable, predictable systems are not enough.
The Company insists that we will invest in
world class technology that will give us a
competitive edge, and the best possibility to
deliver safe, efficient and desirable services to
our customers. In other words, we must invest
in the technology that is best suited to our
business needs, and we must implement this
with agility, whilst avoiding a negative impact
on the availability of the tools already in use.
This gives ICT both a responsibility for
running our Company systems and also for
contributing to the business ideas that ultimately
can enable growth in the enterprise,
and a platform for operational excellence.
Additionally ICT must keep abreast of new
technologies and trends like social media,
consumerisation of IT, mobility and cloud
computing. All of which can have a direct
impact on our way of working, both with
our numerous partners and customers, and
also internally within our global enterprise.
Odfjell Corporate ICT relish this opportunity
to play our part in delivering better customer
satisfaction and ultimately improved results,
and the entire ICT department is starting a
period of reinvigoration and alignment in
order to best meet these needs.
Certain foundations are essential for a
complex business like Odfjell. It is a key
philosophy for our Company that technology
standardization breeds increased agility for
business growth. We are investing heavily
in our terminal IT systems, based on SAP
Netweaver, and we are doing a similar process
for our shipping solutions, based on IMOS
7 from Veson Nautical. These platforms are
solid foundations for continued growth,
but ICT has the duty to support the business
leveraging these investments in order
to improve our business profitability. The
business has the duty to take real ownership
of these systems and ultimately the success
of any such investments will be directly tied
to the amount of effort and ownership our
colleagues invest in shaping the use and
development of these tools. Odfjell ICT will
provide the “glue” in connecting our business,
but our business specialists and experienced
shipping/terminal employees ultimately
know the recipe for the “special sauce” that
makes Odfjell unique. We must ensure such
competency and ideas are represented in
our IT solutions, and the information these
present back to decision makers in our diverse
and complex business is equally crucial for
success.
The future for ICT in the challenging economic
times ahead has never been more
crucial. We must ensure that our focus is
not only on the building blocks of delivering
business improvement projects, but also in
ensuring that the information these solutions
contain is available at the strategic level to our
leadership in real time. Therefore, using the
“ICT Steering Committee” and prioritization
of projects wisely will form a key success factor
for our business moving forwards.
Rather than just focusing on the “mega
projects” of new terminal and shipping
production systems, ICT will now be challenged
to consider the economic impact of
all proposed business improvement projects,
and how these directly relate to the overall
business strategy set down by our CEO. We
must ensure that the best and most flexible
technology is implemented to allow our colleagues
a competitive and flexible working
day. All potential projects should be reviewed
against the same backdrop of a challenging
economic environment and need to invest
wisely.
The reinvigoration of ICT to contribute to
a sustainable business model will in many
ways continue revolve around the delivery of
predictable, reliable and appropriate business
tools, however where we see the need for a
paradigm change, is in the amount of focus
and energy we give on the delivery and presentation
of business information and trends,
and our continued learning and understanding
of the business we work in. Our vision is
that IT will play an important and strategic
part in the overall strategy of the business to
achieve financial sustainability in challenging
and uncertain times ahead. The success of
this vision will therefore be directly tied to the
ability of ICT to successfully understand and
communicate with all parts of the business,
to ensure key stakeholders have access to the
information and tools they need to perform
their work in an enjoyable, productive and
highly competitive manner, and the pathways
for creative suggestions to be lifted to correct
level for review. In forthcoming issues
of Quarterly we will look closer at many of
these aspects.
Odfjell ICT will provide the
“glue” in connecting our
business, but our business
specialists and experienced
shipping and terminal
employees ultimately know
the recipe for the “special
sauce” that make
Odfjell unique
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