Innovation Journal - Cognizant

RETHINK - EXTENSIBLE ERP
offshore and PMO office. We grouped the reports into five categories --
customer, internal, people, finance and strategic -- and designed an
integrated application that would gather data from the existing systems
through an automated feed, with manual input where ever necessary.
The technical and functional challenges in the design and build phases
were overcome by a small task force that was able to quickly craft an
elegant solution. On-time data availability and accuracy were enabled
by mandating workflow criteria that validated the data prior to its entry
and exit at defined times.
The dashboard helps me get everyone in my team to be
on the same page and discuss many aspects of delivering
business value to our clients. This is an important lifeline
for any strategic business unit.”
Vilas Patil, AVP and Strategic Business Unit Head, Cognizant.
In a matter of days, our team developed a single, consolidated
spreadsheet view of reports from various portals and systems. The
greatest advantage of Extensible ERP is not the technology or the
system but the single window that provides actionable insights from
analyzing data and making informed decisions. Since the data is
refreshed on a daily basis from the different ERP systems (and as soon
as possible from the monthly or fortnightly reports) Extensible ERP
always has near-real-time data from the right reports, for the right
stakeholders. This is the much-sought-after “one source of truth.”
When we tested the application, we were presented with a new
challenge: Gordon Coburn, President at Cognizant, asked our practice
to present, in just a few days’ time, a scenario plan for the next year,
showing what it would take to increase profitability by a specific
percentage. The plan needed to present a realistic forecast in five
dimensions: customer, internal, people, finance and strategic. This
exercise turned out to be an exciting litmus test for us, as the
Extensible ERP’s single window system was made to address these
exact requirements.
Today, the PMO is better able to manage the business at both the
“micro” and “macro” levels. The micro level, where the tool is used to
monitor and control all operations metrics, is applicable to the IT
services industry but also affects broader categories such as the
bottom line, top line and people factors. At the macro level, all serviceindustry-specific
resources and assets are available in a single window,
with past, present and future forecast information, in near-real-time
using spot data, which can be drilled down to make key decisions. Its
proactive indicators help managers plan ahead and take a corrective
course of action when necessary.
We no longer question how to get the data but how to create insights
with the data we have on hand. All it took was to rewire our operations.
Since the rollout, the best compliment we’ve received is when one of
our practice heads said to a new manager, “If you want to know more
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