Leaders in Multi-Channel Retail

 

Case Study

Effective re-alignment of IT activities with retail business units.

Client
One of the largest specialty retailers of home furnishings in America.

Situation
While the retail chain had experienced strong revenue growth, and doubled the number of stores in a few short years, its IT organization did not keep up with the pace. The same staff that supported the needs of a 300-400 store chain was now supporting the needs of a retailer with more than 700 stores worldwide. Major software implementations were running late, there were no formal procedures for planning and allocating resources, no standard project management practices or guidelines, inconsistent handling of problems and varying degrees of management status reporting. Users were dissatisfied with IT support, and questioned whether their own IT department could satisfy the increasingly complex needs of the business.

Solution
Clicks and Mortar consultants conducted a comprehensive information technology assessment, including technology, applications, organization, practices, and user needs, guided by current and future business directions. We defined an IT strategy to:

• Provide a clear information system vision and roadmap to support business objectives
• Identify immediate short-term opportunities
• Anticipate future change, opportunities, and challenges
• Achieve organizational commitment and consensus on priorities and directions
• Establish information systems goals and performance monitoring

Results
Reorganized IT organization to align with business units (e.g. Merchandising, Logistics, Finance, etc.) Each business unit was assigned a "go to" manager with responsibility to understand and satisfy their needs. Each of these IT managers now reports to both an IS Director and a business unit VP.

• Shifted IT resources towards projects with the greatest overall benefit to business priorities.
• Increased user satisfaction and strengthened working relationships between IT and the business units.
• Documented tactical business priorities and application needs for each of the business units.
• Created a high-level IT Steering Committee to help direct resources to the needs of the business. The Steering Committee was given responsibility for approving major IT projects.
• Implemented tools for consistent management of IT projects, including status reporting and problem resolution.
• Increased IT operating budget to parity with industry average.
• Recruited additional technical and management skills to IT staff.
• Developed an ROI and competitive advantage modeling tool to measure all prospective IT projects.
• Established IT project management and planning guidelines, including roles/responsibilities for IS as well as the business users.

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