Establishing a Global IT Roll-Out Rule Set

When working on a project of this nature for the first time, where a multinational company is deploying a supply chain technology solution across its sites around the globe, hindsight is always 20/20. It is easy to say, in reflection, what should have happened to make everything run smoothly. The harder work involves turning lessons learned into new methodologies that can be utilized in future activities so as to not repeat the same mistakes.

The process of recognizing mistakes, developing lessons learned, designing new methodologies and putting these methodologies into action provides an ongoing evolution of rule sets upon which to base a successful deployment of supply chain technology across borders. There are plenty of precendents to model this process against; specifically, there is significant research and discussion on the OODA Loop.

This concept was developed and formulated by Colonel John Boyd. In a paper online, Fred Thompson describes this concept in simple terms as follows:

The first of these steps is observation. Rivals start by observing their positions, the environment, and their opponents. Next, on the basis of observation, each orients itself to the situation and then decides on a course of action. Finally, each puts the decision into effect; that is, it acts. It checks to see if its action has changed the situation, and the series of steps or cycle starts anew (see Figure 1).

This process is neither sequential nor finite--it is a dynamic process that has been elaborated upon by many authors, from different perspectives:

• Article series by tdaxp
• Post by Phatic Communion(Curtis Gale Weeks)
• Presentation "Certain to Win" by Chet Richards Download certain-to-win.ppt

In this blog, I don't like to dive deep into theories beyond making reference to them in detailing their applications and use in real-life scenarios that will make sense to, for example, technology implementation managers. The key here is that the OODA concept can act as the foundational approach to a global IT deployment; it should be ingrained so deeply in the minds of the implementation team that it drives subconsciously the continuous improvement and adaptability of strategy and tactics throughout every phase of a project--sales to support, support to upgrades, upgrades to support and so on. This is essential to all ongoing workstreams, such as procurement of hardware, hiring of human resources, building of infrastructure, etc., throughout the entire deployment, and more importantly, across borders. Where this foundation has been absent, problems and issues will certainly abound.

The more implementation managers ingrain this process into an implementation team, the better quality of rule sets the team will produce towards establishing a dynamic and workable global template. Such a template would not lock an implementation team into a fixed set of practices--rather, it would contain an always evolving set of best practices geared towards enhancing OODA Loop and empowering the full talents and capabilities of the implementation team.

My hope is to use future posts in order to capture the tools and methodologies that could be built into a global template for the deployment of supply chain technology across borders. 

Comments

[historyguy99]

I just read your post on the OODA loop and it's value in being a foundation for a global IT deployment. I see the concept of the OODA loop applicable in many forms, the supply chain being one. I applaud your efforts to spread the message Boyd was carrying.

[Shawn in Tokyo]

Thanks for your comments! They are much appreciated. I will be writing more soon...