In anticipation of his presentation at Building Business Capability in Vegas, Nov. 2 – 6, 2015, we asked Murray Laatsch, Sr. Business Solutions Analyst at Enerplus Corporation, a few questions about pursuing business excellence. Check out his interview in relation to his BBC presentation entitled, InfoHub – A Business Cultural Shift from Buy-vs-Build to Buy-and-Integrate.

Q: How is your organization advancing the pursuit of business excellence and how does it impact your business units/departments?

A: The dress code policy was abolished. What matters most is results, however, we are always expected to interact with leadership and our peers and so dressing appropriately for the situation and position is recommended. Staff want the freedom to choose and after having given them this freedom, the standard of dress seems to be more professional than when a strict dress code was in place. Corporate culture is built based on trust situations such as this. A great corporate culture breeds business excellence.

Q: Can you describe the challenges you face or have already overcome in establishing a more cohesive and productive company or organization?

A: A core component of ‘Buy-and-Integrate’ culture is the establishment and support of a centralized information store: A data warehouse. As the domains reflected in the warehouse increased rapidly, IT has become more of a data steward acting on behalf of the business by interpreting data and business rules for those who wish to consume it. It would be easier to open up the data flood gates to all consumers, however, there is significant risk of misinterpretation resulting in poor business decisions using that approach. Data stewardship also includes ensuring the data warehouse continues to reflect its goal of being the single centralized amalgamation of all data sources, including GeoSpatial and document management.

Q: What are your near term goals for creating a more agile organization at your business or company?

A: Formalizing a Data Self Service Strategy and a Business Intelligence Strategy are high priority projects that will lead to a more agile organization. These strategies will strive to establish standards through which IT can get quality data into the hands of decision makers when and how they need it.

Q: What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned in 2015 thus far? What’s the most important goal/trend for [pick one or two: business analysts, business architects, business process managers and/or business rules managers] to keep in mind?

A: Only a small percentage of the features of new Vendor supplied software packages are used. To the business, many of these unused features seem like they would be a perfect fit to meet their outstanding or new requirements, discovered after the implementation of the package. Without a level of trust and constant communication between the Business and IT, the Business will start to use these features for unintended purposes, and rightly so. This ‘Shadow IT’ paradigm can and should be avoided.

Q: What’s the latest method/process/tool you have implemented to help your organization or business run more efficiently and effectively?

A: Email (Microsoft Exchange/Outlook) is a mission critical service. Most would think that HR/Payroll or ERP are what runs the business. This is wrong – communication systems like email run the business and everything else is subsidiary. We introduced Lync to supplement Outlook and it has proven to be a huge success. Staff are collaborating more, communicating more and are much more productive.

Q: If you could give your five-years-ago self-insight and advice about this industry, what would you say?

A: Oil and gas business is cyclical. In the good times, recognizing and communicating your value and the value proposition of your projects does not seem so important. In the down times, your value and what value your efforts bring to the Business is scrutinized in much greater detail. Always make goals and measure yourself against these goals and at every chance, ensure you know and communicate your value propositions.

Q: Sneak preview: Please tell us a take-away that you will provide during your talk at Building Business Capability?

A: Establish trust with all those that you interact with. This trust forms the foundation of personal, technical and business excellence.

—————————–

Don’t miss Murray’s presentation, InfoHub – A Business Cultural Shift from Buy-vs-Build to Buy-and-Integrate, at Building Business Capability on Friday, November 6, 2015 from 8:00 to 8:50 am. Click here to register for attendance.