Articles by Dr James Robertson

The strategic essence of the organization IS different, it is unusual, the competitors have different strategic essence or manage it differently, IF the organization is of any size and has been moderately successful then there are some KEY things it is doing that are unique and different

SNw 052 Robust Procurement: Part 3 - Exec Engagement, Bid Compliance, Adjudication and other matters

A discussion of the importance of executive engagement, bid compliance evaluation, a structured approach to bid adjudication and other matters

TxM 001 Taxonomy Handbook -- Introduction

Web 05 Organizing Microsoft Outlook

A comprehensive explanation of how to set-up Microsoft Outlook to organize your emails in a manner that makes it easy to handle the full diversity and complexity of emails that executives and managers typically receive

Prd 023 The Principal Components of Precision Configuration

SNw 050 The Real Issues in BIS: Part 3 – Strategic Alignment and Precision Configuration

Strategic alignment, the alignment of system concept and solution architecture with the strategic essence of the organization, why it exists and how it thrives, such that the systems enable management and staff to do the right things well as determined by the customers of the organization together with the need for Precision Configuration the very exact development of data content to model the business, are discussed in this section

TxM 065 Section 7.9 Important questions about any data

Dr James A Robertson PrEng The Business Information Systems Doctor

Business Systems NOT delivering?

Call the Business Systems Specialist

Dr. James Robinson

Dr James A Robertson -- has been involved in the effective application of Business Information Systems, including but NOT limited to ERP, since 1987 and in the profitable and effective use of computers in Business since 1981.

Drawing on a diversity of experience, including formal military training in Quick Attack techniques at the Regimental Commander level, Dr Robertson has developed highly effective methods of investigating any sub-optimal Business Information Systems situation -- be it an established system or a stalled project or any other source of Executive frustration -- quickly and concisely diagnosing the root cause of the problem and prescribing concise practical actions that Business Executives can effectively act on see the Pulse Measurement page and also the Sample Reports page for redacted real reports.

He has also developed highly effective methods of strategically enriching systems to unlock the full potential of existing investments, see the Precision Configuration page and couples this to architecting small pieces of clever software that harness the full potential of your investment, see the Software page.

If you are having problems with your systems, your project or your IT Department, call The Business Systems Specialist
James@James-A-Robertson-and-Associates.com

Business System Failure is RIFE -- we offer insight into why this happens AND WHAT is required to prevent it.

Failure is at epidemic levels with massive damage done to client companies -- if you are NOT aware of the extent of the problem please visit the About Failure page for a catalog of major failures running to billions of Pounds and Dollars.

All evidence indicates that the established players do NOT know how to deliver stable, reliable high value solutions that WORK.

There HAS to be a better way!

This website provides information relating to that way with a large collection of white papers, presentations, standards documents, etc that you can use to start bringing the situation under control

We also offer high level advisory services with regard to the application of the principles advocated on this website

We offer an ENGINEERING APPROACH to addressing these issues

By Engineering I mean the formal, structured, highly disciplined, highly systematic, highly practical approach that consistently delivers results in ALL areas of human endeavor where formally trained and certified engineers are the ONLY practitioners permitted to operate -- think large buildings, factories, motor vehicles, aircraft -- highly complex systems that work at a level that we take it for granted that they WILL work and where failure is all but unthinkable and, when it happens, attracts immediate public attention and rigorous investigation directed at ensuring that such failures are prevented in the future -- in fact, everything that the management consulting industry that implements complex software systems is NOT

This approach is discussed further on the Engineering Approach page.

Book -- The Critical Factors for Information Technology Investment Success

In 2003 I undertook an in-depth analysis of all the information and experience that I had gathered with regard to the factors giving rise to Business Information System failure including ERP and general IT and classified this information into a number of categories including "The Factors Causing Failure" and "The Critical Factors for Success" based on this I developed a two day Course "The Critical Factors for Information Technology Investment Success" which is still offered today.

Based on this I wrote the book of the same name, which is available in electronic form here for download:

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Random Selection of Articles by Dr James Robertson

TxM 048 Section 5.3 Key Components of the JAR&A SEPT Cubic Business Model and Group-Wide Chart of Accounts

SNw 041 Strategic Essence: The Missing Link: Part 2 -- Differentiation

A fundamental component of strategy and strategy determination is differentiation, understanding how the organization differentiates itself in the market place and enhancing and strengthening those attributes is a fundamental component of creating high value business information solutions

Cnf 072 The essence of managing I.T. Projects on time that meet expectation

The management of IT projects generally focuses on the wrong factors, it is vital to focus on the Critical Factors for Success and the Factors causing Failure and manage these effectively using multi-disciplinary teams that effectively balance the tension between cost, quality and time

SNw 002 Measuring Competitive Performance

TxM 030 Section 3.3 James Robertson's knowledge and experience - as applied to taxonomy development

SNw 039 Strategic Essence: The Missing Link: Overview

Overview of the main points of the series of articles on strategic essence, strategic essence being "the essence of the organization and how it thrives" and focused on the "right things" for the organization to do and then on doing those things "right" in accordance of the definition given by Professor Malcolm MacDonald

SNw 042 The Real Issues in BIS: Introduction

This article provides an overview of the main components of the approach to Business Information System investment success as first detailed in my book in 2004 and elaborated on and taught since then

TxM 034 Section 3.7 There ARE visible differences in quality of taxonomies

SNw 006 Information Technology - The Harshest Judge of Governance??

Cnf 065 The REAL Issues in IT Audit

An overview of the Critical Factors for IT investment success and the factors causing failure from an Audit perspective and presentation of a Critical Issues based audit investigation framework directed at identifying the REAL health of IT from an Audit perspective