Articles by Dr James Robertson

The strategic essence of the organization should be the point of departure AND the focal point of every business information systems project -- THIS is the component of the business that should be jealously protected, strengthened and enhanced and it is the part of the business that is most vulnerable to bad decisions and botched projects

TxM 007 Section 1.5 History of the JAR&A Strategic Engineered Precision Taxonomy (SEPT) approach?

TxM 065 Section 7.9 Important questions about any data

Mzn 005 Why ERP can make the blood boil

Civ 001 Creating wealth in the new South Africa - an engineering approach

TxM 005 Section 1.3 Problem description

CIO 002 It's about People

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

Std 010 Procurement: 02 Laboratory Approach to be Applied

The Business Simulation Laboratory is a fundamental component of a successful project. This document specifies the manner in which the laboratory will be run

It is vital to test the software and the configuration thoroughly in the laboratory with the express purpose of breaking the software and the configuration by testing situations that cause the software either to fail or to fail to return the correct result

One the software and configuration have been adjusted to the point where it is NO longer possible to cause failure then the configuration can be used as a platform for configuring workflow, developing and testing reports and business intelligence models, developing policies and standards, developing training manuals and interactive training material and training staff

The project should ONLY go live once all the above had been successfully completed and ALL staff are trained up in the laboratory

At this stage the Certificate authorizing deployment should be signed by all parties. As you will see further down the page this is a fairly onerous certificate and should ONLY be signed if ALL parties are FULLY satisfied the software and configuration is fully stable and all elements that are necessary for a successful deployment are in place

SNw 040 Strategic Essence: The Missing Link: Part 1 -- Strategy Defined

"Strategy" is a widely used, widely abused and little understood term. This article offers a robust definition of strategy as the "essence of the organization and how it thrives"

SNw 001 Competitive Advantage -- The Next Ten Years

Prd 043 Strategic Guidance and Advisory Services

Overview of the full range of services that are offered by James A Robertson and Associates

Std 008 Procurement: 00e File Table of Contents

The tender documents are issued in one or more large files, this is the table of contents for the file

SNw 002 Measuring Competitive Performance

SNw 057 Business System Failure – HOW do you recognize it?

Many executives and managers do NOT know how to recognize business systems failure. They have failed systems right at their finger tips, gauged by the standards advocated on this website, BUT they do NOT realize that they are at some level failures and, because they do NOT recognize failure they do NOT recognize either the need OR the opportunity to DO something about it

Prd 026 Factors impacting time and budget

CSt 07 Catalogue of Major Business Information System Failures

Failure of Business Information Systems, which incorporates the loose and generally inaccurate term "ERP", is at epidemic levels but many executives are NOT aware of this

This catalogue provides a LIMITED selection of examples, there are many more and many failed projects are just quietly aborted with little or NO public announcement

Many more projects deliver shockingly sub-optimal outcomes

This website presents a diversity of principles, methods and standards and supporting background information to enable you to take control of your systems

We also offer a range of executive level services to help you review your existing systems, course correct and turnaround your sub-optimal projects

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