Software Strategy Case Study
Summary
How do you fix an inherited, persisting strategy issue? In this case study, I detail how I approached the overhaul of software used by all employees and all customers in a regulated industry, ensuring a lasting company-wide strategy that will improve operations for the foreseeable future.
Situation
Upon becoming the Manager of Learning Infrastructure & Governance, I was able to identify functional issues throughout the team’s software portfolio. The largest software is a heavily-regulated Learning Management System (LMS) responsible for documenting the job qualification training records for our customers and employees. If anyone needed to do anything from maintenance to operation of our company’s devices, their training records needed to be in this system.
There were clear indicators that the system was not meeting the needs of the organization including:
Various teams (including Regulatory Affairs) were implementing tools for training records to offset weaknesses in the existing LMS
The existing LMS was not able to operate in key markets and geographic regions (China, Japan, and Russia)
The existing LMS did not have the integration capabilities to easily fit into the larger enterprise architecture
There were also indicators that the company was not supporting the tool:
A single, dedicated resource was responsible for system maintenance
Despite being a regulatory requirement, 80% of in-person training was not scheduled or tracked in the system
No HR or IT engagement, despite owning internal training and enterprise architecture respectively
Task
I understood the existing Learning Management System (LMS) would not be able to fulfill the business’ goals. Leveraging the expertise of my team, we were able to build a simple plan to initiate the replacement of the software at our company.
Preliminary assessment of the needs of all teams leading training initiatives across the company
Initial assessment of the LMS market and an estimate of the new system costs
Request funding via an internal investment committee
“Leveraging the expertise of my team, we were able to build a simple plan…”
Action
Those who have led large, cross-functional initiatives will know: The hardest part is often finding who needs to be in the room. The first action was to build a “Governance Committee” of individuals to represent key interests including our Human Resources (HR), Information Technology (IT), Procurement, and Regulatory Affairs business partners. Along with the members of my team, we were able to develop a core group largely dedicated to the project.
The Governance Committee then set out to assess the needs of all teams across the company. With the various committee members providing focus to their areas of ownership, we were able to perform the following very quickly:
Consolidated the needs of all internal organizations into a comprehensive Request for Purchase (RFP) document
Solicited and consolidated customer experience surveys and focus groups on the existing Learning Management System (LMS) to identify external needs/wants
With an initial understanding of the full needs of the company, the committee found an industry consultant to perform a market assessment on our behalf. He provided us with estimated subscription costs for several platforms that met our needs. In a bizarre twist, we found much cheaper platforms with substantially more features. This realization made the next part much easier.
The Committee now understood the company’s needs and the favorable market conditions. The Vice President of Global Education & Training and I worked together to develop a compelling business case to present to the internal investment committee. Notable points in the proposal included:
Enabling the consolidation of training into a single system would result in a reduction of >$1M (USD) in redundant software subscription fees over three years
New features would allow for direct-to-consumer training sales via eCommerce and subscriptions, estimated to increase training sales by $3M in three years
An improvement to training operations resulting in a favorable 10% reduction in day-to-day tasks (calculated to save $250K annually)
An investment in internal training
increasing productivity,
improving onboarding,
and reducing turnover.
A new, sustainable operational plan to build new teams in HR and IT joining my team in co-operation of the platform
“In a bizarre twist, we found much cheaper platforms with substantially more features.”
Results
The investment committee approved $1.2M over three years to purchase and implement the new Learning Management System. It was raised to $1.5M to fund the new operation plan resulting in dedicated resources in HR and IT.
Once implemented, the company will have new revenue opportunities, greater customer satisfaction, and improved employee resources to further improve its workforce. New, dedicated resources will elevate the tool to ensure all internal teams and regulatory requirements are met going forward.
Three members of my team received promotions to populate the newly created roles and three new employees were brought in to further support the system, sextupling the number of dedicated resources for the tool.
“…changes become a lot easier when you gain enough talented people to support you and your strategy.”
Lessons Learned
Large, cross-functional projects are not simple hikes with the occasional elevation change to slow you down or speed you up. They tend to be more akin to the path of a door-to-door salesman. You knock on doors, sell your strategy, and recruit people until the job is done. The elevation changes will always be there, but those changes become a lot easier when you gain enough talented people to support you and your strategy. This is what it means to be a leader and create a positive culture to me.
Position: Manager, Learning Infrastructure & Governance
Industry: Medical Devices
Keywords: software management, corporate strategy, software operations, managing up, leadership, cross-functional leadership