IT Strategy Consulting
IT strategy focuses on strategic IT propositions and IT advisory offerings which commonly represent the first phase of any IT undertaking. Our consulting services provide strategic advice to help businesses maximise utility of their ICT assets and systems to realise their business goals. We seamlessly integrate strategic business planning and strategic ICT consulting expertise to translate clients’ vision into business environment aligned roadmaps that blend strategic business intents and optimal strategic ICT solutions. We help managers map the strategic intents and proposed optimal solutions against existing compatible ICT systems and corporate budgets to help them design, procure, develop and implement cutting edge and fit-for-purpose ICT strategies and solutions. Through our custom system development and collaborative partnership approach, we provide independent advice to help our clients focused on delivering quality solutions that are practical and relevant to achieving your business goals. We emphasize IT service excellence and an appreciation of the value of strategic business and strategic ICT planning. We then help businesses co-integrate these two functions, effectively establishing a framework to drive improved project management, operational efficiency, service excellence and overall business performance.
Corporate strategy implementation should help organizations reap maximum benefits from information technology innovations thereby increasing research capability, enhancing teaching and learning, and delivering efficiencies in support of administrative functions. Consequently there is a cause and effect relationship between the two which means they cannot be decoupled and still have the same result. Our strategic IT planning solutions are designed to enable organisations make the most out of their resources by designing infrastructure for future scalability, resilience and flexibility. Corporate IT infrastructure should grow with business needs proportionately, this is where our solutions give us an edge over peer organisations. We work with management and core ICT teams to project business prospects over time as a means for estimating the matching future ICT demands and develop phased systems growth strategies that enable continuous investment in ICT systems to avoid demand shocks that may compromise enterprise systems stability. We offer expert advice to help organisations run with projects ranging from review of IT strategy, evaluation of new technology, design architecture, managing the deployment of new technology among others.
Enterprise Architecture Consulting
Enterprise Architecture (EA) addresses IT processes and systems, and defines the technological blueprint that enables business processes. EA integrates ICT strategy into business vision and corporate strategy by articulating the key requirements, concerns, principles and models that describe the enterprise’s current and future state and enables its evolution. Our EA solutions ensure that the business, applications, data, and systems are aligned with technology and governance strategies, policies, and standards. They put plans in place to make sure the overall architecture is maintained in a cohesive manner, and that security and quality concerns are properly addressed. Furthermore, they help to inform a range of business improvement activities by interpreting, using, and applying information contained within the IT architecture. Through multiple models, they can show how current and future needs will be met, and help to future-proof the business as much as possible.
EA involves a systemic approach to business and IT design: it is about understanding, enabling and integrating the building blocks of an organisation to unlock its strategy. Architecture services precede any IT implementation or systems integration efforts. Consulting offerings include, among others, defining an enterprise landscape, implementing a service-oriented architecture (SOA), or guiding the outsourcing of architecture processes to an external vendor.
We offer cutting edge Customer Experience Design and Optimisation solutions that enable clients design a customer journey that delivers the customer experience coveted by both the enterprise and the customer. The optimisation solutions encompass all customer interactions with the organisation, involving multiple channels. We support clients implement the customer journey solution through an alignment of internal processes, people and technology. We are Agile Business Design and Optimisation experts with ability to help organisations develop blueprints with agile processes and capabilities that transform the business vision. Agility is the ability of an organisation to rapidly adapt to market and environmental changes in a productive and cost-effective way.
We help business leaders and ICT experts build flex-ICT architectures linked to the corporate strategy that enable organisations respond rapidly to external environmental changes without disrupting business, compromising customer experience or jeopardizing performance. We also provide custom information architecture services. Information architecture is about collecting, recording, organising, connecting and interpreting data from both inside and outside the organisation in order to evaluate the enterprise landscape. Information, at all levels across the management structures, is essential for directing the organisation. Our solutions enable and understanding of the key processes, identifying where information is needed and gaining a clear picture of the future use of knowledge and information in the organisation. This necessarily encompasses an understanding of stakeholder needs, concerns, motivations, loci of influence and pain points so as to develop robust solutions addressing the broadest constituency of stakeholders possible.
Changes in business model including corporate restructuring call for Operating Model Design changes to ensure appropriate alignment and fit. Operating model design/redesign helps to break complex organisation systems into components which enables process owners to weed out redundant components and optimize the alignment of the value adding components leading to lean and efficient organisations. Additionally, it assists in tracking the value adding processes and the system as a whole. We develop hybrid ICT-Business strategy-Client facing operating models focusing on the delivery. The overall goal is to support enterprises in designing robust system architecture built on lean and efficient system frameworks that allow agile and timely response to rapid business environment changes.
Systems Integration Consulting
Systems integration deals with linking different computing systems and software applications to ensure systems act as a coordinated whole. System Integration ensures that all standalone bespoke and off the shelf applications as well as ERP systems interact with other optimally to ensure smooth running of all corporate functions. Without a robust integrated system of applications bringing together all enterprise modules and communication channels, businesses may find it impossible to respond to potential market opportunities and threats. Growth is likely to be uncoordinated and a lot of information is either idle, redundant or unavailable in good time enough to support informed decision making due to poor coordination and sharing of information. Given the divergent ICT system requirement from product design to delivery, it is inevitable that the organisation will invest in different software application systems. In order to reap maximum benefits from the different solutions and applications we walk with our clients to develop effective enterprise system integration solutions to secure synergistic and cohesive IT platform, streamlining processes into one single entity.
Multiple systems can create confusion and inefficiencies, further hampering an enterprise’s decision making and productivity capabilities. Integration of multiple IT systems that perform different functionalities and that belong to varied locations, departments and stages of projects helps resolve these challenges. System integration also supports the development of a cohesive IT infrastructure system that allows experts to perform varied tasks at the same time and allows unified access to business data related to different departments, sectors or databases given the mesh of fragmented systems. From a project management perspective, systems integration helps overcome the challenge of a scattered workflow occasioned by the use of diverse systems for a single project. We offer end to end systems integration solutions that also include interfacing of partner systems with their vendor and customer systems depending on the technology interfacing needs. We align with clients on their desired business outcomes and KPIs, establishing an agreed upon reference architecture and roadmap for implementation. We then work together to prioritize and execute integration projects, to accommodate scalability needs for the enterprise based on growing business and client needs.
Our solutions facilitate adaptability to changing business demands without disrupting operations or compromising future system integrity enabling a unified view of data thereby empowering businesses measure, monitor and manage what matters most to them. We assist in measuring, monitoring and managing the integrated assets ensuring reliable, optimal performance, providing support and exploring options for further optimizations to achieve maximum efficiencies, data flows and digital connectedness regardless of the platform and architecture thereby enabling corporate and partner IT assets to better serve the business, its customers and/or employees through solutions that offer a customized view of the business, system data and clients/markets.
IT Security Consulting IT Security Consulting
Global business trends are increasingly becoming ICT driven and dependent leading to wide spread embracing of ICT as a tool for innovation, corporate growth and sustainable operation. Some technologies that designed to facilitate an interconnected world largely prioritise cost and user convenience over security. However, even when the best security protocols are inbuilt into these technologies, determined and malicious criminals will identify vulnerabilities and exploit them to gain unauthorized access to systems and information. Cyber-attacks are growing more frequent, sophisticated and costly. It is imperative that businesses and Governments understand the risks associated with cyber security threats so as to develop appropriate CIT security laws/policies, understand the legal ramifications (including the compliance burden) of the laws/policies and incorporate the appropriate level of security into ICT systems to deter catastrophic attacks.
IT security focuses on threats, threat detection, threat neutralisation and legal compliance in the IT landscape. For businesses to grow and succeed in the current market, they have to embrace the changing technology and use it to their advantage. This exposes the organisations websites and other information to the ever increasing risk of cyber-attacks, data breaches and loss of valuable corporate data. DevArt helps businesses embrace technology while managing the risks associated the technology adoption and online presence. While businesses require and invest in robust digital foundations to maximise opportunity, we provide full-range ICT/cyber security services. We provide advisory services that enable corporations safeguard their assets, sustain service provision and incorporate the appropriate level of security into the products they offer. Our all-encompassing security assessment and advisory services encompass:
1. People – These are the people working within the organization and are considered the most unsecure part of a system. People are vulnerable to attacks more than systems.
2. Process – This is the process the organization or business uses for activities. Any information leak within the system may cause catastrophic losses on the entire business hence the process must be tight and secure always.
3. Technology – This is the technology being used, it may be printers, the laptops or wireless access points. Attackers target any device in the system that is weak. Technology must be kept in check and updated to ensure all loopholes that were left or may have been discovered lateron have been plugged and secure from attacks.
Our cyber security advisory services include risk management, information assurance and securing critical technology. We also ensure that our clients are kept abreast of latest compliance and regulatory requirements that continue to evolve in the industry and their potential impact on business.
Data Analytics
Data ranks among the three most essential assets in corporate success alongside human capital and brand equity. With the emergence of big data and digital transformation, data-driven organizations rely significantly on analytics to make well informed and quick decisions. Data with the current technology is overwhelming. Market leaders are increasingly leveraging big data to inform decisions and support their corporate strategies and goals. The evolving business landscape characterized by numerous applications driven digital solutions such as the internet and social media has resulted in a data avalanche whose magnitude is growing exponentially. We have in-house and outsourced partner network system and technical human capability in data analytics, including predictive analytics which is a forward-gazing technique of analyzing historical data to forecast accurate future outcomes based on a variety of set parameters. We either provide advisory level data capture systems advisory services or actual data analysis and interpretation services to help organisations predict future product performance patterns, detect/mitigate risk, identify opportunities and develop business strategies.
Our solutions are designed and deployed to help companies perform better, faster, more advanced analytics that will help them make understand critical business and marketplace drivers. Business profitability niches are most often hidden inside big raw data that needs a keen eye to identify and unearth. This is our forte, we mine and analyse information and unlock new strategies that the marketplace is yet to discover. We help to analyse businesses current state, develop a strong data foundation, and then monetise that data and harness the power of the information you hold to optimise business performance and commercialise data opportunities. We deploy capability solutions built on exisitng technologies within partner networks including Apache Hadoop libraries, R-Programming, Lumify, Microsoft Hd-insight etc. We take charge of the entire process from defining data requirements where we define the data requirements of the business and the problems to be addressed. We then explore and exploit the data through inspection, plotting, and modeling to spot patterns, draw comparisons and generate constructive insights that form a foundation for new data exploration. We then interpret data and present it in a manner that makes maximum sense to our clients and help them build in-house solutions to the problem being addressed, based on the insights gained from the data.
IT Training
ICT training is an essential tool in addressing business goals and ensuring that the team working under the business are well equipped to be able to realise the businesses goals and set objectives. Training provides minimum skills to perform daily duties in the business to ensure efficiency. The increasing complexity of technology makes it inevitable to equip human capital with the skills and knowledge to ensure the business runs smoothly producing positive learning outcomes. Many employees require very minimum ICT training to improve their work performance drastically and realize new levels and innovation from technology that has not been tapped into. DevArt believes that it is important to maximise investment in technology by offering friendly, comprehensive and relevant training to client staff to help them activate the inert potential in the robust organisational systems. Our IT training services are informed by hands-on experience as well as theoretical training.
We provide a range of custom ICT training courses aimed at addressing general and specific corporate IT challenges. We understand that not all staff can be at the same tech-savvy level, however, we strive to introduce all staff to the most essential ICT aspects and help the grow with the business and its systems. ICT specific training accelerates adoption of new and emerging technologies as evidenced by the Technology Adoption Model Theory. Post adoption, ICT specific training flatten the learning curve helping staff to Manage risk, increase productivity, implement project successfully and apply standards consistently. We analyze and identify areas that lag behind productivity and design targeted training interventions that bring all teams to an equipotential platform based on the understanding that a chain is just as strong as its weakest link.
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance (QA) is a way of preventing mistakes and defects in manufactured products and avoiding problems when delivering products or services to customers. According to ISO 9000 it is the part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled.
Our Quality Assurance approach incorporates four core quality assurance functions: planning, implementation, monitoring and improving. Quality assurance secures quality processes and products which in turn boost client faith, protect profit margins and enable the company to attract talented employees. DevArt understands the quality related struggles businesses endure and helps them identify the precise strategy and path to follow for total quality assurance throughout the entire supply chain. We offer a wide range of services in quality assurance to ensure all our clients meet their ICT process quality assurance needs and in the long run these systems contribute to system integrity and sustainable competitive advantage. Our quality assurance services include quality safety (drafting detailed policies, processes, general requirements, product-specific requirements, test specifications and labeling requirements to assure quality, legal compliance, and essential safety of products), benchmark testing and quality assurance training. We also evaluate the methods that go into making products and providing services. Our Software Quality Assurance (SQA) is an ongoing process within our Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) that routinely checks software to ensure it meets quality standards. Finally, we provide advisory services to enable corporates set up effective quality assurance functions that build confidence in the organisation’s quality management systems.
Disaster Recovery and Backup Consultancy
Disaster recovery involves a set of policies, tools and procedures to enable the recovery or continuation of vital technology infrastructure and systems following a natural or human-induced disaster. Disaster recovery focuses on the IT or technology systems supporting critical business functions, as opposed to business continuity, which involves keeping all essential aspects of a business functioning despite significant disruptive events. Disaster recovery can therefore be considered a subset of business continuity. Many companies place their trust in what they think are adequate backups, only to find them deficient when disaster strikes. We understand that a well-rounded backup system is only part of the bigger picture and that no matter how well-planned and managed, backups alone are not enough. We approach business continuity and disaster recovery from the client’s perspective, immerse ourselves in the client’s business processes and isolate the business process risks.
Consequently, we develop a tailor-made plan for workplace recovery to counteract potential worst case scenario risks. Businesses that depend heavily on data require a strategic recovery plan that can save massive amounts of time and money should the business be affected by cyber-attacks, equipment failure or other risks to the daily operations. We develop full proof and functional business continuity plans that provide everything required to keep our clients businesses functioning, should a worst-case scenario crystalize. As part of our business continuity plans, we segregate critical systems from non-critical systems and develop situation risk response protocols that suit each system based on how critical the system is. In the event of a disaster, the goal is to keep the company operating, not to provide 100% service coverage for every application. Based on the systems segregation plans, we invest in robust recovery strategies for the critical systems to secure an almost real-time bounce back in the event of a critical system failure. This is the fundamental backbone of a solid plan: to provide the minimum level of required services to keep the company trading, but with a 100% success rate.
Information Systems Audit and Comprehensive IT Security and Information System Review
An Information Audit encompasses the examination and evaluation of an organization’s information technology infrastructure, policies and operations. IT audits involve two major steps, the first is to gather information and plan while the second involves gaining an understanding of the existing internal control structure. The current information-driven business environment dictates a continuous evaluation of the ability to protect information assets through security protocols and development processes that ensure continued availability of information to authorised parties. The purpose of an IT audit is to determine how effectively an organisation is maintaining these protocols and to provide direction on how to improve. Effective IT audit services help organisations to improve internal controls and information security protocols so as to achieve systems, data and corporate objectives. DevArt IT audit services help organisations understand their key technology risks and how well they are mitigating and controlling those risks. Our professionals provide insights into the threats inherent in today’s highly complex technology platforms as well as business unit process specific risks.
IT audit is an integral component of a discerning business’s pursuit of robust IT security and actionable oversight. DevArt Consulting services enable organisations comply with their governance requirements by establishing solid IT governance policies and implement these through regular audits of IT security and infrastructure. Our highly qualified IT audit experts analyse individual technical infrastructure components at a detailed level, ensuring that each is functioning in a manner that reinforces appropriate information security. Our team of IT auditing and security specialists help clients navigate a sea of ever-changing business risks using customized tools, expert resources, and proven methodologies. Our understanding of internal information system audits, application control, and security services, as well as pre- and post-implementation reviews is a definite plus for our clients.