1. Change Management – An overview
Definitionandmeaningof change managementasvariedasthe culturesand languagesaroundthe
world– for manychange managementisnothingbutinstallingandusingatool like Remedyandadding
more people and organizational wingstocreate change requests,incidents/tickets,tasksandassignthe
tasksto individualsandchasingthe individualstogetthe taskscompletedwithinservice level
agreements. Manybusinesseshave painfullyrealizedafterafew years, thatchange managementtools
and practicesjustcreatedenormousdocumentsthatwere justcreatedandneverreadagainand
neitherbroughtanytangible benefitsoranymeasurable improvementsinthe bottomline orcustomer
satisfaction.Thisdocumentlooks atchange managementfromadifferentperspective toimproveand
maintainthe healthof the organizationinthe longrun.
A KnowsB,X knowsY – but whoknowswhy,when,where andhow?
In manylarge businesshousesemployingmore than10,000 employees,managementmainly
has people whoknowotherpeople bothinside andoutsidebutrarelypeoplewithdeep
knowledge onthe businessanditsrelationsandexposure tothe externalenvironment.
Employeesknowingwhy,whenwhereandhow are rarelyfoundinthe managementandalso
seemtoknowonlyina small partof the entire businessprocess.Iinterviewedforapermanent
positionininformationtechnologyinabusinessengagedinpharmacybenefitsprocessing.
Manager whointerviewedme wasjusthiredafew weeksearlierandcame fromairline industry
withno knowledge orexperience inpharmacybenefitsprocessandnoknowledge (leavealone
any real experience) withthe technologybeingusedandinterviewedfor.He hadno answer
whenI askedhimwhatI can expect fromhimor how he can guide me toenhance myskillsand
builda careerfor me inthe organization.Change Managementshouldaddressthese issueson
top prioritytogetsome real benefits.
Polygoncanneverbe the same as a circle.
A customerneedsatool to draw a circle and the vendordoesnothave the tool to draw a circle
– buthe hasa tool that can draw a straightline.He somehow wantstosell the tool he haswith
no regardsto whetherthe customercanreallydraw a circle withthe tool.He successfullysells
the tool and asks the customerto draw a polygon withinfinite numberof sideswithlengthof
the side equal tozero.Customertriesfordaysand yearsbut couldnevergeta circle drawnbut
the vendorsaysthe customerdoesnot know how to use the tool and sellsmore toolsand
training.Some organizationstrappedintothisquagmire,thoughtchange managementtoolslike
remedyisthe solution,butsoonrealizedthatchange managementtoolsandpracticesdidnot
solve anyof these problems.

2. Qualityisinthe processand materialsandnotin inspection.
Qualityisthe resultof usingqualityprocessesandqualitymaterialsandinspectiononly
separatesqualityproductsfromthe rest.Change Managementtoolsdonotbringqualityinthe
processesusedinthe business.Itiswell knownthatanythingthatcan’tbe measuredcan’tbe
improvedether.Change managementtoolsandprocesseswhenimplementedandmanagedin
the right wayshouldhelpmeasure andimprove the processes.Itisalsowell knownthat only
whatis knowncan be managedand whatisunknowncan onlybe dreamtand notmanaged.
Service Level Agreements(SLAs) will remainasservice level expectationsandneverrealized
unlesssupportedbybusinessprocessesandorganizationstructuresthat wouldhelpin
deliveringthe Service LevelAgreements.
Multiple Technologiesmultiplyriskof failure.
Many large organizationsinvariablyuse everyavailable technologytoruntheireveryday
business.COBOL,RPG,RPGLE,JAVA,XML, ORACLE,DB2, INFORMIX, SQLSERVER,
SAP,PEOPLESOFT,JDE,PRISIM,MAPICS,SWIFT,SHOWCASE,SEQUEL, FOCUS,BRODERICK,
TIBCO,ETL,EXCEL, ACCESS,multiple hardware andoperatingsystems, toname a few.. When
there isjustone tool usedin a businessprocessthe probabilityof success orfailure is50% and
thena secondtool is addedthe probabilityof successdropsto25% and failure climbsupto
75%. Sheercommonsense wouldtell thattoomanytoolsshouldnotbe usedbutveryfew
managementseemstoevenacknowledge itleavealone takinganyaction.
RiskIdentification,MeasurementandMitigation.
Thoughterm “RISK”is utteredinalmosteverymanagementmeetingsineveryorganization, itis
mostlya thirdparty contractor whohas beeninthe organizationwhojustmarksa numberfor
the risklevel whendoingadevelopmentorbugfix inany applications.Manytimescontractor
will be ina farawayplace and neverseenanyof the businessunitsrunningthe business.Based
on that number,acommittee will decide if itissafe tomove a change or enhancementinto
production.Justusingachange managementtool willnotaddressthisproblem –thisrequiresa
differentapproachandsolution.
ComplexityandSimplicity
Can youimagine acar withfourwheelsinfourdifferentsizesandacomplex setof gearsrunning
each wheel atdifferentspeedstomove the carstraightahead? Can you imagine ahome fitted
withelectrical fittingsrunningwithelectricityatdifferentvoltagesandcurrentsettings?Canyou
imagine everydriverof anautomobile toleantdeepautomotivetechnologytodrive?Smart
programmerscode programsso complex anditworksgreat – but onlytheycan maintain. In
such situationsnochange managementtool candeliverthe desiredSLA levels –Onlymaking
thingssimple candeliverresults.

3. If you experience the scenarioslistedabove andlookingforsomeone tohelp,pleasegetintouchwith
me.
Thanksand bestregards.
SanthanamRamanathan
13560 TechnologyDrive Unit1121
EdenPrairie MN 55344
Phone 616 920 9929
Email s1201@hotmail.com