Have you decided to handle your projects in an agile manner or do you rely on Continues Improvement? Or are you just at the beginning and don’t know which methods are best for your company? Companies are increasingly orienting themselves towards agile project management methods. Agile approaches such as Scrum and Kanban are primarily used in software development to react quickly to changes. However, our approach is to define the optimal methods for your situation and to introduce them. Hybrid approaches such as agile software development but classic project reports in the waterfall are also popular. We help with the introduction but also with the advice of the methods and actively tackle them.
SCRUM has been made an everyday term by Jeff Sutherland and you are often confronted with it. Certain elements from SCRUM, such as the Kanban Board and the daily standup meetings, were very well received – even outside of IT.
The comparison with projects in other industries shows that IT projects are increasingly failing and are being cancelled. Or they end, but are over deadline or budget. According to an international study by the Standish Group, representatives of large companies in DACH, UK and North America stated that 84% of the projects would not be completed or fail in line with deadlines or budgets. Of these 84%, 53% are over the given time and budget or do not include all promised functionalities. 31% of projects either fail or are no longer pursued. Only 16% of all projects were delivered as promised.
The digitization of business processes is not only an excellent opportunity to optimize and simplify them, but also offers the opportunity to develop new products and services and thereby open up new market shares. However, this often requires rethinking the organization and initial investment. In order to assess the benefits and risks of such activities, companies often have to first understand the existing processes, since replacing processes from organic farming is often an unexpected challenge. But exploiting this potential can bring decisive competitive advantages in the long term.
Ensuring the quality of the applications to be implemented is just as central as the planning and implementation itself. The effort involved is often underestimated. However, the advantages of prompt and systematic testing and defect handling are manifold: developers get feedback quickly and understand the requirements better, ambiguities or misunderstandings regarding the requirements can be found and clarified quickly, and last but not least: safety in operation can be guaranteed. Experienced and well-trained test managers and testers can ensure that the underlying testing processes are set up and followed.
IT Operations and Operations Management (ITOM) includes the operation, i.e. ensuring the performance and availability of all digital systems in an organization, cost and risk management of the company and in some organizations also the further development of the systems in operation. Organizations often pursue one of two fundamentally different strategies for the operation of their IT systems: operational functions are exclusively filled internally and the new and further development is implemented with external employees or by external companies or the operation is carried out via a Service Level Agreement (SLA) handled by an external company or agency and new and further developments are implemented internally.
If you pursue a smart digital strategy, you can benefit from enormous competitive advantages. Digital transformation is much more than the digitization of already established business processes. With far-sighted implementation, companies gain market share through the optimal use of resources and customer relationships as well as through considered scaling strategies. At the same time, digital products can capture new market shares. Akana helps companies understand the impact of new technologies on their own business and network of customers, suppliers, and partners to create the best possible value.
Disruptive innovations such as the Internet of Things, big data, advanced analytics and cloud technologies are profoundly changing our lives. Companies and institutions are concerned with the full integration of all processes in information technology with resource-saving computing, high data security and system reliability. The rapid development of technologies opens up new opportunities, but also harbors certain risks and requires a high level of know-how. Akana maintains a broad network of IT specialists who have so far been able to solve every technology problem and are always at the forefront of digitization.
All companies need a modern and functioning IT infrastructure. It is essential for communication between employees, customers and partners and for compliance with the requirements of legislators and tax authorities. Each component of the infrastructure must also be constantly adapted to changing conditions. The choice of services and hardware is just as crucial as their smooth operation and conscientious documentation. Cost efficiency is of particular importance here, as purely internally used infrastructure itself does not yet generate revenue. Specialists are often required, as the services used are often complex and highly configurable.
The increase in the use of technology in all areas of life has also led to a sharp increase in cyber crime. In Industry 4.0 you work in a network and is always available. The data will become part of the core business. In addition to new market opportunities, this change also entails new security risks. Targeted cyber attacks with the goal of getting money or company secrets are increasing rapidly. Akana supports companies and organizations in all industries in implementing a successful IT security strategy. Our experienced consultants also actively support the implementation of IT security measures so that your company is well protected.
IT program and project managers are expected to do much more than just monitor compliance with processes. Highly qualified IT managers master effective change management, comprehensive reporting, people management, extensive strategic understanding and high resilience. In an environment as dynamic as digital transformation, few managers can achieve measurable success. At Akana, we are committed to promoting and challenging the greatest talents in order to make companies fit for the challenges of digitalization.
One of the major challenges in IT is the high complexity of the architectures. Redundant systems for various application areas, complicated business processes or technically complex applications are becoming more and more challenging. We support them in defining the IST state of their IT and conceptualize a SHOULD state based on the companys strategy and visions.
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