Designing a new data environment can sometimes be a complex activity especially if it involves distributed data-sets, consolidating existing disparate data-sets or a major re-engineering of the data distribution platform.

Even when this is done in-house with experienced Data Architects who know the business environment intimately there is still a large degree of risk involved where some analysis of the existing environment hasn’t been completed or a key component of the target environment has been overlooked or a “It Goes Without Saying…” assumption has been made.

A Design Review, where we challenge the assumptions that have been made in order to reveal the important detail of a design proposal, can often reduce the inherent risk by providing an independent evaluation of the proposal uncluttered by “Corporate Memory” or the bias that inevitably comes from familiarity with a particular business.

Our Design Reviews are always sympathetic because we fully understand the problems of migrating from legacy platforms and the operational problems of decommissioning business critical data-sets so an “ivory tower” view is furthest from our thoughts. Instead we offer practical advice and will often point out issues and possible solutions that may have been overlooked.

IT Governance is the discipline of ensuring that the Architectural Principles established as part of your Data Architecture have actually been implemented as part of the Realization Phase.

As part of our IT Governance service we provide an independent evaluation at key points during the project to verify conformance to the Enterprise Data Architecture.

Where necessary we also produce Divergence & Convergence Plans where a short-term implementation problem needs to diverge from the long-term strategic architecture in order to meet interim timescales. This we believe is especially important because divergence is often not properly managed which results in downstream problems ‘suddenly’ appearing because the divergence is undocumented.

As often happens when a Data Application is outsourced to a 3^rd party supplier for implementation and on-going operations the client may have little in-house technical expertise to ensure that the supplier is providing the “best” (i.e. most cost-efficient and simplest) solutions to the clients requirements.

To mitigate this we offer an "on-demand" Technical Advocacy service where on request we provide on-going support for a client in managing their contractual relationship with the 3^rd party supplier. As part of our Technical Advocacy service we can:

• Provide independent technical advice to ensure that your out-source supplier is providing you with the best possible solution within the existing capability.
• Attend meetings with the solution provider as your advisor/advocate.
• Review any proposals put to you by the solution provider to ensure they meet your strategic aims.
• Ensure that what is actually delivered by the solution provider meets the contractual obligations.

In fact we can provide you with a full Architectural Consultancy service - as and when you need it - without the overhead of having someone permanently on-site.

It’s unfortunate but in the modern world litigation happens and independent expert opinion sometimes needs to be sought. In our areas of expertise we have experience as “Expert Witnesses” in trials and preparing Legal Declarations to provide substance to a legal claim or defense.

Because of the breath of our experience across many business sectors and our involvement with many standards setting and regulatory organizations we can provide both "Best Practice" and “How To” advice to, for example, defend claims for damages or establish the case for prior art or open knowledge in the case of Intellectual Property (IP) infringement.

We can also react very quickly if necessary - in one case we prepared a Legal Declaration in three days over a weekend prior to the case being heard.

For Small to Medium Enterprises that do not want or are unable to support an Enterprise Architecture function, or a dedicated Chief Information Officer, we  also undertake Non-Executive Directorships to provide the necessary level of expertise at the board level.

We are not just technologists and can provide valuable insight into how best and cost-efficiently IT and the data present in every organisation can be used to support and build a business and, more importantly, knowledge of the regulatory frameworks that any data initiatives must adhere to.

Through successfully building a number of companies over the years plus our coverage of most of the significant market sectors and business functions we can provide advice and guidance in all areas of business activity including: Corporate Strategy, Health and Governance, Sales and Marketing strategy, Sales Management, Bid preparation, Client Relationship Management and Client Development. 

Having been engaged by a number of highly acquisitive organisations and been involved in a number of M&A activities coupled together with or Financial as well as Information Technology backgrounds we can undertake Technical Due Diligence for Mergers & Acquisitions.

As with Financial Due Diligence the technical focus is on ensuring that any Information Technology assets that will be merged or deprecated are properly understood and the costs involved are identified.

Too often the projected operational cost benefits of merging the data-sets of two companies are offset by the hidden cost of migrating from one platform to another because the underlying Data Architecture and Designs are logically incompatible with each other so. Generally this is discovered after the merger is complete and consolidation is underway whereas through the simple process of establishing logical equivalence in the underlying data models these problems can either be properly identified and costed in advance of the merger.

Even if your own Enterprise Data Architects carry out the due diligence exercise we would be happy to explain the necessary processes and describe the techniques that need to be applied or for a large acquisition we can complement your internal technical due diligence task force.