risk management - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• The fixed price is not right

  Imagine a CRM consulting project with inadequately specified requirements, no clear internal project manager, and ill-defined success criteria. Your consultant bids it on a time and materials (T&M) basis. You're in a rush, no time for a detailed RFP - you know the consultant can do the job, but you need a budgetary number to get approval. We've all been through this drill: somebody brilliant suggests that this has to be fixed price, it'll be easier to get project approval and manage to conclusion that way. You know, just like it would be when buying servers.
  But you're not buying servers: you're buying services. While 80 percent of CRM projects are formulaic and could be bid as a "standard project," the other 80 percent of the project work is not only a one-off, but an unknown. Nobody actually knows the requirements, or the ramifications of "something simple," or the shape of your data, or the tricky parts of external interfaces. You may think you're signing up for a three-hour tour, but you're on the way to Gilligan's Island.

• Most companies lag in supply chain risk management

  For companies trying to grow their global operations, supply chain demands and risks make it an uphill battle. The majority of organisations are fumbling along the way, according to a new report from research firm Aberdeen Group.
  Boston-based Aberdeen surveyed 138 companies about their supply chain risk management practices and priorities and found that over the past year 58 percent of companies suffered financial losses as a result of supply chain disruptions. And, despite their concern about the security and smooth operation of their supply chains, many companies are still at the early stages of thinking about supply chain risk management.

• Using SharePoint to show customer risks

  When Microsoft SharePoint 2007 began pervading the enterprise more than a year ago, many IT shops looked at how they could use the platform internally to help their employees collaborate on key projects and store documents in central repositories.

• ANZ Bank plays catch-up on internet security

  Australia's third-largest retail institution confirmed this week that, from the first half of 2008, it would substantially upgrade its internet banking system for business customers, including small to medium businesses.
  A key feature the bank is considering is so-called "two-factor" authentication, a system where customers are required to enter single-use passwords to log into their account or authorise transactions.