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Enterprise System Assessments Interview
Robert Schechter
IT Business Analysis

With the ever changing healthcare payer market, I have found that a systems assessment, at an enterprise level, gives an organization the tools for sound strategic decisions.  These assessments are vital in the identification of the strong and week points in a corporation’s systems architecture.  Therefore, enterprise system assessments with be critical for the impending 5010 and ICD10 federal mandates.

Q:What are the benefits of an enterprise system assessment?

A: The key benefits of an enterprise system assessment enable an organization to:

1. Build the business architecture framework
2. Identify and prioritize business opportunities
3. Determine the optimum project investment path for the enterprise
4. Indentify the strategic goals and objectives for an enterprise
5. Determine the feasibility of a project before initiation, “go/no go” decision
6. Identify an organization’s failure points:

• Negative business implications
• Inter-project dependencies
• Business exposures and risks

Q: Why don’t all companies do enterprise system assessments?

A: Enterprise system assessments are strategic in nature which requires engagement of all the application areas within an organization.  Some organization’s IT budgets are tactical in nature.  Therefore, strategic services are viewed as “like to haves” and are not viewed as a critical.

Q: How does a company plan for an enterprise system assessment?

A: An organization should allocate time and resources for an enterprise system assessment prior to the initiation of any major project such as 5010 ANSIX12, ICD10 and system migrations.  An enterprise system assessment should be run as a “pre-work” project prior to any project initiative.

Q: What are the essential qualities of a sound enterprise system assessment?

A: A sound enterprise system assessment will provide:

1. A complete view of the business architecture
2. Feasibility and viability of a project initiative
3. A strategic approach to the project initiative
4. Scope and a clear definition of the business opportunity
5. A strategic alignment of how the project initiative fits within the organizational direction/mission
6. Clear business objectives
7. Major project milestones, funding requirements and limitations

Q: Are enterprise system assessments the same for every industry and type of company?

A: Enterprise system assessments will vary by:

1. Size of the organization
2. Data complexities
3. Complexity of an organization’s business architecture
4. Regulatory and governance requirements of a particular industry

Q: What are challenges IT professionals will face with enterprise system assessments?

A: Some of the challenges IT professionals may face with enterprise system assessments are:

1. Not enough time allocated to complete the assessment
2. Required resources (stakeholders, SMEs, etc.) are not available for the assessment
3. A consensus on the business architecture can not be agreed upon
4. A decision on the approach to the project initiative can not be agreed upon
5. Different objectives across the organization which cause the assessment to fail

Q: Are IT professionals required to have a specific skill set for enterprise system assessments?

A: The following skill set is necessary to conduct an enterprise system assessment:

1. Business strategy
2. Business process engineering
3. Business modeling
4. Business analysis
5. Elicitation and facilitation skills
6. Research and information analysis
7. Technical writing skills

Q: What are some best practices/tips for IT professionals who are conducting an enterprise system assessment?

A:

1. Conduct an enterprise system assessment before the start of a Project Charter which will minimize the duration of time to complete the project initiation phase
2. Perform “reverse engineering” practices for system application that are not base-lined will ensure that all of the system functionalities are correctly assessed
3. Gain consensus or “sign-off” from the business and IT for each of the application areas within the enterprise to ensure all boundary systems and extension points are identified (external databases, reporting, internal/external file transfers etc.)

Tags: Enterprise System Assessment, Healthcare IT, Skill Set, Tips

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