Student Information System Design Blueprint
Client: A leading online higher education services provider.
🔹 Challenge
Like many organizations, our client’s enterprise of systems have evolved over recent years, balancing support of growing customer needs with budgets and affordability. The client launched a challenging, broad based digital transformation program which spans most enterprise processes and covers many existing and new systems. At the center, is a highly customized Student Information Systems (SIS) built to support their unique business model. With this engagement, the organization needed to:
Understand the implications of moving to an industry SIS solution
Build alignment among leaders on future direction and
Define the path forward balancing other program priorities and risks.
🔹 Results
The McMenamin Consulting Group engaged MB Helmey Consulting to lead the project. MBHC created a leadership coalition and cross-functional teams to facilitate broad organizational participation. Throughout the project, Brian solicited continuous feedback and led the vendor to adjust and continually explore the areas of greatest concern. This active management and resulting analysis enabled key insights needed early in the client’s transformation program.
Detailed analysis and assessment of functionality and risks resulting in greater understanding to enable fact-based decisions.
Context and information for leadership to examine and make decisions clarifying organizational needs.
Implementation strategy options to support integrated planning with other program initiatives.
Cost effective, risk reduction recommendations to eliminate key uncertainties, while continuing progress towards strategic objectives.
Program Management Support Services
Client: Senior federal government department and agency leadership
🔹 Challenge
In the middle of a very large, high visibility program, this government client had undertaken a program wide restructuring and re-baselining to guide the remaining, multi-year effort. Given its national importance and time criticality, senior leadership requested an independent review of the new 27,000-line master schedule and associated program management processes. To strengthen confidence in their plan and ability to successfully manage progress, our client needed:
An in-depth review of the effectiveness and utility of the new master schedule
Assessment of associated management processes and their effectiveness
Independent monitoring of schedule performance and executive reporting against the new baseline
Identification of issues and recommendations to help ensure success of the overall program
🔹 Results
By completing a detailed review of the schedule model, management processes, tools and owners, we gained a thorough understanding of new baseline. From this we largely automated an iterative analysis and reporting process to highlight risks and help identify model or process improvement actions. This delivered the intended objectives:
Improving schedule baseline confidence resulting from a multi-week, independent review incorporating almost 200 recommended schedule model corrections.
Implementing a new recommended executive schedule summary report to concisely roll up schedule progress and delays by business area.
Assist leadership to calibrate and assess schedule forecasts in key areas with supporting technical analysis.
Project Management Methodology and Training
Client: A global, non-profit organization
🔹 Challenge
Our non-profit client carries out a global mission to research, communicate and advance the adoption of approaches and standards in their domain. This work requires them to execute many projects each year, most with a project duration of 6-12 months. Recognizing continued future growth, the client sought to address issues in project execution, financial tracking, and reporting, as well as executive accountability. They needed to
Establish processes to effectively prioritize and select proposed initiatives given limited funds
Provide the structure, discipline, and direction to drive improved and more consistent project performance across their global organization.
Train and expand employee engagement in projects more broadly across the organization, including project management roles.
🔹 Results
MB Helmey Consulting produced an integrated, lightweight project management methodology and delivered virtual training across the client organization. Activities centered on leaning out and tailoring the specific inputs, process activities and outputs along with creating “step by step” guidance, metrics, numerous examples, and templates that best aligned to the client needs. In partnership with McMenamin Consulting Group, we facilitated a workshop with the client to gain final alignment and acceptance for the package to achieve three key objectives:
Organizational knowledge and assets to deliver results and create value by guiding full project lifecycle execution, tailored for the organization’s mission.
Methodology for consistent, meaningful measurement and reporting to enable effective decision making.
Greater clarity, commitment, and accountability for leaders from project proposal to closure.
PMP Certification Exam Preparation Training
Clients: Individual students seeking PMP certification
🔹 Challenge
Professionals seeking to advance their career and obtain the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, require experience and extensive knowledge in project management disciplines. Developing this knowledge base can be very time consuming and daunting with a lot of material to be learned and retained for the certification exam.
🔹 Results
As a contract instructor with a leading project management training company, Brian provides training for a comprehensive course to prepare candidates for the PMP certification exam. He has delivered training in both classroom and online settings, helping many students to successfully pass their exam.
Account Growth Strategy and Planning
Client: The business consulting services group of a leading global information technology company.
🔹 Challenge
The client was experiencing modest success in growth of their account and needed to do more. They sought to increase the efficiency of their efforts, focus on the right clients and issues, and make the best use of internal and external resources to drive greater growth. The organization was challenged with balancing resources across current commitments, near term growth pursuits and struggling to set the course for longer term market leadership. To enable this, our client had two major objectives:
Near Term Results - greater clarity and focus for the near term with actions delineated to current client expansion, current client new issue development, and new client development.
Strategic Results - plan and establish a strategic campaign to raise its public profile in the target account and position them for longer term global and domestic growth.
🔹 Results
MB Helmey Consulting, together with the AG Strategy Group, were engaged to enable our client to position themselves more strategically across the target accounts. We developed a phased, strategic roadmap underpinned by specific objectives, activities, and results to guide strategic progress. MBHC completed an analysis of related international markets, providing targeted recommendations for pursuit. AG Strategy Group outlined a strategic thought leadership campaign to build awareness. We articulated near term opportunities and provided individual coaching to account leadership in pursuit of specific, near term opportunities. Collectively, these efforts achieved objectives:
A growth roadmap providing strategies and incremental objectives towards long term goals.
Strategic context for prioritizing near term pursuits.
Improved leadership engagement with momentum towards near term opportunities.
Technical Due Diligence Services
Client: A leading business services company
🔹 Challenge
Our client needed to assess the potential acquisition of a target company. During this fast-paced activity, the client required assistance to quickly gather facts and insights to inform their strategic decision processes around:
Capabilities, strengths and weaknesses of target company’s solutions and technology
Related market segments, competitor solutions and potential opportunities
A technology-based risk assessment for successful target integration and business growth.
🔹 Results
MB Helmey Consulting produced an overall technical assessment report for the engagement. The deliverable report provided insights to augment their analyses performed in other areas. The assessment highlighted market needs and market fit of the target company's solutions. We also provided implementation and opportunity risk assessments to client’s future plans. The client was able to make their strategic acquisition decisions, confident in the information guiding their investments.