Strategic Global Deployment Considerations

Transcription

1 Strategic Global Deployment Considerations

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 2 CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS 4 3 THE GLOBAL MYTH AND GLOBAL BEST PRACTICE 5 4 GLOBAL STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING PROCESS 6 5 GLOBAL STRATEGIC DEPLOYMENT DECISIONS 8 IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY 8 TARGET COUNTRIES AND THEIR SCOPE 9 GEOGRAPHIC REACH AND SCOPE 10 STANDARDIZATON AND LOCALIZATION 11 6 GLOBAL COMPLIANCE STRATEGY 13 7 GLOBAL DEPLOYMENT STRATEGY 14 PLAN 14 ASSESS 15 SOLUTION BUILD AND TEST 16 DEPLOY AND SUPPORT 16 8 ATTAINING VALUE 17 Strategic Global Deployment Considerations Page 2 of 18

3 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ultimately, the critical business drivers for the implementation of standardized global business systems are tied to the attainment of substantial additional value for the organization. In the global business environment, this task becomes ever more complex. However, the suggestion that there is a single best practice for the implementation of XXX Workforce management tools would suggest an extremely narrow view of the global marketplace and global companies. To define your global implementation, multiple aspects or perspectives must be taken into account. What can be considered Best Practice is started by understanding your organization's current operational strategy and how it fits best with the implementation goals. We at XXX believe that achieving the value added our application suite brings to customers is based on the foundations of several key components: 1. The development of the global decision making process 2. Identification of strategic organizational deployment decisions 3. Development of the global compliance strategy 4. Effective global deployment strategies Each of these aspects builds on and supports the overall goals of the implementation, the support of the engagement life cycle, and achievement of the desired value intended when implementing workforce management software. Value Global Deployment Strategy Global Compliance Strategy Global Strategic Deployment Decisions Global Strategic Decision Making Process As XXX products become the standard for workforce management software, your organization s teams and information across the world connect. Through that connection, we enable organizations to effectively manage their workforce by helping their employees begin to focus on the quality of what they are doing as opposed to how they are doing it. We help organizations achieve the value added that standardized and responsive workflow software brings to our global environment. Strategic Global Deployment Considerations Page 3 of 18

4 2 CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS The current environment of globalization is heavily supported by technological improvements. Thomas Friedman (best selling author and foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times) has recently declared, The World is Flat. Of the drivers Friedman describes that caused the flattening of the world, Flattener #3: Workflow Software brings XXX products to the forefront in human workforce management. In discussion of the workflow software flattener, Friedman remarks, Once a standard takes hold, people start to focus on the quality of what they are doing as opposed to how they are doing it. once everyone could connect with everyone else, they got busy on the real value add. 1 For the global XXX software implementation, the impact of Friedman s statement is profound. XXX becomes your standard that takes hold, allowing your workforce to connect with each other on a similar platform with similar procedures, and similar data outputs. This allows your global workforce to shift their focus from how they complete activities such as time keeping, overtime equalization, scheduling, monitoring manufacturing, requesting leave, tracking attendance, and tracking benefit accruals, to the information itself and its' meaning in their day-to-day operations. Ultimately, it allows managers and executives to utilize analytics to evaluate the data in real time to make critical business decisions in individual units, regions, or for the whole workforce, before the data becomes stale and the effectiveness of decisions limited. Prior to beginning your global implementation, it is imperative to understand its' overall criteria for success. Those criteria for success are ultimately the value added that the XXX suite of products brings to your organization. On a basic level, many organizations seek to achieve the following in some manner depending on their particular business situation: 1. Eliminate manual processes 2. Eliminate duplicate systems a. Software b. Hardware c. Support Systems for both manual processes and technology 3. Address compliance concerns 4. Respond to specific localizations required in different countries 5. Deploy uniform global human capital management systems 6. Integrate previously disparate business processes

5 3 THE GLOBAL MYTH AND GLOBAL BEST PRACTICE When endeavoring to begin a global software implementation, the question frequently asked is What is the Best Practice for undertaking an implementation of this scope? For the XXX global software implementation there is no one best practice, no pre-defined cookie cutter type approach. Defining a global implementation Best Practice is synonymous to defining a global organization. Ask ten different executives What is a global company? and you will get ten different answers globality is a multidimensional phenomenon and, like the proverbial elephant, can never be understood fully from just one perspective... 2 To define your global implementation, multiple aspects or perspectives must be taken into account. What can be considered Best Practice is started by understanding your organization's current operational strategy and how it fits best with the implementation goals. Some questions for consideration may be: What does Global mean to this application implementation? What are the overall goals of the application implementation? What are the dimensions that must be taken into account? How does my organization function within those dimensions? By understanding your organization s definition of global, the implementation team will be better able to match the global definition to the goals and scope of the implementation to enhance effective deployment. In addition, when considering the dimensions that must be taken into account, e.g., complexity of labor laws and pay practices, culture, geography, time zone, infrastructure, etc, it is imperative to understand how your organization functions within those dimensions or constraints. There may be specific goals for changing how those dimensions interrelate that should be considered in the implementation planning. The concept of a global company can also be viewed from the perspective of many elemental criteria e.g., sales, manufacturing units, employee count, etc. For many XXX implementations, employee count in a particular geography is a key driver in choices of where to deploy. Given the various elements that must be taken into account, organizations may divide themselves in many different ways. To continue on the path of deeming all implementations as global may require a bit more fine-tuning. We believe the foundations to achieve the XXX application implementation value added is built through developing your company specific global strategy by taking the following steps: 1. Create the global strategic decision making process 2. Identify and make strategic global implementation decisions 3. Develop the global compliance strategy 4. Plan, execute and control an effective global deployment strategy

6 4 GLOBAL STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING PROCESS It is not a novel concept that effective management practice encourages the involvement of key stakeholders in the decision making process. However, more importantly, the key stakeholders in the implementation should be part of the development of the strategy for decision-making. As global integration becomes more and more a part of business in our world today, ensuring the participation and compliance of the individual groups of the whole becomes a key to the success of the endeavor. However, to be able to prove the effectiveness of such a process brings an additional element of believability to the practice. W. Chan Kim and Renee A. Mauborgne do just that in their research documented in their article Making Global Strategies Work first published in the Spring 1993 issue of the MIT Sloan Management Review. Their research points to the importance of the creation of the decision making process itself in effective global strategy execution. In the article, the authors state, The dynamics of the global strategic decision-making process is a key incentive in compliance. Due Process elements should be part of the strategic development plan. When this is in place, subsidiary managers are motivated... even if the decisions were not in line with their individual subsidiary units interests. 3 The concept of Due Process described by Kim and Mauborgne take somewhat obvious practices of effective management to describe the elements of their definition of due process. These are: Lead Office/Team is familiar with local situations Two Way communication in global strategy process Lead Office/Team consistent in decision making Local Sites can challenge the Lead Office/Team Local Sites receive an explanation for final strategic decisions Table 1 To create the strategic decision process and later validate the model choice for your XXX implementation, it is a useful exercise to diagram the overall corporate operational strategy against the decision-making groups. Typically, Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) make decisions along three lines: corporate, regional, or local. Alan Rugman, author, professor, and Leslie Waters Chair of International Business at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, analyzes organizational strategy vs a company s given product characteristics. 4 The grid presented in Table 1 is based on Rugman s theory. For the particular case of a XXX product implementation, the compilation of employee count in the various geographies, general operational decision making Organization Structure/Decision Making strategy, the proposed number of XXX database instances, and proposed implementation and support strategies in effect become the product (on the vertical axis) that should be compared against the organizational strategy for decision making (on the horizontal axis). Identifying the seat of decision-making power is a key element to keep the implementation process on track and on schedule. In addition, when identifying the decision-making group, it is helpful to identify the timeframe in which decisions should be made in order to keep the project on schedule. Many decisions, dependent upon their risk to the overall project, can influence the outcome and fulfillment of key milestones in the project. Strategy Centralized Decentralized Regionally (Divisionally) Centralized Corporate Regional Local

7 For example, an organization that chooses an overall Regional strategy may consider that strategy and decision-making against several elements. Some elements may be best decided at a regional level while others may best be decided at a local level. The degree of corporate involvement may be based on the overall organizational decision making process. In the case of a centralized approach, an organization may have an all-encompassing corporate strategy that will affect the process. Therefore, while the regional or local teams may bring key information to the table, the corporate team may still hold the final decision making power when an impasse is reached.

8 5 GLOBAL STRATEGIC DEPLOYMENT DECISIONS In a XXX global software implementation, a number of decisions must initially be made about the scope of the project. Some of the first decisions that should be made include the implementation strategy, target countries, the individual XXX modules targeted for each country, group or site, and the level of standardization vs localization desired. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY When addressing the various segmentation models in which organizations fall, one perspective considers sales volume for organizations. In that sales segmentation model, Rugman suggests that companies can segment themselves based on the percentage of sales volume in each of the triads (regions). Using Rugman s definition of MNEs, only 9 of the top Fortune Global 500 fall into the category of global at the time of his publication. Table 2 In deploying a XXX solution, there are three general strategies: Centralized, Decentralized and Divisionally/Regionally Centralized. These are described in Table 2. The number of databases, implementation strategy and support strategy typically characterize each of these options. The process for strategic decision-making should ideally be validated the generalized implementation strategy is chosen. Implementation Strategy Characteristics Global - Centralized Single corporate group with umbrella strategy and infrastructure Centralized delivery team with subsidiary resources where appropriate Desire Single database (if no legal restrictions e.g., Germany s interpretation of the European Data Protection Act) Home Region Based - Decentralized Multiple sites with databases for each site (Hardware may be located centrally or locally) Minimal corporate supervision regarding strategy and infrastructure Local delivery teams (sometimes with overall program management of entire team to collate multinational experience) Regionally/Divisionally Centralized Multiple sites aggregated by business lines, geographic regional groups (or limitations), functional groups, or financial groups Minimal corporate supervision regarding strategy and infrastructure Regional delivery team with overall Program management of entire team to collate multinational experience

9 In turn, each of these implementation strategy options has its intrinsic pros and cons which are detailed in Table 3. Each organization must examine the various factors that will lead them to choose one strategy over another. For example, initially, a centralized strategy may appear the optimal configuration from an Information Technology support standpoint. However, upon further examination of the operational aspects of the individual units, a Regional/Divisional strategy may be more appropriate. *NOTE: It is important to understand that while each sites' local needs related to reporting, security etc are impacted by the strategy choice, this does not refer to pay practices, which can be equally addressed in single, or multiple systems Implementation Strategy Pros Table 3 Centralized One Database Single Backup and Recovery One Support team Tighter controls Single reporting structure Decentralized Direct correlation to site needs* Flex on reporting structure Flex on regional needs upkeep Best configuration security Regionally/Divisionally Centralized Better correlation to site needs Fewer Databases, reporting structures Better Controls Better enforcement of standards Fewer Training concerns Cons Single reporting structure Security for configuration by country/group Performance considerations Multiple Databases & Administration (can be centrally located or on site) Multiple Backup/Recovery Enforcement of Standards Training/support Version Control Multiple Databases & Maintenance Configuration security TARGET COUNTRIES AND THEIR SCOPE In deciding which countries are targeted for the implementation, several elements are taken into account. The following aspects are based on Alan Rugman s basic analysis of regionalization. 5 However, in this example, we are not deciding where a given organization is expanding its global presence or market, but rather the effectiveness of implementing a given software package/module in various geographies of an existing organization. The aspects that may be taken into consideration may include, but are not limited to company and country specific advantages in each locale as well as geographic reach and geographic scope. COMPANY AND COUNTRY SPECIFIC ADVANTAGES While organizations may be comprised of facilities in a number of locations, it is often appropriate to prioritize the locations related to their need for given software, the overall strategic or tactical importance of inclusion, and certainly the cost effectiveness of inclusion in the deployment of software packages in a given locale. When examining the traits for company and country specific advantages, it is once again a useful exercise to map these aspects on a grid. In the example below, the vertical axis represents the country specific advantages and the horizontal aspect represents the company (which Rugman calls firm) specific advantages. Again, in these examples, we are not looking at the overall company or country specific advantages that relate to the overall business product or service of the organization, but rather to the aspects of the company or country as they relate to the software implementation on a global scale. Each of these aspects is graded as weak or strong along their given axis. Obviously, one would want to select target countries where both company and country specific advantages are strong. However, if there are business reasons for choosing countries that have weak aspects, these weak aspects can then be translated into a risk matrix and appropriate mitigation plans developed.

10 In the process of determining where to deploy, Table 4 consider the company and country specific Company Specific Advantage advantages and disadvantages. Since the site may already exist, the decision becomes related more to Weak Strong the specific advantages added by the implementation of the software under consideration. The value added may address a positive need as well as managing a disadvantageous situation. For example, a company Weak may have specific process technology that is strategic to the company that must be tracked from a manufacturing perspective by Workforce Activities to ensure effective management of the process. If this is not done, it may be a disadvantage to the company, therefore it becomes an advantage to Strong deploy in that locale. Likewise, particular locations may enjoy the benefit of individuals with specific intellectual capital used to produce products that must be tracked from a project perspective with Workforce Timekeeper. There may also be superior existing infrastructure in particular locations that may make some locales more appealing for ease of implementation and limited additional expense in deployment related to infrastructure. Adding some sites may simply be a factor of economies of scale matching like sites for implementation due to the ease of integration into the new model. Conversely, the intent may not be to single out specific advantages at one site and deploy in only those locales, but rather to compare data between sites by creating advantage associated with a standardized data collection platform (i.e., world flattener #3 - workflow software). Thus, the value added allows the analysis of data with tools such as Workforce Analytics helping the workforce to focus on the quality of what they are doing in workforce management rather than the specific individual tools of how they monitor workforce effectiveness. Country specific advantages (disadvantages) may exist in the traits of the local labor force, cultural factors and specific software demand conditions in given locations. For example, the labor force in a particular location may have a keen interest in new technology and is more apt to embrace the change associated. This particular group may serve to facilitate the deployment at their locale and become the champions for the software implementation to other sites. Their success and attitude may become a catalyst for more apprehensive or distrustful sites to embrace the new technology. Individual country and operational culture factors at particular sites may be more familiar to an organization, which would facilitate success within that group. Therefore, some organizations may choose to start with countries with whose culture and operations are more familiar so that they can show early success in the project. They will then move to the less familiar cultures as their skills with the product and methodologies for global deployment improve. Lastly, particular countries (sites) may have intrinsic demand to become a selected country for deployment. That site/country may possess financial funding that others may not, require the replacement of legacy systems that are failing or no longer useful, or simply require the replacement of manual processes with an automated process to improve efficiency. Each of the decisions above will likely be related to the overall value added desired for the software implementation. Recall the criteria for success discussed in section 2 of this article and match those to the company and country specific advantages/disadvantages to determine those sites, which will help to ensure overall success of these goals. GEOGRAPHIC REACH AND SCOPE Within given geographies additional decisions must be made on how far the reach of the software implementation will go and within those sites, the scope of the implementation. Geographic reach for our purposes refers to the geographic range or breadth the implementation will cover. For example, while an organization may have several locations within a given country, there may be reasons financial or otherwise that discourage deployment to a given site. Perhaps the site does not have an appropriate employee population in number or type (exempt vs non-exempt). Alternately, perhaps the cost to implement may exceed the value of implementation in the overall level of effort or perhaps in technology Country Specific Advantage

11 infrastructure required. Lastly, there may be legal challenges that may discourage reach into a particular locale. Overall, the geographic reach ties closely with company specific advantages. Geographic scope in this context refers to the scope of products deployed within the XXX Suite or other integrated applications. For example, some sites may require only the deployment of Workforce Timekeeper products, while others may require the addition of Workforce Activities, Workforce Scheduler, or Workforce Accruals to consider a few options. In addition, integrated applications such as external Human Resource or payroll applications may or may not be included at a standardized level dependent on the overall deployment strategy, specific localization needs which may or may not be met by integrating with a given organizational standard, or other overall infrastructure reasons. Ultimately, it is important to have a clear understanding of the target countries for the implementation, their prioritization, and their given reach and scope to be able to accurately develop an appropriate project scope and plan. STANDARDIZATON AND LOCALIZATION Another decision that should considered is how to balance the concepts of standardization and localization. Standardization refers to the level to which the application will be standardized or made uniform. The level to which standardization occurs can potentially affect the value added described in workflow software flattening by Friedman. Conversely, global markets are not becoming homogenized,. Rather there is a trend towards regionalization and increased intra-regional economic activity. 6 In the case of workforce management, the compensation requirements in and of themselves may be highly regionalized or localized. Therefore, a fine balance must be struck between adequate standardization to achieve uniform platforms and data analysis and responsiveness to regional or local practices. Organizations must determine the level of standardization or localization necessary in their XXX implementation which will lead to the success of their deployment. XXX software is equally capable of operating within a highly standardized environment and is capable of addressing individual localization needs within that same environment. It is each organization s decision, whether optionally or driven by legal requirements, to determine the degree to which they wish to capitalize on either aspect. When using a centralized strategy, standardization often becomes a point of contention between sites that struggle to live within the boundaries of such standardization where they may have previously been used to site specific or database specific setups customized to their own needs. Based on the studies found in Making Global Strategies Work, change management related to these issues is facilitated when due process in place as part of the strategic decision-making process. The process minimizes the need for conflict resolution related to difficult decisions in operational procedures and product setup. Many organizations will seek to standardize the less employee compensation specific aspects such as reporting structure, general syntax, reports, display profiles and system access profiles. Once these over arching objectives are achieved to enhance the analytic capabilities of the organization as a whole, the individual localizations are addressed. For example, many times reporting structure is based on cost accounting structure or general ledger. However, some organizations simply do not have a single accounting structure. Perhaps they operate on a regional level. In this case, a regional model is often utilized. Lastly, if process automation is a key objective and consistent reporting or comparison is not important, the decentralized strategy may be used. The individual sites needs regarding localization are generally related to specific country compensation law and specific operational needs. Obviously, when legal compensation requirements exist, standardization on compensation may not be possible. Rather, the level of standardization may then apply to the consistency in which the configuration is carried out across the various sites that are impacted by this compensation aspect. The greater concern ensues when a specific need arises related to operations that may influence the level of standardization or perhaps even customization. Ideally, Pareto s Law (the 80/20 rule) should be exercised when considering configuration standardization vs localization. The objective should be to structure the functional specifications to encompass 80 percent of all site needs within the basic configuration. Non-standard configuration or customizations should exist in 20 percent or less of specifications.

12 Ultimately, the compilation of the organization s strategic global decisions will guide them in the following areas of the implementation, which are further developed in the global deployment strategy: Implementation Planning Selection of Implementation Methodology (staggered, phased, etc) Product Functionality decisions during assessment and build phases Testing Strategy Training Strategy Long Term Support

13 6 GLOBAL COMPLIANCE STRATEGY Once decisions have been made regarding the overall deployment strategy, country selection and/or deployment order, geographic reach and scope, and the level of standardization and localization desired, the next step is developing the global compliance strategy. The compliance strategy is dependent upon the ultimate value added aspects of the implementation, the global decision making process and the global strategic decisions. The team should analyze and understand the unique in-country value added issues that will affect the definition of specific rules that drive solution design. Several questions for determining the global compliance strategy include: 1. What are the corporate best practices that are targeted? 2. What is their level of importance/compromise if there are legal or cultural issues that must be addressed? 3. Who are the final decision makers for compliance? 4. In what period must decisions be made in order to minimize risk to the project? For example, a company may consider the value of paying employees by the minute as opposed to rounding employee time to the nearest quarter of an hour. If a particular site is not in agreement with this plan based on their organizational culture, the team must decide if the practice will be allowed to continue. The agreed upon strategic decision making process will guide the team to call upon the appropriate level of the organization to make key decisions. In addition, some organizations may wish to consult with legal counsel or outside global compensation experts to determine the level of compromise or adjustment they may take in effectively marrying the corporate best practices to cultural or country specific needs.

14 7 GLOBAL DEPLOYMENT STRATEGY The global decision-making process, strategic decisions and global compliance strategy help to sustain the engagement life cycle. The project management life cycle supports the application implementation cycle. In many cases, a staggered or phased approach is taken with implementation cycles, therefore there may be multiple implementation life cycles supported by one project management life cycle. The collection of all the cycles is the engagement life cycle. KRONOS ENGAGEMENT LIFECYCLE Start the Project Plan the Project Execute & Control the Project Close the Project Sales Cycle (Project Initiation) Plan Assess Solution Build Test & Certify Deploy & Support Handover from Sales to Service Handover from Service to Support Project Management Lifecycle Implementation or Project Lifecycle The individual phases of each of the cycles is addressed in detail in the XXX Implementation methodology. Therefore, the specific global implementation elements related to the implementation cycle will be briefly described here. (additional information for the project management lifecycle and general implementation cycle may be found in content specific XXX publications or materials) PLAN Using the geographic scope for each country, understand the current systems in place (automated or manual) and determine what will be encompassed in the new global business system design using XXX products. These may include systems for: Time collection OT Equalization Scheduling Staffing Level Planning Accruals (Benefit Time) Leave requests Attendance/Leave (FMLA) Manufacturing Analytics In addition, it is important to understand the level of integration that may be required as part of the scope of the project. Based on the value added propositions, the organization will need decide which systems will stay in place and which will be merged with corporate standards. These systems may include, but are not limited to: Human Resource data management

15 Payroll ERP Project tracking Analytics The overall global system architecture and connectivity requirements will be examined as part of planning. It is crucial that an accurate hardware sizing based on implementation strategy be completed. Detailed information regarding use cases (including desired language capabilities) will be required. It is important to understand the current level of infrastructure in the target countries and what additional hardware or connectivity needs exist. In addition, it is critical to assess the current bandwidth for these locations and the potential impact on system response times. (Additional information regarding global architecture is addressed in a separate XXX content specific publication). Development of an company specific internal global support scope and process should be addressed in the planning process. Delineate how the system will be supported globally over the short term and long term. It is important define the support plan for each country as the plans may be the same or different based on country needs and resources. Based on the plan, identify who the users call for first line of support for functional questions, technical issues, performance issues etc. Identify what time of day should the internal help desk be operational, and what language(s) will need to be spoken. For the training strategy it is imperative to consider the training of the core team, including subject matter experts. In XXX experience, we have found that initial training of these individuals greatly enhances the accuracy of the functional specifications developed and the overall system design. When training is not initiated prior to the assessment process, the frequency of adjustments to the configuration increase during the testing cycle. This is due to incomplete understanding of the potential uses of the application and how these impact the individual unit s operations when configured in varying manners. During the planning stage, identify the end users in each locale that must be trained. These groups may include IT support, HR, payroll, managers and employees. Identify the content needed, what languages it must be presented in, and when the training should be delivered to maximize it s effectiveness and reduce training staleness due to delays between training and actual system use. Finally, determine the methods for training end users. The options may include classroom training, remote training (using shared desktop tools such as the XXX Virtual Classroom), and finally by training the organization s in house trainers to go forward and deliver the educational product in the field. ASSESS During the assessment phase, the team will review current practices. The team seeks to understand what practices and processes are in place per site/per country by reviewing procedures with subject matter experts and end users. It is critical to understand the country business culture. For example, interpretation of local law and procedures vary by site within even the same country. In general, the United States, Canada, Australia and UK tend to be very standardized in regards to pay practices while other countries tend to be highly variable. Again, when developing the configuration specification, we engage with our global compliance strategy. Use Pareto s Law (80-20 rule) where the objective is to develop a functional specification that accommodates the bulk of all the region s needs. In order to align with the compliance plan, we suggest that the company know the strategic goals before surveying related to configuration aspects such as: Labor Levels and Organizational Maps Pay code structure Pay Rule Syntax System Function Access Reports

16 Language/Character Set Support HR Demographic import Payroll exports Other Interface requirements Employee Specific Custom FIELDS requirements When homegrown processes are encountered, it is found that they often culture unique methods which are often contrary to standardized applications. Understand what concessions you are willing to make given manual/home grown processes. Understand what employee groups must be included and which groups are optional to track in XXX. It may be appropriate to gain acceptance/experience with exempt employees then add non-exempt employees later. When planning to allocate time for assessment, do not minimize small sites/countries. Allow ample time for assessment to allow for in depth discussion and learning. Fully engage in country subject matter experts for various key processes in scope such as timekeeping, human resources, payroll, etc. Utilize the decision makers identified in the global decision making process when compliance issues (standardization vs localization) come into play. Lastly, ensure that in country resources are part of the final approval process for the system design specifications to ensure that communications were understood and appropriately translated to technical design. SOLUTION BUILD AND TEST Various methods and teams may be used during the build process. Teams may complete work remotely or on site depending on the need. In addition, specialists may be used for specific customizations or specialized applications. The use of compressed parallels using historical or known data may be used to support the unit testing and initial integration testing process. During the parallel test phase, it is important to define the overall testing strategy, target and/or pilot groups, and training for said groups. Most importantly, it is vital to define the method by which testing will be monitored. In the global cross continent environment, scheduled conference calls utilizing shared desktop tools are extremely useful. Set agendas with specific testing components to be reviewed should be set to ensure compliance with the testing process and ensure understanding and proper use of the application to improve the accuracy of testing results and minimize errors related to improper use of the application. DEPLOY AND SUPPORT Once the test phase is completed, and the team has approved the milestone approving the configuration and design solution, the process to deploy and support the application is engaged. The global deployment strategy to complete a staggered or phased approach come to fruition and the plans for long-term support are activated.

17 8 ATTAINING VALUE We at XXX believe that achieving the value added our application suite brings to multinational and global customers is based on the foundations of: the development of the global decision making process, identification of strategic organizational deployment decisions, development of the global compliance strategy, and effective global deployment strategies. Each of these aspects builds on and supports the overall goals of the project management and implementation life cycles to create the total engagement life cycle. Ultimately, the process enhances attainment of the value added by implementing XXX tools globally throughout your organization. Attaining value is the key factor in world flattener #3 Workflow software, and for this goal, XXX products are in the forefront in human workforce management. XXX enables organizations to more effectively manage their workforce by helping their employees begin to focus on the quality of wha they are doing as opposed to how they are doing it. We help organizations achieve the value added that standardized and responsive workflow software brings to our global environment. KRONOS ENGAGEMENT LIFECYCLE Global Decision Making Process Global Deployment Decisions Global Compliance Strategy Global Deployment Strategy Start the Project Plan the Project Execute & Control the Project Close the Project Sales Cycle (Project Initiation) Plan Assess Solution Build Test & Certify Deploy & Support Value Handover from Sales to Service Handover from Service to Support Strategic Global Deployment Project Management Lifecycle Implementation or Project Lifecycle

18 1 Friedman, Thomas, The World is Flat, Abridged Edition, 2006, page Govindarajan, V. and Gupta, A., The Quest for Global Dominance: Transforming Global Presence into Global Competitive Advantage, 2001, p. 7 3 Kim, W. Chan and Mauborgne, Renee A., Making Global Strategies Work, Smart Globalization: Designing Global Strategies, Creating Global Networks, Ed., Gupta, Anil K, and Westney, D. Eleanor Rugman, Alan M, "The Regional Multinationals, MNEs and "Global" Strategic Management, 2005, p Rugman, Alan M, "The Regional Multinationals, MNEs and "Global" Strategic Management, 2005, pp 34-41, Rugman, Alan M, "The Regional Multinationals, MNEs and "Global" Strategic Management, 2005, p 10.