We believe that each engagement is unique and, as such, requires a unique project plan tailored to that specific client's needs. Nevertheless there are recurrent themes which present themselves over and over in the projects we encounter. For these themes, we employ a set of basic tools which we customize and integrate in building the overall project plans we construct. For example, an operations transformation engagement may also entail a systems platform selection effort, institution of Key Performance Indicators and a capital budgeting review of pending IT projects. Among the more common themes included in our toolkit are the following (click on links for more detail):

Increasing levels of competition, transaction volumes and regulatory scrutiny are imposing unprecendented pressures on front- middle- and back-office operations. The Diel Group approach to transforming operations takes the broader view that our clients need to create the innovative solutions that can address these pressures. In addition to reviewing the processes and organization of operations, it reviews the systems and support functions on which operations depends to develop a broad project-based set of recommendations. We also address the organizational issues that often undermine implementation of major change.

Program Management

Large initiatives call for a level of discipline over and above that devoted to normal projects. The Diel Group has a structured approach, supplemented by appropriate tools, to bring that discipline to key initiatives. Working with your program / project manager, we capture, organize and analyze program information to provide a clear picture of current and projected status as well as to identify critical issues requiring management focus.

The effectiveness and efficiency of technology groups play key roles in the success of today's financial institutions - in many firms they represent both the largest single area of expenditure and a critical tool for achieving strategic advantage. Nevertheless, the common experience has been that major financial firms have not been particularly successful at achieving true alignment between business and technology goals and outcomes. In restructuring an IT group to increase its impact, our approach looks to changes in process, structure and communications as the levers to achieve real movement toward alignment and practical improvements.

Capital Budgeting

While the need to review major projects prior to approval is widely acknowledged and programs are in place at most firms, few have been effective in increasing the value delivered by IT. This reflects both the inherent complexity of structuring a disparate set of projects into a portfolio that can be managed objectively and the difficulty of getting business sponsors to truly participate in a decision-making process that appears to undermine their control over "their" projects. By building a review process around well-structured business cases, our approach couches the discussion in terms of the business and financial drivers familiar to the front-office and financial managers whose support will be required to succeed.

Today's managers are awash in data - raw, unreconciled and continuously updated. Usable information is, however, usually in very short supply. To effectively manage a complex function, a manager needs to have a manageable set of reliable information that is available on a regular basis. Our approach uses a structured process to identify the content of this information set: the strategic drivers of the unit are used to established what needs to be measured and what practical metrics can be used to do so. We also drive the implementation of these measurements and their use in the management process.

We use a structured approach to look across a complex, multi-dividsional firm to identify the highest potential opportunities to reduce costs with the least impact on net income and longer-term corporate strategies. Steps are then taken to construct and execute a pragmatic plan to capture, and measure, real savings. Following our analysis, detailed planning and execution efforts can be directed at the identified savings opportunities - either with our assistance or using internal resources.