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Winning the Last Yard
When we work with technologies we focus on winning the last yard. The last yard is the distance from the screen to the mind of the user, the distance between being handed a piece of technology and being able to use it.
We use our communication and technology skills to assess, select, customise, explain and enhance technology so that a winning result comes through over the last yard. We use our skills in communication, education, advocacy, analysis and planning, to inform technology decisions and to understand the real needs before we deliver technology services.
We all face a huge range of technology choices. Too often technology has dictated the choices we make. The range of technology options now available mean that technology need no longer dictate our choices. We work by understanding the needs of people in their work. We use this understanding to select, manage and focus the technology options to deliver the needed result, the winning result over the last yard.
Tools for Understanding
In order to win the last yard it is vital to understand people and their
needs. We bring a lot of effort, skill and experience to the task of understanding
the needs of our clients. We have expertise in needs analysis, business
analysis, project management and IT management. We make sure we understand
what's needed, from all sides, before we recommend purchases or deploy
the communication tools, that close the gap and deliver what's needed.
Tools for Communication
We use many tools for communication. We use technical skills to manage,
configure and enhance underlying systems so that they are able to deliver
the right communication result.
We use web skills to customise and humanise web interfaces and integrate
them with information and communication pages. Increasingly, systems and
technologies deliver their services as web pages. So, a web page that
tells you about a system and what it does, can also be the window into
that system.
Approach
Normally when you acquire technologies or systems you work hard to source,
install, train for, and support software and hardware. All too often all
this effort falls short of success because what you end up with is a system
that communicates poorly. The last yard is lost.
Exeter’s approach is to use our business analysis skills to understand
the need, our technical skills to manage systems, and our communication
skills to engage and educate people, and focus, customise and humanise
system interfaces. The difference is that the last yard is won.
Focus
We understand that you are often faced with tight deadlines and considerable
challenges. The last thing you need is additional complexity. We tackle
technology and communication challenges by tightly focussing on real needs.
We aim for the simplest and most compelling solution to each challenge.
As far as possible, we use the capabilities of systems that have already been installed to deliver required results. Only after we have exhausted options with existing systems do we propose additional developments or acquisitions.
At the start of a project we conduct a needs analysis to establish as quickly as possible what is needed to deliver the required results. We then identify the people, configurations and if needed, additional developments, required to meet the need.
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