Appropriate and effective use of technology to drive business objectives has become a key competitive advantage for best-in-class companies in all industries. At MIDIOR, we help our clients with the strategic application of technology to create the greatest positive impact on increasing profitability and market share. This is not an easy process. While technology is a critical component of corporate strategy and top line growth, it is also a significant cost center and source of complexity. Some successful CIOs & CTOs have even risen to celebrity stature because they deliver tremendous leverage and strategic advantage. However, it is just as easy to fail to deliver on over-hyped promises and as a result, people in these positions have the shortest tenure of any executive position (l8 months) in certain industries.

What we know
At MIDIOR, we understand that managing the development and delivery of technology is both strategic and mission critical. Strategic, in that it is a source of differentiation and a driver of innovation and growth, and mission critical, in that it supports the daily operations of the business and must be delivered reliably at a predictable cost.

Balancing these two roles is a paradox, whether you are from IT or R&D. IT and R&D budgets are, in fact, comprised of a portfolio of technology investments and operational initiatives that on the whole must meet high level business objectives. However, the individual initiatives often necessitate different management approaches and success measures. The result is a long list of projects that get rolled over from year to year and need to be maintained, often against a backdrop of a static or declining budget. This gradually diminishes capacity for building and delivering new things creating another source of complexity and risk. The answer lies in the power of platforms. In fact, the concept of platform planning to drive modularity and reuse in order to free up precious resources is quite old. Employed by automobile companies, traditional manufacturing companies and the consumer goods industry to better leverage manufacturing facilities, enable maximum purchasing power and ensure long term cost reduction programs, platform strategy and management can have a powerful impact on the bottom line.

What we do
We help companies achieve greater return on every dollar invested in technology by working hand-in-hand with R&D and IT teams. Often we start with the fundamental question of characterizing what is a product and what is a platform. In companies where the definition of products is increasingly complex (the “ edges are fuzzy ”), there are a variety of platforms in use and development projects are driven by the needs of specific customers, developing a comprehensive view of the technology portfolio presents a challenge. However, separating the tools and technologies from the core platforms and distinguishing those from the actual product or service a customer buys is critical. The objectives for a platform or systems investment are different from that of a product, risk/reward assessments vary and each must be managed and measured differently.

MIDIOR helps CIO’s and managers of R&D leverage technology to meet strategic objectives as they deliver positive business benefits to the organization. Greater insight to the value and utility of underlying technologies and platforms enables the development and delivery of great products that can have the widest impact on customers and markets. We work with clients to develop their platform plans, tune their technology roadmaps, ensure modularity and reuse and implement platform rationalization programs.

MIDIOR platform strategy and management services are classified into planning, implementation and skills development categories to make it easier to deliver the result that is right for the client:

Planning Services

• Technology Roadmaps, Strategies & Plans
• Technology and Application Architecture
• Platform Planning, Review & Consolidation
• Business Case Development
• Technology Organization Models
• Build/Buy Analysis

Implementation Services

• Release & Deployment Plans
• Technical Requirements Definition & Documentation
• Platform & Program Management
• Vendor/Product/ Software Selection
• Management Metrics

Skills Development Services

• Best Practices-Management & Technology
• Skills for Innovators Workshop
• Financial Modeling for Technology Projects
• One-on-One Mentoring