Today I’m at a PTFS Europe event looking at Open Source library (management) systems. PTFS Europe obviously have an interest here as they sell support for the Koha open source LMS, and it seems that they are also considering supporting other library systems – such as VuFind (for search/discovery), CUFTS (for electronic resource management), a reading list system etc.
The day is opening with talk from Ken Chad. Ken noting we are in period of continuous, disruptive change. Ken says libraries must compete with all kinds of other providers such as Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, LibraryThing, acadremia etc. The point, Ken says, is that users can go elsewhere to fulfil their information/library needs.
Ken going to talk about elements of strategy, business case and how these things fit together.
Ken starts by saying what strategy is not vision or mission – but how we persue these. Universities could have the same or similar visions but very different strategies. Elements of strategy are:
- objective – single precise objective that will drive the org for the next 3-5 years. While ‘single’ may seem limiting, a single objective can often require many other things to happen, but honing your aims down to a single precise objective can be hugely helpful.
- scope – identifying what the organisation will not address
- advantage – this is the most critical aspect in developing an effective strategy statement – it means reall understanding the value that the organisation brings to the customer
- what is your ‘essential advantage’ – an ingrained ability to succeed … sustained over time and is almost impossible to copy
- ‘way to play’ – means a considered approach for creating and capturing value in a particular market – what are the things that set the organization apart from competitors
- Summary – demonstration of strategic fit
- description of proposal
- market analysis
- options
- cost
- resource requirements
- risk assessment
- project implementation and review
- over-optimistic projects – too much to be delivered too soon
- inadequate market research
- underestimation of the resource requirements – particularly support
- insufficient attention to full economic cost
- writing the plan to give answer you want – doesn’t necessarily convince others
- lower costs
- superior security
- avoid vendor lock-in