Governance & Standards
Frameworks ensuring sustainable, compliant, and well-managed systems
Role Concepts
Clear accountability through defined roles and responsibilities
Application Owner
Business stakeholder accountable for application value and direction
Technical Owner
IT/Dev resource responsible for technical health and maintenance
Data Steward
Ensures data quality, definitions, and appropriate usage
Process Owner
Owns end-to-end business process across systems
Process Ownership
End-to-end accountability for critical business processes
Procure-to-Pay
From requisition to vendor payment
Order-to-Cash
From sales order to revenue recognition
Record-to-Report
From transaction to financial statement
Hire-to-Retire
Complete employee lifecycle
Change Management
Controlled, risk-managed approach to system changes
Change Advisory Board
Weekly review of significant changes
Emergency Change Process
Expedited path for critical fixes
Release Windows
Scheduled deployment periods
Rollback Procedures
Documented recovery plans
Documentation Strategy
Living documentation that serves its purpose
Architecture Diagrams
Visual system relationships and data flows
Runbooks
Operational procedures for common scenarios
API Documentation
Technical specs for integrations
User Guides
Role-based process documentation
Audit & Compliance
Built-in controls meeting regulatory requirements
Access Reviews
Quarterly certification of user access
Segregation of Duties
Enforced separation of conflicting roles
Audit Logging
Comprehensive activity tracking
Data Retention
Policy-driven data lifecycle management
Leadership Decisions
Strategic choices that shaped our enterprise landscape
Challenge
On-premise infrastructure reaching end-of-life with escalating maintenance costs and security vulnerabilities. Business demanding faster feature delivery.
Decision
Adopted cloud-first strategy with Microsoft Azure as primary platform. Migrated Business Central to SaaS, retired legacy data centers.
Decision
Adopted cloud-first strategy with Microsoft Azure as primary platform. Migrated Business Central to SaaS, retired legacy data centers.
Outcome
40% reduction in infrastructure costs. Deployment frequency increased from quarterly to weekly. Security posture improved with always-current patches.
Challenge
IT backlog growing faster than capacity. Business users creating shadow IT solutions without governance.
Decision
Launched governed Power Platform Center of Excellence. Established tiered support model with guardrails enabling safe citizen development.
Decision
Launched governed Power Platform Center of Excellence. Established tiered support model with guardrails enabling safe citizen development.
Outcome
300+ business-built apps under governance. 60% reduction in low-complexity IT requests. Eliminated 12 shadow IT applications.
Challenge
Point-to-point integrations creating fragile spaghetti architecture. Changes in one system cascading failures across others.
Decision
Implemented Azure Integration Services as enterprise integration platform. Standardized on event-driven architecture with Service Bus.
Decision
Implemented Azure Integration Services as enterprise integration platform. Standardized on event-driven architecture with Service Bus.
Outcome
Integration failures reduced by 80%. New integrations delivered in days instead of weeks. Clear ownership and monitoring.
Challenge
Three separate ERP systems across regions creating data silos, duplicate processes, and consolidation nightmares.
Decision
Committed to single Business Central instance with multi-company architecture. Phased migration over 18 months.
Decision
Committed to single Business Central instance with multi-company architecture. Phased migration over 18 months.
Outcome
Month-end close reduced from 15 to 3 days. Single source of truth for financials. Eliminated 2 FTEs of manual reconciliation work.
Organizational Impact
Measurable improvements delivered across the enterprise
Processes Improved
Systems Introduced
Governed citizen development enabling 300+ business applications
Azure-based middleware handling 50,000+ daily transactions
Power BI workspace enabling 200+ business users
Centralized API management for 40+ internal services
Efficiency Gains
Through automation and integration
Self-service replacing manual builds
Better documentation and training
CI/CD and infrastructure as code
Collaboration Initiatives
Embedded IT resources in Finance, Ops, and Sales
Dedicated relationship managers for each domain
Quarterly hackathons driving new solutions
Monthly knowledge sharing across teams
Operating Model
How Business Applications partners with the organization
Business Applications operates as a strategic partner, bridging business needs with technology capabilities through structured governance and collaborative delivery.
Embedded within IT but serving as primary interface for business stakeholders on application matters.
IT Partnership
Close collaboration with IT Infrastructure, Security, and Service Desk
- Application architecture aligned with IT standards
- Security requirements integrated from design
- Shared incident management for production issues
- Joint capacity and performance planning
Business Alignment
Direct engagement with business units as trusted advisor
- Business relationship management
- Requirements translation and prioritization
- Solution discovery and proposal
- Change impact assessment
Governance Forums
Formal decision-making bodies ensuring alignment
- Application Portfolio Review (Monthly)
- Change Advisory Board (Weekly)
- Architecture Review Board (Bi-weekly)
- Business Applications Steering Committee (Quarterly)
Delivery Model
Hybrid approach balancing speed and governance
- Agile squads for major initiatives
- Kanban for maintenance and small changes
- Managed services for stable operations
- Vendor partnerships for specialized needs
Key Stakeholder Engagement
CIO
Strategic direction and investment decisions
CFO
Financial systems and reporting requirements
PMO
Operational systems and process optimization
Business Unit Leaders
Domain-specific needs and priorities
IT Security
Compliance and security architecture
External Partners
Vendor management and integrations
Stakeholder Collaboration
Building partnerships across the organization
IT
Strategic PartnerDaily collaboration on architecture, security, and infrastructure
Key Activities
- Joint architecture reviews
- Shared incident response
- Security assessments
- Capacity planning
Finance
Primary CustomerClose partnership on ERP, reporting, and compliance requirements
Key Activities
- Monthly ERP steering
- Quarterly roadmap reviews
- Audit preparation
- Budget planning
Operations
Key CustomerSupporting operational excellence through automation and integration
Key Activities
- Process optimization
- Automation initiatives
- System training
- Performance reviews
Management
Strategic AdvisorProviding insights and recommendations for technology-enabled business strategy
Key Activities
- Executive dashboards
- Strategic planning input
- Investment proposals
- Risk reporting
External Partners
Managed RelationshipsCoordinating with vendors, consultants, and service providers
Key Activities
- Vendor selection
- Contract management
- Performance monitoring
- Integration coordination