28 October 2009
A new white paper, ‘Investing in the Upturn - A Guide to
Project Management Solutions’ is now available from IRIS Project
Solutions, offering advice from IRIS, customers and other 3rd
parties on how to build for future success at a time when every
business is concerned with the present.
Paul Sparkes, Product Director, said; “This whitepaper is all
about helping businesses make the best they can out of the
opportunities presented to them. Yes the recovery looks set to
happen, but right now business is still hard to come by and
competition is still very fierce. Successful businesses are now
those who manage their profitability by ensuring tight control over
expenses and costs, and careful management of resources to ensure
optimum utilisation and return on investment. This is the base for
all growth in the next economic cycle.”
The latest IRIS whitepaper brings together a range of ideas on
how to implement controls and business processes for project-based
and professional services businesses. It is widely understood
that all successful businesses have very well managed finances and
costs. This is easy to remember in a downturn; however, it is if
anything even more important in an upturn as resources stretched by
staff reductions very quickly become stretched instead by
difficulty in recruiting to keep pace with demand. Cutting corners
on processes in a growth period increases business risk – there is
rarely any point in carrying out business at a loss, even if more
business is easily won. Too many companies have survived previous
recessions only to over-extend themselves in the recovery.
Mr Sparkes concluded; “If you build strong project management
processes and controls at the start of a period of growth you will
be able to ensure that spending doesn’t outstrip revenue. If you
put in place systems that provide timely and accurate information
about expenses and disbursements, resource utilisation and billing,
then you can be confident about decisions you make as your business
recovers. The recession won’t last forever - while survival is a
vital and urgent priority for all businesses, those who succeed in
the long-game will have planned for and invested in the new,
post-recession economy.”
IRIS whitepapers and other information on project management
solutions can be found online in the IRIS Project Solutions
Resource Centre.
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