Day 4, 2nd May 2009
0830-1100: Case Presentation Rounds 1 and 2
After 24 hours of case deliberation, the first formal rounds of presentations finally commenced on the morning of Day 4. The first wave of teams from each division took to the stage and presented their recommendations to the jury panel.
Team A1: Idea Factory
The team’s answer to the case included implementation of a thin client solution, integration of legacy applications into ERPs and the creation of a new trainee program.
Team B1: Aries
Team Aries highlighted 3 critical strategic business priorities in their presentation:
- Streamlining of Vestas IT infrastructure & Integration of business applications
- Consolidation & Modernization of standalone legacy applications
- Strengthening of communication between employees of Group IT and stakeholders
Team C1: Primatech Consultants
Primatech Consultants proposed 3 solutions:
- a ‘Super-User’ model to improve user acceptance of IT products and services with better reputation & profits
- Enterprise 2.0: use corporate wikis and forums to fuel collaboration and knowledge sharing
- Lean-logistics: leverage information to create smart solutions
Team D1: Project SkunkWorks
The 4 strategies highlighted by this team:
- Systems to Processes – Organizational structure change from system centric to process centric
- People before Megawatts – Improving the customer experience with fault reporting system for better responsiveness and employee self service
- Lose the Legacies – Improving the operating leverage by migration to ERP
- No.1 in Modern Energy, No. 1 in Sustainable IT – Green IT
Team A2: Defide
Team Defide presented their 3R’s strategies for Group IT to perform as the main enabler of Vestas to achieve its vision:
- Reinforce (Group IT Employee)
- Redevelop (Inbound and Customer Service)
- Restructure (Group IT Employee)
Team B2: Team Alignment
This team established 3 priorities for Vestas in their presentation in order for Group IT to be realigned with Vestas’s corporate strategy:
- Establish New Project Framework
- Improve Service Management
- Standardize IT Systems
Team C2: Innova Consulting
Innova Consulting’s winning strategy comprises adopting a proposed Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) complemented by a Wiki-Knowledge Management System.
Team D2: TeamME+MIS Consulting
This team outlined a Three-Blade Strategy: cut down costs, cut across systems and cut into markets, emphasizing on a Knowledge Management System, strategic workforce diversification and server centralization.
Team A3: Pinnacle Consulting
Pinnacle Consulting has 2 strategic recommendations:
- Enhance knowledge sharing to facilitate more informed decision making via:
- consolidating application portfolio
- peer to peer collaboration
- a mentorship program
- Create a framework that facilitates increased IT responsiveness to business unit needs that includes
- workshops for managers on IT project benefits
- changes to the existing funding model
- allowing ad-hoc program changes via super-users
Team B3: Wind Consulting
Wind Consulting made an impression on the judges with their KISS strategy while in favor of an expansion into China’s market:
- Kick cost inefficiency out
- Increase Information security
- Standardize processes
- Sustainable growth
Team C3: JR Square
The team placed emphasis on the China and US markets, usage of virtualization to cut costs and customer relationship management (CRM).
Team D3: Dream Tech Consulting
Dream Tech’s presentation focused on both short-term and long-term recommendations that include:
- Vestas should increase employee participation throughout the organization via a web-based system for knowledge and information sharing
- Creating cross-functional teams between departments that are business and tech savvy and introduce merit-based compensation
- Vestas should be more ‘customer-centric’ by providing pre-sales services and ensuring better responsiveness to local customers
Team A4: Innode
In their presentation, Innode offered suggestions such as collecting more data to determine emerging markets, centralization of data centers and adopt better practices in project management.
Team B4: Stratagem
Strategem’s proposed strategy for Vestas involved the implementation of an Active Directory framework to streamline and consolidate its applications and an enhanced IT project selection framework with changes to the current funding model generating more business value through innovative projects and better cost management.
Team C4: The Little Mermaids
This team outlined the following strategies and priorities for Vestas:
- Provide readiness to rapid market change with higher degree of organizational decentralization
- Achieve higher cost effectiveness through ways such as helpdesk outsourcing and an optimized funding model
- Align IT to business processes by optimizing the governance approval process and streamlining future IT architecture
Team D4: WST Consulting
An overview of WST Consulting’s integration solution includes:
- a new IT funding model with transition to a service based cost model
- achieve IT service partnerships through introduction of technical super-users, innovation super users and a remodeled support process
- streamlining Vestas’s system landscape by making obsolete the top 30% of its legacy application according to their impact on product deployment cycle time for new IT products
1200-1300: Lunch & Judges Deliberation
At the end of Rounds 1 & 2, the judges were engaged in an interesting discussion over which 4 teams should proceed on to the competition’s final rounds.
1330-1600: Case Presentation Round 3
After much deliberation, the judges finally decided on the final 4 teams who would present in front of a public audience in SMU Administration Building’s Conference Hall.
Sighs of relief and a moment of joy for the 4 finalist teams as their names were announced
The first team on stage: Idea Factory
Next, Wind Consulting
The 3rd team: Innova Consulting
And the last finalist was WST Consulting
After their presentations, the 4 finalist teams were subjected to a salvo of rapid-fire questions from a judging panel of experienced management executives from various corporate industry leaders such as banks, consulting firms and IT solution providers.
Robin James， Director IT Production, S.E Asia Barclays Capital Services， posing a question to the teams
Frank Koo, Managing Director, Oracle Corporation Singapore, has a question for the teams
Keni Muto, Associate Principle, McKinsey & Company, raises a question during the lightning round.
Innova Consulting fielding one of the questions
Idea Factory during Lightning Round
WST Consulting discussing the response to one of the questions
As the presentation rounds drew to a close, judges began the unenviable task of choosing the champion team and best presenter
1900-2200: Awards Banquet
After the finals, judges and all teams were invited to Swiss Hotel Ballroom for the Awards Banquet where the champion team will be crowned
Chulalongkorn University during the cocktail reception
Stephen Brostrom and Christian Ohrgaard from Copenhagen Business School sharing a lighter moment with Courtney Eng of Simon Fraser University
Judges, teams participants and coaches helping themselves to the wonderful spread of dinner buffet
University of Mannheim sharing a conversation with Vestas CIO, Mr Torben Bonde
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Vestas CIO Torben Bonde made a closing address and shared his comments for the excellent presentations he had seen. The intense moments of announcing the winners soon arrived…
WST Consulting (University of Mannheim, Germany) won the 3rd place. Each member of the team walked away with an Apple iPod Touch sponsored by IDA.
Innova Consulting (Simon Fraser University, Canada) clinched the 1st Runner-up trophy. Each member won a limited edition Vestas Lego Wind Turbine (kindly sponsored by Vestas) and a Nintendo Wii (proudly sponsored by IDA).
Idea Factory (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark) won the inaugural APEX Global Championship. They also won the Team Coaches' Choice Award and Theis Malmborg (center) also won the Best Presenter award. Each member walked with an Asus EEE PC network sponsored by Vestas and a Micrsoft Office 2007 suite.
APEX Global 2009 culminated in the crowning of the winners and it had been a wonderful journey for the student organizers and team hosts from SMU. We hope to see all participating universities back again in APEX Global 2010 Business IT Case Competition next year and we would like to thank all of you for your great support. See you next year!