"I think this is the start of something really big. Sometimes that first step is the hardest one, and we've just taken it." Steve Jobs
The inspiration for what we now do stems from more than twenty years of change management consulting work but it was this last year that was the hardest step – the year when we completed our transition from a consultancy business into the fully fledged software company that is element8.
Re-branding and re-positioning
March saw the re-branding and re-positioning of the business and product to reflect this three year transformation:
- element8 – a dedicated, packaged software business
- xpointTM – collaborative software that accelerates the execution of business change.
For the first time, the tough work of executing business change can be accelerated by xpointTM :
- a collaborative, virtual project space for delivering all types of change
- a live dash-board for business change - what progress has been made, what pressure points demand action?
Rich and market-leading partner community
Throughout 2010 we continued to build the rich and market-leading community of consulting partners and value-added resellers who are central to our success, and whose consulting work we accelerate with the xpointTM platform: Bearing Point, Mott Macdonald, Baxter Neumann, Arcadia. We close 2010 in the middle of signing two further blue-chip partners and look forward to announcing those in Q1 of 2011.
xpointTM in SharePoint 2007
In April we released version 3 of the xpointTM platform, based on SharePoint 2007 and delivering whole new levels of functionality:
- Configurable lifecycles and tools
- Parent-child lifecycle architecture
- Chat and dedicated discussion forums for each project team
- MyZone – a user-centric view on all projects, special interests, etc.
The development team continued their stunning work through the rest of the year, continuing to evolve xpointTM with two further versions released exactly as per the product roadmap.
Logica GIVP runners-up
May 2010 saw element8 recognised in the Logica Global Innovation Venture Partner Programme. This programme focuses on finding partners that can dramatically enhance Logica's business proposition. The Logica assessment panel were suitably impressed and have chosen to work with element's xpointTM platform. We are extremely proud to have achieved this recognition from a broad field of competing companies, and look forward to joint programmes with Logica in 2011.
SCL deployment – dramatic impact
Over the summer we delivered our first major xpointTM version 3 deployment into a leisure services business. The customer, SCL, has nine UK-based sites and required three business change lifecycles:
- Business performance management
- Lean six sigma project delivery
- Quick Wins mini-project delivery
The business impact has been dramatic:
- Cycle time for defining monthly business corrective actions down from 23 to 3 days
- Transformation of the mode of operating for the business leadership team – faster, more decisive, tighter delivery of needed changes.
New Bangalore site and grad team
The summer also saw two key developments within our Bangalore team. Over the past two years our outstanding Development team has grown significantly. The business plans and growth will further extend the team through 2011 and 2012. So, having outgrown our first Bangalore premises, we moved to a new Bangalore site that will accommodate the team over the next two years, and provide an effective working environment as the team grows. In the summer we also kicked-off our first graduate recruitment programme. This has represented a major investment by the business in the development and training of three top graduates from Bangalore Technology Institutes. The new grads recently completed their first projects which will be integrated into the final xpointTM release of 2010.
First Customer Insights event
In November we were proud and extremely pleased to work with SCL on a Customer Insights event that show-cased xpointTM and its business impact to a number of organizations including IBM, UCB, Biomet, and Unit4. It was both a successful and enjoyable evening, and marked the beginning of a Customer Insights Programme we will continue to build through 2011. 'Thank-you' to all the customers and partners who participated in this important first event.
A dramatic year and springboard for 2011
So 2010 has been a dramatic year of development and progress for the element8 team and business:
- Delivering and evolving xpointTM – a dramatic accelerator of business change
- Building the critical partnerships where xpointTM can add value
- Growing our track record of demonstrable customer impact from deployment of xpointTM
Our vision
to dramatically accelerate the execution of business change
continues to be a critical business challenge faced by organisations world-wide. xpointTMremains the only software capable of supporting this business-critical work in a cohesive and demonstrable way. We therefore look forward to 2011 with huge enthusiasm and commitment to delivering transforming business impact across the market.