Why Dexter

All enterprises, large and small, implement business process. These are the repeated actions performed behind the scenes in order to deliver a product or service. Large enterprises may execute the same processes hundreds, thousands, or millions of times per month. Ultimately, their profitability turns on how well and how efficiently they are executed.

Great companies are constantly evaluating and tweaking their business processes in an effort to improve their operational and financial performance. To manage processes they need systems, but they also need systems that are flexible enough to support the constant tweaking and improvements that lead to increased performance.

Dexter has found a niche helping companies do this. We develop products with an open architecture and using an agile development style that supports change. We help companies in two ways:

• By developing custom line of sight solutions
• By developing customer automated workflow systems

If you're reading this page, chances are your company has had trouble adapting legacy business processes to external changes. Please read on.

  Line of Sight

Most companies have executive dashboards with key performance indicators (KPI) that enable executives to get a high level picture of operational performance.   We think that's great.

But people in the chain-of-command need a more granular view.   These are the people responsible for managing and executing the business processes. They may like KPIs, but also need the ability to drill down through multiple levels of data and see what's driving them.

When we ask managers what they need to improve performance, their frequent answer is: "I need timely and detailed visibility about my processes.  If I can't see it and measure it, I can't move forward."

Dexter develops reporting systems that automatically collect gigabytes of data.   We process it, aggregate it, run algorithms on it, and provide point and click user interfaces so users can visualize it.  And when it's all packaged together, we call it a line of sight solution.

A line of sight is when the whole chain of command can quickly point and click and see process data in the way they need to see it.

Managers are responsibile for providing answers up the chain-of-command.   And executives want factual answers, not "seat of the pants" guesstimates.   Line of sight solutions measure business processes and enable you to run your business based on fact.

  Workflow Systems

Line-of-sight solutions are most often reporting solutions.   A Dexter workflow solution starts with line of sight and goes one step further - it adds functionality.

A business process often has multiple steps in which people share information, make decisions, give approval, negotiate with others, or otherwise move the process along.   The sequence of steps is the workflow.

We develop web based solutions that automatically collect business process data, and then allow users to point, click, and take action.   For example,

• sending notifications
• giving approvals
• triggering updates to other systems
• allocating resources
• providing instructions
• indicating jeopardy or completion status
• confirming appointments

Each action is time-stamped and written to an audit trail that provides a foundation for process analysis and performance improvement.

Our solutions are industrial strength, often scaling up to thousands of users.   Users are assigned roles and given permission to access only the information they need to see.

Employees of great companies are productive - and they're productive because their resources are focused on the important tasks - not the menial office work of the last century.   A Dexter workflow solution automates menial tasks and enables your workforce to focus on the high value added aspects of the business process.

  Improving Operational Performance

Large enterprises may execute the same processes hundreds or many thousands of times per month. The efficiency and quality of this execution often determines the profitability of enterprise. Smart companies are continuously measuring, reviewing and improving their processes because they know it leads to enhanced competiveness and profitability.

Dexter believes all executives and process owners should be familiar with some type of process improvement methodology. (We suggest the PDCA methodology popularized by Edward Deming. Six Sigma is another.)

Inherent in all these methodologies is the concept of process measurement. The concept is based on the adage, "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it." In the context of white-collar business processes, we suggest "If you can't track it, you can't improve it."

Dexter helps companies collect, translate, format, and visualize performance data. We developed an expertise in building custom line of sight systems that enable you to track your process performance.

  Seasoned Workforce

Dexter System's workforce is comprised of seasoned industry experts. In fact, the average Dexter employee has 16 years of experience in either the telecom or information technology sector. Because of this, our guys don't need every last detail spelled out for them. Rather than requiring lengthy, detailed specifications, they can help our clients determine what they need and actually help them write the specifications.

Dexter employees have a stake in their company success and that of their clients as well. The average annual employee turnover rate at Dexter is only 2.35%, and the team has an average of nearly ten years with the company. This means that, in most cases, the original developers stay involved with their projects throughout their lifecycle, not just in the initial development phase. If you need support years down the road, the guys who built it will be there to help you.

  Domain Expertise

The telecom industry mandates the highest standards for software performance. Because of our extensive experience in this field, Dexter brings a core of highly modular software, along with the design and development practices necessary to deliver robust and highly scalable custom applications.