Charles E. Dudley

I help large, established enterprises as well as newer ventures (startups and growth-stage) holistically detect and remove or overcome obstacles to profitable growth. This is sometimes done by examining and refining strategy, sometimes by identifying, roadmapping, and standing up needed operational capabilities and more effective overall business design, and sometimes by challenging and overhauling measurement and intelligence tools, methods, and policies, always striving for maximum alignment of these three domains.

I have served companies active in financial services, energy generation, transmission and distribution, competitive supply and marketing companies, energy efficiency specialists, and various software and service vendors. My list of clients and employers includes some of the best-known utilities and financial institutions in America. I have also been very active with startups and mid-sized companies in a variety of industries.

Expertise

Vision and Strategy Formulation and Transformation Leadership

I have extensive experience crafting strategy and facilitating strategic decisions and actions within large companies and smaller ventures. Some of the services I offer in Strategy and Business Architecture are as follows:

• Strategy Formulation and Evaluation
• Strategic Capability Identification, Gap Assessment, and Planning
• Architectural Roadmap Formulation
• Viable Vision (Product/Service/Unrefusable Offer and Portfolio Development)
• Acquisition Target Selection, Evaluation, and Valuation
• M&A Integration

From the direct application of traditional strategy and valuation frameworks (such as Porter, Aaker, and Copeland) to the use of holistic approaches to strategy (e.g. Goldratt, Ackoff/Gharajedaghi, and Forrester/Senge), I always seek to connect strategic opportunities with capabilities in a bi-directional fashion. 

Enterprise, Business, and Solution Architecture Methods and Practice

A broad toolset and deep consulting experience in operational business design are my main advantages in identifying and overcoming barriers to top performance. The following are some ways I help firms achieve alignment between strategy and operational activity:

• Detailed business architecture planning and roadmapping, including diagrams, narratives, visuals, and timelines
• Process definition and improvement, from conceptual design to detailed modeling (UML, BPMN2.0, and/or ArchiMate)
• Process definition and improvement, from conceptual design to detailed modeling (UML, BPMN2.0, and/or ArchiMate)
• Functional Requirements Engineering and Prioritization: the translation of business needs into system functionality
• Database ERD / Logical Data Modeling
• Project and Program Management
• Constraint Management, Continuous Improvement / Lean / Six Sigma

The conversion of Strategy into action is both critical and often faulty. Systems thinking helps to focus effort and attention on the things that matter the most for direct revenue and cost impacts. Design tools and skills allow me to precisely define and communicate the changes needed to remove obstacles to better results. 

Analytics and Business Intelligence Strategy and Implementation

My value as a business intelligence and analytics professional stems largely from the large part of my career I have spent performing the kinds of analyses needed in large and small firms, spanning multiple subject areas. My entire career has involved quantitative performance measurement of one form or another. My services in this domain are as follows:

• Analytics / Business Intelligence Systems Design and Implementation
  • Dashboard, visualization, and report design (using the methods of Kimball and others)
  • Conceptual and logical data model design
  • Data governance
  • Experience developing for Tableau, Business Objects, Cognos, Microstrategy, OBIEE, among others
• The design and execution of complex quantitative models and simulations (using Excel, VB programming, statistical packages, Analytica, and a variety of other tools)
• Performance Measurement and Management (including Balanced Scorecard and Throughput Accounting)
• Valuation, Financial Analysis, and Business Case Development

I design analytics and business intelligence that inform strategy and operations. The tools I design are expressly created to expose aspects of the business, whether strategic or tactical, having the greatest impacts on performance. This focuses attention on what to change, which is often the hardest question to answer.

Background and Credentials