Cognitive Technologies Adjusts Course to Meet IT Clients' Needs
Austin, TX, June 1, 2009. Cognitive Technologies -- a consulting firm founded in 1987 by Dr. Karen McGraw to improve the success of technology projects by focusing on the intersection of people and technology - today announces that Dr. McGraw has returned to the position of CEO to help broaden the company's strategic vision and bring a more comprehensive approach to improving IT projects. Former CEO Bruce McGraw has moved into the role of executive vice president and is leading the consulting operations.
"As the founder, I'm uniquely aligned with Cognitive Technologies' core values," stated Dr. McGraw. "Not only have I defined and designed the products and services that we offer, but I know who we are as a company, what we do well, and what solutions are best for our clients."
With Dr. McGraw as CEO, Cognitive Technologies is once again classified as a woman-owned business. This distinction allows the company to be recertified for the benefit of government and corporate clients who are encouraged to use women- and minority-owned contractors and services. Cognitive Technologies works extensively with clients in the government space, including the Department of Education and the Department of Treasury. The woman-owned business designation will further Cognitive's work in this space.
While in recent years Cognitive Technologies has focused primarily on project and program management, it is now formally broadening its scope under Dr. McGraw's leadership to provide an experience that integrates cognitive principles with proven skills and processes. This more comprehensive approach includes services in the following key areas:
- Project and Program Management, including PMO strategy, implementation and support, resource management, and project review and recovery.
- Business Process, including business systems analysis, business process reengineering, and business process development and implementation.
- Organizational Effectiveness, including collaborative portals and knowledge management, organizational change management, and human performance analysis and improvement.
"Just implementing IT in the workplace isn't enough to see true return on investment (ROI). People and processes really need to precede technology in order for it to succeed," said Dr. McGraw. "And it's not enough to produce studies and binders that end up on a client's shelf. We collaborate with our clients to create workable solutions that solve real business problems and produce measurable results."
"We've developed a national reputation in business process methodology and the improvement of organizational effectiveness. I authored key components of the Performance DNA methodology that the American Society for Training and Development teaches in their human performance improvement certification program," Dr. McGraw explained. "I also co-developed the Human Capital Capability Scorecard, which measures how well organizations are managing and using their human capital to produce business results."
This newly defined directive for Cognitive Technologies coincides with a new ProLaunch™ implementation service in strategic partnership with Journyx, the first company to provide Web-based time-tracking, project accounting and resource management solutions that guide customers to per-person, per-project profitability. Cognitive Technologies' ProLaunch service provides the processes, training, and configurations needed to track time and resources for Microsoft® projects using Journyx ProjectXecute™. Speeding implementation through ProLaunch raises adoption and ROI of ProjectXecute by helping at the front end, before problems arise.
About Cognitive Technologies
Cognitive Technologies, Inc. (www.cognitive-technologies.com) is a consulting firm specializing in project management, collaborative processes, and organizational effectiveness. Cognitive delivers appropriate solutions to improve the performance of business units through the application of expertise in projects, people and technology. Visit our blog at www.fearnoproject.com.