Transcript Course Outline

Deploying IT resources
(MIS 533)
MBS in Management Information Systems and
Managerial Accounting Systems
(2006 / 2007)
Fergal Carton
Business Information Systems
Last week
• Depuy J&J case
– Global Supply Chain competence
– Consignment stock model, not invoiced till consumed
– Triggers to inventory consumption / replenishment?
• Basic flows of information
• Collaboration / conflict
– Production vs. quality
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• Reliable Common Grammar
– Revenue
– Production
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• Integration
MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
This week
• Key benefits of ERP
• What is integration
• Integration examples
– Hans project
• Integration downsides
– Integration impact on decision making
• Resource issues with ERP implementation
– Business
– Project
– Technical
MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
Key benefits of ERP?
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Single point of data entry (PO’s, SO’s, …)
Inventory control
Opportunity to re-design business processes
Single technical platform (support)
Common language, common pool of data
Sales
Shipping
Collect cash
MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
What does integration mean?
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All users access the application via a web browser
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Information can shared between different parts of the
business
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Users follow the same training programme
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The data is stored in an array of database tables
MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
What does integration mean?
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Hardware
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Software
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iPhone (PDA + phone + media player)
Car engine (self diagnostics, GPS, …)
Printer + scanner + photocopiers + fax
VLSI: inetgration of different circuits onto one chip
Outlook (Email + Calendar + Contacts)
MS .net development suite (front-end tools, programming,
connectivity wizards)
Google (browser + content management)
Adobe (document and workflow)
Data
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Inventory and Sales need access to Product file
Engineering and planning need access to BOM
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Integration example: Bank branch
• Look at design and setup of bank branch
– What does integration mean in a bank
perspective?
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Customer services
Customer data
Transaction processing
Data model
• How should usage increase of the lowest
cost channel (internet), while
complementing face to face services?
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Integration example: inventory
Supplier
Plan, buy
Deliver
Make
Customer
Bill of materials
Raw materials
Finished goods
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Hans project
• Integration points?
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Sales
Production planning
Manufacturing
Distribution
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Integration downsides
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Response times
Vulnerability: single point of failure
Limitations on expansion
Dependence on single vendor
Flexibility to change system
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Access to basic information is complicated
MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
A distribution view of systems
• Because we’re going on our merry way,
making decisions, and we don’t realise that
the information we are looking at is 2, 3
hours old. And it just causes havoc because
people then physically go to do something
and they’re like, what drives? The drives,
they’re showing on the system, they should
be right there! I tell ya, I just went out there,
there’s nothing there! Wait a minute!
MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
A manufacturing view of
distribution
• The kind of thing that we would sometimes
like them to do, would be, to take the
product, that mightn’t be the easiest to work
on, but if they were to wait one or two days,
there might be a product coming through
that might be more suitable.
MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
Integration example: Bank branch
• Look at design and setup of bank branch
– What does integration mean in a bank
perspective?
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Customer services
Customer data
Transaction processing
Data model
MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
ERP projects: resources required
Technical
Functional analysts
Application expert
DBA’s / Sys Admin
Project
Business process
Project team
Process leads
Project Managers
Users / power users
User management
Steering Committee
MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
ERP projects: resources required
Technical
Functional analysts
Application expert
DBA’s / Sys Admin
Software vendor
Hardware vendor
Project
Business process
Project team
Process leads
Project Managers
Users / power users
User management
Steering Committee
Systems Integrator
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Resources : Financial Controller
• Having seconded the AP manager to the project for 18
months …
– Just after go-live, lost the AP manager
– Basic functionality missing
• Statutory reports for countries
• Unmatched receiver report
• arguments over Break-Fix vs. Enhancement
– Lost understanding of why things were done in a certain way
• Knowledge of application
• Knowledge of business processes in the US
– Worse: lost ability to get things fixed!
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Prioritisation of SIRs (System Investigation Requests)
Reports written by end-users (eg. AP Manager)
Local IS or global IS now working to gobal requirements
Can’t customise the application
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Resources : process
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Process lead
Functional analyst
Power users
Application specialist
Users
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Process issues …
• Ensuring key process issues are resolved
• Do we invoice customers on shipment or on delivery?
• Who should open the new accounting period for Purchasing?
• Receivables are coming through from a legacy system, but it’s
impossible to identify the country of origin
• Sales orders being received in Euros are giving “Unrecognised
currency” errors and halting the interface job
• Currency exchange rates updated during month and skewing
month-end results, who should troubleshoot?
• Revenue from Professional Services is having to be manually
shipped at month-end : no legacy system
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Resources : project
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Project Team Lead
Process Leads
Project Managers
Functional Co-ordinators
Steering Committee
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MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
Project issues
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Availability of team members / users
Decision making processes
Developing workarounds
Timeline too tight to allow resolution of issues
Massive learning curve for team
Expectation management
Retaining ownership of process related decisions
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Resources : Technical (data)
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Data clean-up team
Data conversion team
Data conversion programmer
Legacy data team
Data quality testing and maintenance
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PPARS project
• Governance
• Complexity
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Job title
Responsibilities
No payscale
Bonuses
Overtime
Link roster to payroll?
• Resources
• Business process change, not system issue
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Data issues …
• Getting and maintaining clean data
– When creating a new customer, who has
control?
– 42 occurrences of Siemens in your customer
database, what do you do?
– Customers exist in ERP core database, but also
in several legacy systems. How do you make
sure they are in synch?
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Resources : Technical (IT ops)
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Database administrator
Systems administrator
Operators : core apps
Server operators
Storage technicians
HelpDesk
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Database issues …
• Guaranteeing “high availability”
• How often should Test be refreshed?
• How many environments should I have
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Test
Production
Development
Training
Business Simulation
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• If I implement a change to Production, do I need to implement
the same change across all environments?
• 20 programmers developing / testing new code every day: how
do I track releases to production?
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Systems admin issues …
• Ensuring system access for users
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New users
Changes to existing profiles
System downtime for maintenance
Forcing users out of system
Tracking source of corrupt data to user profile
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MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
HelpDesk issues …
• Calls arriving at HelpDesk are either :
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Forgotten password
New user
Changes to user profile
Printing problems
Connectivity problems
Response time problems
System crashes
System error messages
PC problems
I need more training
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MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources
HelpDesk issues …
• …or :
• Functionality questions (how do I transact an
invoice?)
• Process questions (when should I post to GL?)
• Reporting (I need a revenue report)
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Project handover to HelpDesk
• Prior to go-live, implement procedures for :
– Logging calls such that it will be routed to the right person and
tracked, reported on and escalated
– Training for HelpDesk to be able to ask the right questions
concering an application issue
– Troubleshooting application issues to be able to deal with simple
“fixes”
– Ongoing consultation with application team regarding new
functionality being rolled out, common errors, planned outages, …
MBS (MIMAS) / MIS533 / Deploying IT Resources