Case Study 1 International Case Study The selection of IT Pl

Case Study 1: International Case Study -The selection of IT Platform: Enterprise System Implementation in the NZ Health Board (Copy of the case under - Assignment on Bb). Short summary submission of the case study highlighting the main points and answering questions 1 - 4, at the end of the case study. Describe the NZ Health Board and the environment in which it operates. Why did it need a new enterprise system? Discuss the pros and cons of selecting Oracle 11 i ERP applications and Windows NT for the operating system for the Health Board\'s new enterprise system. Why were there performance problems with the new system? What management, technology and organizational factors were involved? What should James Keen do to solve these problems so that the new enterprise system is successful?

Solution

Summary:

The Health Board is one of the largest public health care providers in New Zealand (NZ). A supply chain optimization review recommended an enterprise system (ES) implementation to provide better control and reporting of organizational finances. The focus of this case is the IT platform decision made in conjunction with the ES implementation process. This decision was thoroughly considered by all Health Board stakeholders and the final choice was made in alignment with the Board’s strategic IT policy. Nevertheless, initial testing two months prior to go-live revealed major performance problems with the new system. The case documents the events that led up to the selection of the original IT platform and the challenges the project team faced in deciding what to do when the platform did not meet contractual specifications.

1. The NZ Health board is a non-profit orangization and works towards providing public hospitals and health services. Here are the reasons why they nee new ERS applications?

• It will increase operational efficiency

• It will help managers to make faster and better decisions

• It will standardize and coordinate important business processes

• It will help create a platform which will help the Board to enter into external shared services with other local health providers

2. Pros of selecting Oracle 11i ERP applications and Windows NT:

• Windows NT as the underlying platform abides to their policy.

• The IT proffesional are already trained in the technology.

• Further upgrades in near future are not needed.

• Latest software typically has more features (web enabled)

Cons of selecting Oracle 11i ERP applications and Windows NT:

• Presence of untested software

• Beta testers

• Consulting company had no experience with Oracle 11i

• “Bleeding edge vs. Leading edge” Technology – Bleeding edge technology signifies technology that is extremely new, to the extent of risking both reliability and productivity for the end-user.

3.Two months before going live, the performance test showed that there were unacceptable delays in data processing.beacuse the relationship between the software (Oracle 11i) and the operating system (Windows NT) was not well analyzed.

Management – Organizational – Technology Reasons for this:

• Management: – Oracle : S/W provider, Oracle 11i – Vendor : NT OS on IBM computers – ConsultCo : Consulting company responsible for implementation. Ignoring the suggesetion made by Oracle that a prior experience implementing Oracle 11i applications on an NT platform is needed.

• Organization: – Choice of IT platform(Unix/NT) - NT was the standard IT platform – Cost of OS and H/W. , Saved them money due to lower TCO (total cost of ownership). Existing staff expertise, integrate application across uniform platform.

• Technology: – Oracle 11i was just released,no evidence of how the application would perform in either platform. Unix was recommended. New software releases are never bug free until they are validated by users, hence the beta testing was required.

4. There are two ways in which this problem may be solved:

•Switch to UNIX- but this may take a considerable amout of time and effort. And also have to figure out whether Windows NT was the problem.

•Stay with WindowsNT-  As the system has to go live in two months, and data processing was showed substantial delays with Windows NT platform , it may cause an increase in cost.

Suggested Solution in lines of staying with Windows NT:

• Set up or increase contingency funds if necessary.

• Organize a new project team, and it must include all the vendors.

• Assign Oracle as the main implementation party.

• Get the end users involve on the test link and obtain feedbacks for improvements• Prepare a backup plan in advance.