After reading the case about Bombardier and their journey of implementing a new ERP system, my initial reaction was one that was overwhelmed and excited at the same time. Bombardier is a huge company that operates multiple facet of business, mostly focusing on aerospace. But whenever the description of all the different business processes that are included with launched and new ERP system to a company so large, I almost wanted to start my own business that competes with Bombardier because it seemed almost impossible to make the change. That was the overwhelmed part of me. All the data quality issues and technical difficulties are one thing, but the general philosophy of any business changes upon an implemetation of such a scale and this is not to mention the trickle down effect that the new system has on employees that were once comfortable and now are in disarray.
That's where the excited part comes about. Being that I am involved in the e-learning enviroment. In the case, it is mentioned that the training modules developed for employees "provided too much information in a short period of time." This is where my skills and confidence as a teacher start to get tickled because I feel that I could develop lessons that can assist employees in learning new technologies in a cost effective manner. Bombardier hired a third party to develop training material and it seems that they are not content with the services. I am an educator that does not want to be in the classroom and I am obtaining my MBA to get into the business side of education. This gets me excited because it has made me aware that there is opportunity to get into the business side of business education, if you know what I mean. Maybe in the birth of all of this new technology and interconnectivity, the new thing is really going to be training provided for all these new things. IDEAS IDEAS IDEAS!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Accenture Reflection
The group of consultants seemed very well prepared for their presentation and had a very good sense of what they were trying to accomplish. It was a convincing argument and I enjoyed being in the class to observe. It has been a busy month preparing lessons for the startup website that I am working for so I did not have much time to review the case as observed in my initial preparation blog. I feel as I may have been preparing for some other case as I walked in the class.
But when I was observing the group as they presented, I was delightfully surprised that they were dressed well, presented information that I did not just pick up from reading the case, and seemed to present the information in a fluent team-based manner. No wonder why Professor Peterson commented that the bar has been raised. Chances for success are increased and thorough preparation and confident delivery. Good job overall!
But when I was observing the group as they presented, I was delightfully surprised that they were dressed well, presented information that I did not just pick up from reading the case, and seemed to present the information in a fluent team-based manner. No wonder why Professor Peterson commented that the bar has been raised. Chances for success are increased and thorough preparation and confident delivery. Good job overall!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Accenture
After reading the case study on Accenture, my key takeaway is that it was a great decision for Accenture to operate their IT infrastructure as its own segment rather than as a cost center. This might have been a risky decision for the company during the big tech boom of 2001, but all the numbers point to good things. Even though they were not viewing their IT portion of their business as a cost center, the costs of operating their IT structure has significantly decreased and sponsors have become very happy.
I am a little confused on the few options that are being presented and look forward to hearing them debated tonight in class. In my opinion, Accenture has made the right decisions and took the oppurtunity to implement an ERP at a time that has proven to be approriate. I am all for ERP's because I do believe they offer many advantages that companies can take advantage of and other opportunities where they didn't even know existed until the ERP implementation.
I am a little confused on the few options that are being presented and look forward to hearing them debated tonight in class. In my opinion, Accenture has made the right decisions and took the oppurtunity to implement an ERP at a time that has proven to be approriate. I am all for ERP's because I do believe they offer many advantages that companies can take advantage of and other opportunities where they didn't even know existed until the ERP implementation.
Suicide Ubuntu Squeeze
Ubuntu is a word that I was previously unaware of. My professional experience has provided me with the opportunity to work with some of the newest Windows OS's and some of the oldest. Coming from public education, it's rare to have hardware that is even worth upgrading. This goes without saying that people or users are very resistant to change. In some cases, people are not even willing to learn the Apple IOS because they are only familiar with Windows. With this said, trying to place Ubuntu in the conversation with it's two giant predecessors is like saying the NY Mets will win the World Series next year.
Although this is my perspective on inserting a new operating system into the conversation with Windows and Apple, I was very impressed with some aspects of Ubuntu that I realized were superior to the other existing OS's.
The first aspect was that Ubuntu offers comprehensive software updates. In today's computer world, security vulnerabilities are coming from third-party applications, Windows and Mac machines are at significant risk because they run lots of these apps and those apps aren’t always updated automatically, which leaves the machines open to attacks. Ubuntu couteracts this threat by having a centralized repository of applications that continually updates only approved applications. This protects against such threats. I just remember whenever I have had problems with my computers in the past, it has been because I did not keep my operating system completely up-to-date, which left my computer vunerable to viruses and other threats. This alone could be a reason to switch to Ubuntu.
The second aspect that I saw that was quyite appealing was their app store. Applicatios are what is going to drive the success of any OS these days with these fast growth of PDA's and creation of apps that prove to be useful in many aspects. When I was browsing through, I felt it was seemless in a way that compared, if not superceded, the Windows and Apple OS's.
Overall, switching to Ubuntu would prove to be a difficult task for any company because many workers are resistant to change. Are the advantages of Ubuntu great enough for makng the switch for any company? I don't see that yet. I feel it is like telling someone to drink this new and better tasting cola when people think Coke and Pepsi are the superior brands. This is a tough switch.
Although this is my perspective on inserting a new operating system into the conversation with Windows and Apple, I was very impressed with some aspects of Ubuntu that I realized were superior to the other existing OS's.
The first aspect was that Ubuntu offers comprehensive software updates. In today's computer world, security vulnerabilities are coming from third-party applications, Windows and Mac machines are at significant risk because they run lots of these apps and those apps aren’t always updated automatically, which leaves the machines open to attacks. Ubuntu couteracts this threat by having a centralized repository of applications that continually updates only approved applications. This protects against such threats. I just remember whenever I have had problems with my computers in the past, it has been because I did not keep my operating system completely up-to-date, which left my computer vunerable to viruses and other threats. This alone could be a reason to switch to Ubuntu.
The second aspect that I saw that was quyite appealing was their app store. Applicatios are what is going to drive the success of any OS these days with these fast growth of PDA's and creation of apps that prove to be useful in many aspects. When I was browsing through, I felt it was seemless in a way that compared, if not superceded, the Windows and Apple OS's.
Overall, switching to Ubuntu would prove to be a difficult task for any company because many workers are resistant to change. Are the advantages of Ubuntu great enough for makng the switch for any company? I don't see that yet. I feel it is like telling someone to drink this new and better tasting cola when people think Coke and Pepsi are the superior brands. This is a tough switch.
Zara Reflection
After seeing the presentation by the consultants for Zara, I might have changed my mind about what action the executives from Zara must take. In my prior blog, I said that Zara needs to take action immediately because the risk of having their ancient POS system deemed irrelevant.
These were my thoughts before entering class last week, but my suggestions may have been modified after learning some more information about Zara. I do agree that most companies should upgrade their POS and IT systems if they are operating on something that is older than I am, but if the infrastructure of a certain company is not extremely complex, working on a simple and user friendly system can work just fine for what that company needs it for.
I told the story in class of how I was given the opportunity to try and sell a new POS system to liquor stores in Colorado, but I quickly found out that many businesses are not willing to spend the extra cash on a newer system that performs the same operations as their out-dated one. Sure, there are many advantages to all the new POS systems, but is it going to help the business grow and thrive? With Zara, I'm not really sure if they need something new.
If Zara was not operating on DOS, my thoughts would be solidified because there would be no need to upgrade to one of the newer systems. After all, Zara just keeps track of sales and inventory on their current system. I still believe that Zara needs to upgrade to a newer system just because there is no support for DOS available anymore. But if this was not the case, I think this is a situation where "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
The main question that I see coming up frequently in most of these cases is "Are the risks greater than the rewards?" With Zara, the risks may supercede the gain in revenues, so maybe this is actually a do nothing case.
These were my thoughts before entering class last week, but my suggestions may have been modified after learning some more information about Zara. I do agree that most companies should upgrade their POS and IT systems if they are operating on something that is older than I am, but if the infrastructure of a certain company is not extremely complex, working on a simple and user friendly system can work just fine for what that company needs it for.
I told the story in class of how I was given the opportunity to try and sell a new POS system to liquor stores in Colorado, but I quickly found out that many businesses are not willing to spend the extra cash on a newer system that performs the same operations as their out-dated one. Sure, there are many advantages to all the new POS systems, but is it going to help the business grow and thrive? With Zara, I'm not really sure if they need something new.
If Zara was not operating on DOS, my thoughts would be solidified because there would be no need to upgrade to one of the newer systems. After all, Zara just keeps track of sales and inventory on their current system. I still believe that Zara needs to upgrade to a newer system just because there is no support for DOS available anymore. But if this was not the case, I think this is a situation where "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
The main question that I see coming up frequently in most of these cases is "Are the risks greater than the rewards?" With Zara, the risks may supercede the gain in revenues, so maybe this is actually a do nothing case.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)