With many users to support it is important to find a way to deliver
standardisation across the desktop and related facilities
"We currently have a wide variety of hardware and software on
the desktops across the regional offices of our national
organisation, and are encounting all the problems this senario
brings. In addition, our organisation supports a substantial number
of home and mobilie workers. We are looking to standardise and
introduce a "technology refresh programme" for the desktop. What
strategy should we set in place for developing an effective,
appropriate programme?"Secure commitment from the community to influence the
management
Alan Murtagh
Principal Consultant, Crew Services
There are several things to bear in mind when trying to get your
users to move and stick to a fairly standard desktop and related
facilities and services. There's a whole organisational dynamic to
be dealt with if your plan is to achieve real business benefit and
not ruin the credibility of IS. "My PC is my territory," manuy
users think. "I organised these local mission-critical apps because
I couldn't get any sense out of the IS department. I am an
engineer. I'm at the sharp end."
So, what's the strategy for dealing with such an attitude? There
are a number of key components.
First, get your own thoughts together on the business case, not
the IS case. Frame and quantify reasons in terms of benefits to
users and the business in general.
Secondly, use this information as the basis for workshopping the
issue with key user representatives to gain ownership of the
standardisation process and to get the stakeholders on board. When
faced with the incontrovertible business benefits of "real
management" of this arena, even the most fervent IT-bailter will
find it hard to resist.
Incidentally, do not attempt to go zealously for total
standardisation - it won't work.) Thirdly, having some "pull" from
the user community, take your proposals to the board and seek its
endorsement of the move as part of company policy.
Fourth, get a high-profile business sponsor and with this
individual and a small selection of your key stakeholders, start
designing your strategy. Finally, take the strategy, (with
business-focused objectives) to your board, aided and abetted by
your business sponsor and an influential user. This is not just to
convince the board but to secure the commitment of the business
community to carrying out the company policy and strategy that it
is about to endorse.
That said, remember that your strategy must have a route for
exceptions and the capacity for anticipating and acting on
necessary change.
I must find a way to cut our IT budget by 10% per annum over
the next three years to save the department from being completely
outsourced. I can't see the wood from the trees. Has anyone got any
ideas to help me find the answer to what seems and impossible
demand?"
Long-term thin-client savings can keep threat of outsourcing
off the agenda
Eric Grayson
Vice-president Europe, NCD
You need to look at your existing infrastructure in terms of
costs. By moving to a server-centric computing environmentyou can
reduce total cost of ownership by about 20%-plus per annum, based
on Gartner total cost of ownership studies. Support, management and
maintenance are the three main areas where costs can be
reduced.
The thin-client approach offers a way of delivering familiar
applications to the desktop at a reduced cost, both at the point of
purchase and over a prolonged period. This is partly due to the
fact that a large number of current PC users simply do not need the
power of a PC and can manage with something much simpler on the
desktop.
In terms of initial outlay, it should't be too painful as you
can now buy software that will make PCs run as thin-clients. This
is a starting point. As your PCs become obsolete, you can replace
them with thin-client Windows-based terminals. You may also need to
beef up your server, maybe upgrade it to Windows 2000. This would
still mean tremendous savings in the long term.
"I've just taken up the post of IT director in an
organisation where the IT department seized control of the
corporate Web presence some time ago. I'm a strong believer in the
need for the business to take control of e-business and am not
comfortable with the state of affairs I have inherited. How can I
offload ownership onto the business without denting my
credibility?"
E-business should be everyones' business if the firm is to
prosper
Alistair O'Reilly,
Managing Director, Access Accounting
There is no question of "off-loading" ownership of e-strategy
onto the business. If your company is to survive - let alone
prosper - then your e-strategy must have full sponsorship from the
top of your organisation and must be embraced by every
department.
E-business is more than just another form of marketing. It is a
new way of doing business marketing that must happily co-exist and
fully integrate with your current business methods. For most
organisations e-business starts small as a cost burden, quickly
grows to be cost-justified and then produces substantial returns as
it accelerates throughout all aspects of the business.
E-business must be driven and owned by the board as a whole. The
IT and marketing departments will certainly be involved, but
alongside every other department - not in place of any other
department.
Forthcoming Questions
- "I'm reading more and more about electronic "marketplaces" or
"exchanges", and their power to streamline procurement procedures,
cut costs and reduce invantory lists. What exactly is involved in
joining one of these exchanges and would we derive any benefit from
setting up our own, or would I risk squandering scarce resources on
what could be little more that e-business hype?
- I am IT director in a large organisation that has for a long
time been a MIcrosoft "shop". I have been following recent
developments in the US Department of Justice case with a mixture of
interest and apprehension. What impact, if any, will the break up
of Microsoft have on my work and my department? Should I be
reconsidering any aspect of my desktop strategy as a result of the
case?
- After a honeymoon period, one of my preferred contractor
suppliers is no longer delivering the goods. Is this their fault,
or should I be making my longer-term systems direction and resource
planning more transparent to htem so that they can anticipate my
needs? Put simply, what can I do to manage better my relationship
with my resourcing partner?
- I am considering turing to an application service provider for
rental of applications. I am wary, however, of ending up with a
vanilla solution that leaves me unable to differentiate from my
competitors. Is this a fair appraisal of the impact the ASP model
has on one's IT strategy?
How it works
Each week our panel of experts draw on their specialist
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