UK-based tobacco firmBritish American Tobacco(BAT) has
developed a corporate-wide ITsystem to monitor the performance of its
managers.
The TalenT system allows managers and their bosses to agree and
monitor the progress of tasks and goals for the year - crucial to
pay awards and promotions.
BAT developed TalenT web portal on SAP's human resources
software using SAP's Netweaver application development tools. The
software runs on servers in Frankfurt and Singapore.
Brian Lane, BAT's technology manager, said the Java-based
application went live on 30 November 2007 in a "big bang" roll-out.
"We went live at 4pm and at 4.01pm we sent e-mails to 12,000
managers giving them their new usernames and passwords that they
were able to use immediately to access the system," he said.
BAT developed TalenT to replace a similar application based on
Peoplesoft software. It replaced a Juniper DX network acceleration
device with a device from F5. The F5 device allowed BAT to boost
application performance and provided secure access to staff across
more than 50 countries.
Clean data
Lane said the biggest challenge was getting clean data,
especially usernames and e-mail addresses, into the system. He also
had to fix a "niggly" problem with the way the F5 device handled a
Java script that meant some users sometimes had to abandon their
Internet Explorer sessions and restart the application.
BAT resolved it with the help of London-based network security
company ITC, which was responsible for the F5 installation.
Lane is now rolling out a self-service human resources system
based on SAP that allows staff and managers to enter and manage
their personal data and activities online. The system is live in
the UK and Malaysia, and will roll out to the rest of BAT over the
next 18 to 24 months.