Implementing New Business Systems

Introduction

Many organizations are reviewing business practices and upgrading information technology (IT/ICT).The need to achieve a smooth system implementation, free of omissions and delays, is obvious for successful business management.

Unfortunately, past implementation exercises may not have gone smoothly. Many staff will know of situations that have become folklore within the organization.

Sometimes, departments/business units have suffered a loss of credibility that has affected their reputation for months or years. Whilst a smooth and error free implementation can never be guaranteed, particularly where new technology is involved, there are processes and actions that can maximize the positives and minimize the problems.

Factors that need to be considered include

The extent and complexity of the change;

The availability of staff for the extra work and time involved;

Staff skills and experience in implementing change, particularly technological change.

Changes, particularly those involving technology, are intensive users of resources. As resources are scarce in most organizations, special attention is required. Effective control in day-to-day administration is essential. Consequently, control is critical when complementing changes.

A difficulty experienced by some organizations has been the loss of historical knowledge and experience caused by the turnover of staff. Whilst new staff or outsourced suppliers may have mastered the normal day-to-day running of the system, they may not have had any experience in implementing changes. Sometimes this means that staff does not know the assumptions and quirks built into the system. When change is contemplated, these assumptions need to be reviewed. This is very difficult when you do not know that they are there- System documentation may be of assistance, but many have difficulty reading such documents. Extensive testing of the new system is essential in this type of environment. Software upgrades of proprietary systems can sometimes require an upgrade of the operating system/network software to the latest or later version. This may even require upgrades/ replacement of computer and network hardware. These combinations increase the complexity dramatically, as interfaces between the various components may cause operational problems. Extensive testing of the new system is essential in this type of environment.

Added to the factors discussed above are the normal time and budget constraints faced by most organizations. Budgets may have considered the capital costs involved with the new system implementation. Often, the additional time requirements are not. This particularly occurs in contract environments, where staff numbers have been trimmed to the extent that extras’ cannot be accommodated. Sometimes the contract has not considered the impact of system changes. Extra costs, particularly for outsourced suppliers, may be incurred by the organization.

System implementations can be tied to specific dates. If these dates are missed, additional effort can be required e.g. running the ‘old’ system, then having to transfer the same data to the ‘new’ system. A planned approach is essential to system implementation. Well-planned projects consistently demonstrate significant time savings and cost containment because of appropriate project management.

Once the planning is done, the implementation process can be executed smoothly. The steps in the process include organizing for implementation, developing procedures for implementation, training the users, acquiring hardware and software, developing forms for data collection, developing files for storage of data, testing the system, cutover, and documenting the system.

The implementation process should be followed by evaluation of the implementation. The MIS can be evaluated for the efficiency with which the allocated resources are utilized in the development/implementation and the effectiveness of its usage after the implementation. Typically, there are challenges galore in implementing the MIS.

The top management’s commitment toward the MIS implementation is the strongest defense that can be built up against all these challenges. The top management’s support helps the organization to win over the different challenges and problems that can surface during the implementation.

Implementation should be viewed as a process that carries out the operational plans developed at the end of the IS planning process. The implementation process is a major stage that follows the investigation, analysis, and design stages of the systems development process. Implementation involves a variety of activities as shown in Figure.