I was initially brought on-site as a consultant for a 27-facility healthcare management organisation and given the task of developing an infrastructure that would support the company's needs.
My first visit to the hub room--which was no bigger than a phone closet--should have rung warning bells in my head. The room was empty except for a large pile of dirt, dust, and trash.
My network implementation specialist and I were truly taken aback by this, since we were to begin server installation within the week. While the mess in the "hub room" wouldn't prevent the installation, there appeared to be a bigger stumbling block--a frame relay line apparently hadn't been established back to the central office at the consulting firm for the connection to the AS400 and MS4 application.
A company manager quickly assured me that the computer room would be cleaned, and I was able to determine that a 128K-frame connection was in place, just not labelled, and the local telco could rectify that immediately.
The next site visit proved more fruitful. We established our router connection and set up the SNA server. We then began to set up the database server and Citrix server for the nursing home application that my company was providing. We established connectivity for two hospitals and set up SNA servers for both. This provided the first client/server connectivity for all three locations.
We also established connectivity to the company's many nursing homes through a 56K frame network across three states. The ASP handled almost everything for the company.
Due to its limited knowledge of IT systems, the company was completely at the mercy of the ASP. During the project work, I moved from consultant to project manager and then to acting CIO for the healthcare firm. It was at this point that I faced resolving issues related to past IT decisions.
Taking the helm
While the consulting and ASP efforts cost the company millions of dollars, I certainly knew I wasn't going to have a million-dollar IT budget to run with. In fact, my CEO quickly informed me that the huge infrastructure investment had depleted all of the IT department's budgeted resources, except for the salaries for a network administrator, a field technician, and me. There was money for the monthly fees for MS4 and frame relay lines, but very little money for new PCs or any network improvements.
I was a bit daunted, but I believe the one place you should pay the price is in your staff, since solutions are tied to having quality staff.
I hired a longtime friend and coworker as my network administrator. Jim had an MCSE and a Novell CNE as well as years of experience with network systems in the Navy and in civilian life. He had the ability to provide remote management and service for our many locations.
I hired a local technician I had been working with through a local computer company. Mike is an excellent desktop technician who stays current on new OSs and applications as well as tools to work with these desktops.
It was my job to handle AS400 tasks and manage the relationship between the ASP and the company. I'd also handle vendor relationships, purchasing, and contract negotiations. I developed the policies and procedures documents for the IT department.
At this point, I began to create and develop a formal IT strategy.
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