When Commonwealth Bank managing director David Murry mounted the podium at the World Congress on IT in Adelaide in February this year - and criticised the IT sector for not delivering on promised efficiency savings - the industry braced itself for a corporate customer backlash.

While whisperings about cost blowouts and efficiency expectations shortfalls are rife thanks to disclosure clauses and corporate confidence, rarely does the frustration bubble so dangerously to the surface.

Corporate software PR went into overdrive, as vendors clambered for the opportunity to explain why their particular product was not subject to the shortcomings Murry targeted in his criticisms.

However, the last thing the industry needed was more hype. With IDC forecasting modest growth in the software spend in 2002, up 9.6 percent to AU$2712 million, the emphasis within the enterprise sector remains firmly on products that can deliver a tangible return on investment.

While there is no magic bullet to guarantee the success of a particular implementation, ZDNet Australia has sought out some of the more successful software implementations in an attempt to identify those elements which contribute to the most effective corporate rollouts.

Killing the giants

When it comes to failed implementation horror stories, it is often easier to pick on the largest and slowest moving corporate integrations. Anything enterprise-wide will do. Not only do millions of dollars hang in the balance, the projects are intensely complex, and even if the projects deliver as expected, their "improvements to efficiency" are generally equated with staff cut backs.

In an attempt to address the problems arising from the sheer size of enterprise-wide applications, most high-end vendors have effectively compartmentalised their offerings, and are gradually implementing modules rather than overall solutions.

John Haynes, business relationship manager for IT services at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, is in the midst of just such an implementation.

The aim of the project was to connect a series of disparate administration systems and cut back on operating costs. Launched in 1999, the project saw SAP software gradually rolled out across the university, focussing administration on a single platform and making the costly internal mailing system virtually redundant.

"Previously, any time something was ordered into the uni, it had to be mailed to the finance department, so the internal mailing systems would have carried something in the vicinity of 90,000 to 100,000 documents at any given time," Haynes says.

The other major area of savings Haynes points to is the increased efficiency which comes from cleaner and more readily updateable databases.

"We are looking at a casual workforce of roughly 3000 to 4000 and it becomes virtually impossible to keep a track of where they are living using paper-based methods," says Haynes. "Our staff databases literally went from being about 80 percent accurate, to around 99 percent, which produces savings far beyond what you can simply calculate."

Haynes admits the repercussions on staffing are a terribly sensitive issue, but pointed out that in a loosely federated organisational structure such as RMIT, it was important to allow separate departments time to pick up on any changes.

"I also find out as much as I can about the consultants participating in the integration process," Haynes says. "Sometimes you will get three or four proposals from different vendors all referring to the same two or three consultants - so you soon recognise the big names in the industry."

However, both the vendor and the customer were adamant that the ongoing success of the RMIT project has as much to do with the project management as it does with the technology itself.

SAP Australia's marketing and alliances director, Len Augustine, believes the level of customer participation in the rollout of a new technology at every stage is the key to successful implementations.

"What sets projects like RMIT apart is the level of customer involvement in the integration process, and the sense of ownership they feel for the project," Augustine says. "You can't just hand projects of this size over to the partner. The level of customer participation in every stage of a project's design and implementation is usually indicative of how successful the outcome will be."

According to Augustine, corporate culture in Australia is more broadly focussed on saving - rather than making - money, leading to a softened emphasis on project participation.

"There needs to be a lot more focus on clarifying a project's objectives and requirements early on in the piece," Augustine says. "Change management, staff training and communicating with customers are all fundamental to the process, and need to be dealt with at the planning stage."

Getting in on the action

If customer participation is a highly sought after aspect of any integration, John Croll, CEO of Media Monitors would have to be a vendor's dream client. Representing a new breed of upper management with a firm understanding of IT, Croll is an active participant in the implementation of any and all new technology within the company.

"IT is by far our largest capital expenditure," says Croll. "We are totally reliant on our information delivery services, which makes IT purchasing a serious investment decision."

Croll believes the greatest danger to any software rollout is the initial phase of development, and gaining an extensive understanding of both the business requirement and the scope of the software.

"The time taken in the initial needs analysis is all important," Croll says. "A lot of the time, a product is built from a technical point of view and there isn't sufficient consideration given to the business need."

To combat this, Croll asks vendors to work closely with the appropriate business units in order to gain a clear understanding of how the products will eventually be used.

These techniques were put to test during a recent implementation of Professional Advantage's Webhouse software developed for Microsoft's Great Plains platform. With preliminary discussions beginning in early November 2001, the software is already up and running thanks to a customisable format which provides for the functionality to evolve as its business needs change.

While Croll admits there was a fairly instant recognition that the software was ideally suited to the need, the implementation process was essential to an effective roll out.

"The key lesson for us was that there are a number of different stake holders in the company that need access to data in different ways," Croll says. "More technical issues like the tight integration and training were the easy part once we had established the functional requirements."

Speaking of change management

Peter Chidiac, country manager for voice recognition vendor Speechworks in Australia and New Zealand, believes one of the keys to successful corporate software implementation lies in the setting of expectations throughout the technology's touchpoints.

In January 2001, Credit Union Australia (CUA) launched an automatic speech recognition service based on Speechworks technology called 'Telebanker'. As with the RMIT SAP integration, speech recognition rollouts in call centres can be a sticky issue for HR departments, especially when efficiency improvements are central to the project's objectives.

Eight months later, CUA's voice recognition system was handling roughly 95,000 calls per month; well on the way to the 280,000 target initially specified. However, following the implementation of the speech recognition system, staff turnover dropped to an all-time low, and phone-based loan applications rose by 20 percent.

"Because many of the more mundane and routine enquiries can be handled by 'Telebanker', CUA's member service representatives are able to spend more time focusing on more complex and rewarding activities such as establishing new accounts, helping with investment products and other value added services which need the skills of a human customer service agent," explained CUA's managing director, Graham Olrich.

Chidiac puts much of the success down to a concerted effort to sell the rollout of speech recognition technology to staff and customers alike. He describes a detailed pre-implementation process which includes extensive reviews of functional requirements, training requirements of staff and the psychological requirements of customers.

"We do usability tests even on quite simple aspects of the technology," Chidiac says. "There is a full application development life cycle which needs to be followed, and it can't be done in a hurry."

However, when the process is carried out thoroughly, the benefits are clear, according to Chidiac.

"One of the key drivers was reducing the amount of time people were on a call, which in itself brings significant savings to the company," he says. "However, because staff had more time to focus on more complex enquiries, there was also the added element of improved job satisfaction."

Heading for savings

"To move from a focus on savings to a focus on increased earnings requires a leap of faith, into planning for something that is going to happen," explains SAP's Augustine.

In a similar vein to saving money, increasing productivity based on software rollouts is a goal of any CIO, however, long term savings may have to be paid for through initial expenditure and planning.

Such is the case with thin client rollouts, including the latest decision to implement Citrix-based thin client technology in the award winning Halls Head school in Western Australia.

Seconded from systems integrator Ipex to pull the project together, consultant engineer Rod Smith says a decision to implement thin client technology should not be based on a desire to save money in the short term.

"The school had a dream for the future, which would be difficult to achieve in the traditional client server environment," Smith says. "The idea was to enable high quality browser-based remote access, and maintain low overheads in the long run."

Nonetheless, given thin client technology has limited moving parts and prevents students modifying the operating environment, general wear and tear or upkeep associated with such a solution is reduced to a minimum.

"You get out of buying a new PC every three years, and future software upgrades only involve an improvement to the server technology, not to every PC on the system," Smith says.

Not only can the educational content be remotely accessed, a thin client solutions also allows for remote administration, significantly cutting into support time.

"We charge for support in ten minute blocks," says Smith. "Because I can literally log in from wherever I happen to be and address most of the problems that arise."

In a similar vein, hardware problems can usually be resolved by replacing the affected unit, a task which can be carried out by people with a minimum of expertise.

Paying with the Web

When it comes to improving efficiency, the Web has long presented systems integrators and software developers with the promise of single entry, browser based access to information. However, far from the promised panacea, early implementations of Web based solutions were pricey and ineffective.

According to Roland Persson, Asia Pacific director of enterprise systems solutions with Alcatel, Web-based services and content management are now essential to the company's function. Alcatel began using Presence Online's Aptrix Web publishing software upon the release of the first commercial version in 1999. Persson says the key element of the product's development and continued use was the vendor's ability to listen to customer requirements, and modify products based on that feedback.

-Initially we were looking for a way to publish information online, for several different markets, without tying up our technical staff by making them code content created by non-technical people," Persson says. -A Web site is only as good as the quality of its content, and in the early days it was taking up too many resources to produce and update that content."

While the Aptrix package is not alone in offering Web publishing functionality, Persson says the company's attitude had a lot to the with Alcatel's decision to stick with the software.

-I tend to take the point of view that if you are establishing a long term relationship with software vendors or partners, you need to share the risk and be able to provide feedback," Persson says. -If you call in a vendor and they immediately ask for consultancy fees then you should be concerned."

As Web services replace Web publishing as the online holy grail, software developers are finding themselves increasingly called upon to provide high levels of functionality with largely untested systems.

According to Scott Farrell, principal consultant with IC Consulting, client participation in technology rollouts is critical in the initial phases and throughout the development of a project.

As the industry enters a new phase of online functionality in the Web services arena, Farrell continues to confront the notion that eBusiness technologies are hyped and ultimately unproductive. However, a recent roll out of a B2B booking system based on IBM Websphere to travel insurance group Cover-More, provided an opportunity for the company to implement industry best practice.

-It is important to establish a clear understanding of how wide-reaching an application is going to be," Farrell says. -You have to sit down with the client and fully document the business process before developing the solution."

Like Presence Online, IC Consulting continues to work with Cover-More, providing new rollouts and encouraging the customer to immerse itself in the software's capabilities.

-A lot of software projects go off the rails due to a lack of focus on requirements, with people looking at development from a functional level," says Farrell. -We have found that as a customer becomes familiar with the software, and find the technology to be more flexible, they begin to realise their processes were probably hemmed in with other systems."

Farrell's aim is to foster and capture customer creativity in future rollouts, and believes working with closely with customers is a key aspect of a product's development.

"It is important that the client owns the staging environment and rollout schedule, that way they maintain a certain level of control over a project's development," he says.

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