"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.
