By 1950
the first programmable electronic computers had been developed. Costly, these early
systems were practical only for the largest of organizations. In the 1980’s
a generation of powerful, relatively inexpensive equipment (PC’s & Servers)
made complex data processing functions affordable for most businesses and many
individuals. By the end of the first decade of the 21st century,
the ubiquitous internet, coupled with the availability of sophisticated, multi-function
software made even the most complex and specialized computing processes
practical for any size organization.
Once
only viable for the largest enterprises, advanced application suites with fully
integrated modules such
- Knowledge Management
- Employee Evaluations
- Project Management
- Training Administration
- Development Path
- Feedback Processes
- Content Creation
- Permissions Management
- Work Plans
- Resources Management
- Re-certifications
- Collaboration
- Recruiting Processes
- eLearning
- Budgets
- Qualifications
- Surveys
…are now
available and practical to implement for most organizations.
The Challenges
While
the availability of this type of functionality is a major advantage, users must
be sensitive to installation, training, and operating complexities when mixing
components of these types with applications from multiple suppliers. Consequently, a single, comprehensive, and
well integrated application suite is always the best choice.
If the single vendor approach is not chosen, the following issues will inevitably need
to be addressed:
- Implementation of separate integrated applications from different vendors, but applying them only for single-purpose requirements, creates unnecessary complexity and adds significantly to overall cost for the organization. Without careful coordination, an organization can find itself using many separate applications with overlapping functionality and no common integration.
- Excessive implementation, training, and operating costs resulting from acquisition of multiple products when a single product suite would have sufficed.
- Redundant and inconsistent data is generated without awareness of other, non-integrated applications. This is further exacerbated when overlapping and inconsistent data is rolled-up into Business Intelligence and other analytic reporting systems.
- Security issues and other conflicts with the IT group and central administration are almost guaranteed when individual departments implement their own solutions without approval and close coordination across departments.
- Interacting with and managing multiple vendors is always challenging and expensive. Different and conflicting operating environments, database systems, OS releases, Browser support, training issues, etc. always create additional problems.
- Change management and redundant purchase costs occur when a department finds its originally installed application is no longer adequate. This situation requires new procurement & licensing costs, as well as implementation, conversion, training and integration fees.
An Integrated Solution
In order to address the above detailed
issues, corporate-wide adoption of an integrated, comprehensive solution is clearly the most viable alternative. Even
if special features/upgrades to the company-wide solution are necessary, the
overall costs still strongly favor this approach. These types of applications
are now available and affordable for most organizations. Moreover, quality
suppliers will normally offer assistance with any special customization or
“tuning” of their applications.
The major characteristics of these types
of platforms are:
- Modular – The client organization can choose which applications
it wishes to address with the platform; to pay for only those that it needs;
and not to pay for unnecessary features that are not being used. In this regard, additional modules & features can easily be purchased and activated when needed.
- Cloud based – The organization doesn’t need to operate or purchase servers. The platform is installed in the cloud and is available anywhere with an internet connection.
- On premise option – Since the new platforms are "light" and easy to install and maintain, the solution will also be offered for "on premise" use.
- Versatile/Multi-use – Features are built in a way that they can be used to address multiple, general purpose requirements. This helps to keep the platforms light and easy to use.
- Operate on any device, operating system, and any browser – Whether the user works on a desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phone, he can operate all the user side functions regardless to the operating system or the browser that is being used.
- Customization – Although the platform is built to suit any organization, sometimes groups within the enterprise operate in different ways. So the software should be constructed in a way that enables feature-by-feature selection. This is addressed with user-controlled switches that can be turned on and off (not hard-coded), so it will be easily adapted for use by many organizations.
- Integration – The ideal new era platform has built-in mechanisms to ensure fast and easy integration to Active Directory, common database management systems, and other corporate information systems.
- Scalable – A modular platform, by definition needs to be scalable and elastic to support additional massive numbers of users as required. And when operating in the cloud, it needs to automatically activate more servers when overload conditions are identified within the network.
- Reporting – A major advantage of the advanced platform is that users can filter, analyze, integrate, and report information that is being generated from the many features and modules of the system.
Conclusions
Thanks
to the availability of low cost network and hardware technology, as well as
today’s advanced application software development techniques, the days of
expensive (and risky) “custom” software development or one solution application
have passed. In today’s “new age” environment, focus on selection of an
application suite (and vendor) with the best fit becomes the primary challenge.
Critical
to the selection process is the need for an organization to establish a
comprehensive set of requirements that can then be mapped against various
supplier offerings. Beyond the “fit,” all the normal business metrics then need
to be applied. The viability and responsiveness of the vendor, satisfaction of
existing customers, support, and the supplier’s ability to provide regular
updates to the suite that not only add desirable new features, but also keep it
aligned with today’s rapidly changing technology environment - all are important
factors in the selection process.
From
here, the next generation solutions will undoubtedly be more “intuitive.” That
is, by examining network and user habits, they will be able to “sense” what
application functions are being used and are therefore necessary for the new
solution. From there, they will be able to generate pre-configured solutions
for each individual user on a case-by-case basis. Quite a Brave New World…