• Online payment of Accounts
• Online Viewing of Account Balances
• Access to Lotus Automation Employee Timesheets for staff on their Site
• Availability of Project Documentation from a FTP Location
• Viewing of Employee timesheets relating to their sites
• Access to Knowledge base of known issues and problems with PLC’s Scada systems etc

The next step in the process was to create a list that captured the feasible customer needs and the infrastructure component that would deliver upon those needs.
This came out as follows:

• Data Security ruled out both of the following
• Online payment of Accounts
• Online Viewing of Account Balances
• On line Timesheets
• Access to Lotus Automation Employee Timesheets for staff on their Site
• Viewing of Employee timesheets relating to their sites
• FTP Server
• Availability of Project Documentation from a FTP Location
• Access to Knowledge base of known issues and problems with PLC’s, SCADA systems, etc

Lotus’s Requirements
The process then drove out the ‘wish list’ for Lotus. This came out as follows:

• Improved Network Access
• Faster PCs
• Web Based Timesheets
• Remote Network Access
• Improved Web Site
• Document Control
• Support for ISO 9000
• Support for Good Automated Manufacturing Process GAMP
• Marketing
• Better Payroll software
• HR Software
• Stores Software

The next step was to then establish feasibility and group them under the required components of infrastructure:

• Updated Server and PCs
• Improved Network Access
• Faster PCs
• Remote Network Access
• Optimised Web Site
• Web Based Timesheets
• Marketing
• Document Control, ISO 9000 and GAMP support
• Software Packages
• Payroll software
• HR Software
• Stores Software

Finally, the combined and complete list was drawn up as a blueprint for the implementation:

• Updated Server and PCs (Pre-requisite)
• Document Control, ISO 9000 and GAMP support
• Remote Network Access
• FTP Server
• Software Packages
• Payroll software
• HR Software
• Stores Software
• On line Timesheets
• Optimised Web Site

At this point Lotus had the blueprint and they were able to prioritise the implementation. It looked as follows:

The next section looks at how Lotus isolated the right product solution for each component of the blueprint.

5.2 The eBusiness Solution – technical details

In order to find the best possible solution for each of the required components Lotus conducted an exploratory exercise in order to compare different options. The choices they had to consider were buying an off-the-shelf package versus developing a solution internally. Then if a package was decided to be the way forward, they had to decide which represented the best fit and value. These choices had to be made against a background of finite IT resource and budget. It was a real challenge to the management team to optimise the decision in each case.

To all intent and purposes each component of infrastructure represented a mini-project in itself in the decisionmaking and implementation. These components/projects were as follows:

• New server & LAN
• HR
• Payroll
• Document Control, ISO and GAMP
• Remote access to the Lotus network
• Web-Based Timesheets
• FTP