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Advanced
How To Guide
Formulating an IT/eBusiness strategy for SMEs
3.05 Legacy Systems
Most companies already have some computer systems
in place. Any plans to invest in new facilities have
to include decisions about the fate of the existing
hardware and software. When this is retained and operated
alongside new systems it is often referred to as a "legacy"
system. Before deciding whether to invest in new systems
a company needs to have a careful look at its existing
systems. Some issues to consider are outlined below.
(Note: Many companies rely heavily on the company that
installed their original IT systems for ongoing maintenance,
occasional customised changes and general computer advice.
If this does not apply in your case, some of the comments
below may not be fully relevant.)
-
Are your existing computer systems functioning adequately? Will they continue
to function adequately in the light of your changing business environment, e.g.
shorter lead times, extra sales etc.?
- o
you have adequate security systems and back up for your data? What are the potential
consequences of loosing data or of having it get into the wrong hands?
- f
you have an old system, is it possible that you might soon be unable to obtain
spare parts or technical support? If so, you may shortly have to throw it out
and need to carefully consider whether to do so before spending money on adding
modules to it or on linking it to new systems.
- Could
you face serious difficulty if the company that installed and now maintains your
system went out of business? What precautions should you take now, to help you
cope in such an eventuality? In this context, is the system adequately documented
and do you have access to the source code?
- What
is the true cost of running the system, including
user and/or IT staff time spent dealing with problems,
waiting for PCs to unfreeze, recreating lost data
etc. after system failures?
- Are
you making full use of the capabilities of your existing systems? Some IT consultants
claim that the majority of Irish SMEs significantly under use their systems. If
you are one of this majority, some basic staff training, minor changes in your
way of working, commissioning modules you paid for but have so far not used might
achieve much of your medium term ICT objectives, without having to invest in new
equipment or software.
If
a company does decide to invest in new software, typically the choices facing
them might include: -
- Adding
to their existing software package by buying a new
off-the-shelf module designed for it. Generally
this will be purchased from the company that supplied
the original system and, at least in theory, it
should be easy to integrate it fully with that system.
- Retaining
existing systems in certain functional areas and
buying new and different systems for other parts
of the organisation. As discussed earlier, these
might be fully integrated with the existing systems,
completely separate from them or some compromise
in between. If opting for some patched up integration
between new and old, be sure to seek clear answers
from your IT vendor(s) about how robust and user
friendly the systems will be and what problems the
patched up link might cause in the future when,
inevitably, you will want to computerise more functions.
- Throwing
out all or most of the old systems and replacing
them with an entire new system from a different
supplier. This can be very expensive in terms of
both cash and staff time, but provides the option
of selecting the best possible system to meet your
current and future needs, without being constrained
by historic decisions. If companies do decide to
adopt this approach, the company should undertake
a proper selection process that takes cognisance
of all the requirements of all the users within
the company. Too often, companies spend a considerable
budget on a new system that is unsuitable for all
the business functions
- Replacing
the existing system with a more modern and sophisticated
system from the vendor that supplied the old system.
Buying from the company's longstanding IT vendor
will generally reduce the consultancy costs and
staff time involved in deploying a new system. This
is because the vendor is likely to be familiar with
the company's way of working and with any custom
modifications made to the old system and because
they will possibly [not probably] have carefully
designed their new systems to facilitate a changeover
from their older systems. Therefore, as in the previous
paragraph, the company should undertake a proper
selection process that takes cognisance of all the
requirements of all the users within the company.
The selection should review the capabilities of
other vendors first before deciding to replace the
existing system with a new offering from the same
vendor.
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