As part of the ongoing Tech Talk on "Rethinking Enterprise Software", a few things I've been thinking about:
- We have to rethink the enterprise IT infrastructure as a whole for SMEs. This consists of the hardware (desktop and the server), the desktop interface and the software on the software. The Enterprise Software part which I've been analysing is part of the bigger whole, and cannot be seen in isolation.
- For most SMEs, the problem really is one of information flow. Given that I have a good product and that companies who I sell to will pay me money, the problem boils down to getting information of my product to the companies who need the product, and then internally, ensuring that I have an integrated system for managing information flow. To this end, a thought exercise which needs to be done: what is my ideal world for information flow? If there were no constraints, what information would I like on people's desktops?
- With respect to the enterprise software architecture, there are 4 elements which constitue infrastructure: the Enterprise OS, a Visual Business Process definition environment, the Information Bus, and the Enterprise Information Portal. The final element are the Software Components which are developed on this platform by various companies close to the customers. I will elaborate on these elements in next week's Tech Talk.
Enterprise Software | PermaLink
I do not know if you have already thought of this, but I thought I might just mention it anyway.
I believe an Enterprise Software Architecture should, in addition to the software components, also involve a service element.
Many Indian companies who are in the Enterprise Information Portal (EIP) area focus on adding more more business advantages to the user's desktop, by building in data mining capabilities, knowledge management capabilities, etc.
However, there is a feature I have yet to see in these "portals", that claim to allow a user to do everything from their desktop to increase productivity. That feature is a HelpDesk.
For an organisation (IT department or managed services provider), tracking service levels with the intention of improving them for the end user would be something extremely useful.
Let me ask you to visualise, don't worry it will just take a second! Just imagine, a user using a particular application, and after he finishes utilising it, it asks her if she is satisfied with the output of the application. If she is not, it asks he as to what she expected, and what she recieved in result. This information could then be blazed off to the concerned parties, to affect an improvement.
The users are happy that the service levels have improved! The management is happy that the productivity has improved! The IT department or managed services provider is happy they have made their (large account?) client happy by improving service levels.
Posted by: Clinton Goveas on June 7, 2002 02:31 PM