The case study demonstrates that the company has gained a lot from the implementation of SAP Business Objects BI provided for Infosys. The first outcome that is clear for the company is the universal access to information at all levels. There is a lot of demand for reports and other services which sometimes become complex for the company to handle. The platform has enabled them to be able to share information internally extremely fast.
Users are also able to get the information they need in opportune time in a manner that they wanted their reports to appear. The platform has eliminated duplication of information since a single report can be accessed by several users. Before the implementation of this plan, users used to request for reports from the staff. It was the sole function of the staff to generate reports. However, with the new systems it is a self-service where users can access the platform and generate reports themselves. Currently, users have the ability to edit or modify reports themselves. They can also reconfigure reports and save them for reuse. Reuse saves time. This is so that when they come back next time they have a report format they need hence it is a drag and drop task.
Decision making by the users has become an extremely easy task since information is available for them in time. This system has also enhanced confidentiality of the information delivered to the users as accurate since they were generated by the users themselves. This has also increased service delivery and earned customer confidence for the company. Users are sure that their reports will be delivered on time since they have direct control over the process.
Staff members who were previously deployed to supply reports to the customers have been redeployed to offer other services in the company. This has increased the productivity of the company since additional staffs are available and their skills and expertise are assigned to high-level tasks. The employees were being under-utilized in the company and conducting high level tasks in the complex organization is extremely essential.
With a high level of efficiency in the company, the company does not only enjoy internally but also externally. The company has a competitive advantage over other players in the market because of the timely and accurate in-depth reports produced. Accuracy and time are extremely crucial factors for success of IT firm hence Infosys has an advantage on the market over others. Growth is another benefit that comes with having a leader in the market. Before the implementation of this plan, users used to request for reports from the staff. It was the sole function of the staff to generate reports. However, with the new systems it is a self-service where users can access the platform and generate reports themselves. Currently, users have the ability to edit or modify reports themselves. Many clients will want to have you have their service provider if you are efficient, timely and accurate.
The company selected tools that users of the company are familiar with. This was to ensure that implementation will be successful. Computer users always want to be associated with a new system that they are familiar with. This gives them comfort because they feel they will be able to adapt to the new system easily. If Infosys had decided to go for other tools that are not the system, they could have faced resistance from current users and even staff. Users do not like learning new things especially if it concerns technology hence this move could have resulted into loss of customers. Selecting tools that users are familiar with also ensured that the company does not use a lot of resources to train users on how to use the new platform. Resistance from the users to change to a totally new platform that they are not familiar with could have occurred. This possibility could have impeded on the efforts of the company to deal with increasing demands.
The selected vendor was a strategic management plan that ensured the company does not need to have the entire infrastructure to launch SAP services but use the current ones. The vendor was able to streamline and simply all the processes of reporting in the firm. This means that the vendor of the tools offered extra services of ensuring that services are streamlined and simplified for the organization to run smoothly.
Implementation is different from installation of software. To implement is to ensure that the software is installed and it meets operational and strategic goals of the organization. To install the tools successfully do not guarantee that implementation will be successful. This can only be measured on the sustainability of the technology and how goals are being achieved. The company decided to implement approach of step by step. This means that the functionality of the tools was integrated into the system one after another. This was to ensure that users adapt to the new tools not all at once but in stages. This move ensures that users are not afraid of losing their vital data and other information. The implementation approach further enabled the company not to disrupt daily routines just because they are changing to new platform.
Introduction of new software or platform faces many challenges; the new technology may fail or take longer than expected in the implementation process it was to be done at once. However step by step approach ensures that every challenge in the deployment of tools is solved at an early stage with minimal interruption. In case of failure, the company could have reverted back to the old system which had not been removed at once. Step by step approach is a suitable approach because it can be done depart by department or section after section. Even if there was training the company will not lose because all the employees or users were being trained instead services will be offered continuously.
SAP BusinessObjects BI a solution is a complex system that covers business processes of a company such as sales, logistics and financials. It has two important features that must be considered during implementation. The first level feature of the solution is to connect the visual model of the business process and software implementation which was done in as the first step (Jose, 1999). Data security and integrity should be achieved during process implementation. Having multiple systems is not easy to achieve data security and accuracy, but it is important in ensuring that data security is achieved.
SAP strategy management is mainly about how the executions of said plans are carried out in the IT-related solutions of a firm. There are three main model of strategy which are; goals, scheme s and metrics. Many organizations fail to execute their laid down strategies. To be able to attain high performance, greater employee and client satisfaction strategic plans are supposed to be implemented and aligned to the business objectives of the company. The work of SAP strategy management is to enable reporting organization such as Infosys in managing their strategy. The key objective is to ensure that top management, employees and users of the company are aligned with the objectives and the goals of the company.
SAP strategy management has the following features; guided partnership, resources planning, strategy, initiative, budget planning, performance reporting on the progress of strategic implementation. This tool also offers management with a better way of allocating resources for a project. Budget planning and monitoring is another concept that is capture by this tool.
SAP strategy management has the ability to meet the needs of individuals and organizations. Top managers in the organization can use these tools for communication with others in the organization. It can also be used for management by monitoring the progress of the projects or tasks. Middle level managers and field officers can use this tool to ensure that plans are executed accordingly.
The company used SAP strategy management to ensure that all the stakeholders of Infosys are well aligned to the implementation of SAP BusinessObjects BI a solution. The company wants to ensure that every employee is motivated to work towards achieving the organizational goals. SAP strategy management has the following features; guided partnership, resources planning, strategy, initiative, budget planning, performance reporting on the progress of strategic implementation. This tool also offers management with a better way of allocating resources for a project. Budget planning and monitoring is another concept that is capture by this tool.
SAP strategy management has the ability to meet the needs of individuals and organizations. Top managers in the organization can use these tools for communication with others in the organization. It can also be used for management by monitoring the progress of the projects or tasks. This tool offers goals, objectives and metrics of each employee. SAP strategy will ensure that the company publishes its strategic goals and showing performance indicating if it is on the right track. This strategy also ensures that the company is able to align its daily operations towards achieving the mission and vision. Accountability and responsibility of each staff in achieving the goals of the company are some of the reasons for Infosys to also implement SAP strategy management. Staying competitive in the market means that the company needs to get it right each time.
References
Catersels, R. Helms, R.W. Batenburg R. (2008) Utrecht University in partnership with M&I/Partners, Amersfoort, Netherlands, “Exploring the Gap between the Practical and Theoretical World of ERP Implementations: Results of a Global Survey”.
ERP Life Cycle, (2010) “Implementation and Operation and Maintenance”, Chapter 6, pp 1-15.
Jose M. Esteves, Joan A. Pastor, (1999) “International workshop in Enterprise Management and Resource Planning: Methods, Tools and Architectures– EMRPS’99”, Venice, Italy.
Sindos, Thessaloniki, Greece, (2001) “Evaluating the ERP Implementation Project”, European Journal of Information Systems.
