Overview of the IT Functions at Terra Firma Medical Systems
The Terra Firma Medical Systems IT & Operations organization consists of departments where a matrix reporting structure is employed and where each function has its own global and functional managers (Singapore Management University, 2011). Business-IT Solutions teams are established to support the 4 product service divisions as well as the Corporate Administration group, which includes strategy, legal and regulatory affairs, and corporate finance. These IT teams are tasked with identifying the needs of the users in their respective business units and developing the corresponding solutions, examples which include either the development of new applications or the addition of enhancements to existing applications. These teams are also responsible for coordinating with upper management in efforts to secure the necessary funds. As well, they are responsible for coordinating with other IT departments to ensure the timely delivery of every solution and to ensure that each one is on budget. In addition, a separate Corporate Application Development group is responsible for most of the technical work. This group consists of teams that are focused on the internal business customers’ software needs; the implementation, customization and maintenance of enterprise applications; and the implementation and maintenance of the organization’s IT architecture.
The main problem with the IT infrastructure at Terra Firma stemmed from the fact that the company was founded before the Internet became commercialized and before network-centric computing became prevalent. In addition, most of the organization’s systems and applications were deployed before the IT standards were put in place. As such, it would be hard to modify or change the IT infrastructure in order to improve it, as this would require a drastic change. Although majority of the organization’s software and hardware were constantly upgraded, majority of their core enterprise applications remained the same. As well, considering that only less than 10% of the organization’s applications were standard-compliant and that the standards were bound to change in the future anyway, compliance to these standards were no longer monitored and ensured.
Although IT operations continued to run smoothly despite the lack of compliance to standards, the problem began to manifest when their system crashed. Email access and VOIP connection were lost, as well as the connections to the overseas manufacturing plants. In addition, network timeout errors caused a number of applications to crash. As it turned out, the problem was caused by a router that failed due to a process overload. In turn, the router failure was caused by a new engineering application that was run without being tested.
While the system was being restored, it was also found that other problems existed. These included inconsistent application data, corrupted database tables, and missing log files.
In addition, it was difficult for the engineers to collaborate with colleagues in other offices and use their resources as the network capability and infrastructure did not allow for such.
Upon initial assessment, it was determined that the underlying causes for these problems were the organization’s below-par investment in its IT resources; the loss of highly competent IT staff; and the non-compliance to IT standards.
Basic End-user IT Services
Basic End-user IT Service
Utility
Potential Warranty
PC support
Hardware/software support, file management
24/7 availability of in-house support
Email/Calendar
Communication
No Warranty; Support for 5 years after release or 2 years after the next release (whichever comes later), and a 5-year extended support after that (Microsoft, 2001).
Mobile devices (Blackberry)
Communication
1 year upon purchase (“Handheld Limited Warranty,” 2008)
Videoconferencing
Communication
1-year hardware warranty and 90-day software warranty upon purchase (For the Polycom videoconferencing system) (Polycom, n.d.).
Collaboration tools (File sharing and social media)
Communication and project coordination
1 year (For the file and print servers)
Corporate Enterprise Systems
Basic End-user IT Service
Utility
Potential Warranty
ERP
Enterprise resource management
No warranty
SCM
Procurement
No warranty
HRM
Payroll processing
No warranty
CRM
Customer data management
No warranty
BI
Report generation; aids in the decision-making process
No warranty
References
Handhheld limited warranty. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.blackberry.com/legal/warranty/handheld.shtml
Microsoft. (2001, October 12). Office family product support lifecycle FAQ. Retrieved from http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifeoffice
Polycom. (n.d.). Polycom® HDX 8000™ Series: Flexible-high definition video, voice, and content communication. Retrieved from http://www.polycom.com/global/documents/support/sales_marketing/products/video/hdx8000_datasheet.pdf
Singapore Management University. (2011, January 8). Terra Firma Medical Systems (A).
