Chapter 9: The e-Revolution and Post-Compulsory Education
Getting from here to there: From evolution to transformation
Contents
- Organisational considerations
- Stage 1: e-Business evolution through information and automation
- Stage 2: The transition to e-business integration
- Stage 3: The on-demand revolution?
- The how
Graham Hill
Implementing e-business systems in large and complex organisations is notoriously difficult and risk prone, but, as this book has suggested these systems can transform business efficiency and levels of customer service. Successful implementation requires resources, technical expertise, project management, organisational re-engineering and change management to be fused into a harmonious whole. There are many examples of very successful projects that not only delivered on time, but also exceeded customer expectations.
However, this is not always achieved and, unfortunately, system implementation failures are also common. Given the difficult and far-reaching nature of implementation projects, there is great potential for misconceptions, misunderstandings, errors of judgement and oversights that can cause serious problems and induce projects to fail. Small systems, those with only a handful of users, largely self-contained and subject to very few external pressures, are often developed, installed and operated with few problems. Large systems, those that are complex, span multiple business functions, cross numerous organisational oundaries (both within and outside the nstitution) and embrace different echnologies provide a greater challenge. Their selection and implementation projects are often long, usually spanning several years from first conception and investigation through to the final conclusion.