A REAL WORLD APPROACH

This discussion can now be placed in a framework that serves as the basis for
this book. The approach is based on the following:
•
Importance of business processes in implementation.
IT has limited resources overall. There are precious few when you deduct
the overhead for ongoing support of current technology. Therefore, IT must
focus its energy on those business processes that are critical and where the
tangible, strategic benefits are the greatest. At every stage of decision mak-
ing in implementation, the business process must play a role.
•
Continuous involvement by business unit managers and staff
in implementation
.
Hand in hand with the business process are the roles of the business unit managers and staff. There is no room for spectators. Business people must
be players. They must be involved in more than one half of the implementa-
tion activities. Through participation they can shape the system, and
through understanding they can define the details of the business process
that will fit best with the technology. Implementation is mainly a game for
two players —IT and the business. Fortunately, the modern tools and
methods support this by enabling many activities to be performed by
business staff.
Some of you, upon reading this, might say, “Good idea, but these people
are too busy,” or, “They are not interested.” Well, do you want to implement
something for someone who is not interested? If they are too busy to
determine their own destiny through participation, are they going to use
the new system after implementation? Probably, yes, but not with recur-
ring energy.
•
Comprehensive approach to implementation that includes
politics, organization, and process as well as systems technology and
procedures.
If you ignore the organizational or political factors, you are much more
likely to fail. You may suffer
midinstallation paralysis
in which resistance
results in inertia. Specific guidelines for dealing with these factors are
presented in each chapter. Note that this is not a book about total change
and upheaval (one definition of reengineering); rather, it is the implementa-
tion of a changed business process that totally integrates with the technol-
ogy. After success in implementation and process change, there can be
organization restructuring and change.
•
The need to implement technology in synchronization to the new
or improved business process.
You cannot design and implement a new system without regard to the busi-
ness process it is intended to support. The business process must be defined
in part in advance of the technology implementation and then in parallel
with it. It cannot be defined ad hoc at the end. You do not want to fit the
process around the technology.