1289
MEDINFO 2004
M. Fieschi et al. (Eds)
Amsterdam: IOS Press
© 2004 IMIA. All rights reserved
An inventory of evaluation studies of information technology in health care: Trends in
evaluation research 1982 - 2002
Elske Ammenwertha, Nicolette de Keizerb
a UMIT - University for Health Informatics and Technology Tyrol, Research Group Assessment of Health Information Systems, Innsbruck,
Austria
b Department of Medical Informatics, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Elske Ammenwerth, Nicolette de Keizer
Abstract
During the last years the significance of evaluation studies as
well as the interest in adequate methods and approaches for evaluation
has grown in medical informatics. In order to put this discussion
into a historical context, we conducted a systematic
overview on trends in evaluation research of information technology
in health care 1982 – 2002.
The inventory is based on a systematic literature search in
PubMed. Each of the found 1.035 papers from 1982 – 2002 was
indexed based on a taxonomy coding type of information system,
clinical domain, research strategy, evaluation methods, setting
and evaluation criteria.
We found interesting developments in evaluation research in the
last 20 years. For example, there has been a shift from medical
journals to medical informatics journals. With regard to methods,
explanative research and quantitative methods have dominated
evaluation studies in the last 20 years. From 1982 to today,
the number of lab studies and technical aspects has declined,
while the number of studies focusing on process quality or outcome
quality of patient care has increased. Based on our results,
we are inclined to talk of a kind of maturation of evaluation studies
in medical informatics research.
Keywords
Evaluation studies, technology assessment, information technology,
health care, health information systems, inventory
Introduction
During the last years the significance of evaluation studies has
grown in medical informatics. Evaluation studies are more and
more considered as integral part of the planning, introduction
and operation of information technology in health care.
Evaluation can be defined as the act of measuring or exploring
some property of a system, the result of which informs a decision
concerning that system in a specific context [1]. Evaluation of
health information systems has to deal with the actors (the people),
the artifacts (the technology), the environment in which it
is implemented as well as with their interaction.
Some discussion is going on in medical informatics about the
best methods and approaches to be used, the need for an evaluation
framework, and the often considered insufficient quality of
evaluation studies. Some of those topics have already been discussed
for some years now (see e.g. in [2], [3] or [4]).
In order to put this discussion into the historical context of evaluation
research, we conducted a systematic overview on evaluation
studies of information technology in health care from 1982
– 2002. The aim of this overview was to get insight into trends
of evaluation research in the last 20 years.
In this paper, we will present some selected results of this inventory
of studies. We will answer the following questions:
1. How does the number of published studies develop?
2. From which countries do the studies come from?
3. In which journals have they been published?
4. Which types of information systems have been evaluated?
5. In which clinical domains did the studies take place?
6. Which research strategy has been chosen?
7. Which evaluation methods have been used?
8. In which setting did the studies take place?
9. Which aspects have been evaluated?
The inventory of evaluation studies described in this paper is
freely available on the internet, to help people planning evaluations
and to find comparable evaluations.
Methods
The inventory is based on a systematic literature search in
PubMed. This PubMed search was done on April 25th 2003; an
update was done on July 28th 2003.
PubMed Search Strategy
We searched for evaluation studies of health information systems.
We defined an evaluation study as the systematic, empirical
assessment of a component of a health information system.
We defined a health information system as comprising all computer-
based components which are used by health care professionals
or the patient themselves in the context of inpatient or
outpatient patient care.
We decided to exclude medical-technical components (such as
robotics or virtual reality systems) and all systems which are
only used to analyze images or signals (e.g. automatic image
analysis system). We also excluded all computer-based training
and education systems for health care professionals since these
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Streamline of information system
Benefits
Streamline Dispatch Center Information with HyperionMIS
The InterAct Management Information System is equipped with easy record keeping and rapid report generation to provide dispatch centers with the tools necessary to perform at the highest level of efficiency. With HyperionMIS, call centers have the ability to achieve exceptional professionalism and work to provide their community with an extremely advanced public safety system.
Easy setup provides quick and easy access to all the necessary components of the inner workings of HyperionMIS. Any changes, upgrades, or modifications in programming are far easier to manage than ever before.
Simple Integration makes it possible for HyperionMIS to interoperate with multiple9-1-1 Controllers from different manufacturers at the same time.
Flexible design of HyperionMIS allows for many different configurations to suit the particular needs of the dispatch center, including Stand-Alone, Enterprise, and Enterprise with Data Collection only.
Instant reporting allows users to select and print a variety of prepared reports on demand or schedule them for automatic printing at a later date
Information management monitors and records data, providing the dispatch call center with the necessary resources to ensure maximum productivity and evaluate staff members accordingly.
ACD Statistic data collection monitors and records data specific to automatic call distribution for call centers (where used)
Sophisticated security prevents records and reports from being accessed by anyone other than approved individuals. Data also cannot be modified or altered, ensuring consistency and accuracy for the dispatch center.
Wireless and VOIP call statistics provides statistical call data for incoming wireless calls and Voice over IP (VOIP) calls.
Streamline Dispatch Center Information with HyperionMIS
The InterAct Management Information System is equipped with easy record keeping and rapid report generation to provide dispatch centers with the tools necessary to perform at the highest level of efficiency. With HyperionMIS, call centers have the ability to achieve exceptional professionalism and work to provide their community with an extremely advanced public safety system.
Easy setup provides quick and easy access to all the necessary components of the inner workings of HyperionMIS. Any changes, upgrades, or modifications in programming are far easier to manage than ever before.
Simple Integration makes it possible for HyperionMIS to interoperate with multiple9-1-1 Controllers from different manufacturers at the same time.
Flexible design of HyperionMIS allows for many different configurations to suit the particular needs of the dispatch center, including Stand-Alone, Enterprise, and Enterprise with Data Collection only.
Instant reporting allows users to select and print a variety of prepared reports on demand or schedule them for automatic printing at a later date
Information management monitors and records data, providing the dispatch call center with the necessary resources to ensure maximum productivity and evaluate staff members accordingly.
ACD Statistic data collection monitors and records data specific to automatic call distribution for call centers (where used)
Sophisticated security prevents records and reports from being accessed by anyone other than approved individuals. Data also cannot be modified or altered, ensuring consistency and accuracy for the dispatch center.
Wireless and VOIP call statistics provides statistical call data for incoming wireless calls and Voice over IP (VOIP) calls.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Wi-Fi
What Is WiFi?
A wireless network uses radio waves, just like cell phones, televisions and radios do. In fact, communication across a wireless network is a lot like two-way radio communication. Here's what happens:
A wireless network uses radio waves, just like cell phones, televisions and radios do. In fact, communication across a wireless network is a lot like two-way radio communication. Here's what happens:
A computer's wireless adapter translates data into a radio signal and transmits it using an antenna.
A wireless router receives the signal and decodes it. It sends the information to the Internet using a physical, wired Ethernet connection.
The process also works in reverse, with the router receiving information from the Internet, translating it into a radio signal and sending it to the computer's wireless adapter.
The radios used for WiFi communication are very similar to the radios used for walkie-talkies, cell phones and other devices. They can transmit and receive radio waves, and they can convert 1s and 0s into radio waves and convert the radio waves back into 1s and 0s. But WiFi radios have a few notable differences from other radios:
The radios used for WiFi communication are very similar to the radios used for walkie-talkies, cell phones and other devices. They can transmit and receive radio waves, and they can convert 1s and 0s into radio waves and convert the radio waves back into 1s and 0s. But WiFi radios have a few notable differences from other radios:
They transmit at frequencies of 2.4 GHz or 5GHz. This frequency is considerably higher than the frequencies used for cell phones, walkie-talkies and televisions. The higher frequency allows the signal to carry more data.
They use 802.11 networking standards, which come in several flavors:
802.11a transmits at 5GHz and can move up to 54 megabits of data per second. It also uses orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), a more efficient coding technique that splits that radio signal into several sub-signals before they reach a receiver. This greatly reduces interference.
802.11b is the slowest and least expensive standard. For a while, its cost made it popular, but now it's becoming less common as faster standards become less expensive. 802.11b transmits in the 2.4 GHz frequency band of the radio spectrum. It can handle up to 11 megabits of data per second, and it uses complimentary code keying (CCK) coding.
802.11g transmits at 2.4 GHz like 802.11b, but it's a lot faster -- it can handle up to 54 megabits of data per second. 802.11g is faster because it uses the same OFDM coding as 802.11a.
802.11n is the newest standard that is widely available. This standard significantly improves speed and range. For instance, although 802.11g theoretically moves 54 megabits of data per second, it only achieves real-world speeds of about 24 megabits of data per second because of network congestion. 802.11n, however, reportedly can achieve speeds as high as 140 megabits per second.
802.11n is the newest standard that is widely available. This standard significantly improves speed and range. For instance, although 802.11g theoretically moves 54 megabits of data per second, it only achieves real-world speeds of about 24 megabits of data per second because of network congestion. 802.11n, however, reportedly can achieve speeds as high as 140 megabits per second.
WiFi radios can transmit on any of three frequency bands. Or, they can "frequency hop" rapidly between the different bands. Frequency hopping helps reduce interference and lets multiple devices use the same wireless connection simultaneously.
WiFi Hotspots
If you want to take advantage of public WiFi hotspots or start a wireless network in your home, the first thing you'll need to do is make sure your computer has the right wireless gear. Most new laptops and many new desktop computers come with built-in wireless transmitters. If your laptop doesn't, you can buy a wireless adapter that plugs into the PC card slot or USB port. Desktop computers can use USB adapters, or you can buy an adapter that plugs into the PCI slot inside the computer's case. Many of these adapters can use more than one 802.11 standard.
Once you've installed your wireless adapter and the drivers that allow it to operate, your computer should be able to automatically discover existing networks. This means that when you turn your computer on in a WiFi hotspot, the computer will inform you that the network exists and ask whether you want to connect to it. If you have an older computer, you may need to use a software program to detect and connect to a wireless network.
Being able to connect to the Internet in public hotspots is extremely convenient. Wireless home networks are convenient as well. They allow you to easily connect multiple computers and to move them from place to place without disconnecting and reconnecting wires. In the next section, we'll look at how to create a wireless network in your home.
WiFi Hotspots
If you want to take advantage of public WiFi hotspots or start a wireless network in your home, the first thing you'll need to do is make sure your computer has the right wireless gear. Most new laptops and many new desktop computers come with built-in wireless transmitters. If your laptop doesn't, you can buy a wireless adapter that plugs into the PC card slot or USB port. Desktop computers can use USB adapters, or you can buy an adapter that plugs into the PCI slot inside the computer's case. Many of these adapters can use more than one 802.11 standard.
Once you've installed your wireless adapter and the drivers that allow it to operate, your computer should be able to automatically discover existing networks. This means that when you turn your computer on in a WiFi hotspot, the computer will inform you that the network exists and ask whether you want to connect to it. If you have an older computer, you may need to use a software program to detect and connect to a wireless network.
Being able to connect to the Internet in public hotspots is extremely convenient. Wireless home networks are convenient as well. They allow you to easily connect multiple computers and to move them from place to place without disconnecting and reconnecting wires. In the next section, we'll look at how to create a wireless network in your home.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
How does SMS work?
What is SMS?
SMS stands for short messaging service. It's a way to send text over wireless phone systems. The text appears on your handheld's screen, or in the case of a cellular phone, on the phone's display. SMS messages are text messages of up to 160 characters.
No phone call is required to send or receive a text message. In fact, it is possible to send and receive messages on Handspring phones while on a voice call. SMS has been around since 1991, has gained huge usage in Europe and Asia, but has come into widespread use in North America recently. SMS is a universal text messaging system but has come to be associated with its prime adopter, the GSM/GPRS wireless networks.
How SMS works
SMS works on a store-and-forward basis. Instead of being sent directly to the recipient, SMS messages travel through several important nodes before reaching the recipient (skip this part if you find it boring; there's more good stuff below).
What is SMS?
SMS stands for short messaging service. It's a way to send text over wireless phone systems. The text appears on your handheld's screen, or in the case of a cellular phone, on the phone's display. SMS messages are text messages of up to 160 characters.
No phone call is required to send or receive a text message. In fact, it is possible to send and receive messages on Handspring phones while on a voice call. SMS has been around since 1991, has gained huge usage in Europe and Asia, but has come into widespread use in North America recently. SMS is a universal text messaging system but has come to be associated with its prime adopter, the GSM/GPRS wireless networks.
How SMS works
SMS works on a store-and-forward basis. Instead of being sent directly to the recipient, SMS messages travel through several important nodes before reaching the recipient (skip this part if you find it boring; there's more good stuff below).
- The SMS message is submitted to your wireless service provider's SMS Center.
- After the message is processed internally, the SMS Center sends a request to the Home
- Location Register (HLR) and receives the routing information for the recipient.
- The SMS Center sends the message to the Mobile Switching Center (MSC).
- The MSC collects the recipient's information from the Visitor Location Register (VLR) and, sometimes, proceeds with an authentication operation.
- The MSC forwards the message to a Mobile Server.
- If the recipient has a Treo or VisorPhone, the SMS is placed on the SIM card until the handheld picks up the message and transfers it to the internal memory on the unit.
- This is how Treos and VisorPhones can store hundreds of SMS messages, unlike ordinary GSM mobile phones that store only a few SMS messages.
- Treo or VisorPhone owners may encounter the error message "Your SIM contains at least one SMS message. Do you want to move the message to your Visor?" The MSC returns the outcome of the Forward Short operation to the SMS Center.
- The SMS Center reports delivery status of the short message back to the sender.
What are the components of an SMS message?
- The actual text of the SMS message isn't the only thing that's being transmitted. Here are the elements of a complete SMS transaction:
- Header: identifies the type of message.
- Service Center Timestamp
- Originator Address: the phone number of the sender
- Protocol Identifier
- Data Coding Scheme
- User Data Length: tells how long the message is
- User Data: the message itself (140 bytes: 160 7-bit characters, or 140 8-bit characters)
You won't see any of these components except the User Data (the message itself).
When you send an SMS to an email address, the message is still sent to the SMS Email center, but then it is relayed to the email server of the recipient. The recipient's email address is actually embedded in the User Data portion of the message, transparently on a Treo, or manually on a VisorPhone
Benefits of an ERP system:
Benefits of an ERP system:
· Can reach more vendors, producing more competitive bids and widening participation in government contracts, lowering the cost of products and services purchased
· Potential of $10-$15 million in total yearly savings
· Significant paper and postage cost reductions as part of the yearly savings
· Faster product/service look-up and ordering, saving time and money
· Automated ordering and payment, lowering payment processing end paper costs
· Fast access to detailed account histories, providing more abundant information and improved planning and analysis
· Ability to distribute, receive and award contracts out for bid much faster
· Wider participation by city and county purchasing entities, multiplying cost savings and management improvements, and offsetting system operation costs
· Management/Budget
· An ERP system in the Department of Management would:
· Save enormous time and effort in data entry and report production for budgets
· Allow more innovative and extensive budget report content and analysis
· Through Web access, allow lawmakers, directors, and managers, even taxpayers to view real-time budget information.
· Link the budget system to payroll, accounting, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, personnel and other departments, allowing nearly instant data exchange and ensuring such information is consistent and uniform across the board
· Provide easy access to trend data—financial information from years past is quickly combined into an up-to-date long-term view
· Empower departments to more closely measure program performance and results
WHAT IS ERP?
An ERP system is an integrated solution, sharing a centralized database, with all ‘users’…. Human Resources/Payroll/Benefits, E-procurement, Accounting, Budgets, etc. being served by the same database through one point of entry. Data need only be entered or updated once, reducing errors, time and labor foreparts, analysis, planning and program management. Ultimately, time and resources are shifted to innovating, problem solving and direct service to customers rather than inputting, processing, organizing, verifying and
Eight imperatives for leaders in a Networked world
1. Focus on how IT can reshape work and public sector strategies
Problem. The knowledge required to succeed with IT is complex and rapidly changing. Given the large size of many agencies and the checks and balances established to foster debate and deliberation, governments tend to become inwardly focused and fail to keep pace with the innovation required in the Information Age.
What to avoid. Don’t delegate all responsibility for technology to technologists, or focus on internal operations to the exclusion of externally oriented service improvements and building essential political support.
What to do. Learn how digital processing and communications are revolutionizing the work-place and the nature of work, ideally through becoming directly involved in IT projects and working with computer applications as part of your personal routine.
2. Use IT for strategic innovation, not simply tactical automation
Problem. The enormous potential benefits of IT are often compromised if it is used merely to entrench old work processes and organizations rather than to fundamentally redesign them.
What to avoid. Don’t focus on incremental improvements tithe exclusion of more aggressive innovation.
What to do. Push for some strategic ten-fold improvements, and not merely for 10 percent. Foster and protect experimentation. Design an e-government strategy with wide opportunities for “anytime, anyplace” service. Explore service integration across program and organizational boundaries. Develop rich and flexible technology-based options for self-service.
3. Utilize best practices in implementing IT initiatives
Problem. The failure rate of IT initiatives has often been daunting, even though the most difficult problems have been political rather than technological.
What to avoid. Don’t approach IT as primarily a technology problem, and don’t delegate IT projects
Predominantly to technology specialists.
What to do. Recognize that technology implementations are usually change-management problems. Place general managers and politically capable leaders in charge of most major IT initiatives. You need leaders who can authoritatively deal with organizational conflict and budget issues.
4. Improve budgeting and financing for promising IT initiatives
Problem. By focusing on incremental annual changes to existing programs, government budgeting makes it
Hard to invest in IT initiatives that offer high value but also require long-term, cross-agency innovation.
What to avoid. Don’t rely too heavily on funding IT through the traditional tax-levy budget.
What to do. Analyze economic and budgetary trends to identify sources of financing appropriate for an increasingly electronic economy. Your analysis should explore the principle of letting the direct users of services pay when they are the ones that capture the benefits (i.e., user charges for service elements not inherently publican nature). Also, explore budget reforms to give greater emphasis to multiyear, cross-boundary service integration and innovation (via capital funds, revolving funds, shared-risk investments with the private sector,
Spend some time reading up on ERP and guess what you find? A lot of mixed messages. Some experts say to customize your software to meet your process. Some say change your process to meet your software. Some advocates say to only use one vendor; others say partnership among vendors is the way Togo. It gives government the option to pick the best software for each process. So who is right and who is wrong? Lets take a look at lessons learned, and see what the voice of experience has to say.
Common Ground:
Focus on the Customer
What do stories of different ERP implementations have in common? Without a doubt, there is a focus on the customer. That means internal customers (that’s us folks) as well as citizens. “The focus is shifting from back-office applications to front-end services…Its is not just about replacing computer systems but also how information technology can be used to meet agencies’ missions and objectives,” says Jim McLaughlin, regional vice president for sales and business development at People Soft Federal, and ERP system software vendor. Or as another software vendor puts it, "There is a shift in focus from the inside-out administrative business systems to the outside-in, where you pull in the customers, suppliers, citizens," says Thomas Shirk, president of SAP Public Sector and Education.
Key to Success: It takes Leadership
When Federal Prison Industries Inc. implemented its transition to ERP; it set a drop-dead conversion date. On that date the old system was unplugged and the new ERP system took over. No contingencies, no delays, no other options. “That’s the type of decisiveness (government) agencies must exercise if they want ERP to work,” said Thomas Phalen, chief information officer at Federal Prison Industries. "You have to win people over from the beginning," he further adds. "You have to put someone in charge and give them authority to make the call."
Cost Control: People are Key
Industry figures are staggering, with reports of almost half of all ERP initiatives delivering 200 percent return on investment (source: The Carpe Diem Group Inc.) “Most of the problems in implementing any IT project are management issues,” says Sandra Borden, a member of the Office of Management and Budget’s IT Resource Board, which reviews IT projects at federal agencies. "Good projects have engineering discipline used throughout the life cycle of the project," Borden said. "Technology is not the issue. It’s the people." Does it work, listening to the experience of others? Here is an excerpt from Federal Week Computer (May 29,2000 issue) regarding an ERP implementation for the Energy Department’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR):
“SPR officials decided to take a close look at other organizations’ failed ERP efforts and mold their work to bypass those mistakes. The move paid off. SPR’s enterprise wide ERP system —
Which tied together 16 separate systems — was completed 63days ahead of schedule and 4percent under budget. One year after going live, SPR reports a 47 percent return on its $10 million investment and is projecting $32 million in saved labor costs.” Iowa ERP champions can put these lessons to work as new systems get planned and installed.
· Can reach more vendors, producing more competitive bids and widening participation in government contracts, lowering the cost of products and services purchased
· Potential of $10-$15 million in total yearly savings
· Significant paper and postage cost reductions as part of the yearly savings
· Faster product/service look-up and ordering, saving time and money
· Automated ordering and payment, lowering payment processing end paper costs
· Fast access to detailed account histories, providing more abundant information and improved planning and analysis
· Ability to distribute, receive and award contracts out for bid much faster
· Wider participation by city and county purchasing entities, multiplying cost savings and management improvements, and offsetting system operation costs
· Management/Budget
· An ERP system in the Department of Management would:
· Save enormous time and effort in data entry and report production for budgets
· Allow more innovative and extensive budget report content and analysis
· Through Web access, allow lawmakers, directors, and managers, even taxpayers to view real-time budget information.
· Link the budget system to payroll, accounting, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, personnel and other departments, allowing nearly instant data exchange and ensuring such information is consistent and uniform across the board
· Provide easy access to trend data—financial information from years past is quickly combined into an up-to-date long-term view
· Empower departments to more closely measure program performance and results
WHAT IS ERP?
An ERP system is an integrated solution, sharing a centralized database, with all ‘users’…. Human Resources/Payroll/Benefits, E-procurement, Accounting, Budgets, etc. being served by the same database through one point of entry. Data need only be entered or updated once, reducing errors, time and labor foreparts, analysis, planning and program management. Ultimately, time and resources are shifted to innovating, problem solving and direct service to customers rather than inputting, processing, organizing, verifying and
Eight imperatives for leaders in a Networked world
1. Focus on how IT can reshape work and public sector strategies
Problem. The knowledge required to succeed with IT is complex and rapidly changing. Given the large size of many agencies and the checks and balances established to foster debate and deliberation, governments tend to become inwardly focused and fail to keep pace with the innovation required in the Information Age.
What to avoid. Don’t delegate all responsibility for technology to technologists, or focus on internal operations to the exclusion of externally oriented service improvements and building essential political support.
What to do. Learn how digital processing and communications are revolutionizing the work-place and the nature of work, ideally through becoming directly involved in IT projects and working with computer applications as part of your personal routine.
2. Use IT for strategic innovation, not simply tactical automation
Problem. The enormous potential benefits of IT are often compromised if it is used merely to entrench old work processes and organizations rather than to fundamentally redesign them.
What to avoid. Don’t focus on incremental improvements tithe exclusion of more aggressive innovation.
What to do. Push for some strategic ten-fold improvements, and not merely for 10 percent. Foster and protect experimentation. Design an e-government strategy with wide opportunities for “anytime, anyplace” service. Explore service integration across program and organizational boundaries. Develop rich and flexible technology-based options for self-service.
3. Utilize best practices in implementing IT initiatives
Problem. The failure rate of IT initiatives has often been daunting, even though the most difficult problems have been political rather than technological.
What to avoid. Don’t approach IT as primarily a technology problem, and don’t delegate IT projects
Predominantly to technology specialists.
What to do. Recognize that technology implementations are usually change-management problems. Place general managers and politically capable leaders in charge of most major IT initiatives. You need leaders who can authoritatively deal with organizational conflict and budget issues.
4. Improve budgeting and financing for promising IT initiatives
Problem. By focusing on incremental annual changes to existing programs, government budgeting makes it
Hard to invest in IT initiatives that offer high value but also require long-term, cross-agency innovation.
What to avoid. Don’t rely too heavily on funding IT through the traditional tax-levy budget.
What to do. Analyze economic and budgetary trends to identify sources of financing appropriate for an increasingly electronic economy. Your analysis should explore the principle of letting the direct users of services pay when they are the ones that capture the benefits (i.e., user charges for service elements not inherently publican nature). Also, explore budget reforms to give greater emphasis to multiyear, cross-boundary service integration and innovation (via capital funds, revolving funds, shared-risk investments with the private sector,
Spend some time reading up on ERP and guess what you find? A lot of mixed messages. Some experts say to customize your software to meet your process. Some say change your process to meet your software. Some advocates say to only use one vendor; others say partnership among vendors is the way Togo. It gives government the option to pick the best software for each process. So who is right and who is wrong? Lets take a look at lessons learned, and see what the voice of experience has to say.
Common Ground:
Focus on the Customer
What do stories of different ERP implementations have in common? Without a doubt, there is a focus on the customer. That means internal customers (that’s us folks) as well as citizens. “The focus is shifting from back-office applications to front-end services…Its is not just about replacing computer systems but also how information technology can be used to meet agencies’ missions and objectives,” says Jim McLaughlin, regional vice president for sales and business development at People Soft Federal, and ERP system software vendor. Or as another software vendor puts it, "There is a shift in focus from the inside-out administrative business systems to the outside-in, where you pull in the customers, suppliers, citizens," says Thomas Shirk, president of SAP Public Sector and Education.
Key to Success: It takes Leadership
When Federal Prison Industries Inc. implemented its transition to ERP; it set a drop-dead conversion date. On that date the old system was unplugged and the new ERP system took over. No contingencies, no delays, no other options. “That’s the type of decisiveness (government) agencies must exercise if they want ERP to work,” said Thomas Phalen, chief information officer at Federal Prison Industries. "You have to win people over from the beginning," he further adds. "You have to put someone in charge and give them authority to make the call."
Cost Control: People are Key
Industry figures are staggering, with reports of almost half of all ERP initiatives delivering 200 percent return on investment (source: The Carpe Diem Group Inc.) “Most of the problems in implementing any IT project are management issues,” says Sandra Borden, a member of the Office of Management and Budget’s IT Resource Board, which reviews IT projects at federal agencies. "Good projects have engineering discipline used throughout the life cycle of the project," Borden said. "Technology is not the issue. It’s the people." Does it work, listening to the experience of others? Here is an excerpt from Federal Week Computer (May 29,2000 issue) regarding an ERP implementation for the Energy Department’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR):
“SPR officials decided to take a close look at other organizations’ failed ERP efforts and mold their work to bypass those mistakes. The move paid off. SPR’s enterprise wide ERP system —
Which tied together 16 separate systems — was completed 63days ahead of schedule and 4percent under budget. One year after going live, SPR reports a 47 percent return on its $10 million investment and is projecting $32 million in saved labor costs.” Iowa ERP champions can put these lessons to work as new systems get planned and installed.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Enterprise Resource Planning
Enterprise Resource Planning or "ERP" for short sounds a bit of a mouthful and can be a massive undertaking and hugely costly. Here is some information that will give you a better understanding of what ERP is.OverviewEnterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) attempt to integrate all data and processes of an organization into a single unified system. A typical ERP system will use multiple components of computer software and hardware to achieve the integration. A key ingredient of most ERP systems is the use of a single, unified database to store data for the various system modules.The term ERP originally implied systems designed to plan the utilization of enterprise-wide resources. Although the acronym ERP originated in the manufacturing environment, today's use of the term ERP systems has much broader scope. ERP systems typically attempt to cover all basic functions of an organization, regardless of the organization's business or charter. Business, non-profit organizations, non governmental organizations, governments, and other large entities utilize ERP systems. Additionally, it may be noted that to be considered an ERP system, a software package generally would only need to provide functionality in a single package that would normally be covered by two or more systems. Technically, a software package that provides both Payroll and Accounting functions (such as QuickBooks) would be considered an ERP software package.However, the term is typically reserved for larger, more broadly based applications. The introduction of an ERP system to replace two or more independent applications eliminates the need for external interfaces previously required between systems, and provides additional benefits that range from standardization and lower maintenance (one system instead of two or more) to easier and/or greater reporting capabilities (as all data is typically kept in one database).
develop an external interface to other ERP or stand-alone systems for their other application needs. For instance, the PeopleSoft HRMS and Financials systems are generally considered better than SAP's HRMS solution. And SAP's manufacturing and CRM systems are generally considered better than PeopleSoft's equivalents. So an organization large enough to justify the purchase of an ERP system, may choose to purchase the PeopleSoft HRMS and Financials modules from Oracle, and their remaining applications from SAP.ERPs are cross-functional and enterprise wide. All functional departments that are involved in operations or production are integrated in one system. In addition to manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and Information Technology, this would include accounting, human resources, marketing, and strategic management.
Implementation
To implement ERP systems, companies often seek the help of an ERP vendor or of third-party consulting companies. Consulting in ERP involves three levels, namely top level systems architecture, business process consulting (primarily re-engineering) and technical consulting (primarily programming and tool configuration activity). A systems architect designs the overall dataflow for the enterprise including the future dataflow plan. A business consultant studies an organization's current business processes and matches them to the corresponding processes in the ERP system, thus 'configuring' the ERP system to the organization's needs. Technical consulting often involves programming. Most ERP vendors allow modification of their software to suit the business needs of their customer.Customizing an ERP package can be very expensive and complicated, because many ERP packages are not designed to support customization, so most businesses implement the best practices embedded in the acquired ERP system. Some ERP packages are very generic in their reports and inquiries, such that customization is expected in every implementation. It is important to recognize that for these packages it often makes sense to buy third party plug-ins that interface well with your ERP software rather than reinventing the wheel.Today there are also web-based ERP systems. Companies would deploy web-based ERP because it requires no client side installation, and is cross-platform and maintained centrally. As long as you have an Internet connection, or a network connection to a system installed on the LAN, you can access web-based ERPs through typical web browsers.
How can ERP improve a company's business performance?
Improving the way your company takes a customer order and processes that into an invoice and revenue-otherwise known as the order fulfillment process. That is why ERP is often referred to as back-office software. It doesn't handle the up-front selling process (although most ERP vendors have recently developed CRM software to do this); rather, ERP takes a customer order and provides a software road map for automating the different steps along the path to fulfilling the order. When a customer service representative enters a customer order into an ERP system, he has all the information necessary to complete the order (the customer's credit rating and order history from the finance module, the company's inventory levels from the warehouse module and the shipping dock's trucking schedule from the logistics module, for example).People in these different departments all see the same information and can update it. When one department finishes with the order it is automatically routed via the ERP system to the next department. To find out where the order is at any point, you need only log in to the ERP system to track it down. With luck, the order process moves like a bolt of lightning through the organization, and customers get their orders faster and with fewer errors than before. ERP can apply that same magic to the other major business processes, such as employee benefits or financial reporting.
develop an external interface to other ERP or stand-alone systems for their other application needs. For instance, the PeopleSoft HRMS and Financials systems are generally considered better than SAP's HRMS solution. And SAP's manufacturing and CRM systems are generally considered better than PeopleSoft's equivalents. So an organization large enough to justify the purchase of an ERP system, may choose to purchase the PeopleSoft HRMS and Financials modules from Oracle, and their remaining applications from SAP.ERPs are cross-functional and enterprise wide. All functional departments that are involved in operations or production are integrated in one system. In addition to manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and Information Technology, this would include accounting, human resources, marketing, and strategic management.
Implementation
To implement ERP systems, companies often seek the help of an ERP vendor or of third-party consulting companies. Consulting in ERP involves three levels, namely top level systems architecture, business process consulting (primarily re-engineering) and technical consulting (primarily programming and tool configuration activity). A systems architect designs the overall dataflow for the enterprise including the future dataflow plan. A business consultant studies an organization's current business processes and matches them to the corresponding processes in the ERP system, thus 'configuring' the ERP system to the organization's needs. Technical consulting often involves programming. Most ERP vendors allow modification of their software to suit the business needs of their customer.Customizing an ERP package can be very expensive and complicated, because many ERP packages are not designed to support customization, so most businesses implement the best practices embedded in the acquired ERP system. Some ERP packages are very generic in their reports and inquiries, such that customization is expected in every implementation. It is important to recognize that for these packages it often makes sense to buy third party plug-ins that interface well with your ERP software rather than reinventing the wheel.Today there are also web-based ERP systems. Companies would deploy web-based ERP because it requires no client side installation, and is cross-platform and maintained centrally. As long as you have an Internet connection, or a network connection to a system installed on the LAN, you can access web-based ERPs through typical web browsers.
How can ERP improve a company's business performance?
Improving the way your company takes a customer order and processes that into an invoice and revenue-otherwise known as the order fulfillment process. That is why ERP is often referred to as back-office software. It doesn't handle the up-front selling process (although most ERP vendors have recently developed CRM software to do this); rather, ERP takes a customer order and provides a software road map for automating the different steps along the path to fulfilling the order. When a customer service representative enters a customer order into an ERP system, he has all the information necessary to complete the order (the customer's credit rating and order history from the finance module, the company's inventory levels from the warehouse module and the shipping dock's trucking schedule from the logistics module, for example).People in these different departments all see the same information and can update it. When one department finishes with the order it is automatically routed via the ERP system to the next department. To find out where the order is at any point, you need only log in to the ERP system to track it down. With luck, the order process moves like a bolt of lightning through the organization, and customers get their orders faster and with fewer errors than before. ERP can apply that same magic to the other major business processes, such as employee benefits or financial reporting.
HEINZ
HEINZ KETCHUP IS PERHAPS THE MOST INSTANTLY-RECOGNISABLE
BRAND IN THE WORLD. THE FAMOUS BOTTLES FILL SHELVES FROM
SHANGHAI TO SYDNEY AND FROM PITTSBURGH TO PARIS.
Rarely has there been such a foodstuff that is so
universally popular. But it’s not only the famous
ketchup that the company produces. Heinz worldwide
makes soup, sauces, the student staple of baked beans,
condiments, seafood and frozen food. In the UK, it also
owns Farleys (which makes baby food), John West and
San Marco brands.
CHALLENGES FACED
Across a business of this size and complexity, supporting
many different departments based in different locations,
and ensuring that all operational information is up-todate
is imperative. In the UK alone, Heinz produces 15
million items every week, of which three million are tins
of baked beans and 1.5 million are bottles of ketchup.
With so many food products heading for customers all
over Europe, keeping track of stock levels is a priority. It
is therefore crucial that staff working for Heinz can
access accurate and current information from all areas
of the business, including details from Wincanton, Heinz
UK’s ambient foods distribution partner, 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. Equally important is the need
for analysis tools - quite simply to ensure efficient stock
and service levels to the customer. This is particularly
relevant for customers ordering many different
products across the Heinz range.
SUCCESS STRATEGY
HEINZ KETCHUP IS PERHAPS THE MOST INSTANTLY-RECOGNISABLE
BRAND IN THE WORLD. THE FAMOUS BOTTLES FILL SHELVES FROM
SHANGHAI TO SYDNEY AND FROM PITTSBURGH TO PARIS.
Rarely has there been such a foodstuff that is so
universally popular. But it’s not only the famous
ketchup that the company produces. Heinz worldwide
makes soup, sauces, the student staple of baked beans,
condiments, seafood and frozen food. In the UK, it also
owns Farleys (which makes baby food), John West and
San Marco brands.
CHALLENGES FACED
Across a business of this size and complexity, supporting
many different departments based in different locations,
and ensuring that all operational information is up-todate
is imperative. In the UK alone, Heinz produces 15
million items every week, of which three million are tins
of baked beans and 1.5 million are bottles of ketchup.
With so many food products heading for customers all
over Europe, keeping track of stock levels is a priority. It
is therefore crucial that staff working for Heinz can
access accurate and current information from all areas
of the business, including details from Wincanton, Heinz
UK’s ambient foods distribution partner, 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. Equally important is the need
for analysis tools - quite simply to ensure efficient stock
and service levels to the customer. This is particularly
relevant for customers ordering many different
products across the Heinz range.
SUCCESS STRATEGY
To achieve this, Heinz has been employing various
forms of business intelligence for the past ten years, but
recently decided to consolidate all its operations and
use Cognos as its global business intelligence tool.
Daniel Haverly, European information management
project manager at Heinz, said: “Heinz is currently
undergoing a major revamp of core systems. The benefits
of Cognos were identified globally and rolled out in the
first instance to one particular project, the UK’s National
Distribution Centre (NDC) for ambient product.”
The NDC at Heinz is a new venture complete with new
business processes and ways of working. For reporting
purposes, Heinz wanted to give users access to up-tothe-
minute information on stock levels, customer
orders and lorry loads held on its three legacy
mainframe systems.
The systems currently in place are order processing
systems from Heinz, Farleys and John West. These
systems are linked to a consolidated ‘one system view’
Oracle database, and also to Wincanton’s Warehouse
Management System (WMS) across a firewall. The
Oracle database is replicated instantaneously for
reporting. The information is purely words and
numbers but has a consistent report format and
method to access, irrespective of the source of data.
Heinz staff needed to access details from all the
individual distributed business systems, the central
database and Wincanton’s own WMS system, but they
needed one method of access, with the security and
data access being ‘behind the scenes’. This is exactly
what the Cognos solution was able to provide.
WEB BASED SOLUTION
Heinz chose Cognos Impromptu Web Reports to allow
users to create reports drawn from any data source and
deliver them to suppliers, customers and partners,
across the Internet. Users can subscribe to reports, and
then customise them to meet their specific needs. This
has the added benefit of each user only requiring
Internet Explorer, so roll out was quick and easy.
BUSINESS BENEFITS
The efficient implementation of Cognos led to
impressive tangible benefits.
From nothing, a team of six people – a mix of
consultants and newly trained internal staff – developed
the reporting function for the NDC in under six
months. Then, after just two months of using Cognos,
new efficiency gains were realised. In particular, Heinz
was able to qualify the results in terms of substantially
reduced stock discrepancies, more efficient stock
management and better load management.
Across all its systems, Heinz is now using the Cognos
solution to help drive new business processes and ways
of working. Heinz has noticed an immediate
improvement in the new processes supported by the
Cognos solution.
THE NEXT STEP
Daniel Haverly added: “Our eventual aim is to use
Cognos Web products across Europe as consolidating
the common key performance indicators across global
operations becomes a business priority. This will
enable all business users to use the up-front portal as a
‘one stop shop’ for information, whether the
information is local reporting, regional reporting or
regional or global analysis. The key area here is the
compilation and use of data standards so that we have
consistency in definition across all of Heinz’s global
businesses.”
The Cognos solution will be used as an integral
component of wider roll out of common systems
across Europe, encompassing areas such as customer
profitability and supply chain efficiency. “The focus
will be on Web only versions of Impromptu and
PowerPlay, but we also plan to investigate the use of
Query and Cognos Metrics Manager going forward,”
concluded Haverly.
WHAT LESSONS HAVE BEEN LEARNT?
• Company time and resources are maximised by
using one solution that collates data from a range of
sources into easy-to-use reports, so users can make
more informed business decisions
• In any industry, but particularly the retail sector,
accurate information is essential to ensure efficient
stock processing and transport management.
Cognos helps keep track of stock levels and ensures
delivery lorries are used efficiently
• A Web-based solution means customers, partners and
suppliers can all access reports immediately and
simultaneously as all they need is access to the Internet
• In large organisations technology can highlight
areas of inefficiency that the company was not
aware of before and ensure areas for improvement
are addressed early
• Business intelligence can encourage new business
processes and ways of working within companies
forms of business intelligence for the past ten years, but
recently decided to consolidate all its operations and
use Cognos as its global business intelligence tool.
Daniel Haverly, European information management
project manager at Heinz, said: “Heinz is currently
undergoing a major revamp of core systems. The benefits
of Cognos were identified globally and rolled out in the
first instance to one particular project, the UK’s National
Distribution Centre (NDC) for ambient product.”
The NDC at Heinz is a new venture complete with new
business processes and ways of working. For reporting
purposes, Heinz wanted to give users access to up-tothe-
minute information on stock levels, customer
orders and lorry loads held on its three legacy
mainframe systems.
The systems currently in place are order processing
systems from Heinz, Farleys and John West. These
systems are linked to a consolidated ‘one system view’
Oracle database, and also to Wincanton’s Warehouse
Management System (WMS) across a firewall. The
Oracle database is replicated instantaneously for
reporting. The information is purely words and
numbers but has a consistent report format and
method to access, irrespective of the source of data.
Heinz staff needed to access details from all the
individual distributed business systems, the central
database and Wincanton’s own WMS system, but they
needed one method of access, with the security and
data access being ‘behind the scenes’. This is exactly
what the Cognos solution was able to provide.
WEB BASED SOLUTION
Heinz chose Cognos Impromptu Web Reports to allow
users to create reports drawn from any data source and
deliver them to suppliers, customers and partners,
across the Internet. Users can subscribe to reports, and
then customise them to meet their specific needs. This
has the added benefit of each user only requiring
Internet Explorer, so roll out was quick and easy.
BUSINESS BENEFITS
The efficient implementation of Cognos led to
impressive tangible benefits.
From nothing, a team of six people – a mix of
consultants and newly trained internal staff – developed
the reporting function for the NDC in under six
months. Then, after just two months of using Cognos,
new efficiency gains were realised. In particular, Heinz
was able to qualify the results in terms of substantially
reduced stock discrepancies, more efficient stock
management and better load management.
Across all its systems, Heinz is now using the Cognos
solution to help drive new business processes and ways
of working. Heinz has noticed an immediate
improvement in the new processes supported by the
Cognos solution.
THE NEXT STEP
Daniel Haverly added: “Our eventual aim is to use
Cognos Web products across Europe as consolidating
the common key performance indicators across global
operations becomes a business priority. This will
enable all business users to use the up-front portal as a
‘one stop shop’ for information, whether the
information is local reporting, regional reporting or
regional or global analysis. The key area here is the
compilation and use of data standards so that we have
consistency in definition across all of Heinz’s global
businesses.”
The Cognos solution will be used as an integral
component of wider roll out of common systems
across Europe, encompassing areas such as customer
profitability and supply chain efficiency. “The focus
will be on Web only versions of Impromptu and
PowerPlay, but we also plan to investigate the use of
Query and Cognos Metrics Manager going forward,”
concluded Haverly.
WHAT LESSONS HAVE BEEN LEARNT?
• Company time and resources are maximised by
using one solution that collates data from a range of
sources into easy-to-use reports, so users can make
more informed business decisions
• In any industry, but particularly the retail sector,
accurate information is essential to ensure efficient
stock processing and transport management.
Cognos helps keep track of stock levels and ensures
delivery lorries are used efficiently
• A Web-based solution means customers, partners and
suppliers can all access reports immediately and
simultaneously as all they need is access to the Internet
• In large organisations technology can highlight
areas of inefficiency that the company was not
aware of before and ensure areas for improvement
are addressed early
• Business intelligence can encourage new business
processes and ways of working within companies
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