The importants of IT infrastructure and the platforms that systems are based upon i.e. enterprise systems.

1. Dorian Cleary
4/13/2009
MIS 352- Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm
Enterprise Systems
I found that Chapter 9 Enterprise Systems was not only interesting but one of the
most important topics we have gone over in class so far. The article I have chosen is
called Putting the Enterprise into the Enterprise System by Thomas H. Davenport of
the Harvard Business review. This article, in great detail explains that although
enterprise systems are attractive to businesses they do come with some hazards. It
also expounds on the fact that companies need to be ready and they need to know
what they are getting their selves into because enterprise systems push you toward
full integration even if you are not ready. This article outlines the dangers, the allure,
and how enterprise systems impact a firm.
The author states as his main point, that companies want enterprise systems
because it takes data from one department or sector of a business and centralizes
with other information which is definitely an attractive asset to companies with data
redundancy issues. He also expounds on the risks associated with implementing a
fully integrated enterprise system like the price tag, the expertise needed to set it up,
configuration difficult, and how the system will affect the business.
The article is important because it gives you the advantages and
disadvantages of implementing an enterprise system. Many of the other articles I had
to choose from only gave the advantages of an enterprise system so, me wanting to
play devil’s advocate wanted to find something that would give me the not so pretty
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2. Dorian Cleary
4/13/2009
MIS 352- Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm
Enterprise Systems
side of enterprise systems. This article, which is also good; breaks down the allure of
enterprise systems, how a business would use it, it has an enterprise system model
or flow chart, and as I stated above the dangers associated, and the risks associated
with configuring an enterprise system. This article is very informative. If an executive
of a business was to read this he/she could make a decision about whether or not to
implement a system based on these readings.
In class we learned the basic information that is associated with enterprise
systems. I learned that enterprise software could help a company cut costs and help
generate revenue. An example was the Morgan Stanley group assignment; this
company turned their business around from having outdated information systems
and an out casted branch of service to a fully integrated enterprise system that
included the out casted brand of service. They could now, instead of focusing on
maximizing profits they could start generating more revenue. Not to mention Morgan
Stanley has one of the most profound systems in business today. Obviously, this
article can be associated with many things we have learned throughout the class.
This article combines everything we have learned about enterprise systems (and
even a little more in my opinion) and gives you the major focus points of again what
you the business want to be aware of when implementing a such complex system.
In conclusion, companies would have to spend millions maybe even billions of
dollars on these infrastructures, platforms, and systems along with there up keep. As
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3. Dorian Cleary
4/13/2009
MIS 352- Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm
Enterprise Systems
the article said there are several companies that unfortunately abandoned the
enterprise theory such as Dell with its decentralized management model, Mobil
Europe when it merged, and FoxMeyer Drug because they claimed it forced them
into bankruptcy. All of the aforementioned companies spent millions of dollars on
these systems just to ditch them, which I think is a bad business practice. I would
recommend these systems to organizations but I would outline everything they can
expect when they start the process, as this article did. I am a big believer in sticking
with something until there is a break through, especially if I spent an enormous
amount of money on it. Eventually, in the long run you company will run more
efficiently and you will be able to click on a button and all the information you want is
going to pop up from one source and that may lead to generating more revenue.
Think about it?
Sources:
Putting the Enterprise into Enterprise Systems- Article
http://members.home.nl/c.schalkx/Papers%20ARP/Davenport%20(1998).pdf
Enterprise Information Systems- Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Information_System
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4. Dorian Cleary
4/13/2009
MIS 352- Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm
Enterprise Systems
Business Intelligence- ES
http://esj.com/articles/list/business-intelligence.aspx
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