9. March 2012 by admin.

Governments in the UK and Australia and trying to find ways of tapping into the retirement funds of their citizens.  In the UK pension funds investing in the proposed infrastructure fund backed by the National Association of Pension Funds, the Pension Protection Fund and the Treasury can expect returns of between 2 and 5 percentage points over the retail price index in the long term, according to Alan Rubenstein, chief executive of the Pension Protection Fund.

Posted in Funding, Infrastructure Management Software | No Comments »

25. September 2010 by admin.

A story in the weekend press from Australia on the background to the Commonwealth Games about to be held in New Delhi highlights on the of the problems of infrastructure maintenance within different cultures.  Bruce Loudon, a journalist who has spent several years in India, wrote

India is where human waste, discharged along the vast, 65,000km rail network, corrodes the tracks to such an extent the rails have to be replaced every 24 months instead of having a normal 30-year lifespan. This is the human waste left by the 20 million passengers carried each day by Indian Railways

Say that again?!  The railway tracks have a lifespan of two years rather than the normal 30 years?  Any asset maintenance software (assuming such a thing is used in India) has to be sufficiently flexible to allow for more frequent inspections and shorter asset lifespans than might be anticipated elsewhere.

Posted in Infrastructure Management Software, Asset Management Software | No Comments »

29. March 2010 by admin.

Although asset management systems are not ERPs, there’s enough crossover between any one type of IT project to another to learn valuable lessons.  More than half of companies that implement ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems end up garnering no more than 30 percent of the business benefits they expected, according to a study reported by PC World.

Some 72 percent of the 1,600 organizations surveyed said they were "fairly satisfied" with their ERP package. But this can be misleading, according to the study: "Some executives are just happy to complete projects, protect the company from risk and give little thought to whether or not the company is better off with the new software or whether or not they’re getting as much out of the system as possible."

More than 35 percent of respondents overall said their projects took longer than expected; just 21.5 percent reported shorter-than-anticipated project times. Forty-three percent said the projects were completed on schedule.

51.4 percent of projects overall ended up going over budget, with 40 percent meeting expected costs. Only 8.6 percent came in at a lower price tag than planned.

ERP customers can avoid surprises by taking time to pin down the implementation’s true total cost of ownership, much of which has nothing to do with software licenses. Three-quarters of a project’s budget tends to go toward implementation, hardware upgrades, customization and other needs, according to Panorama.

Customers should also develop a comprehensive implementation plan, as well as "identify pockets of resistance within the company and determine the organizational change management needed to make the project successful," the authors of the study said.

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7. February 2010 by admin.

Computerworld reported recently on the difficulty with upgrades.  The story started by reporting about Kennametal, a $2 billion maker of construction tools, who has spent $10 million on ERP maintenance contracts during the past 13 years and not once could the company take advantage of upgrades, says CIO Steve Hanna. The company’s implementation was too customized: The time and effort needed to tweak and test the upgrade outweighed any benefits, he says. But Hanna kept trying. Late last year, he priced the cost of consultants to help with an ERP re-implementation and was shocked by estimates ranging from $15 million up to $54 million.

Ah, customising off-the-shelf software, the quickest way to project and software hell.

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19. December 2009 by admin.

From time to time vendors release major upgrades to their software that become must-haves for their customers.  However, such upgrades are usually projects in themselves – not quite a full implementation but with many of its characteristics.  What are the elements to making the upgrade a success?

1. Formal planning.  While it isn’t a full implementation, there are still complexities that need careful management
2. Standardize.  Is there some workaround in the existing implementation that can be removed, or an existing process improved, in implementing the upgrade.  The reason vendors such as SAP promoting shibboleths like “world’s best practice” is because workarounds are inherently expensive to maintain – perhaps not in money terms but in effort and frustration
3. Conduct a gap analysis.  What’s missing in the organisation?  What’s (still) missing in the software?
4. Involve end-users.  Since an upgrade is, supposedly, adding value to the organization it’s important to involve those whose day-to-day job consists of interacting with the software

And good luck with the upgrade

Posted in Projects, Implementation, Vendors, Asset Management Software | No Comments »

20. November 2009 by admin.

Projects often fail through poor planning.  Here are some basic project management tips for a successful project.

• Establish commitment. Implementation takes time and resources. Make sure you have commitment before starting the project.
• Prepare an implementation plan and timeline. A good project plan is a key part of a successful project.
• Kick off the project in a big way. Let everyone in the company know you have started your project.
• Carry out a Gap Analysis with the vendor’s implementation team based on your original requirements.   The vendor will have made some assumptions that could turn into gotchas.

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15. November 2009 by admin.

A project is a project is a project, whether asset management or ERP.  Consona has produced a new White Paper on implementing ERP solutions.  Implementing a new, company-wide business system is no small feat. It requires dedication and focus to see it through, and can overwhelm the most seasoned project manager with the volumes of minute detail that must be addressed during the process. The key to doing it “right” is staying focused on the big picture—future payoffs that include more efficient business processes and substantial cost savings.

Consona as an industry veteran is well-positioned to offer advice on understanding, preparing for and managing the intensity of an enterprise-wide ERP implementation. The six steps outlined in the white paper are designed to help companies successfully negotiate the potential pitfalls of ERP systems implementation, from setting employee expectations before the transition to ensuring the right people take the project’s helm.  Many of the points apply equally to asset management system implementations.

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31. October 2009 by admin.

Reliable Plant has a recent blog an the steps to a successful Plant Management System implementation.  A well-planned and executed computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) project can yield a maximum return on investment (ROI). This return is realized through increased efficiency, productivity and profits. However, a poorly planned and executed CMMS project can result in a loss of revenues. These losses can be measured in terms of the overall investment in the project, as well as from wasted time and lost projected revenue forecast tied to the successful installation and implementation of a CMMS. The article outlines how to successfully plan a CMMS project.

Posted in Implementation, Infrastructure Management Software, Asset Management Software | No Comments »

15. October 2009 by admin.

The current financial crisis has thrown up many ideas at various layers of government on how to spend money in the best way to stimulate jobs.  Many governments have thrown several hundred dollars at each taxpayer in the hope that they will go and spend (and sometimes they have, often enough for such a strategy to be called a “success”).  However stories of crumbling infrastructure (the I-35 W bridge in Minneapolis, for example) or non-existent infrastructure (mass transportation for newly built suburbs) highlight the need for governments to focus on one of their key responsibilities – public services and public infrastructure.  Elinor Ostrum’s recent Nobel Prize for Economics celebrates her lifetime focus on the management of common resources; a role that government should undertake but often does not

Posted in Infrastructure Management Software | No Comments »

13. September 2009 by admin.

A blog over on Reliable Plant points up the issues around training when implementing software.  Vendors can only do so much.  You know your business.  You should do the training.

Posted in Implementation, Vendors | No Comments »