Enterprise Business Processes and Applications (IS 6006) Masters in Business Information Systems 2008 / 2009 Fergal Carton Business Information Systems

Last week Characteristics of a process: –Sustainability –Efficiency –Quality versus quantity –How does it react under duress (eg. school run) Exercise: getting a loan Current crisis related to inter-bank dealings Issues in loan process –Cost / efficiency of credit checking? –Relationship with bank manager? –Risk assessment relies on non-structured information –Process relies on data integrity Eg. purpose of loan often not validated

This week Exercise: bank loan Meaning of integration? What is an enterprise application? Family of applications Some reading

Getting a loan Apply for loan Provide personal profile information Run checks on credit worthiness Calculate repayment capability Check references and liquidity Obtain collateral Interview Approve loan Lodge cash to account

What is wrong with current banking processes? Risk taking is highly rewarded in investment banking? Huge bonus payments for winners (€1m+) Over focus on credit targets? Poor insurance of bad debt, or re-sold insurance? Loss of tracability of original transactions? Repackaging credit loses granularity? Totally virtual, no physical element? Didn’t vet customers?

Process mapping criteria Represents a transformation Must be clear: one A4 sheet Should eliminate ambiguity Workflow or automation Has rules

“Kicking the tyres” of a process What is unique about this process? Is there seasonality? What happens to the process under duress? What are customers complaining about? What are competitors doing? Is the business model changing? –Is the way of doing business evolving?

What does integration mean? –All users access the application via a web browser –Information can shared between different parts of the business –Users follow the same training programme –The data is stored in an array of database tables

What does integration mean? Hardware –iPhone (PDA + phone + media player) –Car engine (self diagnostics, GPS, …) –Printer + scanner + photocopiers + fax –VLSI: inetgration of different circuits onto one chip Software –Outlook ( + Calendar + Contacts) –MS.net development suite (front-end tools, programming, connectivity wizards) –Google (browser + content management) –Adobe (document and workflow) Data –Inventory and Sales need access to Product file –Engineering and planning need access to BOM

Integration example: Bank branch What does integration mean in a bank perspective? Products Customer services Transaction processing Data model …

Integration downsides Response times Vulnerability: single point of failure Limitations on expansion Dependence on single vendor Flexibility to change system … Access to basic information is complicated

Who benefits? Finance gain greater visibility Manufacturing? –Demand may be too unstable for MRP –Production planning needs more “nuance” –ERP is too literal –Much planning still done on Spreadsheets Sales: need of integration

Family of applications Enterprise Resource Planning systems Supply Chain Management Customer Relationship Management Other more specialised applications such as planning, warehouse management … Merging into ERPII / XRP –encompassing all aspects of the business

CRM Early 00’s Sales Force Automation Contract Management Customer Service & Support Marketing Automation Documentation Management SCM Logistics Electronic Invoicing Electronic Marketplaces Contract Management Late 90’s Early 00’s ERP II Product Data Management Engineering Change Orders New Product IntroductionCollaborative Product Design A Complete Family Tree