IT systems
4
The comparative success of the PeopleSoft product in Australia is as a result of its skills and expertise gained trhough experience in operation that is accredited to its dominance in the Enterprise Resource Planning market. Having operated in different markets such as New Zealand and the United States, PeopleSoft had the experience needed to enter and serve the Australian market satisfactorily. When the CASMAC project was introduced, it was quite beneficial not only to the university but also to individual IT managers. The system was able to reduce the workload and effot that was involved in accomplishing various tasks. IT managers would therefore be able to initiatives that added value to their work such as conducting research and professional development among others. The system also saved on time as tasks were accomplished faster allowing IT manegers to be more satisfied with their work.
5
The CASMAC project was a positive experience to the Australian universities in that it was able to solve most of the problems that they were facing under the old systems. Since the old systems were developed in the 1970’s, the software technology used was in the 3rd generation and this meant that the system could not incorporated new changes due to its lack of flexibility. This made it difficult for the universities to incorporate changes to accomodate their needs as well as the needs of a government that demanded transparency. However, the CASMAC systems, being more flexible allowed for the incorporation of new technology that allowed the universities to keep up with the continuous technological developments so as to meet their needs. Furthermore, the systems made it possible for the university to provide the information needed by the government in a fast, convenient and affordable manner. The universities were now able to comply to the policies stipulated by the government as well as ensure that their manegerial obligations were met thus prooving the benfits of the CASMAC systems to the Australian universities.
6
What alternative outcomes may have emerged had the CASMAC initiative not occurred?
Had the CASMAC initiative not occured, universities would have had a hard time abiding to the policies stipulated by the government for them to provide the needed information as well as keeping up with the constantly evolving technological developments. The challenges woyuld have increased even more especially due to the failure of the failure to deliver assistance through the UniPower consortium project. However, the rate at which technology was developing would have led to universities pursuing other avenues to resolve their issues and ensure that they delivered what was expected by the government as well as the universities.
There exists a very big difference in the way private organisations and public organisations like universities go about making the decision of whetehr to invest in IT. While private organisation start by questioning whether there is a need to invest in IT, public organisation realise that investing is a necessity and mostly consider when they will invest and what procedures to follow. Public organisations are not troubled by decisions of whatehr to replace or upgrade a system since their major concern is what systems will be miost beneficial and where it can be acquired from so that it can be implemented. Private organisations on the other hand not only consider the need for new IT systems but also their cost and return on investment. There is however evidence that the commercial sector use more formal decision making processess when making investments so as to avoid wastage of funds especially on investments that result to failure. While investing in IT projects could have huge benefits for an organisation, it is important to include a financiual criteria so as to avoid wastage of funds.
