If you read my colleague Senior Editor Ann Bednarz's Special Report on saving ERP systems, one thing is quite apparent: you don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Take for instance, Robert Moon, the vice president of ViewSonic's Information Service Group who spoke to Bednarz. Rather than get rid of his company's $4.5 million ERP system that had gone awry, Moon methodically revamped it, saving ViewSonic millions of dollars a year.

Luckily, that vice president was able to sort through all the confusion surrounding the term "consolidation" these days. When folks think of consolidation, for some reason, they are sure it means getting rid of what you have and buying something smaller.

Not so. Bednarz and I talked about this. Many IT companies, she says, will say they are consolidating when in reality what they are doing is developing stopgap measures. In this stopgap scenario, the IS team keeps the old system hanging around while needing to also support the new system. With Moon's approach, there is no supporting of dual systems where data is lurking around untapped in an old silo somewhere.

I understand that consolidating your current network has a certain stigma to it. If you suddenly start downsizing a project that you spent lots of money on, it makes it look like that project was a bad idea. Whereas, if you simply buy different equipment, it looks like you are updating the systems.

Don't get caught in that vanity trap: In the end, you'll wind up costing your company a lot more money. And you will have duplicated efforts rather than streamlining them.

Instead, look closely at the systems you have. If the expenditure was too large, take critical pieces of it and make them work for you. For instance, grab important data that you've spent time and money compiling and use it in a different way. Don't just throw off in a corner somewhere and start anew.

Consolidation is an art. It means having a critical eye to a project you probably initiated and fought hard for. Consolidating is not an admission of defeat. It's a reality check on an ever-changing economy and in the end, if you do it right, it'll make you a corporate hero.

http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0428instance.html
All for one and one for all saves money
Network World, 04/28/03

 

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