Introduction
As organisations grow and take on broader responsibilities it is often the case that the extended business processes become supported by a web of spreadsheets and local databases that are the quick-fix ‘interim’ response to operational imperatives.
There are two main reasons for this happening - the Business needs to respond to change more rapidly than IT can alter the existing systems or, equally common, there is a wish to prototype or evaluate the new processes in a way that is not prohibitively costly.
What Happens Next
Time goes by and these interim solutions take root. They become the normal systems that new staff get trained in. They often get amended, the odd enhancement creeps in and, before too long, the organisation is dependent on what is really a complicated network of ad-hoc manual and semi-automatic tasks based on spreadsheets and MS Access.
A problem is that interim solutions like these contain information that cannot be easily shared so a further network of reports and extracts grows up around it so that the necessary information can be disseminated to appropriate staff.
Worse, no one really understands what has been created, there is no documentation, they are systems that have probably been foisted upon (and possibly ignored by) Internal IT Support, and undoubtedly, no disaster recovery or business continuity plans exist.
Then What Happens
Change happens again and the organisation tries to adapt to the new imperatives but, lo and behold, the very life-saving systems that allowed such a rapid response previously are now a major impediment to change.
Two problems exist. The various business and technical staff and temps who created or extended the system are no longer available and, even if they were, is it wise to make a major enhancement to an interim system? The result is that just at the time when the organisation should be fully-focussed trying to assimilate the business change, Management are distracted trying to work out what to do for the legacy interim system.
The Solution
The solution to this problem is simple - ask yourself if key operational process of your organisation are dependent on spreadsheets and MS Access databases. Secondly, find out from IT if all of your systems are part of the organisational disaster recovery / business continuity plans. If they aren’t, ask yourself how long could your operation survive without them - and at what cost.
If you find that you are caught in the ‘Interim Solution Trap’ then you need to consider reviewing your systems and converting them into true business applications. We have a straightforward technical approach to this challenge and it need not be disruptive or particularly costly.
For more information on how we can help you avoid the Interim Solution Trap please call John Archibald or Niall McCrae on 01273 669 710 or e-mail enquiries@sigmer.com.
To find out more about our database design and development applications and how they can help your business, please contact us.
