Posts Selected From the Category "Management Information Systems"

Charactristics of Business Information

Posted by Abey Francis on May 13, 2012 in Management Information Systems / No Comments

Information is a fact, datum, observation perception or any other thing that adds to knowledge. In the words of Gordon B. Davis “Information is data that has been processed into a form that is meaningful to the recipient and is of real or perceived value in current or prospective decisions”.

Information is obtained either by direct observation or by communication. Most of business information is obtained through communication. Even in the simplest responsibility center, the manager could not observe with his own senses everything that is going on, nor would he want to devote his time to doing so, even if it were possible. Instead, the manager relies on information that is communicated to him in various ways, ranging from informal conversations to formal reports.

The characteristics of information used in business systems are:

Purpose: Information must have purpose at the time it is transmitted, otherwise it is simply data. Information on communicated may have many purposes because of the variety of activities of people employed in an organization. The basic purposes of information are to inform, calculate or persuade and information is needed for identifying problems, living problems, decision making, planning and controlling. The purpose or supplying information to machines is to give instructions to get upon.…

Management Information and Control Systems (MICS) Installation

Posted by Abey Francis on May 11, 2012 in Management Information Systems / No Comments

The decision to establish a formal Management Information and Control System (MICS) becomes almost inevitable in today’s business climate. The accelerating needs for uniform, concise and timely information by all levels of management dictates the establishment of such a system. The results can be better control of and greater profitability from the enterprise. Essentially the functioning of a MICS involves transmission of all pertinent data necessary to the conduct of a business to one or more management information centers, where it is maintained mid then disseminated in discrete form to all levels of management. This description provides no reference to computers or any other specific type of data processing equipment. This is to emphasize that possession of data processing equipment is not a pre-requisite for a MICS. Computers, punched card equipment, data collection and transmission equipment, etc., are excellent tools that can, if costs and volume warrant, be extremely useful in a MICS programme.

Reluctance of much management to undertake a MICS programme can be traced to the confusion and lack of understanding surrounding the subject of information systems, and how they can be effectively installed: Management is continuously -faced with the frustrations of receiving inadequate, incorrect or untimely information. As a result the validity of management decisions and actions based on this type of information is at times questionable.…

ERP Software Cost

Posted by Abey Francis on December 17, 2011 in Management Information Systems / No Comments

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages are very expensive. Let us be clear. If you have already have some system or not, once you decide to go for ERP, you need to plan well. The entire project cost is not the only the ERP Software cost. It includes hardware, software, implementation, consultation charges, sensitizing employees to ERP and training them. Hence, if you come across some one indicating only the ERP software cost, do not get carried away.

Every ERP implementation needs careful planning. Once the Enterprise identifies a few specific ERP software, ERP companies or their consultants may be asked to give you some presentation as to why should their ERP software be bought. Do not expect to get the total ERP implementation costs including ERP software cost in this presentation stage.

You need to technically evaluate all the suitable ERP software packages. If you have internal expertise or a very strong IT team, you may evaluate yourself. Alternatively, you may hire a consultant, who will have the knowledge of different ERPs, their strengths, ERP software cost as well as all other costs involved. This consultant may be an individual or a company, guiding you and he/she/they may not actually help you in ERP implementation.…

ERP Tutorial

Posted by Abey Francis on December 17, 2011 in Management Information Systems / No Comments

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation needs lot of attention and dedication from all the concerned. The top management role is generally limited to the approval of the ERP package and taking care of ERP budgets. The top management identifies a person as ‘Champion’ to take the decisions as required. Once the company decides to go for a specific ERP, all the employees who are likely to be affected shall be taken into confidence and each of the end user shall be provided with ERP tutorial for their function. While there are more than one standard ERP tutorial, it may be better for the consulting company or the company’s IT department to device their own tutorial.

While ERP application is being customized, the concerned are consulted and their inputs are taken. Once the customization is done, the system integration and testing are done. At this point of time the users are required to undergo training using the ERP tutorial. This enables the users to know how their new system is going to be and there will not be any surprises.

The ERP consultant generally takes the responsibility of training too as a package deal. However, they may have a standard training or a standard ERP tutorial based on different functional department.…

ERP Support and Maintenance

Posted by Abey Francis on December 17, 2011 in Management Information Systems / No Comments

You have some decent computerized applications running in your enterprise. But you feel that you are actually leveraging the benefits of automation. Your inventory levels have not come down and items in slow moving category are on the rise. You are not getting the required Management Information Reports (MIS) as you would like to get. You realize that it is time to have a fresh look at your systems. You may approach a company that offers ERP consultancy as well as ERP support services. Generally these kinds of companies have expertise in business process re-engineering, project life cycle management. They may offer ERP support services like Enterprise Information Technology Policy, Planning, Requirements Analysis, Product configuration, Product Integration, Test and Evaluation etc.

Based on your consultant’s recommendation, you may go for ERP implementation. There are many companies approved by ERP vendors who undertake ERP configuration, customization and implementation. These companies bring in all their resources, implement and leave the Enterprise, once their contract ends. These companies may charge a hefty Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC) for ERP support, beyond the warranty.

Luckily, there are many other companies that offer ERP support services. They understand ERP tools, their capabilities and limitations.…

ERP Review Process

Posted by Abey Francis on December 17, 2011 in Management Information Systems / No Comments

Every company in today’s world will have some automation or other. Accounting packages are the first to be implemented. And the sales order processing is automated so that their clients and suppliers can access the data. It helps to implement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), which allows the entire company to automate all its division/locations. In 1980s, ERP was available only to large industries who could afford the huge expenditure. Many ERP vendors have done their own ERP Review and have developed ERP solutions to different markets.

Any company thinking of implementing ERP system shall have three stages of ERP Review – Pre-implementation, Implementation and P0st-implementation review.

In the pre-implementation ERP Review, the company shall identify itself as large, medium or small scale enterprise. There are many ERPs for small and medium enterprises. Even, some big ERP software vendors offer a different products for small and medium industries. In the pre-implementation stage, all the requirement is collected from all the departments, stake holders and the requirement is documented.
In the implementation stage, ERP software is configured to your requirement. A serious review is to be done to change the existing processes to those available in ERP or customize the ERP process to suit your requirement.

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