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Information system The information system (I.S) is the nervous system of

any organization; collect, generate and distribute the information essential to execute the daily tasks and take appropriate decisions.

  Before becoming information, the data, raw material

of any I.S, must be created, stored, processed, analyzed and distributed.

The procedures and rules governing the operation as well as the different players (users, administrators and decision makers) will guarantee the accuracy the produced information.

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Building the IS (Enterprise Resources Planning)

Building the IS is as complex as urbanizing a city, you need to take into consideration the current situation, the resources and the future plans.

Two architectures being confronted: The classic approach of software engineering

consisting of answering needs of the different groups of users by developing or acquiring slim computerized solutions.

The second approach, is focused on an information node, the core component on top of which the I.S will be built and improved.

MEXICO CITY

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Problems facing the IS The classic approach will often lead to an

incoherent and heteroclite system as a consequence of the continuous accumulation of multiple computerized systems often aging, difficult to integrate and rarely expandable.

The information is considered then as an element necessary for the execution of the applications and not as a crucial component of the system.

As a result, the produced information is most of the time insufficient and redundant, the problem is even more serious when the produced information is inconsistent or incoherent.

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Taking the bull by the horns In front of such a catastrophic situation and in the presence of

aggressive market competitiveness, considering that information is becoming increasingly a key element for survival, it is becoming urgent to take the bull by the horns. 

For a better understanding of the magnitude of the problem and the possible solutions, the I.S experts have used the analogy between an IS and a city

Rebuilding the entire city is equivalent in IS to the acquisition of an integrated system (like SAP), which meets best the needs of the organization. (50 – 500 Million $)

The challenges and the cost of the two above operations are comparable; in addition an integrated system is by definition difficult to expand and above all technology dependent.

Investing in a new completely integrated ERP (destruct and rebuild a city) have proven to be a tedious adventure, many ended in catastrophic situations.

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The top 12 reasons for integrated ERP Projects Failures

1. Education (understanding what the new 'system' is designed to achieve)

2. Lack of Top Management Commitment 3. Inadequate Requirements Definition 4. Poor ERP Package Selection 5. Inadequate Resources employed by the Client 6. Internal Resistance to changing the 'old' processes 7. A Poor fit between the software and users procedures 8. Unrealistic Expectations of the Benefits and the ROI 9. Inadequate training 10. Unrealistic Time Frame Expectations 11. A Bottom up approach is employed (the Process is not

viewed as a Top Management priority) 12. The client does not properly address and plan for the

expenses involved

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Big Failures

Buying the wrong software can significantly affect the health of even the largest company.

Airbus Crashes from Incompatible Software Ford Motor Co.

System: Purchasing system

Cost: $400 million

Status: Abandoned

Source: Spectrum IEEE Bob Charette 2005

Avis Europe ERP System: ERP Status: Project cancelled Cost: $54.5 million

Source: Spectrum IEEE Bob Charette 2005

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Urbanization as a solution

The urbanization of the information system consists of restructuring the I.S following an urban plan focusing on the mission of the organization; just like a city plan should be focused on its specific characteristics and sources of wealth.

For a University; the most significant asset is information (knowledge). The urbanization of its information system must aim at producing, managing and distributing information (knowledge Management).

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Old Medina (Fez), constructed around the ALQUARAOUEEN university which represented the most valuable source of wealth for the city “science”.

The urban plan was organized so as to enable the university to play its primary role in leading the development of the city, for example the heavy and noisy industry was deployed way off from the university; while handcrafts, libraries and other noble and clean activities were implemented all around.

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AUI Information Node

Web Client

Desktop Client

Web-sphere Application Server and Web server

Domino Mail server

Data warehouse

Information

Information Node

INTRANET

DECS

JDBC Knowledge(E-Docs)

Oracle

Dom

ino D

oc

Replicated integrated databases

Notes

JSPDomino

Lotus

scriptJava scriptL

DA

P

OracleReplicatorWarehouse

Builder

POISE

TAJINFO

Ap

plication

s

TECHLIB

Accounting

LIBRARY

INVOLYSEJB Java Beans / Entity Beans

Data Access Objects

Incremental R

eplication

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Replicated Integrated DatabasesThe challenge here is to build a Global relational database and enforce consistency, coherence and synchronization. Synchronization between the different tables can be triggered by an event ”data change” or by a scheduled agent.

Replicated integrated databases

Admissions

Accounting

Techlib

Library

Tajinfo

Poise

INVOLYS

Students infos

Books Amount

Fines

Cash wallet

Balance when account is closed

Accounting Transactions

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Expanding Around the Information Node

2001COBISE SA2001COBISE SA

Architecture

Bull

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