The new business computing

In 1999, Bill Gates predicted that companies would change in the next ten years more than in the previous fifty. Well, we have already gone through six of those ten years and the changes have undoubtedly been profound.

We live in an era marked by speed. This is consistent with the graph of these times, a graph symbolized by an increasingly steeper slope curve (in an upward manner), symbol of the increasing increase in the speed at which the population, pollution, communications, quantity increases. of information, the variety of products, the shortening of the life cycles of the products, the speed of response to the request for services among many others.

For millennia we can see a practically flat or semi-flat curve, the speed of information responding to this curve, in the face of such a dramatic change in the curve, the speed of information must accelerate to respond to the growing needs for control and problem solving. Decisions must be made more quickly and efficiently every day. Computer systems whose design responded to moderate change are no longer viable in the new context.

The speed of response both in the design and programming of software, as in its subsequent implementation, and added to this the speed with which they generate information and allow decisions to be made, is key at the present time. Projects that take too long run the risk of starting to be implemented under conditions that have changed and therefore make the system as such unfeasible or barely satisfactory.

The computer science paradigm has undergone numerous and important changes, from an approach focused on the sale of software has changed to one focused on the sale of information, from a design to be managed by specialists, it has moved to a design focused on specific needs of each member of the organization. From an approach directed to a restricted use, one passes to the generation of broad and flexible information.

Out of all this has emerged a powerful new concept, that of the "digital nervous system." It is the digital and corporate equivalence of the human nervous system, capable of providing a well-integrated flow of information to the right place in the organization at the right time.

It is made up of the digital processes through which the company captures what is in the environment, reacts accordingly, detects the challenges of its competitors and the needs of its customers, and immediately organizes their reactions.

The digital nervous system demands a combination of hardware and software, and is distinguished from the simple group of networked computers by precision, instantaneity, wealth of information leading to highly skilled workers, and insight and the collaboration that information makes possible.

The purpose of a digital nervous system is to stimulate a concerted response from staff to develop and implement a business strategy.

2. The new needs

The computing needs of companies in an era marked by globalization and hyper-competitiveness, with increasing demands in terms of quality, productivity, cost reduction, response times and satisfaction levels, are not the same as those that had Until a while ago, in which the objective was merely to improve and streamline administrative tasks related to accounting, inventory management, salary settlement, cost calculation and accounting, billing, and banking and tax issues.

Today, companies require information to manage quality, costs, productivity, customer and consumer satisfaction levels, total productive maintenance, just-in-time management, logistics, sales and service predictions., the dashboard and the balanced scorecard, planning and budgetary and management controls.

To cover many of these needs, it is essential to have software for applied statistics such as Statistical Process Control (SPC).

Today it is not enough to know what happened, something like managing the company with the rear-view mirror, today it is necessary to quickly and accurately detect deviations, allowing to analyze the reasons for them, be they positive or negative.

In this era where intellectual capital assumes vital importance, where strategic activities must be continuously measured and probed, it is essential to radically change the conception of software, its design, management and management.

Today the concept of competitive advantage has become vital. This is a term that emerged in the late 1980s. Competitive advantage can be achieved in many ways; for example by providing goods and services at a low price, providing better goods and products than the competition, and by satisfying the special needs of certain market segments. In the field of computing, competitive advantage refers to the use of information to gain weight in the market. The idea is that the company does not have and should not merely depend on physical resources in order to be competitive, it can also use conceptual resources such as data and information in order to make a difference.

Wiseman uses the term strategic drives to underline the movements that a company makes in order to gain or maintain some type of competitive advantage. Information technology can and should be used to support one or more strategic impulses.

The flow of information is the main differentiator of companies in the digital age. Connecting the right information with the right people produces a dramatic increase in the ability of the company to develop strategic business opportunities and act accordingly.

3. The Information Services Manager

The CIO (chief information officer) for the new times must dedicate time to the business and to train in business matters, since it is no longer enough to handle technological issues, they must also handle everything related to commercial activity. It must also concentrate its efforts on continuously improving computer processes, and increasing efficiency in the use of resources dedicated to systems.

The CIO must be totally imbued with the new needs and requirements of the company, and of its directors and employees, as well as of the suppliers, customers, consumers and investors, and even of the entire community. This is so not only as a result of new needs but also as a consequence of the possibilities of satisfying them via the Internet and Intranet.

The CIO is a person who has a duty not to get carried away by technological fads, simply conducive to doing things as before but with new technology, which without a doubt to be highly inefficient in most cases, and on the other hand, you should avoid changing the way you do things simply because a new technology requires doing things differently.

4. Decision support system - DSS

A good way to define DSS is based on its objectives:

Help managers make decisions to solve semi-structured problems Support the manager's judgment rather than trying to replace it Improve the manager's decision-making effectiveness rather than efficiency

These objectives have a direct correlation with three critical principles of the DSS that are: the structure of the problem, the support for decisions and the effectiveness of the decisions.

Regarding the structure of the problems, it is very difficult to detect problems that can be classified as totally structured or totally lacking in structure, since they stand out for being almost entirely semi-structured. This means that DSS is targeting the area where most of the problems lie.

However, DSS does not intend to impersonate the manager. This is so because the computer can only be applied to the structured portion of the problem, but only the manager can deal with the unstructured portion. Thus the sum of the manager and the computer allows solving problems that belong to the semi-structured area.

The goal of DSS is not to make the decision-making process as efficient as possible. The manager's time is valuable and should not be wasted, but the main benefit of using a DSS is making better decisions, that is, achieving the greatest efficiency.

DSS was seen as an opportunity to do things better, and they have succeeded. During the last twenty-five years, DSS has been the most successful application of computers in business, despite which it is still unknown in traditional companies, both at the managerial level and at the level of their managers and advisers. in computer science.

5. Office work

Automation began with production processes, to later spread to office areas, with the interest of helping to improve the performance of secretaries and administrative employees.

Over time, the enormous capacity to facilitate both formal and informal communication, whether with people inside or outside the company, attracted managers and professionals as users of this technology. All of these office workers use OA (office automation) to increase their productivity.

The automated office, as a concept, uses three of the great achievements of humanity: writing, static communications and the computer, to make possible an intense improvement of working conditions in the office, where more than a quarter of the time is spent. the lives of many people, helping us in better planning, distribution and execution of an activity inherent to the human species: work.

Thanks to the notable improvements in communication (both in speed, quality, and costs), it has become possible for certain employees to carry out part of their work, or all, anywhere. More and more employees are working at home and communicating with their office through electronic communication systems such as electronic mail (e-mail) and facsimile transmission (fax). When an organization conducts its office work in this way, the workplace is called a virtual office.

The OA's ability to link people electronically has opened up new possibilities in the way office work is carried out. Such ability has even made it unnecessary for office work to be done in an office. Instead, that work can be done anywhere the employee is.

The name given to this capacity is the one previously mentioned as virtual office, a term that suggests that office work can be done virtually anywhere as long as the work site is linked to one or more of the fixed sites of the company by means of some kind of electronic communication.

Remote working and the virtual office concept have become popular with both employees and their organizations. In 1995, it was estimated that approximately 30% of the United States workforce spent an average of six to eight hours a week teleworking.

The advantages of the virtual office include: the lower cost of facilities, the notable reduction in equipment costs, the generation of a formal communication network, a lower level of work interruptions and the possibility for the company of hiring staff who otherwise would not have job opportunities (disabled, elderly, parents with young children).

6. Management information systems

One of the outstanding authors on the subject of Management Information Systems (MIS) is John Rockart, who considers as a fundamental objective of this type of systems to allow the monitoring and follow-up by the executive of the critical factors of business success.. These critical factors are made up of the set of variables of an organization, which are necessary to monitor and follow up in order to ensure the success of the company.

The main purpose of the management information system is to satisfy the information needs of all the managers of the company. The MIS reflects the desire of executives to make the computer available to all who solve problems in the organization. Once the MIS is implemented, it helps managers and other company officials or staff to identify and understand problems.

Among the success factors of an MIS are:

Make it look good. For an MIS to look good, it must be oriented to the graphic use of screens, which enables executives to access relevant information without prior training. An MIS should give executives access to data that is important to the organization and has been identified as critical to the success of the business. Make it fast. Short response times are needed, otherwise executives will say they are wasting their time. Make the information available and up-to-date. An MIS must provide executives with information in a timely manner, that is, when they require it. In addition, the information that is presented to the executive must be updated to be valid, since it is useless to use information that is no longer valid.

The management information system can be defined as a computer-based system that provides information to users who have similar needs. Users generally constitute a formal organizational entity. The information describes the company or one of its main systems in terms of what has happened in the past, what is happening in the present, and what is likely to happen in the future.

It is generally presented in the form of periodic reports, special reports, and outputs from mathematical simulations. The information produced is used by both managers and non-managers to make decisions that solve company problems.

Simulation gives companies and managers the strength to accept risk, experiment, fail, and try again. It will allow you to do extraordinary things in increasingly compressed times. It is therefore a question of enormous stimuli at the service of creativity and innovation.

7. Informatics applied to production

In manufacturing areas, computers are being applied with two primary objectives that are: as physical systems and as information systems. Thus we have that computer aided design (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM) and robotics are used in the physical production system to better perform certain activities and reduce costs. In terms of information, the use of information technology began with the control and management of inventories, which included the order point, to later move on to the modern concept of materials requirements planning (MRP).

More recently, highly competitive companies have incorporated the concept of “just in time” production into their computer systems. This new production system, added to the new wave in terms of quality and productivity, led companies to the urgent need for systems designed for the efficient and effective application of TQM (Total Quality Management). Among the most pressing needs is the applicability of the SPC (Statistical Process Control), which due to Deming's revolutionary ideas on quality and administration were also applied to the best management of companies (SMC - Statistical Control of Management).

Recently, the evolution in quality management processes have incorporated the need to apply computer systems in the calculation of levels in sigma for the different processes and components or services generated by a company (Six Sigma System).All this development process continues to expand today to reach the revolutionary concept of the flexible factory and its Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) System.

Companies that intend to stay out of this evolution will soon have serious problems when it comes to competing. It is like an army trying to cavalry a modern tank brigade in full advance.

8. Financial information system

The term financial information system (CBIS) makes it possible to provide individuals and groups both inside and outside the company with information related to its financial affairs. This information consists of both periodic and special reports, plus results of mathematical simulations, electronic communications and advice from expert systems.

The possibility of carrying out management and budgeting controls, managing the flow of funds (cash flow), and making forecasts are some of the new and important computer applications in financial matters.

Thus, the fund management subsystem helps management not only to track the flow of money through the company, but to influence that flow. The cash flow model is used to simulate the effect of alternative decisions on cash flow.

The cash flow out of a business is affected by the operating budget. Managers in all areas of the organization use the budget as a control mechanism. Monthly budget reports during the fiscal year tell managers how well they are performing relative to budget. Managers also use relationships to benchmark the performance of their units against standards set by the company, the industry the company belongs to, and the business world in general. For all this, the computer system must provide novel, creative and innovative proposals and solutions, which allow improving control over the running of the company.

9. Information systems for sales and marketing

Made up of the product subsystem which provides information about the company's products, the placement subsystem which generates information linked to the company's distribution network, the promotion subsystem in charge of informing about advertising activities and sales of the company's personnel, the price subsystem, which helps the manager in making decisions concerning this aspect, and the integral mixing subsystem that allows the development of strategies that take into account all aspects of marketing.

An increasing importance within the business strategy is the use of software for sales prediction, as well as the Pareto analysis of profitability by product, product line or services, areas or regions, forms of distribution, forms of payment, size of sales, customers and types of consumers among many others.

10. Human Resources information systems

All the aspects concerning the most effective and efficient administration of human resources through the management of new and powerful computer resources is key and fundamental. Among the aspects to consider we have:

Control of personnel attendance. Location of personnel in the plant. Control of labor productivity. Receipt of curriculum. Internal information system. Settlement of salaries and administration of vacations, leave and other events. Inventory of human resources. System for communication and Subsequent management of staff suggestions. System for the notification of alerts (prevention system). Knowledge Management.

11. MRP II

The problems of material deficit, high inventory, low quality, poor customer service, low productivity and poor cash management are strongly related. The key to solving these problems is to identify and eliminate the causes that generate them.

MRP II software packages are frequently successful in solving problems where other applications have failed, many times because they are difficult to use and maintain, failing to provide timely and accurate information to users.

MRP II is one of the most important tools that a company has at its disposal to implement “Just in Time”. MRP II features, such as post-leveling, lead-time compensation, ghost assemblies, and assisted production schedules, help companies reduce inventory and indirect labor.

The MRP II system provides more solutions and benefits to the business than any other single application solution for manufacturers. This is because MRP II contains modules that support almost all parts of the company. Many companies and industry consultants consider MRP II as the basic foundation for implementing computer-integrated manufacturing.

12. Knowledge-based systems

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is currently being applied in business in the form of knowledge-based systems, which use human knowledge to solve problems. The most popular type of knowledge-based system is the expert system. An expert system is a program that attempts to represent the knowledge of human experts in a heuristic way.

One of the most important applications of these systems in companies occurs when training managers in tactics and strategies, especially in matters of marketing and finance.

Among the many uses of AI there are topics related to predictive and preventive maintenance, pricing, budget preparation, credit analysis, ratio analysis, rapid event detection and fraud detection among many other and varied applications..

13. Cost reduction in information management

Companies are implementing actions to reduce costs to remain competitive under the force of competitive and economic pressures. IT process management is not immune when it comes to reducing waste. For this, different strategies are recommended:

Consolidation. Consisting of reducing the number of individual places where information resources are found.

The reasoning is that a few large concentrations of resources work more efficiently than many smaller concentrations. This strategy is the easiest to achieve in terms of computing resources, but generates strong resistance by creating restrictions on end users.

Thinning (downsizing). It consists of transferring the computer applications of the company from large equipment to personal computers. This change to smaller and cheaper systems is called smart resizing (smartsizing).

By switching to platforms such as PCs and placing them in user areas, they perceive the systems as easier to use, thereby generating an increase in their productivity. On the other hand, users participate more in the development of the systems, which significantly reduces the time required to commission the systems.

Outsourcing (outsourcing). It consists of hiring an external service company in order to be in charge of part or all of the organization's computing operations. Kaizen. Consisting of the implementation of a continuous improvement system, which aims to detect, prevent and eliminate the various types of waste and waste, making use of various tools and instruments, among which Total Quality Management, Maintenance Total Productive, the generation of information "just in time", work in small groups and suggestion systems among others.

14. Conclusions

In a competitive world the most powerful weapon is information. Information helps managers to perform better, fight competitors, innovate, reduce conflict, and adapt to market vicissitudes. The information improves the differentiation of products and services by offering customers updated and cheaper products and services, better and easier access to products and services, better quality, faster response and service, more monitoring information and process status, and a broader range of products and services.

All organizations operate in a highly competitive and sometimes critically hostile environment, an environment that demands well-informed managers, as previously expressed. Impending failure is the alternative for those organizations whose managers are uninformed or misinformed. Uncertainty, in fact, is the great enemy to be defeated by managers. Managers must know what to do and how to do it; they must be able to adapt to rapid changes; they must have access to the organization's information, both internal and external; they must get timely warning signs and be able to anticipate threats and risks; they must be able to quickly identify both new opportunities and futile efforts.

Without quality information, organizations find themselves adrift, floating with difficulty in a sea of uncertainty. Quality information is, in fact, a critical resource and is obtained by following several stages and ensuring that the information produced is accurate, timely and relevant.

Each organization is unique. It has its own unique combination of men, economic resources, machines, materials, and methods. Not only are the individual components of the organization different, but also the degree of evolution of its management information systems.

This uniqueness makes it necessary for each organization to develop its own specifications for its management information system, through a systematic evaluation of its own external and internal environment and its point of view, according to its own unique needs. The primary objective of an information system for administration is to provide the organization with a mechanism for the exercise of administration.

The main function of the information system for management is to provide decision makers with timely and accurate data that allow them to make and implement the decisions necessary to maximize the reciprocal relationships between men, materials, machines and the method, in order to be able to more efficiently achieve the goals established by the organization.

Nowadays, if we want to have a first-class company, on a global scale, we have to control much more and do it with much greater speed. Leading with the power of data, one of Sloan's commandments, requires information technology.

Putting information into practice requires easy access to company personnel. Break the mental habit that getting and moving information is difficult and expensive. It is the most elementary common sense that all company data is within a couple of clicks of the mouse from whoever can get something profitable from it.

It is the company's middle managers and employees, not just managers, who must view the company's data.

The middle managers of each company need to know where their profits and losses lie, whether the business programs are working or not, and whether the expenses are correct or resources are being wasted. They require accurate and intelligible data, because they are going to have to do something.

Since information management is a key aspect of the business, managers should devote as much interest to computing as to any other important business function. With what has changed in technology in recent decades, managers now have a great opportunity to set new technical directions for the organization.

But such a reorientation imposes three things on you. First, the need to learn to consider computing as a strategic resource through which the company makes better use of its staff, not as a mere cost center.

Second, the CEO must catch up on the technical aspects, at least enough to be able to ask the CIO questions that go right to the problems, and to see if what he answers to them makes sense. And finally, and thirdly, it is necessary to put the person in charge of the IT processes in line with the strategic plans.

As a final point, it deserves to be duly considered the fact that during the last decades a large part of both industrial and service companies have desperately sought instruments to achieve greater control of their management. Since such companies were apparently complex, they sought complex solutions.

Many companies wrongly assumed that complexity meant IT support.

They bought a computer, they bought software and they bought disappointment. Later, they acquired new programs, a higher capacity computer, and also a new and greater frustration. And of course, the blame was put directly on the computer and its programming.

The approach was focused on adoption, so that most organizations unconsciously choose an implementation plan that reproduces, perpetuates and exacerbates existing problems, even adding new inconveniences to existing ones. Managers did not take the time to reflect and consider how they ran their companies, what their management problems were, and what solutions they needed to solve them. They simply tried to adopt solutions.

They viewed computers and their software as the solution, rather than tools. In reality, programs and computers are part of the solution, but they are not the complete solution. Computers and their software do not solve problems, but people who solve problems with computers.

Although we are witnessing a revolution both in terms of information technology and software, it is the most powerful conceptual revolution, which tends to modify the paradigms that have been in force until now. Until now, for more than fifty years, information technology has focused on data - its collection, storage, transmission and presentation. He clearly focused on the technological aspect. The new revolution focuses on information. You ask yourself: What is the meaning and purpose of the information?

This leads to a rapid redefinition of the tasks to be carried out with the help of the information. What was needed was not more data, more technology, more speed, but to define the information; what was needed were new concepts.

Within the new schemes that have emerged as a result of the conceptual change, companies have gone from traditional cost accounting to an activity-based cost calculation. This was developed for the first time for manufacturing, where its use is widespread today. But it quickly spreads to service companies and even non-business organizations.

Activity-based costing represents both a different concept of the business process and different forms of measurement. By changing the approach to calculating costs, facilitated by computer tools, it is feasible to substantially reduce manufacturing costs significantly.

Another fundamental aspect is the passage from prices set by cost to costs set by prices. This is also an important line covered by the new computing.

We therefore have a new and radical way of thinking about the organization and its processes, aimed at generating added value to satisfy the customer and consumer, thereby creating a sustainable increase in the company's profitability.

15. Annex 1 - Groupware tools for problem solving and decision making

They can be classified into four main groups:

Brainstorming software - Problem solvers write down their ideas, view others' ideas, and comment on those ideas in a structured format. The final product is a written record of all ideas and comments. This software supports the definition phase of the systems approach by identifying the element and level of the system in which the problem is located. Qualification and classification software of alternatives: those responsible for solving the problems use a list of alternative solutions and arrange them in order or assign grades. The software takes the assessments and combines them in the form of a table or graph. This software supports the resolution phase by providing a mechanism to identify and evaluate alternative solutions. Consensus software:such software informs decision makers of the degree of consistency in their evaluations of alternatives. If there is no general agreement, the problem solvers can continue the discussion. This software seeks a common solution when there is disagreement, and supports problem solvers in selecting the best alternative. Group Synopsis and Authoring Software: Problem solvers can create a synoptic table of a written report and each can make independent contributions by writing sections or making suggestions related to sections written by others.This software seeks a common solution when there is disagreement, and supports problem solvers in selecting the best alternative. Group Synopsis and Authoring Software: Problem solvers can create a synoptic table of a written report and each can make independent contributions by writing sections or making suggestions related to sections written by others.This software seeks a common solution when there is disagreement, and supports problem solvers in selecting the best alternative. Group Synopsis and Authoring Software: Problem solvers can create a synoptic table of a written report and each can make independent contributions by writing sections or making suggestions related to sections written by others.

Thus, the written document reflects consistency and agreement as it moves towards its final form. This software enables problem solvers to implement their solution.

16. Annex 2 - Some questions to ponder

No.	Question
one	Is important data requested one-time on special occasions, or do all employees have daily access to it?
two	Do your computerized systems allow you to specifically identify the commercial areas that offer the most opportunities or require special attention?
3	Do you have dedicated staff to move information, or do computers take care of the routine flow of processes while employees deal with exceptions and value-added issues?
4	Does your IT system make it possible for highly-qualified personnel to spend most of their time analyzing information, rather than searching for it?
5	Is digital data flow used for faster turnover, better quality, and lower prices?
6	Do your digital systems allow you to find out the bad at any point in the company and communicate it without loss of time?
7	Do your digital systems allow you to capture the necessary data and quickly put the groups to work on the solution?
8	Do you have a complete customer database and exploit it thoroughly?
9	Are you in a position to determine which customer groups are the most profitable or least profitable for you, ranked by income level, age group and place of residence, or other demographic parameters?
10	Do your digital systems make it possible for staff to leave routine tasks to dedicate themselves to managing exceptions?
eleven	Do your digital systems allow simultaneous access to numerical and non-numerical data?
12	Can workers access data in real time in a way that they take responsibility for improving product quality?
13	Are digitized information flows applied to the simplification of entire processes, from start to finish?
14	Are excessively long developments avoided by creating smaller, modular solutions designed from the outset to exchange data with each other?
fifteen	Do you have a digital system that allows you to know at all times of the availability of not only material resources, but also intangible and human resources that the organization has?
16	Are systems in place to apply questions such as: statistical and probability analysis; statistical control of processes; the balanced scorecard and operations research?