IT WEEK • 18 OCTOBER 2004
48 COMMENT IT for
cross-border laws
CONTENTS
48 INTERVIEW Alan Ferguson, head of consultancy AFA,
explains how project managers can improve success rates
48 COMMENT When formulating their
firms’ compliance programmes, IT
managers must take into account
differences in the way countries
apply international standards,
writes Madeline Bennett
37 INTERVIEW Alan Ferguson, head of
project consultancy AFA, offers
some top tips to help IT managers
keep projects running smoothly
MANAGEMENTWEEK
WHERE TECHNOLOGY BECOMES BUSINESS REALITY
Editor: Madeline Bennett
Supply chain tools advance
nisys moved deeper into supply
chain management this month,
with the release of industry-specific systems. Elsewhere, experts said that
new radio frequency identification (RFID)
wireless tagging systems could improve the
efficiency of supply chains in some cases,
but the technology is not a panacea.
Unisys’s new Global Visible Commerce
Solutions are designed to help companies
and government agencies combine legacy
applications with tagging information
from technologies such as RFID, barcodes,
cellular and GPS. This could result in more
efficient supply chains, and more unified
views of the organisations’ operations.
The centrepiece of the software is
Unisys’s 3D Visible Enterprise methodology. This uses business rules to help firms
examine relationships between supply chain
strategy, technology and back-end business
processes, said Unisys president and chief
operating officer Joseph McGrath.
A dashboard-type interface lets users
set thresholds for alerts for conditions such
U
as certain items going out of
executives said they were not
SUPPLY CHAIN SPEND aware of RFID at all.
stock. The new packages integrate server technology from Most firms will invest
Future widespread uptake
Microsoft, along with model- more in next three years of RFID technology could imling tools from Proforma and
prove supply chain efficiency,
73%
traceability, data aggregation
according to experts.
Increase
and analytics tools from ManJoe Tobolski, an associate
20% No
change
ugistics. Unisys also announpartner at consultancy Accenced that it plans to integrate
ture, said, “[RFID gives] intelthe software with Oracle’s Eligence to everyday objects.”
Business Suite.
Gary Bann, senior applica7% Decrease
Meanwhile, IBM has been
tions engineer at RFID spedemonstrating a prototype for Source: Unisys
cialist SamSys, said the techa dashboard-style monitoring tool for use
nology would eventually be not just for
in financial management as well as supply
product tracking, but also for tasks such as
chain applications.
document management, emergency evacAccording to recent research from
uation control and access control to physUnisys, almost three-quarters of firms plan
ical facilities.
to increase their investment in supply
However, alternative supply chain
chain technology over the next three years.
technologies could do a better job than
One in 10 firms said their spending in this
RFID in some circumstances, according to
area will rise by a fifth over the period.
Ravi Rajapakse, chief technology officer at
RFID is being evaluated for supply chain
supply chain specialist Savi Technologies.
improvements by a third of respondents,
He said that when RFID systems are used
and a further 12 percent have already decidto scan a lot of very small objects, problems
ed to roll out the technology over the next
with interference can crop up.
www.unisys.com www.eweek.com
two years. However, 43 percent of senior
Vendors extend BI lines
the efficiency of their business processes.
The product expands the firm’s reportetastorm has launched E-Work
ing and analysis capabilities, which were at a
Insight, a business intelligence (BI)
basic level, according to Greg Carter, chief
system that adds query and analysis capatechnology officer at Metastorm.“[We wantbilities to the company’s business process
ed to] deliver something much more powmanagement software. The release follows
erful, including the ability to perform proa number of other moves intended to
cess trend analysis and take action against
increase uptake of BI products.
the lowest levels of process detail through a
E-Work Insight, based on technology
real-time drilldown interface,” he said.
The new module offers users a comfrom BI vendor Hyperion, is designed to
prehensive business activity management
help users analyse and forecast trends
tool, according to Bill Chambers of
based on specific times and events,
research firm Doculabs. He cited
and adjust live processes.
the ability to carry out ad hoc
The module, which has been
queries and time-based analysis as
integrated into Metastorm’s busikey benefits. “[Users can] access
ness process management software
information that will help them
suite, offers configurable dashmake better decisions, and take
boards and packaged, customisable
immediate action to improve busireports. These new features could
ness performance,” he said.
help companies to make better use
Other vendors have also recof traditional BI technology to Carter: data
understand, analyse and improve can be tailored ently been extending their BI lines.
Madeline Bennett
M
itweek.co.uk
CUSTOMISABLE REPORTS
Metastorm has launched E-Work
• Insight,
a business intelligence
•
module for its business process
management software suite.
Siebel, SAP and Microsoft are also
extending BI capabilities.
Customer relationship management (CRM)
specialist Siebel this month announced
plans to push into BI with the release of
Siebel Business Analytics Applications.
Targeted at specific areas of the enterprise,
including the supply chain and financials,
these applications offer pre-built systems
for functions including sales, procurement
and human resources.
SAP plans to add new search capabilities to its NetWeaver technology, to speed
the process of locating key business intelligence in high-volume systems. And
Microsoft recently announced BI tools for
its SQL Server database software, offering
templates for common report models and
a self-service ad hoc query tool.
www.metastorm.com
Madeline Bennett
© eWeek USA 2004
Jacqueline Emigh and Madeline Bennett
Systems aim
to minimise
email threats
SurfControl and Clearswift have
updated their secure messaging tools
to boost firms’ defences against email
attacks and data leaks, and to make
administration easier.
SurfControl E-mail Filter 5.0 for
SMTP adds new levels of protection to
guard against threats such as phishing
attacks, spyware and leaks of confidential data, said the filtering specialist.
The product’s anti-spam technology
now includes an heuristic engine, neural network techniques and advanced
text analysis to more accurately identify and block spam. And its “digital fingerprint” system can help to classify
spam threats in 17 categories.
The latest version can be integrated with the firm’s URL database.
This system helps to identify dangerous content and prevent users from
following links, thus reducing the risk
of phishing attacks, said SurfControl.
An updated adaptive reasoning
tool lets organisations define specific
data requiring special protection
against emailed disclosure.
SurfControl E-mail Filter 5.0 is
priced at £12.50 per user, based on
an installation of 500 users.
Meanwhile, Clearswift last week
launched the latest version of its
MimeSweeper for SMTP. The email
security system offers a new messaging framework, which integrates
SMTP gateways under a single webbased management console to simplify email administration tasks.
The product now offers automatic system alerts and updates, to help
counter emerging threats. It is also
capable of detecting and slowing
unusually high volumes of messages –
a sign of spam or denial-of-service
attacks, said Clearswift.
www.tinyurl.com/6x6tp
www.surfcontrol.com
47
MANAGEMENTWEEK
IT WEEK • 18 OCTOBER 2004
Spot the difference
IT managers must take into account differences in the way countries apply international
standards when formulating their compliance programmes, says Madeline Bennett
was reminded of how un-standardised standards can be when
I recently looked into the progress
of the International Accounting
Standards (IAS). The title suggests
to me global regulations governing firms’ accounting practices
and what should be included in
financial reports.
The IAS rules, drawn up by the
independent International
Accounting Standards board, are
designed to harmonise financial
reporting across international
organisations. To achieve this, all
organisations would need to
adopt the rules in a similar way.
Certain industry sectors or countries might have their own slightly
different requirements, but for an
international standard to make
administration easier, the practices should not vary by much.
But certain IAS rules have
proved controversial in Europe,
and member states are now deciding whether to back full use of the
I
standards, or limit use of the contentious aspects.
This element of choice does not
promote harmony. Instead the situation will probably be pretty close
to what it is now, with companies
publishing different sets of accounts in various territories to meet
local requirements.
As is so often the case with regulatory compliance, these disparities could have a great impact on
the IT department. So much of the
IT manager’s job at the moment is
to redesign or at least fine-tune
corporate systems to ensure that
they do not violate various rules
and laws, and that they support
their organisation’s compliance
efforts as much as possible.
Differences in local regulations
will increase the compliance headaches for IT managers, especially
for companies with centralised IT.
For the head of systems in an international organisation, to ensure
computer systems support a new
global standard is quite a task. But
if the standard is implemented differently in various locations, the
task is much harder.
And the problems do not stop
with accounting regulations. The
European Parliament frequently
passes directives to be introduced
into national law by each member
state. But the way in which those
directives are implemented varies
from country to country.
Each member state may hold a
consultation to decide the finer
details of its own implementation
process and its timing.
The EU’s Privacy and Electronic
Communications Directive is a
good example. Under this directive,
designed to protect consumer privacy on the internet and stem the
flow of spam, each member state
introduced laws to govern email
marketing and impose penalties on
those breaking the rules.
However, while spammers will
face a fine of up to £60,000 in Italy,
How to keep projects on track
Alan Ferguson believes more projects would succeed if firms
were better at spotting and tackling the early signs of trouble
PROJECT MANAGEMENT INTERVIEW BY MADELINE BENNETT
IT Week: As head of project consultancy
AFA, why do you think so many IT projects fail to meet initial expectations?
Alan Ferguson: When firms are planning
projects, they plan for success, not failure.
In an attempt to increase the chances of
project success, they have started to put an
increasing amount of emphasis on what
will happen if things go right. But they’re
not always putting in plans to manage
projects if they start to go off track.
Do established methodologies such as
Prince help firms prepare for problems?
Lots of people starting
to use Prince find it too
bureaucratic. If people understand projects they will put in
ways of managing
Ferguson:
weigh up risks
48
problems. It might be something simple
like making a note of who to call and alert,
but these things need to be thought of at
the beginning of the project.
So is this being done?
The message is beginning to get through.
More needs to be done in advance on the
boundaries of projects, though. And not
just in the traditional areas of time, specification and budget.
What additional areas should be considered before starting a project?
Risk versus benefit is the key area. You have
to understand how badly you can build
something, not how well. When I was in
the RAF, we had a saying that equipment
might not always be brilliant, but “it’ll do
a trip”. Firms also need to make the project
management environment quick enough
so they can recast everything in a matter of
hours and days, not weeks and months.
How important is flexibility when it comes
to planning a project?
I worry that companies across the industry
are putting in place more heavily controlled environments. Project plans tend
to be stored in a sophisticated tool with
thousands of actions. If something goes
wrong, and you then have to produce a
new plan, it’s difficult to change things if
there’s top-down, heavy control. Project
leaders should have a range of plans, so
they can show a light, flexible version to
senior management, and keep the detailed
edition elsewhere.
Are there danger signs when projects
start to go wrong?
If you are seeing people start to work extra
hours, that’s a good sign it’s going off track.
The project manager might be positive
about the development, but elsewhere a
team member might be saying he can’t get
the figures to align. One picture is optimistic, one is negative – and as these two
pictures begin to diverge, that’s another
sign the project is having problems.
What action should companies take when
projects show signs of going off track?
here in the UK the maximum
penalty is only £5,000.
Clearly, each member state
should have a say in how directives
are implemented. But it would be
nice to see a bit more agreement
over the details – or tighter guidelines on implementation so that
the differences would be smaller.
But for now variations in supposed standards will continue, and
IT managers ought to anticipate
this in their planning. They need
to ensure that systems are agile
and can easily be fine-tuned to
adapt to new regulations and laws,
without requiring a massive overhaul for each slight difference in
local standards. ITW
[email protected]
ABOUT ALAN FERGUSON
Ferguson is head of UK-based
• Alan
project consultancy AFA, which he
•
•
founded in 1996.
Previously, Ferguson spent many
years in the RAF, followed by a
number of management roles in
the financial sector.
Ferguson is scheduled to speak at
this year’s Business Performance &
Project Management Forum, which
will be held from 20 to 21 October at the NEC in Birmingham.
Firms carry on with projects for far too
long. If you’ve spent £1m on a project to
give a return of £1.5m, but you need to
spend another £1m to get it right, then you
have to view the initial investment as gone.
Firms need to be ruthless.
Could this mean a big increase in the number of failed projects?
Initially you’ll see more failures, but then
you’ll see more realistic projects undertaken. Obviously it’s dangerous for project
managers to admit to failure, so they need
to ensure they don’t end up owning the
development. Projects should be owned by
a range of senior executives, and the language project managers use should reflect
their responsibility for some elements. ITW
www.afaprojects.com
itweek.co.uk