See if this overwrought geeky system flies well

[shootingstar]

2 days ago I saw a demo of a custom internal online system that's being built/tested with many choices/search filters and 8 module apps, plus 3 different software applications (Peoplesoft, Business Intelligence and Content Server), hooked to the base platform (MS Collaboration aka Sharepoint in old language).

The project is led by IT, not by the business client. However there is an internal higher level committee that oversees this project....1 step removed from people at operational level.

It'll be interesting how much uptake and how fast/slow it would be adopted by certain depts...whose focus is on capital construction projects and managing some field work craziness. Some great features, but just alot of layers of functionality and data it feeds and one can extract.  There was primarily silence among 20 different attendees while only 5 of us asked questions/made comments for 50 min. 

[Wilbur ★]

Sounds it will fly exceedingly slowly.  

[Razors Edge ★]

6 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

(MS Collaboration aka Sharepoint in old language)

Well, crap!  I've been happily talking about "Sharepoint" for a while now and mocking the folks who are still saying "it's up on KSN"!!!! I bet some of the young turks in the office are laughing at me and saying, "that old fogie doesn't even know what Collaboration is!".  ARGH

[JerrySTL ★]

9 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

The project is led by IT, not by the business client. However there is an internal higher level committee that oversees this project....1 step removed from people at operational level.

As an IT professional who was part of many such projects, you're doomed.

[Razors Edge ★]

7 minutes ago, JerrySTL said:

As an IT professional who was part of many such projects, you're doomed.

It's usually a slow death, though.  By the time they've rewritten it a few times, brought in some expensive SMEs to "fix" it (and eat up the budget for raises), and the execs who green-lighted it are at competing firms and making more $$$.  But, yeah, doom is in the forecast.

[MickinMD ★]

My experience is that the more complex the system, the longer those weak in IT skills will take to do anything about it, and then often make weird choices.

At one point in the 1990's, my countywide school system set up an intranet system connected to the Internet.  My Senior Aide, 17 years old, ran his own small ISP system and screamed at officials visiting from the school board that the school's new system had no protection.  So they hired him, part time for peanuts, to install and run the systems' anti-virus stuff, firewalls, etc.  It was the easy way out!

[shootingstar]

3 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

It's usually a slow death, though.  By the time they've rewritten it a few times, brought in some expensive SMEs to "fix" it (and eat up the budget for raises), and the execs who green-lighted it are at competing firms and making more $$$.  But, yeah, doom is in the forecast.

I was one of the folks asking questions and I did ask if they would provide some summary training that would recommend top quick/useful reports to generate. I did comment it was great to have much choice on criteria for filtering but it's alot of time spent clicking around and trying to understand..  I did say from a "sustainment" standpoint, users need to save time in learning.  It's serious matter because it pulls in financial info. 

My question was not answered directly. The trainer said everyone enrolled will be given alot of training. Oh great.  And sure, we're supposed to absorb it all /eventually/never. 

I personally won't be using this showcase piece ..I was there to determine if there were controls for data quality...because the stuff pulled from there, will end up in our system after capital projects are completed.

***I'm with the 3rd application team, that developed an automated build that pushes a whole block of project records into destination spot outside of collaboration platform into our application.  User does nothing but searching/views results in the end. Our piece is actually alot easier and less controversial.

 

 

[Mr. Beanz]

3 hours ago, shootingstar said:

2 days ago I saw a demo of a custom internal online system that's being built/tested with many choices/search filters and 8 module apps, plus 3 different software applications (Peoplesoft, Business Intelligence and Content Server), hooked to the base platform (MS Collaboration aka Sharepoint in old language).

The project is led by IT, not by the business client. However there is an internal higher level committee that oversees this project....1 step removed from people at operational level.

It'll be interesting how much uptake and how fast/slow it would be adopted by certain depts...whose focus is on capital construction projects and managing some field work craziness. Some great features, but just alot of layers of functionality and data it feeds and one can extract.  There was primarily silence among 20 different attendees while only 5 of us asked questions/made comments for 50 min. 

You'll have to change this to bike lingo so I can understand it. 

[shootingstar]

17 minutes ago, Mr Beanz said:

You'll have to change this to bike lingo so I can understand it. 

Well our GIS digital mapping systems (like Strava) does link to several hundred thousand digital drawing records (engineering and property plans), and  other documents in our system.  But that is a  totally different 2-system integration cycling outside of this geeky system I mentioned. 

[Mr. Beanz]

28 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

Well our GIS digital mapping systems (like Strava) does link to several hundred thousand digital drawing records (engineering and property plans), and  other documents in our system.  But that is a  totally different 2-system integration cycling outside of this geeky system I mentioned. 

Funny but I understood that.   We had a program long ago called PC Docs that allowed us to pull up drawings and blueprints for us in QC, as I was an inspector.