The Transition to Modern and Efficient Software and Hardware - Essay Example

After site visits to the corporate headquarters and one manufacturing plant, along with interviews of both key personnel and employees alike, careful consideration has been made of the many situations facing MPC.   We have decided the following problems need to be fixed in the order they are referenced.  The eighteen-month time period that the company projects for modernization is realistic, provided they continue to use outsourcing for most of the projects.    

The first problem that needs to be addressed is the issue of the mainframe computer.  ANDC agrees with Ms. Hsu that the mainframe is a money pit and will only get worse as the machine gets older.  Bradley University converted in the same fashion in the late 1990s, an old report in the field of technology but relevant to this situation nonetheless (Bradley 1997).  Their report is honest, listing both benefits (Same as MPC; cost and maintenance) and realized disadvantages.  One was that they also experimented with environments other than Windows (including DOS and MAC) and eventually had to revert to a strictly PC-based environment.  Not only would that be standardized but since most users are familiar with Windows, new system training was mineralized.    

The first benefit realized would therefore be the costs.  One thing Bradley stated they would do differently was purchasing network-ready servers and buying them as identical systems from one vendor.  A check with Dell (2012), shows that a new computer to be used as a rack server would cost around $6,000 apiece.  Since MPC would require three servers, database, web, and internal (intranet), the initial cost would be around $20,000, since Dell would also send the servers preloaded with Microsoft Server 2012 for a predetermined cost (based upon the number of clients per machine).  A vendor such as Dell would also be able to provide an answer to another of the customer’s questions.  Long-term maintenance agreements can be purchased for a nominal fee and the company even offers lease arrangements.

In order to keep the mainframe functioning until shutoff time, with minimal service interruption, it is recommended that both environments function side-by-side.  The Intranet can be transitioned first, in conjunction with the database server.  One advantage of the Intranet system is the fact that the internationally remote manufacturing plants can also be connected securely so that redundant systems would not be necessary; a simple internet connection is all that is required.  

 Then the webserver can be up and running well before the eighteen-month deadline.  During the changeover and for six months thereafter ANDC personnel will be at company headquarters to ensure a smooth transition, during which time ANDC will assume full responsibility for a changeover.  Another financial consideration MPC should consider is upgrading their cabling to T-1 throughout.  The increased traffic would probably soon result in overloading their current system (Mitchell 2012).

The second problem is the relatively antiquated call center system with a non-functioning web ordering system.  One of the major customer complaints is long waiting times for customer service (Your call is important to us) and is the main reason more customers are turning to the internet for ordering and service.  MPC is correct in that some customers will continue to want to call but that call volume will probably be less than ten percent of what it is now (Bleuell 2009).

Fujitsu (2012) presents the case of a Japanese optical company that was similar to the needs of MPC, other than they went directly to direct ordering other than wholesalers.  The main purpose of the article was to promote Fujitsu’s Interstage Java-based web development software and Fujitsu was lauding the benefits of their mainframe.  It should be noted that several companies offer similar web interface software, so Fujitsu is not the only option.  However, the gist is that the customer company was able to fulfill their customer requests much more handily and overall, most customers were well pleased with the ability to interface with the company’s complete catalog.  Also, as they too were an international company, different languages could easily be added to the web software, thereby eliminating the need for multi-lingual operators.  A one-time translation of the catalog and components would suffice.

With these thoughts in mind, it is the sincere hope that MPC would enter into a partnership with ANDC, for we promise to make their transition to more modern and efficient software and hardware as seamless and error-free as possible.