Download Team 4, Practice Management System at Meyers Norris Penny

Meyers Norris Penny
Practice Management System
Diana Waterman
Alex Gerlyand
Bilal Rana
Adeyemi Adewumi
Roberto Furletti
Outline
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Company Overview/History
The Problem
Information Aspect of the Problem
IT/IS Aspect of the Problem
Alternatives
Board Room
Analyses of Alternatives
Setting
The Preferred Solution
Key messages for leaders
Overview/History
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Est. 1945 Brandon, MB
Accounting and Advisory Services
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As of 2001
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~75 full and PT Offices (BC to Ontario)
~1000 employees -135 Partners, 900 staff
Ranked 7 in Canada
Today
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Strategic service expansion in 2000 towards consulting
2200 employees
Financially healthy – 10x growth last several years (case date)
2000 – $70 M in Revenues (40% over previous year)
As at 2001 more growth and expansion forecast in non-traditional
services (i.e. IT Consulting)
**Reputation as an Innovator in technology with a pioneer spirit
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Developed in-house PM solution second to none in the period
The Problem
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MNP is faced with the decision of whether to replace the
company's PM system with a PC based system or
continue to upgrade the existing VAX system as needs
arise
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Both an operational and strategic issue
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OPS – maintaining obsolescence
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Client service applications run in the PC environment
Administration applications run in the VAX environment
STRAT – Future growth of MNP and add’l needs ***
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IT consulting growth in particular
Information Aspects of Problem
MNP 100% dependent on IT based info
 System performance is key to operations
 Real-time or “near” real time info has
shown to be important factor
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i.e. Time sheet accuracy/timeliness
Information quantity is assured to grow
over time – MNP plans on growing. (Since
the writing of the case, they have expanded further west
into BC)
IT/IS Aspects of the Problem
System scalability and flexibility key to
MNP growth strategy
 IT/IS system trends in the marketplace –
related to obsolescence management
 MNP as an Innovator
 Staffing, technical and logistic difficulties of
running on two platforms
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Meyers Norris Penny
Executive Meeting Agenda
Welcome
 Practice Management System
Presentation
 Other Business
 Adjournment
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Alex VAX Option
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Pros
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Our system has transcended beyond VAX
The customized VAX based system has been a rolemodel in the industry
The VAX based PM application is part of our
competitive advantage
Easy system upgrades
Developing and migrating to a PC based platform will
be expensive
Alex VAX Option
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Cons
Less intuitive for users system than a PC
based system
 Impending VAX obsolescence
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VAX
VAX
VAX
Bilal - VAX
Cons
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VAX system at end of lifecycle.
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VAX unable to support growth plans.
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General migration toward PC platforms.
S-Curve
PC
VAX
Bilal - PC Option
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Pros
By acting proactively, we won’t be caught offguard dealing with the sudden obsolescence
of our VAX infrastructure.
 As early adopters of new technology, by the
time the technology matures, MNP will have
developed some expertise in it.
 Existing functionality can be ported into PC
environment
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Bilal - PC Option
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Pros
Every MNP employee has a PC
 MNP already largely PC based
 Staff are already accustomed to PC based
applications
 Quality of commercial accounting applications
has improved
 Important & required information is generated
by applications designed for PC platforms.
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Bilal - PC Option
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Cons
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It will take time & investment to customize
existing commercial applications to
adequately replace VAX functionality
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VAX allows global updates in under 5
minutes. This is not yet possible with PC.
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MNP users satisfied & proficient with VAX
Decision Criteria
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Allow for continuous innovation
Platform must support new client applications and
internal functions
Long-term cost to run the system
Stability of the system
Maintain a Practice Management System
Staff Training requirements
Ease of ongoing support
Must be expandable/scalable
Support paperless office environment
End user satisfaction
Decision – PC Environment
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VAX technology is obsolete – continuing investment
will be costly
Provides a platform to continue to innovate into the
future.
New industry applications run on PCs
Cost Benefit of migration in the long run
Support for PC environment is less expensive
Maintaining the skill set for VAX will be difficult as the
industry moves away from supporting this platform
All staff currently have a PC or laptop so no add’l
investment
VOTE
MNP Solution
(Info from O’Brien-Moran)
PC Environment Implemented
 Time and Billing S/W re-written in PC
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Customized S/W allowed tailored data
gathering and robust data mining capability
Data also used for CRM
 Standardized work procedures – no need
to re-invent the wheel
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Key Messages
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Manage Obsolescence – Do not let it manage
you/your company (S-Curve)
IT strategy must be in line with organizational
strategy
Make the change while you can manage the
transition – not when you reach a crisis
If you want to be known as an innovator, you
need to be on the leading edge of that
technology and ‘Best In Class’ at applying it