technology in action - site reports

Which of the latest batch of fashionable IT ideas work and which don't? In each issue, Business Computer World will be finding out from the country's real experts in computer technology, the people in the frontline, working in organisations where it is being used. This month, we find out how an insurance company, an off-licence chain and an electronics distributor have been coping with data warehousing. We also explore how some companies have utilised video conferencing, and how much others have learned about making their own CD-ROM discs. In future issues, we will be investigating users' experiences with Lotus Notes, intranets and network management software. We will also be finding out how businesses are grappling with developments in computer-telephone integration, hot desking and the year 2000 date problem. Our focus will not be on slick technology and we won't be blinded by the supposed glamour of the latest products. Instead, we will concentrate on practical business issues and what really happens when you put new technology to work. data warehousing The data warehousing concept was first suggested more than 10 years ago, but is only now being taken seriously and put into action. A study by consultants The Meta Group revealed that in 1993 only five per cent of IT departments were considering implementing a data warehouse. By 1994, this figure had risen to 90 per cent. Now, all the major hardware vendors, database suppliers and application developers are committed to data warehousing. The idea is simple, a data warehouse allows authorised users access to information anywhere on a company's system. In practice, things aren't quite as straightforward because a data warehouse is an architecture rather than a set of products. Off-the-shelf data warehousing products aren't available, each data warehouse is unique and must be custom built. Four elements are critical to the creation of a successful data warehouse: 1 Data analysis: defines which information is present and which users require 2 Data manipulation: the way information is stored and received 3 Data access: the mechanism by which information is presented to users 4 The business case: what it aims to achieve for your business These rules can also be considered in terms of the tools needed to implement them. Data analysis requires data modelling and analysis tools. Data manipulation needs extraction and delivery tools, as well as tools for managing data and the metadata which describes it. Data access requires query and reporting tools for users and online analytical processing decision-support tools. It is more difficult to identify the tools needed to define the business application, but they are just as important. Business managers and technical managers should be involved in the project, because it will succeed only if it meets the needs of key decision makers. One way of understanding the aims of data warehousing is to compare it with the older concept of the executive information system (EIS). An EIS allows senior executives to query any part of a company's computer system. For example, they can look at data from a regional sales office to find which products are selling, or interrogate the payroll system to see which sales staff are hitting their targets. A data warehouse is essentially a larger and more democratic EIS. The main difference is that a data warehouse is designed for more users. For example, it could be set up so that an organisation's transport manager can find out the location and destination of every vehicle in the fleet. This could help provide customers with more accurate schedules, and loads could be diverted to meet special needs. EIS systems normally work by querying the same data used for live business transactions. This is possible because the number of EIS users is often very low. But a data warehouse may have hundreds of users trying to query the system at the same time. Allowing them to access data other users are relying on for operational purposes could cause serious problems. For example, it could lead to slower response times or a systems crash. So a data warehouse is usually implemented by setting up a separate, parallel database. Sometimes this runs on a separate machine on to which operational data is copied regularly. This means the data warehouse has almost live data and can't damage core business processes. This sounds complicated and expensive. Consequently, some companies are opting for a more modular approach to data warehousing, the data mart. This involves building small, departmental data warehouses rather than kicking off with a giant, company-wide project. David Wells and Philip Carnelley at UK research company Ovum identify the main risks of implementing a data warehouse as: 1 A project that never delivers 2 Warehousing the wrong data 3 Building a warehouse that is too expensive to run 4 Failing to manage changes to usersU working practices 5 User apathy 6 Unclear ownership of the warehouse 7 Aggravating existing organisational disputes 8 Being too ambitious for the hardware or software used Subject: Royal Sun Alliance Activities: insurance company Uses: analysing lots of confidential data In July, Sun Alliance merged with Royal Insurance to form Royal Sun Alliance, the largest insurance company in the UK and 10th largest in the world. It has assets of #55bn and managed funds of #45bn. Sun Alliance first considered installing a data warehousing system five years ago and the merged operation now has a large and fully operational example up and running. Ian Hillan, head of strategy projects, says: 'Five years ago, somebody recognised that we were really in the knowledge business. The purpose of an insurance company is to invest money, to serve and retain customers and to provide better products.' The company decided it needed a data warehousing system based on a decent parallel processing system. It sought bids from Tandem, IBM and other mainstream players for a system capable of handling one terabyte (one million megabytes) of data. Tandem won the contract. But installing such a massive system containing millions of customer details wasn't easy, because an insurance company deals with other people's money, its data must be accurate. The most difficult job was making sense of legacy data from previous systems. Much of it was either poorly documented or not documented at all. Once the data had been retrieved, it had to be tested and verified before being installed on the proprietary Tandem database. For example, Hillan says some early data had been entered before the introduction of the postcode, while other postcodes were simply incorrect. As a result, the company had to check all postcodes before loading them onto the new system. Subject: RS Components Activities: electrical parts dealer Uses: analysing product and client information RS Components is one of Europe's largest dealers in electrical and electronic products. It has constructed a compact data warehousing system using the data mart approach. Andrew Stevenson, relationship marketing applications manager at RS Components, prefers the term data boutique to data mart because the information is a smaller, exclusive subset, of the overall data. The company has opted for a separate machine, an IBM RS/6000, to run it. The system has Oracle's database engine at its heart and uses Powerplay and Impromptu, Cognos's business intelligence and reporting tools. RS Components had major problems with validating data stored on the old system. 'We had to make sure the data was correct. It is very easy for people to lose trust in a system and once they do, it is difficult to get it back again,' Stevenson explains. Past experience directed him towards using a second machine to run the data boutique. 'When I was product marketing man-ager at our German company, I taught myself the AS/400 query language. One day, I stopped the whole system from working. When you are taking 17,000 orders a day, this is not an ideal situation in which to find yourself.' The users helped RS Components to set up its new system. 'We found out what they wanted, not by asking them what data they would like but by asking them what they did with it,' Stevenson says. The company also had problems with legacy systems which were either poorly documented or lacked any documentation at all. But it managed to install its data boutique in just four months and has plans for expansion. Date warehousing lessons: 1 It is seldom as simple to set up as suppliers claim 2 Legacy data is often not as accurate or as well documented as new data 3 Testing and validating data is vital if the system is to gain the trust of users 4 The data warehousing system will usually need a machine of its own, or at least a separate database, to protect other users from performance degradation or other mishaps 5 Users should be involved in the project as early as possible Subject: Thresher Activities: off-licence chain Uses: an information resource for regional managers Off-licence chain Thresher is part of Whitbread. Last year, it decided to install a small data warehouse for its regional managers who are constantly on the road and need access to information. Richard Thorp, operations development project systems manager, says the data warehouse is more like a data mart. At the heart of the system is a Compaq server which pulls in data from a DB2 database on Whitbread's IBM mainframe. 'It's not a data warehouse in the true sense because we're not consolidating the information, it all remains in separate databases,' says Thorp. Each manager has a Toshiba laptop to use on the road and the data warehouse gives access to details of individual shop sales, profit and loss accounts and staff working hours. Because Whitbread's DB2 system is new, most of the data is well documented, although Thorp says some poorer quality data was taken from a different IBM AS/400. In general, the project has run smoothly. One of the key reasons for its success, says Thorp, is that users were consulted at all stages. 'We could have moved faster but we wanted to keep in step with changes in working practices,' he explains. Thresher also piloted the data mart using a PC to prove the idea would work. According to Thorp, the most important lesson to come out of the project is to always view data warehousing as a change in management technique rather than an IT system revamp. video conferencing For almost a century, the telephone has been permeating our lives. We have learnt how to use it and have discovered its capabilities. Furthermore, the technology has had time to settle down. In stark contrast, video conferencing is still in its infancy. And like all new technology, it has come to market before it is a finished product. It's not foolproof, is still fairly costly and just when you think it really works, it lets you down. For example, at a press conference for one of the world's largest technology companies, the live video conference with senior US management was marred by the loss of every other second of audio, despite successful dry runs. But configuration and software teething troubles shouldn't deflect from a promising technology. With the rise of the Internet, the prospect of a global network of users equipped with video phones and able to work simultaneously on documents is just around the corner. That's the future. The present is more limited. Although PCs fast enough to handle video manipulation are now commonplace, for workable conferencing you still need a fast, high-bandwidth communications system. ISDN, at least in the UK, remains a relatively costly option for smaller businesses. Most organisations have some kind of leased line but itUs the imminent arrival of cable modems, very fast units that use the almost ubiquitous cable networks being laid in our streets, which hold out hope for wider acceptance of video on the desktop. The actual hardware required by PCs is fairly basic. Several companies, such as Canon and Intel, offer cheap digital cameras, although most users will buy a complete kit including camera, video card and software. The type of system you choose depends on your needs. Some offer limited video capabilities but allow more freedom for application and file sharing. Others give full-screen video but are limited elsewhere. Since the outlay isn't small, it's essential to consult users, vendors and other people at the sharp end, suppliers, clients or remote office workers. Subject: SmithKline Beecham Activities: manufacturer of pharmaceutical products Installation: studio-based GPT systems plus Picturetel PCS 100 and PCS 150 systems on some desktops Uses: internal communication between international offices SmithKline Beecham is a household name in pharmaceutical products and over-the-counter medicines. It has found that video conferencing is ideal for multinationals, such as itself, particularly when billions of dollars are spent on global branding and where product management must be co-ordinated between disparate operations. Harry Lunn, lead technology analyst, says: 'It allows us to set up working teams across different countries. We looked at the science departments in particular. They can take pictures of a vaccine working on a cell, for example, and share their findings with colleagues across the Atlantic. It helps us to get products to market more quickly and keep costs down.' In extreme cases, SmithKline Beecham's GPT and Picturetel systems can save the company money in relocation costs. 'If a member of staff needs to work with colleagues in overseas offices for only eight months or so, with occasional meetings, we could not justify relocation costs,' says Lunn. He finds that setting up regular video conferences is more cost-effective. Lunn thinks the use of video conferencing will increase as the technology reaches more desktops worldwide. The comp-any arranges between 12 and 13 conferences a day using dedicated studios, with about only five desktop systems set up at each location. But this doesn't limit usage. 'We don't restrict the system,' says Lunn. 'Here at the head office, it tends to be senior managers, but everyone uses it.' Despite the wide use made of the system and its flexibility, users are continually trained to ensure they operate it correctly. 'It remains, primarily, a video telephone, although we like to stress the data applications,' says Lunn. 'Although weUre only in the pilot stages of the desktop setup, we prefer to call it data collaboration rather than desktop video.' Getting users into a file-sharing mentality across the Atlantic is crucial to the success of the desktop system, while the room-based setups will always be useful for high-level management meetings. Subject: RSA Group Activities: marketing communications design consultancy Installation: Picturetel Live 50 on a fast 486; built-in VCR feed Uses: external design sharing Roger Staton, director of marketing communications at consultancy RSA Group, says: 'I can foresee the day when com-panies will make their consultants use video conferencing to keep their costs down and boost productivity.' RSA was one of the first consultancies in the UK to invest in a video conferencing system. 'A 30-minute meeting can incur up to three hours of consultancy time, plus mileage costs,' Staton says. 'Consultancy over the line, on the other hand, takes only the time of the meeting and minimal ISDN line charges, saving the client money and reducing the amount of hassle for the consultant.' About half the companyUs fees are earned outside the UK, so the technology is used to share design ideas and photo-graphs with overseas clients, as well as acting as a cost-effective alternative to face-to-face meetings. RSA uses it to communicate with external clients but not internally. With only 20 employees and a relatively basic Picturetel Live 50 system installed on an Olivetti 486, it hardly seems worthwhile. Surprisingly, the video conferencing system hasnUt reduced the number of face-to-face meetings. In fact, it has lead to greater client contact and improved customer satisfaction. RSA specialises in IT clients so it can draw on the expertise of these external authorities. It thinks these consultants will increasingly be drawn into its culture and will need to communicate more quickly. Video conferencing not only shows the firm's commitment to technology, it also helps maximise the use RSA personnel can make of their time. Subject: GADC Activities: conferencing technology value added reseller Installation: Zydachron codex on two LAN-connected PCs linked to a Radvision gateway Uses: video telephony GADC, a value added reseller (VAR) of video conferencing kit, uses its system almost exclusively as a video telephone. John Seymour, business development manager at GADC, says: 'People tend to use their hands even when the person at the other end of the phone line can't see them. 'Using video conferencing, you can see the expressions of the other person, so it's more like talking to someone face-to-face, a lot of communication is though body language anyway.' GADC's system has general PBX dial-up facilities and deals with network conference traffic. But its real advantage is the facility to communicate internationally. 'Our main supplier is in Israel and our system allows us to talk to its staff directly without having to fly out there,' says Seymour. Talking to people whose first language is different from yours is also easier when you have visual clues. GADC is well placed to assess video conferencingUs future. 'We don't believe ISDN will be necessary to get video on to every desktop,' Seymour claims. Working with other resellers, it has developed desktop video with Radvision's video conferencing gateway product. The main problem facing people who want to use the technology is that video conferencing VARs are not generally LAN specialists. Subject: Resolution NTS Activities: video conferencing systems supplier Installation: Intel Proshare 200 running over a LAN Uses: data transfer and shared document editing Resolution NTS, another supplier of video conferencing systems, uses only the data transfer element of the technology. Paul Adams, technical director, says: 'The main disappointment is always the video quality. Everyone expects TV quality and it just isnUt there because of bandwidth restrictions. Video is, without exception, the least useful part of any conferencing setup.' Despite this opinion, Resolution is content to sell the benefits to potential clients. They include a safety consultant who wants to visit client sites without leaving the office and a systems software provider wanting to offer corporate clients video conferencing for its help desk. But Adams remains bullish: 'A year or so ago the quality of the applications was also quite poor but huge improvements in the major systems software, such as Proshare and the new Netmeeting from Microsoft, have forced other vendors to improve their applications as well.' Video conferencing lessons: 1 Video conferencing is rarely a substitute for face-to-face meetings 2 Desktop video is often disappointing - studio systems are better 3 Get used to application-sharing Q itUs the one thing you can't do over the phone 4 Maximise the investment by encouraging bookings 5 LANs and WANs will give you the bandwidth you need, so consider internal communications 6 If you haven't got an ISDN line, forget it. Ordinary modems are too slow. 7 Pick your moment - soon it may be an accepted, standard business tool CD-ROM writers The cost of making your own CD-ROM discs has fallen rapidly. Desktop CD-ROM writers - also called CD-recorders or CD-R - are now available for less than #1,000 and blank discs for under #10. The drop in price has allowed many companies to try small-scale CD-ROM publishing, or exploit the large storage capacity of the discs for archive purposes. But what are the main attractions of CD-ROM technology? The discs can each hold up to 650Mb, making them ideal for cheap storage of images and other forms of multimedia data, as well as large amounts of traditional text. Once the data is written it cannot be over-written or erased by the user. This makes CD-ROM a better distribution medium than tape or conventional magnetic disks for most purposes. What's more, basic CD-ROM standards are now firmly established, so once your data is on CD-ROM, a vast number of people have the necessary hardware to access it. However, CD-ROM does suffer some weaknesses. The discs are quite tough, but no more than the audio CDs they resemble. This means they aren't ideal for highly critical archiving or backup applications. Writing discs also takes a long time Q- from 30 minutes to an hour per disc - so don't expect to produce large quantities using a desktop writer. For larger runs, most companies use an outside service with the specialised equipment necessary to stamp discs by the thousand. Businesses are using CD-ROM writers mainly for low-volume publishing projects aimed at in-house users, business partners and customers. Projects include product guides, parts catalogues, sales presentations and point-of-sale displays - even interactive expert systems are appearing on CD-ROM. The main skill here is not in physically writing the discs, but preparing the information beforehand in a form which suits its intended audience. Subject: Oxfordshire County Museum Service Activities: managing and conserving reserve store of artefacts Uses: image library of holdings Most museums have many more artefacts than are exhibited at any given time because of lack of space. Oxfordshire County Museum Service is no exception and has a large purpose-built facility just outside Oxford which stores the reserve items from six museums in the county. The store holds archaeological finds, natural history specimens and various types of craft and household objects from neolithic times to the present day. According to Jonathan Wallis, a conservation officer at the museum, one of the big attractions of the CD-ROM format is that it can reduce wear and tear on the objects. Previously, museum staff had to physically remove an object from the store to examine it, but for many purposes an image on a computer screen can be just as good - and it can be accessed much more quickly. Last year, taking advantage of a project to transfer artefacts to better storage units, the service started systematically collecting images in a form which could be read on computer. Such digital images have two main advantages over conventional photographs. They are easier to copy and they don't deteriorate. There were already useful photographs for some objects, so these were simply scanned in. Other items were photographed with a video camera which was linked to a PC with a video capture card. In both cases, the images were stored in Jpeg format. An outside bureau then transferred the images to CD-ROM disc. According to Wallis, the museum decided to use an outside bureau for CD-ROM storage, rather than doing it in-house, because 'we needed to find out what we wanted before buying a CD-ROM writer'. The service has still not bought a CD-ROM writer because 'some people want to spend the cash on other things'. But Wallis says using the bureau has helped to prove the benefits of the application, which should make it easier to find funds. However, things haven't turned out quite as expected. The images have been put on the network server's hard disk and are now accessed from there rather than from CD-ROM. This is because there was enough space on the hard disk and there was no money immediately available to buy a CD-ROM drive for the network. But this approach has led to a compromise. Larger, high-resolution images are being held on QIC tape. This medium is more suitable for backup than quick access, so it makes the images relatively inaccessible for research purposes. But they are still available if the need is great enough, such as for insurance purposes. There are still plans to transfer all the images to CD-ROM where they will be readily accessible by more museum users. Subject: William Martin Productions Activities: producing videos and organising events Uses: presentations to clients William Martin Productions is an Oxford video and event production company which uses CD-ROM to showcase its services and sell forthcoming events. Like the Oxfordshire County Museum Service, rather than produce the discs itself, William Martin Productions went to an outside bureau, Inform Multimedia. The bureau helped with the multimedia presentation and writing the finished files to CD-ROM. As the files are fairly large - at least 80Mb - CD-ROM is the most convenient way of transferring them between machines. The medium is also fast enough for William Martin to provide a high-quality presentation without first having to load the files on to a hard disk. Because the company only needs a few discs, it doesnUt have to go to a mass-production service. It continually updates its presentations with new work so it doesnU't want to be lumbered with out-of-date discs. By using the bureau to write a few copies each time the presentation is updated, William Martin has kept down costs and waste. Subject: Royal Automobile Club Activities: providing support services to motorists Uses: reference material to help with roadside assistance RAC patrol bikes and vans use a portable CD-ROM database to help with roadside repairs. The organisation says it has been very successful, helping to speed up the service and improve the success rate. Patrol staff are equipped with small portable CD-ROM players called Electronic Books. These are available from Sony and Panasonic. The machines have a built-in CD-ROM drive which displays the data on a screen. The information consists of technical data, such as diagrams showing the towing and jacking points for different vehicles, diagnostic checklists and other technical tips. Ken Hartley, RAC information services manager, is convinced the CD-ROM system has been a step forward for the organisation's operations. 'These units provide our patrols with a quick and easy method of accessing vital information,' he says. CD-ROM lessons: 1 Although CD-ROM writers arenUt particularly expensive, it could still be worth outsourcing the job initially. This will allow you to concentrate on the really important thing - putting the correct information on the disc and giving it a good, usable interface 2 CD-ROM writers are slow Q if you want to produce hundreds of discs you have no alternative but to visit a specialist bureau 3 CD-ROM technology is more suited to publishing and distributing non-critical data than to computer backup Q the discs are tough, but they can get damaged. For backup requirements, more robust storage methods are more appropriate