In recent years has been a significant increase in the incidence of information system (IS) outsourcing. Technological uncertainly, cost reduction, the need to concentration in the core business, and the increasing quality and competition among a growing cadre of service providers (e.g.) are often discuss as key outsourcing motivators. Cadre is a core group who is a controlling or representative group at the center of an organization.

IS outsourcing involves multiple facets, including the initial decision, choice of governance structure and the management of the ongoing relationship.

Outsourcing

"Outsourcing" is: "A company or person that provides information; to find a supplier or service, to identify a source". It is very important to be clear about what is meant by outsourcing. Outsourcing essentially refers to how things are done rather than what is done. It describes how for example IT services are obtained; not what the services are.

Very simply outsourcing can be defined as a process in which a company delegates some of its in-house operations/processes to a third party. Thus outsourcing is a contracting transaction through which one company purchases services from another while keeping ownership and ultimate responsibility for the underlying processes. The clients inform their provider what they want and how they want the work performed. So the client can authorize the provider to operate as well as redesign basic processes in order to ensure even greater cost and efficiency benefits.

Although the above definition of outsourcing may seem very similar to contracting, it is to be said that contracting and outsourcing are in no way related. Generally in contracting the ownership or control of the operation or process being contracted is with the parent company, whereas in outsourcing the control of the process is with the third party instead of the parent company. So in other words, outsourcing can be defined as phenomena in which a company delegates a part of its in-house operations to a third party with the third party gaining full control over that operation/process.

One way of looking at it is that outsourcing is just a name for already existing practices. Services such as, bureau services, contract programming and project management have been outsourced for a long time. In its present meaning, however, outsourcing refers to a greater level of handing over ownership and/or managerial control than has before been the case.

Companies turn to resources outside their organizational structure usually to save money and/or make use of the skilled professionals. For instance, a company might outsource its IT management because it is cheaper to contract a third-party to do so than it would be to build its own in-house IT management team. Or a company could outsource all of its data storage needs because it is easier and cheaper than buying and maintaining its own data storage devices. A business might also outsource its human resource tasks to another enterprise instead of having its own dedicated human resources staff.

Insourcing

Insourcing often involves bringing in specialists to fill temporary needs or training existing personnel to perform tasks that would otherwise have been outsourced. An example is the use of in-house engineers to write technical manuals for equipment they have designed, rather than sending the work to an outside technical writing firm. In this example, the engineers might have to take technical writing courses at a local college, university, or trade school before being able to complete the task successfully. Other challenges of insourcing include the possible purchase of additional hardware and/or software that is scalable and energy-efficient enough to deliver an adequate return on investment (ROI).

Insourcing can be viewed as outsourcing as seen from the opposite side. For example, a company based in Japan might open a plant in the United States for the purpose of employing American workers to manufacture Japanese products. From the Japanese perspective this is outsourcing, but from the American perspective it is insourcing. Nissan, a Japanese automobile manufacturer, has in fact done this.

Views

As a student, if I were invited by the Dean of the Institute of Computing to attend a seminar-workshop on information systems planning with some of the faculty members. In one of the sessions, a discussion of outsourcing came up. You have been asked to present your evaluation about outsourcing the information systems functions of the school. I would choose outsourcing because of its lower wages and operating costs both contributed to these reduced costs.

These lower costs were appealing because they greatly improved the profit margins for any organization. However, outsourcing is now gaining in popularity for a variety of other reasons. While cost reduction is still a primary advantage, other elements such as access to industry experts, a larger workforce and more flexible options are being embraced as welcomed advantages offered by outsourcing.

Outsourcing must be done carefully, systematically, and with explicit goals. Companies that rush into outsourcing without fully understanding what they hope to gain may find themselves mired in a contractual battle with a chosen vendor or the recipient of services that worsen rather than improve. Sensible reasons to consider outsourcing include both strategic and tactical concerns on both a department and organizational level.

Outsourcing might be justifiable for a department with high costs that cannot be reduced or a lack of competency in specific areas. Organizational needs that generate consideration of outsourcing include the ability to compete globally with global services or relief from financial pressures achieved through immediate cost saving.

Outsourcing is not an excuse to wash management's hands of a poorly managed, costly, or misunderstood function. Understand the costs of a function and manage it effectively before evaluating its potential for outsourcing. Otherwise, you are probably deciding to outsource for the wrong reason, you may be giving the outsourcing vendor gains you could have reaped, and you may be starting a relationship that is destined to fail.

Organizations should consider (or reconsider) the overall merits of selective outsourcing every three to four years. Revisiting outsourcing may be particularly relevant under changing market conditions or when internal, industry, or technology changes have occurred.

Use a Methodical Approach

The process of deciding whether outsourcing is warranted involves numerous steps or phases. These are: identifying requirements; preparing and distributing a request for proposal (RFP); examining proposals; evaluating vendors; negotiating contracts; and implementing outsourcing. Adopt a methodology that describes the various steps to be performed and lays out the project plan necessary for a thorough evaluation. Just as applications development activities should be guided by a written, explicit methodology, the effort to consider and possibly implement outsourcing should be systematically conducted and documented.

The various phases are as follows:

• Planning Phase. The objectives and scope of the outsourcing idea are defined and the feasibility of outsourcing is determined before a decision to proceed. The effort is planned in terms of time, budget and resources needed.

• Analysis Phase. Baselines are determined and the service levels required of vendors are specified. Relationships between the information system function(s) to be outsourced and other functions that will remain in-house are also clarified so that contracts with vendors are certain to include proper interfaces with in-house services. The request for proposal is developed, responses are collected from vendors and analyzed, and a vendor is chosen.

• Design Phase. Negotiations proceed with the vendor and a contract is developed and signed.

• Implementation Phase. The transition from in-house provision of services to outsourcing is made.

• Operations Phase. The outsourcing relationship with the vendor is managed and any maintenance or changes in the outsourcing relationship are negotiated and implemented.

• Termination Phase. At the end of the contracting period the decision is made to negotiate another contract with the vendor or a new vendor, and the cycle begins again. Alternatively, a decision is made to bring the function back inside the organization.

As you evaluate your choices and decisions in outsourcing different components of your operations, you will need to consider the advantages of outsourcing. When done for the right reasons, outsourcing will actually help your company grow and save money. There are other advantages of outsourcing that go beyond money. Here are the top seven advantages of outsourcing.

1. Focus On Core Activities

In rapid growth periods, the back-office operations of a company will expand also. This expansion may start to consume resources (human and financial) at the expense of the core activities that have made your company successful. Outsourcing those activities will allow refocusing on those business activities that are important without sacrificing quality or service in the back-office.

Example: A company lands a large contract that will significantly increase the volume of purchasing in a very short period of time; Outsource purchasing.

2. Cost And Efficiency Savings

Back-office functions that are complicated in nature, but the size of your company is preventing you from performing it at a consistent and reasonable cost, is another advantage of outsourcing.

Example: A small doctor’s office that wants to accept a variety of insurance plans. One part-time person could not keep up with all the different providers and rules. Outsource to a firm specializing in medical billing.

3. Reduced Overhead

Overhead costs of performing a particular back-office function are extremely high. Consider outsourcing those functions which can be moved easily.

Example: Growth has resulted in an increased need for office space. The current location is very expensive and there is no room to expand. Outsource some simple operations in order to reduce the need for office space. For example, outbound telemarketing or data entry.

4. Operational Control

Operations whose costs are running out of control must be considered for outsourcing. Departments that may have evolved over time into uncontrolled and poorly managed areas are prime motivators for outsourcing. In addition, an outsourcing company can bring better management skills to your company than what would otherwise be available.

Example: An information technology department that has too many projects, not enough people and a budget that far exceeds their contribution to the organization. A contracted outsourcing agreement will force management to prioritize their requests and bring control back to that area.

5. Staffing Flexibility

Outsourcing will allow operations that have seasonal or cyclical demands to bring in additional resources when you need them and release them when you’re done.

Example: An accounting department that is short-handed during tax season and auditing periods. Outsourcing these functions can provide the additional resources for a fixed period of time at a consistent cost.

6. Continuity & Risk Management

Periods of high employee turnover will add uncertainty and inconsistency to the operations. Outsourcing will provided a level of continuity to the company while reducing the risk that a substandard level of operation would bring to the company.

Example: The human resource manager is on an extended medical leave and the two administrative assistants leave for new jobs in a very short period of time. Outsourcing the human resource function would reduce the risk and allow the company to keep operating.

7. Develop Internal Staff

A large project needs to be undertaken that requires skills that your staff does not possess. On-site outsourcing of the project will bring people with the skills you need into your company. Your people can work alongside of them to acquire the new skill set.

Example: A company needs to embark on a replacement/upgrade project on a variety of custom built equipment. Your engineers do not have the skills required to design new and upgraded equipment. Outsourcing this project and requiring the outsourced engineers to work on-site will allow your engineers to acquire a new skill set.

The Advantages Of Outsourcing Benefits Administration

In this economy, companies should be looking for new yet proven ways to save money.
PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 09, 2009 – It is common knowledge that for most employers, payroll processing is the biggest expense they incur on a regular basis. However, benefits administration and processing comes in at a close second in terms of employer cost. Indeed, as health care benefits become more and more complex to deal with, companies are spending increasing amounts of time processing them for their employees. When payroll processing and other human resources tasks are added to the mix, it's easy to see why benefits administration can be such a burden on midsized companies.

To deal with this growing problem, many companies are choosing to outsource their benefits administration. Doing so allows their existing human resources staff to perform other critical functions, and has a host of other advantages for companies looking to increase their efficiency and lower their costs. There is little doubt that benefits administration outsourcing will continue to rise in popularity; as noted by Norman LeClair, CEO of Corban OneSource (An HR Outsourcing Company for midsized businesses http://www.corbanone.com), "Outsourcing benefits administration has become very popular for companies with 100 to 1000 employees because it is proven to save money while increasing the customer service to employees." Below, we take a closer look at some of the compelling advantages to outsourcing benefits administration.

Reduce Costs

By outsourcing their benefits administration, companies can stand to cut costs and save a great deal of money. As things like health benefits become more and more convoluted to manage, keeping a human resources staff trained and up-to-date on performing these operations can be a costly proposition. Human resources personnel who have in depth experience in benefits administration typically come with very high salary requirements, increasing the operating costs for small to midsized companies enormously.

Rather than keep trained personnel on staff to tackle daily benefits administration tasks, many companies are discovering that outsourcing these functions saves them a lot of money in the long run. The firms that handle such tasks specialize in benefits administration processing, and typically cost a company far less than keeping in-house personnel up-to-date and fully trained. Since benefits administration has become so complex, most companies normally need at least one employee fully dedicated to handling it; for a lot less money, it can hire an outside agency to do the same work.

Free Up Resources

Obviously, human resources departments do much more for an average copany than benefits administration. They handle payroll processing, hiring and a slew of other critical tasks. However, benefits administration can take up an inordinate amount of employees' time and resources; other tasks may fall by the wayside. By outsourcing benefits administration, though, companies can free up existing HR personnel and allow them to get the important, day-to-day work done in a timely manner. This increases overall efficiency and improves employee morale considerably.

Improve Customer Service To Employees

When a company's human resources department is bogged down by the myriad complexities involved in benefits administration, it is less capable of providing excellent customer service to the organization's employees. Human resources should always be available and able to handle all sorts of employee concerns; they should be viewed and looked upon as a place for employees to receive the information that they need. By outsourcing benefits administration, companies can free up a lot of their HR personnel's time, allowing them to increase their level of customer service to employees in general.

Streamline The Benefits Process

The typical staff at a benefits administration outsourcing firm is comprised of highly trained and very experienced specialists who know precisely how to handle all aspects of the benefits administration process. Therefore, these companies can help organizations find many ways to streamline their benefits process, making it more amenable and accessible to each and every employee - from the bottom up. When the benefits process is truly streamlined, it allows a company's employees to take full advantage of those benefits - and keeps them up to date on what they are entitled to and how to receive those benefits.

Outsourcing Benefits Administration: A Great Choice

As demonstrated above, there are many compelling reasons for outsourcing benefits administration. With the highly competitive nature of today's business world, companies must continually strive to cut costs and improve efficiency. The increasingly complex nature of today's benefits administrations works against those goals, bogging companies down in red tape and subjecting them to countless errors and expenses. Removing those functions from the shoulders of existing HR personnel frees them up to focus on what truly matter: providing excellent customer service to the company's employees.

Companies that are struggling in today's worrisome economic climate are likely to find that outsourcing their benefits administration gives them the boost needed to keep them afloat. After all, being flexible and willing to adapt to changing times is critical to remaining a viable operation. Outsourcing benefits administration is just one other way of doing that with skill and ease.

The success of an outsourcing company depends on mainly three factors. Firstly a proper executive-level support from the client’s organization for the outsourcing mission. Secondly, there should be frequent communication between the client organizations (that is hiring services) and the service providing firm or company. And last but certainly not the least a lot depends on the client's ability to manage and handle its service providers.

References:
http://www.cyfuture.com/definition-of-outsourcing.htm
http://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/bitstream/1822/950/1/Outsource.pdf
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1185946,00.html
http://www.businessforum.com/woj01.html
http://operationstech.about.com/od/officestaffingandmanagem/a/OutSrcAdvantg.htm
http://www.articlesbase.com/outsourcing-articles/meaning-of-outsourcing-580687.html
http://www.prlog.org/10254091-the-advantages-of-outsourcing-benefits-administration.html

"Human beings are the most important, potent and critical, resource of any organization, and yet the least understood and the worst managed of its resources"

In this statement human being are the most important because they consider as the heart of the organization. There are lots of technology present in this world that allows companies to easily gather vast amounts of information about individual transactions. Technology also allows large amounts of data to be compiled quickly and accurately, significantly reducing error. But still technology does not replace judgment and human must still analyze situations and input results and analyze the output of his work. This is how important human is.

Managing an organization, for the manager - nowadays called a “leader” – is both art and science.

Understanding the role of human

In order the human will not be least the least understood and the worst managed of its resources. The science of management comprises three major missions:

1. Mission one – managing people – is the process of getting people to work; assigning them jobs for which they have the necessary abilities and skills; supporting and operating the organization in such a way as to encourage people to work together happily; producing and providing a service in line with the organization’s aims.

2. Mission two is managing work and organizations. The main goal of this mission is to get people to perform their duties in line with the organizational structure. An organization will survive if it has work to do. When an organization has work to do, people will have to work. So, this mission is important.

3. Mission three, managing production and operations, mean managing all work property and getting things done in line with the main target of the organization. Production will come about as a result of people working individually and as a team. Each person plays an important role in this mission.

All three missions will be successful if the organization leader understands the role of human in order to them to least understood and the worst managed of its resources. The first goal is to understand people’s opinions, which are a part to the organization. Each job will be a success if it is the result of people’s readiness and willingness to work. Secondly, when people work with others or work individually in the organization, they acquire, learning skill and work experience. At the final stage of the concept, people are the result of a developed organization. The organization’s output may be a product or service, which is consumed. The third issue is, studying, learning and understanding that people in the two categories have differences and similarities.

Organization leaders need to study, learn and understand their co-workers by observing and accepting individual differences. Meanwhile, they need to study each variance inside and outside the organization because these variances have an impact on people’s behaviour. Variances in the organization include an organization’s rules and regulation, the work’s characteristics, work hours and others.

Variances outside the organization comprise information about family, society and community. Finally, the organization leaders needs to try to find a relationships between variances that influence people’s behaviour in order to understand the people and treat them well.

Differences between people in an organization have many aspects, which an organization leader needs to study and understand as follows:

Personality
1. Personality is a combination of physical and mental aspects, which result in each person’s character. Personality is caused by genes, social environment, culture and relationships among family members. Understanding personalities can help organization leaders understand people’s actions, changes and development. The leader can even understand what and to what degree people are aware of things inside and outside the organization.

Attitude
2. Attitude is defined as people’s responses to things. Attitudes will be both positive and negative. They directly involve emotion, awareness, belief and opinion. Attitudes can be observed from the behavior exhibited when people respond to people, animals or things. People’s attitudes can be seen when they act, for example, with friendliness or aggressiveness.

Abilities and skills
3. Mental ability is called intelligence, while physical ability is called skill. Ability can be innate or come through learning. For examples the ability to remember a picture or figure, or the ability to present a beautiful speech to co-workers, or to summaries an event correctly and quickly. Organization leaders can determine people’s abilities and skills and assign a job suit them As a result, an organization can achieve the work it has targeted.

Variations in gender, nationality and culture
4. People’s gender, nationality and culture will vary inside and outside the group. People in an organization will have a variety of cultures, value estimations, languages, skills, beliefs and thoughts. These variations can be seen around the world. It can not be said that people of different nationalities have different work potentials, Due to a lack of study in this area, organization leaders, however, need to learn how to communicate with people who different qualities as mentioned above. It is not a simple task to put the right people in the right job in line with their ability, skill, knowledge and attitude towards the organization.

Motivation and work ability
5. Something’s can act as a stimulus within an organization-for example, rewarding or performance. According to study rewarding have the best influence on the performance of people in an organization. Organization leaders should learn to use motivation to realize employees’ mental and physical potential. A “reward” means not only financial benefits but also non- financial benefits such as praise and medals from the organization.

Role of HR

The role of the HR manager must parallel the needs of his or her changing organization. Successful organizations are becoming more adaptive, resilient, quick to change direction and customer-centered. Within this environment, the HR professional, who is considered necessary by line managers, is a strategic partner, an employee sponsor or advocate and a change mentor.

Strategic Partner

In today’s organizations, to guarantee their viability and ability to contribute, HR managers need to think of themselves as strategic partners. In this role, the HR person contributes to the development of and the accomplishment of the organization-wide business plan and objectives.

The HR business objectives are established to support the attainment of the overall strategic business plan and objectives. The tactical HR representative is deeply knowledgeable about the design of work systems in which people succeed and contribute. This strategic partnership impacts HR services such as the design of work positions; hiring; reward, recognition and strategic pay; performance development and appraisal systems; career and succession planning; and employee development.

Employee Advocate
As an employee sponsor or advocate, the HR manager plays an integral role in organizational success via his knowledge about and advocacy of people. This advocacy includes expertise in how to create a work environment in which people will choose to be motivated, contributing, and happy.

Fostering effective methods of goal setting, communication and empowerment through responsibility, builds employee ownership of the organization. The HR professional helps establish the organizational culture and climate in which people have the competency, concern and commitment to serve customers well.

In this role, the HR manager provides employee development opportunities, employee assistance programs, gain sharing and profit-sharing strategies, organization development interventions, due process approaches to problem solving and regularly scheduled communication opportunities.

Therefore Human Resource contributes to the organization by constantly assessing the effectiveness of the HR function. He also sponsors change in other departments and in work practices. To promote the overall success of his organization, he champions the identification of the organizational mission, vision, values, goals and action plans. Finally, he helps determine the measures that will tell his organization how well it is succeeding in all of this.

References:
http://humanresources.about.com/od/hrbasicsfaq/a/hr_role.htm
http://msci.chandra.ac.th/download/km/01.pdf

2009 State of the Nation Address

The 2009 State of the Nation Address (SONA) is outlined in six (6) focal points along the President’s vision since her assumption of the Presidency in 2001, including her goals as stated in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) and her Ten-Point Agenda for beating the odds.

• The Macroeconomy: Securing the Fundamentals
• Economic Development: Enhancing Competitiveness
• Social Development: Promoting Redistributive Justice; Democratizing Entitlement
• Infrastructure and the super regional Development Strategy
• Good Governance and Political Stability
• Lastly, Agenda for Action in 2010 and Directions Beyond 2010

As I read the full text of PGMA State of the Nation Address (SONA) which happened last July 27, 2009. In her SONA, I identify 3 areas related to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and how these areas can improve our quality of life.

First:

Communication Services
“Sa telecommunications naman, inatasan ko ang Telecommunications Commission na kumilos na tungkol sa mga sumbong na dropped calls at mga nawawalang load sa cellphone. We need to amend the Commonwealth-era Public Service Law.
And we need to do it now… “

Policies were implemented promoting systematic and accelerated ICT advancement.

•Removed barriers and allow full competition in the provision of high-speed networks and connectivity. This resulted in the reduction of cost of local internet connections from PhP30 per hour in 2000 to PhP15 per hour in 2008.

•Allocated radio frequencies to allow broadband wireless access network.

•Liberalized the telecommunications environment/ industry to allow the entry of more players, ie, the telecommunication operators (TelCos).

•This enabled the mobile telephone industry to experience robust growth. About 62% of the total populace (or about 56 million out of the 88 million Filipinos) are now mobile telephone subscribers who are connected to 14,506 cell sites, nationwide, as of end of 2008. To date, there are 11 international gateway facility (IGF) operators who can provide international long distance calls; six (6) cellular mobile telephone system operators; 11 public trunk radio operators; 14 inter-exchange carrier licenses that service other carriers’ traffic using their own networks; and, 74 local exchange operators or those with fixed line services.

•Authorized the retail-pricing for local telephone lines by allowing local exchange carriers to design price packages.

Second:

Business Process Outsourcing
“Kung noong nakaraan, lumakas ang electronics, today we are creating wealth by developing the BPO and tourism sectors as additional engines of growth. Electronics and other manufactured exports rise and fall in accordance with the state of the world economy. But BPO remains resilient.”

The Philippine Business Process Outsourcing sector caters to varied support services functions. The rise of Animation, Software Development and Medical Transcription in 2003 became an addition to promising BPO investments that were portrayed in the succeeding years. It marked the rise of digital servicing, niche service operations and marketing using information technology. Later on, outsourcing services were popularized in the following support service functions, namely: (1) Human Resources such as recruitment and payroll; (2) Customer Service and helpdesk functions; (3) Procurement and materials management; (4) proof reading and editing; and (5) layout and design. Among the top contact centers in the country are Sykes, Convergys, Ambergis, and People Support. Some of the companies that have set-up internal BPO operations in the country include HSBC, AIG Business Processing Services, Chevron Texaco, Procter and Gamble Asia Pt. Ltd., Shell Shared Services, among others.

Third:

Automated Elections
“As the seeds of fundamental political reform are planted, let us address the highest exercise of democracy -- voting! In 2001, I said we would finance fully automated elections. We got it, thanks to Congress..”

The Administration supports the modernization of the electoral system to ensure the credibility of the polls. It promotes solid traits among candidates such as deportment, simple and dignified lifestyle, and readiness to act rather than grandstand. With the support of Congress, the President signed into law RA 9369 s. 2007, the Amended Automated Elections Law prescribing full automation of the national-local elections on 10 May 2010. Subsequently, the amount of PhP11.3 billion as supplemental budget was appropriated for automated elections through the RA 9525 which the President signed into law in March 2009. The DBM has already released to COMELEC on 30 April 2009 the SARO containing the said amount.
To date, COMELEC has completed the bidding for the procurement of more than 80,000 machines for the Precinct Counting Optical Scan (PCOS)

References:
http://www.gov.ph/sona/sona2009/2009_SONA_TECHNICAL_REPORT.pdf
http://jlp-law.com/blog/state-of-the-nation-address-sona-2009/

21st -century corporations look like....

Most people overestimate the effects of change in the short term, underestimate them in the long term and fail to spot where change will be greatest. Nowhere is this judgment truer than with new technologies. The Internet stock-market bubble, like the bubble in railway stocks in the nineteenth century, reflected overestimates and misjudgments of the potential impact of new communications. And as with railways, the bubble burst, leaving lots of empty hands but an infrastructure that survived—and changed the world. There will be evolution, rather than revolution and it will take many years to work through. Recall that even though the telephone was first used commercially in the 1870s, telephone banking did not spring up until the 1980s. Consider that the Internet had been in commercial use for a mere seven years by the time recession struck. Profound change rarely comes fast.

In the 21st century, we will see increased communication, dependence and assistance among people around the world. In each hemisphere, people’s dependence upon one another is growing. Business organizations, government agencies and private companies – including non – profit organizations and non – governmental organizations – jointly use products, capital and human resources. They want to expand production, capital and resources together and also expand into other parts of the world. To overcome competitors therefore, new management methods are needed. To achieve targeted results, managers need to have a detailed knowledge and understanding of management-related subjects.

The biggest changes will inevitably be those that go with the grain of what is already happening. Internet technologies will thus reinforce outsourcing, a trend that has been in progress for at least two decades. They will further reduce inventory, a move that began long ago with just-in-time lean production. They will bolster globalization, allowing companies to manage overseas operations and connect with foreign suppliers in more intricate ways. They will highlight the emphasis on the customer that so many companies strive to achieve. They will accentuate the need for talented and inventive people, who will have an even sharper idea of their financial worth on the world market for human capital. They will enable the flat structures of modern businesses to operate more effectively and make them even less hierarchical.

Indeed, one of the truly remarkable things about these technologies is the extent to which they reinforce trends already under way. This reflects the fact that many of the things they do are not entirely new: Proprietary electronic networks have long allowed large companies to do what smaller firms can now emulate. But such networks, and packaged software applications such as ERP, tend to be cumbersome and expensive, forcing companies to accommodate them. By comparison, the Internet is flexible, accessible, inexpensive, and ubiquitous.

In the future, Internet technologies will give companies new control over their relations with their customers. The Internet will not just widen reach, allowing companies to reach new markets; more important, it will provide ways to deepen existing relationships. Here, as in many other areas, the development of a culture of trust will do the most to deepen the relationship. In addition, companies will develop more sophisticated tools to identify their most profitable customers, to retain them, and to sell them extra products. They will find subtle ways to price discriminate, for example, through developing two familiar concepts, loyalty schemes and clubs.
Given the importance of creativity and new ideas to corporate success, companies must work harder than ever to recruit and retain the right staff and to create a corporate culture that encourages loyalty and effective collaboration. With recruitment, as with customer management, identifying those people likely to contribute most to corporate profitability and concentrate on retaining and developing them will be critical. With staff, as with customers, acquisition costs will encourage companies to care about retention because profits per worker take time to accrue.

One of the earliest and most visible effects of Internet technologies is on purchasing. Here, a genuinely new business model has arisen: the electronic exchange, which will take several different forms, but will be built around a single standard that will allow different industries and different companies within an industry to transact freely with one another. In networks and in marketplaces, applying determined standards is one of the keys to realizing value. In purchasing within individual companies, central discipline will also be essential if companies are to benefit from savings and from new suppliers.
More far-reaching will be the impact on the management of supplier networks. Here, the key will be the power of Internet technologies to make information available simultaneously to many different points in a system. The transformation of the supply chain into an ecosystem will bring the biggest rewards when the whole production process can become more modular, so that different stages that once took place sequentially can now occur simultaneously. That change will speed production, reduce output, and increase the flexibility with which companies can respond to changing customer tastes.

In the past, the costs of transferring information have been one of the main factors determining the structure of the company. Now, that is far less true, and the consequence is that companies can make decisions about whether or not to outsource some process or to decentralize some authority in terms of the business case alone. The pressure to outsource will grow, partly because it will leave companies free to concentrate on what they do best rather than on what they merely do well. It will grow, too, because talent is scarce: Some of the brightest and best may choose to be free agents rather than wage slaves. However, when business is slack, employees may be less enthusiastic about going it alone; and outsourcing will have drawbacks when companies are keen to keep direct control over their quality of service and the reputation of their brands.

The benefits of Internet technologies depend not on their wizardry alone (which in coming years will seem remarkably ordinary and natural just as the phone does now). Companies will reap the full benefits only if they have appropriate structures and cultures. In creating those calls for skillful leadership, leaders must be able to cope not only with change, disruptive and continuous, but also with the pressures on decision makers to digest a ceaseless torrent of new data—a task that the next generation of managers will be better able to do. Leaders must be good at communicating both with the outside world and with their own people, and able to withstand the sense of managing in a fishbowl, visible to all. They must be as adept at making business decisions as at managing public opinion and issues, such as the environment and corporate social responsibility. Running a big company will remain one of the world's most complex and demanding tasks.

References:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/2839.html

An IT consultant works in partnership with clients, advising them how to use information technology in order to meet their business objectives or overcome problems. Consultants work to improve the structure and efficiency and of an organization’s IT systems. IT consultants may be involved in a variety of activities, including marketing, project management, client relationship management and systems development.

They may also be responsible for user training and feedback. In many companies, these tasks will be carried out by an IT project team. IT consultants are increasingly involved in sales and business development, as well as technical duties.

Career development

As an IT consultant, your immediate prospects depend on the size and type of the organization you work for. Movement between employers is common. Larger consultancies have an established career structure for their staff, with frequent appraisals and an emphasis on individuals managing their own career. A typical consultant moves from the daily responsibility of a project to a more strategic role with team leadership and responsibility.

The IT industry is so diverse and IT consultants perform such a variety of tasks that your career may develop into a number of different industries and sectors. Once you gain generalist experience you may want to specialize in a sector or a program, e.g. SAP, Oracle, or work as a senior consultant.

IT consultants may take on greater responsibilities in another part of an organization (e.g. training and recruitment, project management, sales and account management roles). Other possible progression includes the development of specific technical expertise, possibly leading to contributing at national and international technical conferences. Some consultants go on to become IT specialists at partner level or IT architects.

If I will hired by the university president as an IT consultant what would I suggest (technology, infrastructure, innovations, steps, processes, etc) in order for the internet connectivity be improved is technology.

There’s no doubt that the hard market has brought a scarcity of coverage, an expansion of exclusions and a significant increase in premiums for public entities. As a result, these organizations are struggling to find new ways to protect their assets.

Today’s managers are being asked to do more with less. They not only handle risk financing, but also must focus on overall risk management strategies, such as safety programs, educating staff members on new policy and procedures, developing proper loss control strategies in key areas and determining the effectiveness of each initiative.

To improve performance, Manager need a more rapid and effective means to identify risks before they result in significant losses, to monitor key performance indicators, improve communications and share information among all stakeholders involved in the risk management process. To meet these needs, risk managers would significantly benefit from the connectivity, transparency and real-time benefits that Internet technology delivers. Thus, IT Consultant performs a variety of tasks that can help the improvement in this university.

Overview

An internet service is expanding rapidly. The demands it has place upon the public network, especially the access network are great. However technological advance promise big increase in access speed, enabling public networks to play a major role in delivering new and Improve telecommunication services and application to consumers.

Technology as a Tool; the Internet as a Vehicle

Organizations are now looking to the Internet as a way to more directly and immediately facilitate the accessing and sharing of information with key decision-makers. After all, one bad claim can result in thousands, even millions of dollars in losses. To identify and control these losses, public entities must utilize Internet systems to achieve connectivity, transparency and real-time notification:

Connectivity

Connectivity, in the context of computer science, refers to the use of computer networks to link computers to one another, and provide information resources between computer systems and their final users. On a collective scale, connectivity may refer to the Internet bandwidth coming into and going out of a country, and the quality of the infrastructure within the country for linking to the Internet.

Public entities have long been in search for convenient, cost-effective connectivity with individuals that need to communicate, including claims adjusters, risk managers, nurse case managers, supervisors and excess carriers.

In this way, they can share information as it develops. Traditionally, decisions to connect these individuals were based on the costs of building a connectivity infrastructure, typically utilizing dial-up or dedicated lines.

Today, the cost savings achieved by true Internet connectivity vs. building a “private” network can be measured in the thousands of dollars per location saved each year. Even for entities with a private network already in place, utilizing Internet-based solution for risk management and claims administration still pays for itself in a few months. These systems are also flexible, and easily adapt to new offices or remote users that may be connecting from a PC, Mac, PDA or even a mobile phone.


Transparency

In our consumer-driven society, convenience is of utmost importance. Everyone wants easy access to the information they need, without being bothered with where the information came from or how it was compiled.

Internet systems are vital to delivering critical information where and when it’s needed most. At the same time, the transfer and management of this information remain transparent. Instead of having to access multiple applications with different system requirements, user IDs and passwords, users simply retrieve what they need from one site. This saves an incredible amount of time, money and hassle.

For instance by using an Internet system, public entities have lowered both their training and installation costs for software, hardware and networking needs and achieved increased information transfer as users are more likely to use the application when using only one site.

A good example of transparency is a claims administration system that automatically accesses the latest labor codes, compensation rates, medical bill reprising schedules and PPO contracts. The user doesn’t have to “perform” an information update from their workstation, nor does the IT department have to manage multiple batch data interfaces.

One public insurance pool now accesses information for several data sources from a single site, streamlining communication between the pool, various members and their third-party administrators (TPA). At one time, the pool had utilized administrative staff members to fax information back and forth, create spreadsheets to track and create reports, and to obtain information from a variety of Web sites. After deploying the Internet system, the pool was able to re-deploy one FTE per each member to more productive roles, and significantly improved their claims outcomes. The savings in improved outcomes is more difficult to measure, but far exceeds the administrative savings.


Real-time notification

Keeping up with the latest, most important losses and developments within an organization is a critical issue. By using Internet-based business rules, a public entity can instantly inform its risk manager of an urgent claim or loss through native Internet tools like email or via wireless notification to a pager or cell phone. For instance, if a significant loss occurred, such as a fire at a school, the system would instantaneously notify key decision makers and managers about the incident, so they could initiate appropriate response measures.

Real-time notification allows risk managers and executives to be better informed, prepared for meetings, and compliant with statutory timelines. For instance, many tasks and functions in workers’ compensation run on mandated timelines. If these deadlines are not met, a public entity can be liable for penalties. With real-time notification, public entities can improve communication, and thereby reduce penalties on late regulatory reporting, late payments or late reporting on excess claims. As a result, a lot of savings have been achieved and penalties averted through real-time notification.


The Lay of the Land: Knowing What Internet Systems Are Available

Many of today’s people, feeling comfortable with the Internet in other areas of their lives, are more inclined to use the latest Internet tools for risk management. However, it’s important to understand the various types of systems that are currently available and the benefits and disadvantages of each:

Internet-enabled

Many public entities have Windows-based or mainframe-based applications that utilize the Internet for remote access and to drive one or two functions. For the most part, however, public entities cannot fully leverage the Internet’s real-time capabilities for their risk management functions using this model.

Application service providers (ASPs)

An ASP allows companies to access their system for a “subscription” cost. The ASP handles the installation, housing, maintenance and upgrades to the system. Many of these applications are client-server or mainframe applications that have been modified to run over the Internet, utilizing middleware technology, which not only creates additional technology expenses, but also creates vulnerabilities and/or problems in an organization’s firewall security.

Truly Internet-based/Browser-based

The latest applications have been specifically designed to run over the Internet. A browser-based system as its name suggests only requires a browser—which is a standard option on most PCs. Since browser-based applications do not require middleware, they are more cost-effective, secure and offer an improved Internet model. It allows for immediate access to information at anytime, from anywhere. More companies are looking to browser-based technology to solve their risk management needs.


Owning & Accessing Claims Data

IT Consultant not only needs access to claims information in order to analyze losses and key performance indicators, but they also need to monitor the claims process as a risk factor in and of itself. Claims process inefficiencies add significantly to claims costs. Many public entities are now purchasing their own browser-based claims administration system to ensure that the claims process is managed efficiently and to also have ultimate control over their claims data whether they are self-administered or TPA-administered.

Later, if a public entity decides to use another or an additional TPA, no data conversion is required; the new TPA simply logs on over the Internet to the entity’s browser-based system. In addition, public risk managers would not have to rely on the TPA to provide risk management reports, instead risk managers would have direct access to the information they need, when they need it. Internet-based business rules can also be set up to immediately notify individuals when certain types of claims or activities have occurred, so a proper response can be initiated.

Tracking Key Performance Measures

Until recently, few public entities had systems in place to capture the full range of data to analyze losses and to understand the effectiveness of their risk management initiatives. Today’s integrated claims administration and risk management systems available via browser-based technology now allow public entities to have a centralized data repository from which they can monitor key performance measures.

By leveraging the Internet’s connectivity, these measures are more readily accessible and can be utilized to identify potential opportunities for improvement and to formulate new initiatives that further reduce losses. If a key performance indicator is at a critical risk level, real-time notification can be leverage to automatically inform the appropriate decision maker or manager.

The Future of Internet Technology

Over the next quarter century, though, the Internet will help to transform companies, although the transformation may be too subtle for people to notice much while it happens. It will be most striking, at least in the medium term, in companies providing services: financial, travel, medical, educational, consultancy. Many manufacturing businesses will grow more like service industries: They will cater to the individual customer's tastes, for instance, and create a continuing relationship to ensure they get repeat purchases.

The connectivity, transparency and real-time nature of browser-based systems can help publican entities institute effective claims administration and risk management strategies. The quality of any initiative depends almost entirely on individuals receiving the “right” information to do their jobs effectively. The Internet has become a powerful tool that enables the access and sharing of information among all stakeholders. Public risk managers who use browser based technology can drive their risk management initiatives with greater business intelligence, simplicity, and control

References:
w w w . p r i m a c e n t r a l . o r g
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/it_consultant_job_description.jsp
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/it_consultant_career_development.jsp

Human Resource defined the people that staff and operate an organization … as contrasted with the financial and material resources of an organization. It is the organizational function that deals with the people.

What is Downsizing?

Downsizing is reducing the number of employees on the operating payroll. Some users distinguish downsizing from a layoff, with downsizing intended to be a permanent downscaling and a layoff intended to be a temporary downscaling in which employees may later be rehired. Businesses use several techniques in downsizing, including providing incentives to take early retirement and transfer to subsidiary companies, but the most common technique is to simply terminate the employment of a certain number of people. Rightsizing is downsizing in the belief that an enterprise really should operate with fewer people. Dumbsizing is downsizing that, in retrospect, failed to achieve the desired effect.

Here are the following list of company that has undergone Human Resource downsizing and the cause and processes of it.

1.) Microsoft's Razorfish

Microsoft's online ad agency Razorfish laid off 40 staff in its New York office this afternoon, citing a drop off in business from the financial services sector.

"Many companies, especially those in the financial services sector, have been hit hard by the economic crisis. This has had a direct impact on our business, particularly in New York," Razorfish spokeswoman Sally O'Dowd said. "As a result Razorfish had to lay off about 40 people today, about two percent of our work force."
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/Microsofts_Razorfish_online_ad_agency_cuts_NY_staff33609649.html

2.) Attachmate

Attachmate today laid off 10 percent of its staff, or 120 employees, as the software company adjusts to the growing economic problems. Company spokeswoman Melissa Liton did not immediately have information on the number of workers affected at the Seattle headquarters, though she said cuts occurred across most of the divisions and offices. “The reductions were necessary to ensure Attachmate maintains a healthy financial structure during this difficult and uncertain economic climate,” said Liton.

With the economic storm clouds darkening, a number of technology companies have cut staff in recent weeks. In Seattle, The Cobalt Group, RealNetworks and Marchex have all scaled back operations. Rumors have also circulated that Microsoft -- the anchor of the Seattle tech community -- may be preparing for a layoff later this month.
http://www.techflash.com/venture/Attachmate_cuts_10_percent_of_staff37314084.html

3.) Nokia

Finnish mobile giant Nokia has announced that it is trimming down its operations by cutting over 600 positions, mainly in marketing and sales departments. The Nokia Research Center (NRC), the business unit that explores and develops technologies that will be available in the marketplace in five to ten years, will also focus on fewer research areas from now on.
In addition to the lay-offs, Nokia is closing an entire company site (Turku) by the end of January 2009, but hopes to relocate all of its 220 employees to Nokia’s site at Salo or in the capital area in Finland. The changes in the Markets unit, Nokia Research Center and in other Nokia functions will come into effect on January 1, 2009.

In another release, Nokia touts the introduction of a range of low-priced mobile devices and new services catered specifically to people in emerging markets (e.g. India). In total, seven new handsets were announced, and the first services Nokia will offer in emerging markets will focus on email (Mail on Ovi), agriculture and education (Nokia Life Tools).

Like many businesses, Nokia is feeling the nasty sting of the economic downturn. Its recently announced Q3 earnings weren’t spectacular either (down over 28 percenton a year earlier), so these lay-offs don’t exactly come unexpectedly. It’s easy enough to find the irony when you look at the two news releases side by side, but I think Nokia is actually making the right strategic move by shifting its focus to custom internet services for countries where there is much room for growth and very specific needs.
http://recruitersdumpingground.blogspot.com/2008/11/nokia-cuts-600-jobs.html

4.) Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard began issuing layoff notices that could mean "hundreds" of lost jobs among Imaging & Printing Group workers at the company's Boise campus, according to sources who requested anonymity.

The laid-off HP engineer said furloughed workers will receive five weeks of pay and benefits, during which time they will train other workers to pick up some of their duties. The laid-off workers will be able to look for other jobs inside HP. If they don't find jobs, HP will provide an additional four weeks of pay and benefits, though the employees will have little to do and will not be required to be on site.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/235/story/482932.html

Cause of Downsizing

Downsizing occurs because a company’s business model is no longer producing an acceptable financial return. If downsizing is seen as a signal that “business as usual” is no longer acceptable, then it can be used as a catalytic event for strengthening a company’s competitive abilities. If downsizing goes beyond “laying off” people to laying off unnecessary processes, low margin products and customers, and non-value services, an organization can quickly improve its financial performance. Downsizing is an opportunity to shock the organization out of complacency and to find significantly better ways of running the business.

Role of Human Resource

Most line managers are so focused on who to terminate and how to keep up with the work demands, that they cannot readily see opportunities for improvement or strengthening the culture. The Human Resource manager can play a vital role during this transition period, since they are responsible for orchestrating the downsizing effort.

Given the organization uncertainty during downsizing, line managers can be much more receptive to suggestions from HR. This is the perfect opportunity for HR managers to assist line management in finding ways to adapt to working with less resource. Upside downsizing is a set of tools the HR manager can use to help managers get productivity and employee satisfaction not only back on track, but elevated to new levels. When properly implemented, upside downsizing will help both the company and HR’s stock increase.

Five tips for downsizing and layoffs processes:

When the company has already trying everything to reduce overhead to cutting back on employee hours and reducing energy costs. Nothing seems to be getting your small business on the road to recovery during these tough economic times and the only answer is company layoffs. This will be a difficult time for your business because nothing is easy when it comes to company downsizing. However, these five layoff tips will help you make the transition through this difficult time smoother and more effective.

1.)Plan and Act

Don’t resort to company downsizing in a frivolous attempt to save face. Company layoffs are a serious matter that should be approached with tact and diplomacy. You need to develop and implement a directed plan of action. Even if you are simply considering company layoffs as an alternative option for the future, it’s important to tackle the issue far in advance.

2.)Try to Increase Profit

Sometimes the real issue when it comes to company downsizing is not that there are too many people, but that there is too little profit. Focus a great deal of energy on increasing profit if company downsizing looks like it is on the horizon for your small business.

3.)Be Honest

When it comes to company layoffs, honesty is the best policy. Don’t hide information from your leaders and managers. If other employees come forward with questions and concerns, be sure to address them with complete sincerity. No layoff tips can help you avoid disappointing your workforce, but you need to be honest in order to build trust and maintain relationships through the eye of the storm.

4.)Prepare the Workforce

Even if you don’t know who will be laid of or when, it’s important to start preparing your workforce for the worst. Company layoffs should come as no great surprise. All members of your organization should be informed well in advance if this may become a possibility for your company. Hold a meeting and disclose pertinent, concrete information to your employees. Let them know that you are doing all that you can to avoid making layoffs and that company downsizing is a last resort. You might also consider welcoming any suggestions or tips from the workforce on how to further reduce costs and avoid layoffs.

5.)Avoid Legal Troubles

One factor you need to consider when designing company layoffs is that there are many legal issues. A corporate lawyer will generally provide layoff tips that say to design your layoffs around a last-hired, first-fired model. This ensures that employees cannot file suit regarding discriminatory acts against you. As a small business owner, you need to protect your remaining assets during company layoffs. Approach the situation on the basis of seniority and nothing more.

These layoff tips might not necessarily help you save jobs, but they will make the transition through a period of company downsizing more endurable. Company downsizing is becoming a harsh reality for thousands of people in a variety of industries, but you can make the best of the experience with these layoff tips.

Companies that do not use the downsizing experience as an opportunity to revitalize their business are doomed to repeat the experience. The HR manager can provide a missing leadership role in using downsizing as an initiative for building a more competitive company.

References:
http://adnetwork.kcilink.com/adclick.php?n=aafd07e6
http://www.morebusiness.com/company-downsizing
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci759501,00.html
http://www.onpha.on.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Human_Resources1&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=4&ContentID=2204

Introduction

The spread of the World Wide Web and high speed computer processors has computer-based technology – henceforth referred to in this paper as ‘technology’ – become easy enough to use and of enough value for most company to pursue it as a tool for business.

Organizations are as alike and unique as human beings because of the technological advancements to help improve the functionality and security of data being processed inside the company. Similarly, group processes can be as straightforward or as complex as the individuals who make up the organization. It is vital to successfully launching a new program that the leaders understand the strengths, weaknesses of the organization or system in which they operate.

As we see Davao City it is an improving city because of many buildings build here for business purpose. One of the companies seen here in Davao City with the help of technological advancement is EMCOR, which the company we adopted and their barriers in their IS/IT implementation.

EMCOR stand for (Engineering Machinery Corporation)and it was started 48 years ago in Davao City as Engineering and Machinery Corp., a franchise dealer of International Harvester, by pioneering entrepreneur Jesus V. del Rosario, who set up Kawasaki Motors (Phils.) Corp., K-Servico Trade, Inc., International Writing Systems Phils. Corp., International Elevator and Equipment, Inc., JVR Foundation and local units of Panasonic Group of Companies. They carry a wide array of product lines like Panasonic, JVC, Philips, Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Electrolux, La Germania, Whirlpool, FS Furniture, Sanyo, Canon, Brother, Epson, Toshiba, Acer, Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki and many others. We have also partnered with Western Union for our money transfer services. The core of our existence is our ability to provide high quality service to our customers by providing the right products at the right time, in the right place and at the right price. They also believe that as responsible members of our society, they should pursue our profit objectives in the spirit of service to the community. They believe in reconciling the profit motive of our Company with service to the nation. Thus, emcor strive to maintain a balance between the interests of our customers, employees, shareholders and the government by supporting national and local agenda for economic development, social reform, educational/scientific research, healthcare and environmental sanitation and preservation. To date, the JVR Foundation has given more than PhP200 Million in philanthropic work.http://emcor.com.ph/about.phpout.php

Barriers in IS/IT implementation

The company used a or computer-based information system which means that the transaction and data records of the company is stored in a specific application software in a computer system and being used when automates some of the information-processing activities of the company. In this situation the company uses Information System to make their work accurate. While Information Technology serves as a help of their company in terms of general ledger to financial report because it is well structured and properly documented. Long time ago internal reporting was made manually and only periodically, as a by-product of the accounting system and with some additional statistics, and gave limited and delayed information on management performance. But know through the help of technology it makes our work fast, easy, and accurate.
A barrier is defined as “any condition that makes it difficult to make progress or to achieve an objective” (WordNet, 1997). It is also the structure blocking access, a structure such as a fence that is intended to prevent access or keep one place separate from another.

Here are the following list of the barriers in IS/IT implementation of EMCOR which their company identify potential obstacles and possible solutions. These serve as a good starting point for a planning session that will make their company most effective in business.

System Failure

The companies suffer system failure that affects all transaction currently in progress but do not physically damage the database. As a cause of system failure, poor development practices are one of the most significant. This is due to the complex nature of modern software. But in contras with it is the possible solution. The company has their Daily Backup which provides a copy of computer data that is stored, e.g. a copy stored on a floppy disk, compact disk or any writable materials. In case of brownout, the company has supported data.

Problem in internet connection

EMCOR uses management monitoring system to know the transaction in any store. But because of problem in internet connection in the two stores in Mangagoy, their system cannot access in that store. But the company comes up with the possible solution. The two stores in Mangagoy are now having their own database and they have to submit it to the main branch for evaluation if that branch is improving or not.

Changing their system

In their development stage the company uses a Visual FoxPro as their front end and SQL 6.5 turns SQL 7.0 and turns to SQL 2000 which they are currently using. In changing their system sometimes their personnel is no enough knowledge about the system he is using that will cause failure of their work. But the possible solution for that is to study and train more about the system so that the user will familiarize the technique and function of the system.

Outsourcing

The maintenance of the database is through their programmer and system analyst. Also they are responsible in creating program. But sometimes their programmers also fail to do their work so that’s the time the company is pulled to do the Outsourcing.

Outsourcing refers to a company that contracts with another company to provide services that might otherwise be performed by in-house employees. It is also allows companies to focus on other business issues while having the details taken care of by outside experts. This means that a large amount of resources and attention, which might fall on the shoulders of management professionals, can be used for more important, broader issues within the company. The specialized company that handles the outsourced work is often streamlined, and often has world-class capabilities and access to new technology that a company couldn't afford to buy on their own. Plus, if a company is looking to expand, outsourcing is a cost-effective way to start building foundations in other countries.
There are some disadvantages to outsourcing as well. One of these is that outsourcing often eliminates direct communication between a company and its clients. This prevents a company from building solid relationships with their customers, and often leads to dissatisfaction on one or both sides. There is also the danger of not being able to control some aspects of the company, as outsourcing may lead to delayed communications and project implementation. Any sensitive information is more vulnerable, and a company may become very dependent upon its outsource providers, which could lead to problems should the outsource provider back out on their contract suddenly.
While outsourcing may prove highly beneficial for many companies, it also has many drawbacks. It is important that each individual company accurately assess their needs to determine if outsourcing is a viable option.

The MIS Department of EMCOR Davao has the following responsibilities. They are subdivided into four sections namely:

1.)Help Desk. The responsibility of help desk is to answer queries in case there are problem. They are also responsible to check the transaction of customer in the company and generate errors.
2.)Research Developers. Investigation into new or improved products: in business and industry, the work of investigating improved processes, products, and services and of developing new ones.

3.)Technical. They are the one who will repair some computer hardware e.g. printers, centralize processing unit (cpu), keyboard, etc. and software e.g. programs in the computers. If there are failures of the connection they are the one who will fix it.

4.)Admin Section. They are in-charge of the data and maintain the data and access the data and provide back-up of data.

Most organizations find the usual system of manual handling of data time-consuming and more prone to error and irregularities. Thus, database systems are developed to electronically keep and manage data being processed by the company. This provides the company’s potential for producing more accurate and timely information for operating, controlling, and planning purposes. The performance of every employee greatly affects the output quality of work.
EMCOR is now planning to have a Disaster Recovery System. Disaster recovery is the process, policies and procedures related to preparing for recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure critical to an organization after a natural or human-induced disaster.This system will automatically update every five minutes by the access of the internet and provides back-up and transfer to another system all the data of the company so that if something will happen to the company they can easily restore the entire file. This system also develops some feature in their database to make it easy and more precise to the users. But as of now their company is not yet ready in this system because they have enough training and knowledge about the system.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster_recovery


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