It can be difficult to combine information. One problem is the differing types of data—spreadsheets, word processor documents, databases, and graphics. A bigger problem is that there are many different brands of software in each category. There are more than a hundred different word processors available and they all store the documents in a different format. Similarly, each commercial graphics package uses its own method to store the data. The problem becomes even worse when there are different brands of hardware involved. Then the data has to be transferred physically from one computer to another. Although there are data converters, the data is often modified slightly.
One answer to these problems is to choose standard software for everyone in the company to use. By using only one brand of each type of software, it is easier to share data with other people in the company. It is also easier to combine information from the different types of software. However, there are some problems with standardization. The director of MIS (George) has just called a meeting with the head of the accounting department (Sam) and the director of marketing (Jenny).
| George: | Hi, Sam and Jenny. Thanks for coming. When I talked to you earlier, I mentioned that the MIS staff has been receiving a lot of calls from your departments. It's great that your employees are using the new computers. But we're starting to see some problems with the software. Sam, how many different graphics packages are you using? |
| Sam: | Let's see. I guess about half are using Microsoft PowerPoint. The rest are using some version of Corel Draw, and a couple people are using Adobe Illustrator. But they're working on special projects. |
| George: | Jenny, what about the marketing department? I hear you have around eight graphics packages. |
| Jenny: | That's not quite true. The administrative assistants are using PowerPoint for basic presentations and Excel for graphs. We produce some early advertising drafts with our two publishing packages. But one of those is on a PC and the other runs on a Mac. The marketing staff members use whichever graphics package they first learned, so I guess there could be five or six. What's the problem? |
| George: | Well, we've been getting a lot of calls from your folks as they try to share information. One of the marketing people wanted to create a report with last year's sales figures and a graph. It took us a while to find the data, and then we had to spend three days converting the graphics. And the accounting department has been screaming for a year about not being able to get access to all of the data they want. It seems everyone in the company is stashing away data in their own databases and computers. So, we've decided to choose standard software for the entire company. We just made a bulk purchase of all the software we need for the company. We'll start distributing it next week. |
| Jenny: | Wait a minute. That's crazy. Who picked this software? Don't we get to vote? What’s wrong with a little freedom? |
| Sam: | I can see where it’ll save money. And we really do need a corporate graphics library. I’ve seen 20 different versions of the corporate logo, and I know people keep creating new versions for their own software. |
| George: | That's right. And we'll be able to provide better training and help for everyone because there will be less software we have to handle. |
| Jenny: | Oh come on. How much money can you really save? Besides, I don’t think my department can get by with only one graphics package. We do too many different things. We have to have a separate system for our advertising staff, and all of our copy writers use their own systems at home, and . . . |
| George: | We know there are going to be some problems at first. We’ve chosen the most flexible packages we can find. We can do everything you need using just one software package. |
| Jenny: | I doubt it. Besides, then it’ll be impossible to use. Plus, my staff are already familiar with the software they use now. |
| George: | We know it will take some time. We have training sessions scheduled for the next month. I have sign-up sheets here. We want you to get everyone in your offices signed up and in a class within the next month. |
Despite the problems, the company changes to four standard software packages. |
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| Jenny: | George, I told you it wouldn’t work. |
| George: | Well, if your staff would just cooperate a little longer, we can still work out the small problems. Besides, we did gain the advantages I promised. The MIS department is spending less on software, training, and support than we have in the last three years. |
| Jenny: | Right. That’s because the software and support are all coming out of my budget now. My staff know better than to call you for help. They just call the software company support lines. The phone calls are costing a fortune, but at least we get answers. |
| Sam: | At least everyone can share their work now. We spend a lot less time converting figures and documents, and there are fewer touch-ups. I think the standard software policy is working well. |
| Jenny: | Oh sure. Just because they picked the software you like. But you’re stuck now. I just read where the database company you people chose is filing for bankruptcy. And George, remember that graphics package you picked? It's two years out of date. It doesn’t handle Object Linking and Embedding in Windows 95 and won’t run on Windows NT. So now what do we do? Pick more standard software? |
| George: | Calm down. There have been a few minor problems, but Sam’s right. The system is working fairly well. |
| Jenny: | Sure, that’s easy for you to say. Have you talked to the other departments lately? |
| Sam: | Look. Can’t we compromise a little? I don't really care about word processors and graphics packages. I just need access to spreadsheets and databases. Let’s standardize on those and you folks in marketing can use whatever graphics packages you want. |
| Jenny: | Oh come on. I don’t see what the problem is anyway. The new versions of the software we have can share data with all of the other software. I have a package that will convert documents between 30 different word processors and 20 graphics packages. It’s not perfect, but it’s easy and it’s fast. I still don’t see why we can’t just buy what we want. If you want to read my data, you can convert it to whatever format you need. |
| George: | But then we’re back where we started. I think we’ll just stick with this software for a while longer. It’s going to be too hard to change now. Maybe next year we can look for a new graphics package. |
| Jenny: | Sure, and maybe you should look for a new job. |
Questions