Vince Schuurman tells us of Philips' move from Notes and Domino.
I find it difficult to believe that this will save them money, and with a migration of this size tere's probably a considerable risk of the loss of data fidelity - to say nothing of functionality.
Here's the quote I found intriguing.
“We want to make our IT systems as easy for employees to operate as their home PCs.”
That's from Daniel Hatert, their Chief Information Officer.
My phone at work isn't as easy to use as my phone at home. When I want to dial someone outside this buiding, I have to put a 9 in front of the number. Unless it's someone in a building we also own, in which case I have to use a "normal" four digit number as always. I'm lucky that my direct dial number actually bears some resemblance to my internal extension number - many of the numbers assigned since don't, for reasons I don't quite understand. The voicemail system is cumbersome - I have to dial it, then give it my extension number, then give it a pin code. Then there's a big long menu system. Oh, and woe betide me if I need to call anyone in another country. That's not going to happenw ithout having to jump through hoops.
Is my employer's phone system suitable for business purposes?
Absolutely. My phone at home is simple because it assumes one user, in one fixed location. My employer's phone system has no such luxury.
Very few things in a well run organisation will ever be as simple as they are for a home. The needs are different. Anyone who doubts that should try looking around their desk at work and counting the differences each device brings.
It is, I'll admit, a laudible goal to make things easy to use. But comparing the home to the office seems crass. I would be very worried if someone told me that their large organisation could organise their documents as easily as teh average home organises its recipes or its postal mail. The scales, the purposes, the legal aspects and the governance required are just poles apart.
I note that Vince updated this entry to say that they're looking at outsourcing. It seems to me that any part of Philipsthere's which makes money - and wbuildingvoice-mailhappenwithoutlaudabletheishes to continue to do so - should probably make their own IT arrangements if they can. Whilst I'm not privy to the plans, everyting I've seen before tells me that these signs point to a plan which will see Philipseverything paying more for less service.
Ah well. At least Sony won't be alone in their shambolic loss-making position in the industry... 
philipstorry February 8th, 2007 14:16:00
What you mean you don;t have a swipe/proximity card to open your frontdoor at home ?
Swipe card?
I'm afraid I live in an old building - built in the 1890's. I just tip my hat to the doorman as I walk through the door he opened.
I'm led to believe that should an intruder attempt access, he'll blow on his whistle to attract help...
:-)
Ah, so it's a biometric face recognition system? ;)
I suppose it is.
I wonder if this biological system is more or less accurate that the shiny technological ones? ;-)
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