Most organizations implement ERP for similar reasons:
- Improving processes
- Improving performance
- Reducing costs long term
- Improving interactions
Our client, a large multinational organization, engaged in such an ERP endeavor with SAP®. Like most public companies, they are committed to accountability and continually improving performance for the benefit of their clients, their investors and their employees.
Early in the project, the experienced IT staff recognized timelines in the implementation plan that called for specific action in an area that many de-emphasize; support of the legacy platforms during transition. Traditional tools such as terminal emulators, older COBOL and other code, EDI tools, CNC etc. running on multiple operating environments from MPE to HP/UX to Tru/64 served critical operations affecting hundreds of millions in revenue. These systems were shown on ERP project plans and had modernization dates that were years into the future.
The teams evaluated options for effectively sustaining legacy implementations and based on some past experiences with Collier IT, they decided to engage us in creating a support model that could be affordable, sustainable, reliable and flexible.
Collier IT consulted with the company staff as well as their existing contractors and support teams to analyze the gaps and align a support model for legacy platforms. Along with the existing support contractors, Collier IT formulated a sustainable support model that included hardware, software and help desk for these critical systems.
The solution selected was a 24X7 maintenance and phone support engagement for hardware and software along with specific monitoring and reporting where knowledge gaps existed. Collier IT integrated our methodology for incident management with the clients existing processes for sustaining and modernizing the legacy systems.
The solution is implemented, vetted and has significantly reduced cost, failures and Recovery times.
A legacy support manager at this client stated: “We see Collier IT as a true partner that is on the ground working and meeting with us, but at the same time, looking forward and crafting a strategy that looks forward to our future needs.” “…they are empowered with this can-do attitude that is so often missing today.”