IT价值

裴有福=快乐两点=2

CIO

CIO,信息化的先锋官,企业变革的旋涡,故事升起的地方。


CIO 故事之二十八:运筹
大勇回来了,满面春风,CIO老胡感到十分欣慰。在会议间隙,他跟大勇闲聊了几句,心说:“这场‘战役’使得他真正成熟了。”

两个月前,老胡安排大勇出任一家子公司的CIO。当时,他亲自挑选5名技术骨干,要大勇带领他们前往这家并购不久的企业。由于并购,这家企业人员更迭频繁,一时之间有些“权力真空”,大勇他们此时进驻,时机相当合适。

不过,大勇他们那时并不理解老胡的深意,他觉得自己跟随老胡多年,在这个节骨眼上却遭到老胡的“抛弃”,从总公司“流放”到下属小公司,心里颇为委屈。在 告别晚餐会上,他回忆起许多与老胡“并肩战斗”的往事,屡屡热泪盈眶,老胡也很动情。老胡平常在公司跟大家关系都不错,但又不显得跟谁特别亲密,但这天晚 上,他搂着大勇的肩膀,称兄道弟,多年的情分溢于言表。他对大勇说:“你到任之后要好好干,把那里建成我们的‘根据地’。”

 当时,大勇并没有细品出“根据地”的含义,老胡也没有多说。在大勇一行6人到任新岗位的当天,老胡便开始了另一番运作——他心里将此自嘲为“自救”。

 一段时期以来,由于资本整合频繁,业务购入和售出导致公司高管层屡屡发生变动。新任COO老蒋精明强干,迅速控制了公司的权力格局。老胡作为公司元老和一方“重臣”,当然也是老蒋笼络的对象。

 老蒋在公开场合一再宣称,“老胡是他最倚重的”“老胡是公司业务的‘数字支柱’”等。但是老蒋却将一名随从张志“空降”到老胡这里,并没有“倚重”老胡的 意思。在老蒋的默许下,张志在老胡的信息中心之外,另设立了数据中心,美其名曰是为了加强业务数据管理。张志自行招兵买马,大有另立山头、与老胡分庭抗礼 的意思。

 老胡在公司效力多年,这样的局面还是头一次碰到,一时之间,郁闷异常,真想一走了之。但他一想到多年来辛勤打造的信息系统,想想大勇这些跟随他多年的“虾兵蟹将”,他决定“咬碎牙齿和血吞”。

 1如今的老胡已不复是当年那个热血“数字青年”,一心把技术视为职业梦想,如果要“玩”政治,他也会!不就是“表忠心”吗?他也会!很快,他就使老蒋放下心来。这使得老胡遭到公司老员工的啐骂,说他是率先“变节”的公司高层之一。

自然而然地,张志也对老胡放松了警惕,老胡对他也“眉来眼去”,要把他和数据中心收入“房中”。老胡对张志说,数据中心是他的“大房”,要给CIO“当家”。

老胡心知这是一个狠招儿,也是一个险招儿——张志如果答应“嫁”给他,由谁“当家”还是老胡说了算,“二房”终成不了大器,有机会老胡还可以“休”了他; 张志如果不答应,把数据中心游离在CIO管辖之外,他将面临根本没有业务数据可供其管理的局面,老胡可以再通过老蒋之手,把张志“扼杀”在“美梦”之中。 不过,张志跟老蒋的交情更深,他们联手对付老胡也是随时可能的。正是出于这种考虑,老胡为了保护大勇他们,才安排他们远离“战场”。当然,老胡将得力干将 “流放”也是故意做给老蒋和张志看的。

就在大勇他们离开之后没几天,老胡就很顺利地将张志和数据中心收编了。老胡的技术底蕴深厚,让张志招来的“兵马”深为叹服,他们的“倒戈”是老胡最有信心的事。就这样,张志成了老胡的下属,数据中心则事实上被悄悄瓦解了。

此时,迅雷不及掩耳的变化是老胡没有预料到的。COO老蒋竟然把“屠刀”举向了老资格的CEO老王。老王与董事长搭档多年,配合非常默契,岂可轻易动摇? 果然,董事长勃然大怒,召开临时董事会,以业绩不佳为由,直接罢免了COO老蒋。这位强势的“空降兵”由于藐视公司业务发展,醉心于权力斗争,在公司耀武 扬威半年,给公司带来了很大伤害。

这一役让老胡赚得盆满钵满,他既巩固了在公司总部的力量,又直接将触角伸到了下属企业。不过,最使他欣慰的是,大勇终于从一名技术骨干“出落”为一名CIO。看着大勇开怀而笑,老胡十分开心。

 

发表于 @ 2006年12月22日 8:41 PM

CIO Stories Series: Fermented Training
CIO Stories Series: Fermented Training 
By Pei Youfu, October 29, 2006

Hu has spent the last few weekends in Liren Mansion, the office building of Lirensoft, for a CIO training course. And this weekend, Dr. Qiao will talk about ITSM (IT Service Management).

Hu has learned about ITSM through several other channels, and even honed his IT service system based on these concepts and philosophies. Since Lirensoft has rich experience in supporting world-class players, Hu believes attending the training courses might give him a greater insight into how Lirensoft works.

Right after the class started, Dr. Qiao used a projector to show the company's famous ITSM reference model, a complicated design that depicts all the problems faced by IT personnel at all levels. It covers IT system planning, R&D, implementation and operation.

Dr. Qiao talked for over one hour about the model and made a specific exposition about the process, personnel and technologies - the three key factors involved. He concluded with the following: "ITSM is the accelerator that moves CIO's up the ladder of development. You have no reason to turn it down."

Hu felt quite satisfied with the lecture. He now tumbled to many specifics that had seemed foreign to him before. But one question was still plaguing him: What needs to be done to turn ITSM theory into actual practice?

As if he could read Hu's mind, Dr. Qiao invited some of Lirensoft's clients to shed some light on the problem. The CIO of Yunhai Group spoke first. Before the ITSM was implemented, the operation maintenance personnel in his company were scattered among different departments. They waited by the phone for calls from the business departments. The Yunhai CIO noted the lack of intra-company communications made the work inefficient. "One morning when I just got to work I received a call from the sales department saying the Internet was inaccessible, making it impossible to place orders. No sooner had I got off the phone than it rang again. Our subsidiary at some other place called in reporting that the office system broke down and it could not make a statement to the local taxation authority. The subsidiary was in the middle of setting up a new system at that time, and all the personnel with the operation maintenance department were on it. The manager had to rush to the computer room himself to fix the problem. Our operation maintenance personnel were ill at ease and often worked under great pressure."

In other words, Hu thought, all the problems he mentioned were fixed right after the ITSM was in place, with the maintenance personnel playing a more positive role in maintenance services and with less pressure. Actually, around the time Hu became CIO, his IT department was in a similar circumstance. After defining the responsibilities for each member clearly, Hu quickly solved the problem. He figured ITSM was a bit more than required for his case. 

The next person to approach the podium was the CIO of Oriental, a foreign-invested firm. Oriental was granted the BS15000 certificate for IT service management last year, something fairly rare in China at the moment. 

Hu didn't know much about BS15000, so he cleared his ears for the lecture. Passing BS15000 certification is regarded a crucial step in the success of ITSM implementation. Developed in strict accordance with ISO9000, BS15000 is now accepted as the ISO/IEC20000 within the field of IT service management. Oriental's purpose of acquiring the certificate was to thoroughly hone its IT management in terms of quality and cost, and to improve its service system and the services provided.

ISO9000, as far as Hu was concerned, had degenerated into something that could be obtained by simply spending money, as was the case with the 6-sigma to the manufacturing sector and the CMM (Capability Maturity Model) for software. What frustrated Hu was why something that worked so well on foreign soil turned into nothing but window dressing when it's introduced in China. 

Liu, CIO of Fumin Bank, was the third speaker to step forward. Inspired by the concept of ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library), he and his subordinates implemented an IT service system and changed the model of IT service support. This gave a big boost to their customers' satisfaction. "But after three years of operation, the IT service management still lacks backup from an efficient system platform," Liu said. That's why he sought cooperation from Lirensoft to jointly implement the ITSM project, introduce the ITSM software platform and put in place a brand new IT service framework.

"Lirensoft's ITSM is developed on the basis of ITIL but is more efficient. It is because of this new system that Fumin Bank has gone a step up in its service management," Dr. Qiao added.

Hu smelled something familiar - the excessive publicity and promotion of products and technologies by IT companies that might unexpectedly backfire in the end.

"My boss used to call at midnight asking about ways to troubleshoot IT problems, but it does not happen anymore thanks all to the active support provided by ITSM," Liu said with much pleasure. Hu just sat and listened. "If this is what ITSM is all about, I'll just let it go," he said to himself.

原文链接:http://www.cbfeature.com/index.php?categoryid=13&p2_articleid=161(阅读全文须注册)

中文链接:CIO故事之十九:变味的培训

发表于 @ 2006年12月12日 2:48 PM

CIO故事之二十七:翻牌

翻牌

《IT经理世界》2006年12月5日

这天早上,CIO老胡到达办公室门口,发现他的朋友、国企CIO陈丽已经在等他了。陈丽神情凝重,满脸焦灼。

几个月前,老胡和陈丽碰面时,她可不是今天这个样子。那时,刚刚从“炮火纷飞”中走出来的她,神采飞扬地向老胡讲述着自己亲历的真实故事。

今年年初,上级主管部门全面启动所属企业的信息化建设,并将陈丽所在企业列为头号试点单位,下达激励政策、发放配套专款,要求企业从信息化规划做起,重新设计信息化建设蓝图。为此,陈丽摩拳擦掌,准备掀起新一轮信息化热潮。

之后,各路供应商闻风而至,不管是不是咨询机构、也不管有没有实力,它们一律表白自己具有多年信息化规划经验和过硬的咨询资质,是不二之选。陈丽又不是新 出道的“雏儿”,哪里会被它们忽悠倒?她心里早已相中宏鹰公司——一家大型跨国集团,它不光是全球IT行业的领头羊,其信息化规划方法论已经经过很多成功 案例的验证是科学的。

 2不过,令陈丽始料不及的是,经过周密部署的比选程序之后,胜出的却不是宏鹰,而是白湖公司——一家自称拥有80万ERP客户、有能力提供信息化综合咨询服 务的国内厂商。其实,这并不奇怪,白湖公司的信息系统通过其财务软件早已深深地在企业扎下根来,不仅洗了陈丽不少同事的脑,一些上级主管指定的专家对其也 颇有好感。

陈丽心属的宏鹰排名第二。郁闷数日后,陈丽决定帮助宏鹰“咸鱼翻身”。她仔细研究了宏鹰的文件,发现它失利的原因只是一些小的技术性错误,例如没有放入要 求的财务报表、项目团队列表遗漏了项目经理、应当承诺项目团队全职参与项目却忘记了,这些使得宏鹰在比选中连连丢分。

 于是,陈丽通知所有参加比选的企业,让他们就资质证明材料进行澄清。为了躲避国企的“刀光剑影”,她回避了一切工作环节,让正在公司工作的一家管理咨询厂 商作为中立的第三方主持操作,由公司审计部门和法律部门担当监督人,上级主管部门抽签决定参会专家,共同对候选厂商的咨询资质进行核定。最后,陈丽终于如 愿以偿,宏鹰成为信息化规划的咨询厂商。

 老胡还清楚地记得,陈丽在讲述这段“战斗历程”时的兴奋劲儿。那时的她与今天判若两人。老胡想:“她肯定遇着难事了?”

原来,经过近4个月的出色工作,宏鹰的信息化规划工作已经接近尾声。按照上级主管部门的部署,陈丽需要再次启动比选程序,确定负责实施宏鹰规划的总集成 商。但是“兵马”未动,风向却大变,来自不同途径的声音不约而同、争先恐后地冲击着陈丽说:“白湖必须是总集成商!”

 陈丽告诉老胡,白湖的“幕后推手”不仅来自公司高层、来自上级主管部门,也来自财务部门和多个业务部门,甚至那家管理咨询公司——因为它上次“操盘”时的一些私下承诺。这张错综复杂的关系网包裹着陈丽,喘不过气。

 陈丽说,她并不是有意排斥白湖,它仍然是企业重要的产品供应商,但它一旦负责信息化建设的总集成,信息系统就将以财务为核心——这与企业目前的管理模式严重不符。

“所以你焦头烂额。”老胡插话说道,“那为什么不让宏鹰负责实施自己的规划?”陈丽说:“我们上级要求,规划商不能同时担任总集成。”

不过,上级也要求规划商要负责对整个实施过程全程“导航”,以确保总集成商严格按照规划实施系统。老胡突然计上心头说:“有办法了!让宏鹰挑选总集成商不就行了。”

看着陈丽迷茫的眼神,老胡解释说,规划商要对实施过程负责,就只能跟与它合拍的集成商合作,由它自己选择集成商,并不违反上级精神。

“最关键的是,如此一来,你就轻松逃离了‘包围圈’,把‘火力交叉’的战场出其不意地转移到一个干净的阵地。宏鹰替你搞定了一切,化解了所有矛盾,自身却不会卷进漩涡。”老胡一边说,陈丽一边频频点头,脸上渐渐绽放出笑容。

呵呵,杂志把那家公司的名字改成了“白湖”,不过从插图可以看出,它原来叫“银燕”。

发表于 @ 2006年12月06日 1:03 AM

CIO故事之二十六:价值证明

价值证明

裴有福 《IT经理世界》2006年11月5日

女咨询师站在演讲台上,侃侃而谈。她的装扮能看出是有意透出成熟,却仍掩饰不住她的年轻。

坐在台下的CIO 老胡看着一张张翻过的幻灯片,心里嘀咕道:“他们这套东西,还真是越来越像模像样了。”

老胡虽然与这位演讲人第一次谋面,但她所在的比德顾问机构、她所介绍的“基于平衡记分卡的IT 价值体系”却是旧时相识了。几年以前,比德顾问的现任总经理吴铁就开始鼓吹这套东西,只不过,当时它的名字叫做“IT 绩效评估指标体系”。

那时,老胡还是一位初出茅庐的CIO,成天忙着“培训”CEO 老王等公司高管,忙着与CFO老蔡“吵架”,以想方设法证明自己负责的信息化工作的价值。很自然地,他很关注吴铁炮制的那套指标,希望那是指导他工作的有 效工具。可惜恨铁不成钢,那东西实在是太粗糙、太经不起推敲了。

令他意外的是,CIO中的前辈老邹却一眼相中了吴铁的指标体系,不仅当场给予很高的赞赏,而且立即热情邀请吴铁去公司开展评估。这份热情甚至连吴铁都惊讶、高兴得合不拢嘴。从那以后,老邹再也没在CIO 沙龙出现过了。

3个月之后,老胡就看到报道说,经第三方机构科学评估,大型国企CNRC集团信息化效益明显,IT 投资年均回报率达1680%,充分发挥了信息化的后发优势,为实现信息化带动工业化的宏伟战略奠定了基础。那时,老胡不由得叹服老邹的精明。

2但让老胡更惊叹的还在后头——通过“外来和尚”的点化,老邹终于摆脱多年来科技副职的尴尬,开始平步青云起来。前不久,老胡还在电视上看见他已是相当级别的政府官员了。

“看你们的报告,信息化水平相差很远的企业,评估结果却相差无几,甚至水平低的组织的评估结论反而更好,这不胡闹吗?”一位年轻的CIO不客气地提出了质疑。沙龙中的CIO 们不像平时那样“端着”,他们连珠炮似地发问,让年轻的女咨询师满脸通红。

吴铁见状,赶紧走上前去为她解围。他的法宝照例是不同行业、不同地域的一串成功案例。当他介绍某个老胡了解的企业时,老胡不禁皱起眉头,一声叹息——那个“成功”案例,其实是一幕惨剧。

任职某高科技企业的CIO老耿,为了考察信息化对业务的支撑是否有力,使IT 紧跟业务的发展节奏,决定对IT 效益进行评估。通过复杂的比选程序,在多家评估机构鬼使神差一般胜出的,竟是老耿根本没有相中的吴铁。

当时,老耿并没有意识到什么,决定还是遵守自己制订的游戏规则。后来吴铁拿出的评估报告给老耿多年的辛勤工作给出了极差的成绩。吴铁这个“歪嘴和尚”的“歪经”,把在公司高管政治斗争中“站错队”的老耿,活生生地挤兑出了信息部。

前不久,老胡在自己的公司碰见了老耿。原来,从那以后,心灰意冷的老耿回到IT 公司,当起资深工程师来,这次是到老胡这里来投标的。

如何评估IT 的价值这个多年悬而未决的话题,这次又被CIO热烈讨论着:作为工具和手段,信息化为企业所做的贡献大多是隐性的,其价值究竟该如何量估?这关系到信息化 的成绩、关系到CIO的业绩,也关系到IT 的绩效和效益,所以始终是CIO心头的敏感地带。

老胡没有发言。他早已不需要通过论证IT 价值来为自己和IT 项目“歌功颂德”。他们公司的IT 系统已经全面支撑起业务运行、业务增长和业务创新3个层次,对改善客户关系、加强公司职能、推进运营变革等多个方面,都起到了核心和关键作用。最近,在公 司进行的大规模资产出售与并购重组中,IT 更是承担了先遣队、顶梁柱的角色。身为CIO,他已成为公司高管的核心成员,既不再需要向公司领导证明什么,又清楚地掌握着公司的IT 方向,并深刻地影响着公司的业务战略。如今,业务开展完全依赖着信息化,IT已经成为企业的数字神经,IT 是否带来效益已经是个无需证明的命题了。

不过,他还是很关心如何论证IT价值,他希望很清楚地知道每一分钱的IT投资能够带来多少增值,每一个IT 项目能够产生多大效益——不然,他也就没有必要坐在这里了。

发表于 @ 2006年11月07日 12:21 AM

CIO故事之二十五:暗流潜动
在景色壮丽的塞外草原,休假中的CIO老胡邂逅了老吕——那次“百变业绩”专家认证会的主人。老胡只见过老吕一次,但印象十分深刻,所以还是一眼就认出了他,老胡本想礼节性地打个招呼就走,没想到老吕却十分热情,仿佛大家是多年未见的老朋友,不仅嘘寒问暖,还热情邀请他到房间里喝酒聊天。

进屋后,老胡一时不知该说什么,老吕知道老胡对他印象不佳。他主动对老胡说:“你大概和很多人一样看不惯我当初的高调吧。”老胡没想到他那么直率,反而有些不好意思。老吕接着说:“你知道么,在政府做事,不高调就做不成事!政府CIO的角色并没有多少实权,但要做事就得调动一把手,不使劲忽悠‘一把手工程’、不大力宣传信息部门,上上下下谁会了解你、支持你?”

在上任CIO之初,老吕就详尽分析了政府部门的业务特征,深感以当前政府的粗放管理现状,公文流转是一切业务的核心,但他遍访了上级和平级各政府部门,发现几乎所有OA系统都是无用的废物——“它们以部门为核心,用技术手段摸拟原有工作流程。政府工作人员事务繁多,谁会喜欢这样额外的麻烦。”

老胡开始对老吕有些感兴趣,点头说道:“这正是很多OA系统没有真正用起来的原因。”

老吕接着说:“OA形同摆设的关键在于以部门为核心,根本无法支撑工作。政府部门是铁打的营盘、流水的官儿,一任领导、一个思路,组织机构既牢不可破、又随时可能调整,以部门为核心的OA系统,注定跟不上部门调整的步伐。”

当上信息中心主任后,老吕有段时间很苦恼——他不仅需要IT系统运转良好,更需要业绩。事实证明OA系统总是失败,他不愿意重复失败,再去部署OA系统。因此当他听说BPR(业务流程重组)时,很高兴,他以为这是一个取得业绩的好题材。秘书出身的他人头很熟,在一番运作和鼓动之后,领导们大都认可了BPR的重要意义和深远影响。于是,一家管理咨询公司迅速进驻,对老吕他们单位的业务流程进行了详细诊断,最后开出“处方”——进行大幅度的人员调整,以便理顺业务流程。

在政府部门,位置就是利益,人员调整等于损害他人的利益。一时间,老吕从BPR风云人物一下子成为众矢之的。在个人利益面前,BPR项目像快速上马一样快速流产了,基于BPR成果开发政务系统也成为泡影。

此事之后,一筹莫展的老吕并没有选择回头去实施OA系统,他相信自己的判断——只要政府部门的职责和权限没有撤并性大调整,其核心流程就不会发生根本性变化,就有可能开发出适应部门调整的IT系统。

这时,一家BPM(业务流程管理)供应商找到了老吕。尽管那位“海龟”老总满口的英文单词让老吕颇感别扭,但BPM的理念还是让他眼睛一亮。BPM超越工作流概念,让业务人员、开发人员和终端用户全程参与整个业务流程的生命周期,它既不像BPR那样只是抽象的管理思路,又不像BPR涉及过多的人员调整,而是通过提升现有人员、现有流程的效率来管理业务流程,并能重组现有系统的流程。

于是,老吕又开始在大会小会上鼓吹BPM。他再次高调行事,把BPM的专业语言“翻译”为政府部门的“官话”,既让大家安心,BPM不会涉及大家的位置,又让大家觉得可以分一杯羹——因为人人需要业绩。

最终,他再次说动了领导和同事们。很快,BPM供应商开始进场工作,按照老吕的安排对各层次人员进行“洗脑”培训。一切看上去都景然有序,然而令老吕没想到的是,成天琢磨业务流程的他却被另一种“流程”击中:一家OA供应商躲过他的视线,直接说服他的上司,与他的一位同事签了合同,开始部署起应用空洞化的OA系统。

这个打击让老吕苍老了不少。和自己“斗争”半天,他决定不再担任这个信息中心主任,选择去人大任职了。

老胡听闻老吕的经历,一时之间不知该说什么,他拍了拍老吕的肩说:“以后,多联系。”

结尾部分原来是这样的:

很快,BPM供应商开始进场工作,按照老吕的安排对各层次人员进行“洗脑”培训。一切都景然有序,老吕再一次成为“海碰子”一样的弄潮儿。

然而令他没有想到的是,成天琢磨业务流程的他,却被另一种“流程”击中,“翻船”于一条“小阴沟”之中。一家OA供应商躲过他的视线,直接说服他的一位上司,与他的一位同事签了合同,明目张胆地置他于不顾,开始部署起他们那“无用的废物”。

老吕苍老了不少,但此刻气色倒是非常不错。他朗声笑着向老胡介绍说,他已经卸任CIO,所谓明升暗降,即将去人大任职——“靠边站”了!

发表于 @ 2006年10月21日 10:15 AM

CIO故事之二十四:跑冒滴漏

会议的气氛十分压抑,谁都不说话,彼此的呼吸声都清晰可闻。问题确实很严重,不仅财务账与实物账不符,财务部门的数据与业务部门的数据、各业务部门之间的数据也不相符。矛盾是明摆着的,但真相却看不清楚,一时之间,谁也没有解决问题的方法。

CIO 老胡心想:“这原本都在意料之中。”最近,他经常觉得自己仿佛又回到了刚刚就任CIO的时候。这源于公司近来在资本整合过程中所并购企业的信息化基础大都 不好,于是他又重温起如火如荼搞信息化建设的日子来。近期,他指挥着下属员工,将身处各地的并购企业纳入他的信息化“版图”中。

在压抑的会议氛围中,参会的大勇小声嘀咕了一声:“好歹我们总算可以看到数据了吧。”没料到,他说出的一个简单事实却惹恼了CEO 老王,老王大声说道:“如果问题是一头大象,现在的系统里只能看到一只蚂蚁,这样的数据看到有啥用?!还不如看不到!

大家讨论的是最近购并进来的亚铜公司的信息系统。这是一家老国企,在政府的安排下,以极低廉的价格出售给老胡所在的公司。这家声名远播的老企业,偏偏是老胡心目中的信息化“重灾区”——它的信息化并不是一张白纸,却比白纸更糟糕,它是一片信息化“废墟”。

前些年,由于国际大环境的变化,亚铜的合金产品十分畅销,行情不断看涨,效益连年翻番。当时,其领导志存高远,拍板投资200万元,实施了全行业第一个ERP系统。在公司上上下下的紧密配合下,系统实施过程非常顺利。然后,令人始料不及的是,当不同模块的业务数据汇入系统、实行整体联调时,却出现了巨额的账实不符。当时,公司领导面面相觑,谁也不敢对此负责,ERP 系统只好暂时搁置。

破屋偏逢连阴雨。此后不久,亚铜受政府之命,重组为一家上市公司的子公司,摇身变为股市上的绩优资产。之后,随着领导更迭,它的ERP 系统逐渐沦为一具“数字僵尸”,再也无人问津。

近几年,随着合金市场总体行情急转直下,亚铜连续出现巨额亏损,迅速资不抵债,最后竟然被上市公司踢了出来。当老胡他们进驻时,亲眼看见亚铜公司的会计们还在噼哩啪啦地打着算盘,工工整整地记着手工账。

面对这种局面,老胡下令,分3个层次尽快打造亚铜公司的信息系统:能整合到一起的应用,直接纳入母公司系统;不能整合的,如果可以复制母公司的软 件或模式,则拷贝使用;而亚铜独有的业务应用,才部署新系统,且尽量恢复使用原有ERP 系统的功能模块。

在系统建设过程中,CEO 老王经常向老胡抱怨,说他从电脑上无法看到亚铜的经营情况,管理上存在盲区,长此以往亚铜的经营将会失控,公司斥资购入的资产可能付诸东流。

老胡知道包括CEO老王在内的各级管理人员,都希望通过功能齐全的信息平台,及时、准确看到亚铜的经营信息。但凭借多年经验,他深深体会到,基础数据才是 信息系统的灵魂。所以他并不急于构建“完美”的系统,而将关注重点放在基础数据导入上,毕竟让“信息灵魂”苏醒的第一步只能是打通“关节”,解决数据有无 的问题。

现在,数据进入系统了,却矛盾百出。面对老王的气愤,老胡非常理解。但着急有什么用?只有找到这些数据矛盾的根源,才能找到亚铜的管理症结,这家曾经辉煌的企业才有可能重振。

看到大勇被老王的抢白弄得灰头土脸,老胡开腔为他解围,说道:“王总,亚铜这样的老国企,粗放式管理在所难免,资源的‘跑冒滴漏’也在所难免。现在,系统 中的数据的确矛盾百出,但只要我们厘清了信息系统揭示出来的数据矛盾,就可能解决‘跑冒滴漏’,进而实现精细化、集权式管理,达到并购亚铜的目的。”

几句话,说得老王脸色和缓了一些。在老胡详细介绍了数据矛盾的几个主要方面,以及每种数据矛盾的可能来源之后,老王开始给在座的各位高管和部门负责人布置 工作,从各自分管的角度追查“跑冒滴漏”的根源。老胡在欣慰之余,仍然觉得任务非常艰巨,万里长征才迈出了第一步。

发表于 @ 2006年10月10日 9:26 AM

CIO故事之二十三:以退为进
整个仓库里没有一个人,死一般地沉寂,空气中散发着一股难闻的气味,机油味掺杂着霉味。这味道让CIO老胡不禁皱了皱眉。

“就这样瘫痪了很长时间了。”陪同老胡的老刘介绍道。他是这家物流中心的元老,已经在此工作了近30 年,对于物流中心变成这副惨状,他已经屡次向老胡表示过痛心了。

来之前,老胡做了充分的精神准备。近期,公司资本整合动作频频,除了出售部分业务之外,还购并了一些资产,这家停摆的物流中心便是公司最近买进的资产之一。不过,老胡却没料到情况会糟糕到如此地步。

当初,这家物流中心的前任领导为了追求业绩最大化,斥巨资购置了最先进的物流设备和信息系统,力图打造无人值守的全自动立体仓库,让物流中心“跑步”进入 最发达的物流时代。然而,投标时竞相献媚的各路供应商在建设期间却互相推诿,信息系统“指挥”不动物流设备,物流设备之间又互不“通融”。最终,连物流小 车都停在传送带上动弹不得。恰在此时,一纸调令挽救了前任领导,他摇身一变,成为一家化工厂的厂长,而可怜的物流中心瘫痪至今。

老胡很早就听说过这家物流中心,他以为继任领导总会有点儿作为,而老刘却大骂他们是“败家子”,因为他们上任后,完全甩手不管,几经犹豫,决定剥离出售这块资产。老胡在这种情况下介入,其难度可想而知。

2 老胡专程来到这里,就是为了迅速重新启用物流中心,尽快达到公司的购并目的——理顺公司内部、公司上下游的各物流环节。但看着设备上厚厚的尘土,老胡不免 有些踌躇。按照购并合同的规定,无论老胡对物流中心如何整顿,均不得出售任何物流设备、不得解聘任何原有员工。这些严苛限定无异于束缚了老胡的手脚,使他 的思路难以自由拓展。

老胡问老刘:“上马先进设备之前,这里是如何运转的?”老刘丧气的脸上有了几分光彩,说:“以前,我们可是远近闻名的运输公司。那时,虽然采用人工调度、表格管理的方式,车队、货物、人员却都井然有序。”老胡又问了一些当时的情况。

作为整合先遣队,大勇他们早几天就抵达了,又向老胡汇报了许多细节。他欣慰地了解到,虽然物流中心的一些关键设备处于瘫痪状态,但软件系统、物流传送带等重要部件都运转良好。于是,他的整合解决方案逐渐明朗。

经过一番详尽的调研和考察以及多次细致的讨论思考,老胡开始部署他的物流中心整治方案——他私下里称之“以退为进”战役。他对大勇说:“流水太急必将有损 堤坝,前进的策略可能是先退后一步。”老胡认为,这家物流中心当初因为盲目追求先进而陷入僵化的局面,如今为了打破僵局、“唤醒”设备,最适合的方法是适 当落后一些,首先恢复人的灵活性。

他叮嘱大勇落实一名有经验的项目经理,分别盯住应用软件供应商和传送带供应商,确保传送带提供适当的控制接口,确保软件系统能够有效地控制传送带;同时, 还要确保软件系统能够对运输车队等物流运输环节实施有效地监控和管理。当日,项目经理和两家供应商均已到场,立即着手开始工作。

接着,老胡吩咐老刘安排适当人手,尽快拆除所有不能工作的“僵尸”设备,包括传送带上的物流小车,把它们悉数堆放在库房。把这些大价钱购置的先进设备打入“冷宫”,既不能出售又不能使用,老胡难免有些心疼,但眼下没有办法,也只能咬牙这样处置了。

接着,老胡和大勇、老刘坐到一起,仔细研究物流中心原有员工的花名册,逐一考虑每个人的工作安排。按照老胡的思路,物流仓库将由自动化退为半自动、由立体 退为平面,所有待岗在家的仓库工人都将得到安排,他们将人工值守在传送带的枢纽环节和其不能到达的部位,以人工方式代替不能工作的拆除设备。

1 个月之后,物流中心终于恢复运营。老胡因事未能出席剪彩仪式,大勇兴高采烈地打来电话,老刘也醉意朦胧地表示祝贺,老胡由衷地感到高兴。他清楚地知道,如 果物流中心的神经系统不恢复“触觉”,恢复运营是不可想像的——而他指挥实施的 IT 系统,正是那根关键的“神经”。

发表于 @ 2006年09月22日 6:16 PM

CIO Stories Series: Spam and Rogue
CIO Stories Series: Spam and Rogue 
By Pei Youfu, August 23, 2006

Hu starts his everyday work with checking mailboxes, and everyday he's greeted by a dozen or so uninvited spam emails. Some of his colleagues even receive hundreds of them. This is really annoying.

Several years ago, Hu installed an anti-spam system in the company's mail server. But it didn't work well. Regular mail was often blocked while spam kept getting through. In fact, it once got so bad that CFO Cai became enraged when he missed an important email from an investor. By the time the original email was recovered by the network administrator, the investor had already changed his mind and Cai lost a financing opportunity for the company.

The incident made Hu determined to add a professional anti-spam-mail server. He used to be against the idea as he thought it was a waste of money. However, Cai insisted, "It prevents junk mails, saves us valuable time and avoids unexpected losses. I think it's worthwhile." With that, Cai approved the budget on his own initiative.

It turned out to be a right decision. The new server had an instant effect on anti-spam protection. But Hu wasn't that happy. "Billions of Yuan are spent on such anti-spam systems across the country each year, and I've also contributed to that figure now," he sighed dismally. He was well informed that a single server could not solve all the problems. He pressed his workers to keep an eye on the server's filters, but even a slight adjustment by the system administrator would often allow a flood of spam pouring into the system. Gaining any ground on the problem was a constant struggle.

He decided to send all the spam to the trash box of his smart mail software, which automatically memorized such emails, and filtered all of them later on. It served as a last measure of defense. He then wrote a short reminder to the system administrator.

When he logged onto the company's forum, he saw a message from Song, describing his enthusiastic fighting experience with those spam mails. Song was in charge of desktop system support. Hu forced a smile after reading the message. Previously, the desktop support system had mainly involved relatively simple software and hardware maintenance. It should be a tedious job with low technical content. However, since Song's recruitment, it never seemed that easy, fighting spirit also became a must.

As the company's business became closely bound up with the Internet and application information system, employees spent more time working with the Internet. However, the nagging online advertisements tended to distract them from the important information: pop up ads were mysteriously creeping on employees' browsers, tools bars materialized out of nowhere, screens suddenly displayed odd websites, and irrelevant software might sometime be installed without notice. The desperate workers turned to Song for help. He called such software "rogues", who took advantage of the browser's plug-in functions and hidden defects of the operating systems to hijack computers.

Every time he detected new rogue software, Song got excited like a hunter tracking his prey. But the frequency and extent of the "network rogues" was escalating. Song had piled up hundreds of rogues. Now he had been able to figure out how they worked and even devised a special anti-rogue tool. But the more immersed Song became in his task, the more depressed Hu felt. Hu would rather Song be assigned to a position that created real value for the company.

The other day Song reported finding a curious spy plug-in in the computer of a sales worker. It was probably being delivered by the company's rivals to spy on their business secrets. Hu was astonished. The company was always putting information security in the first priority, but somehow the spy ware managed to creep past. How could this happen?

Hu has now deployed a crack team dedicated to eradicating rogue software in the company's information system. Given the current state of the system, it could be a "mission impossible". But it's better than standing around by doing nothing.


原文链接:http://www.cbfeature.com/index.php?categoryid=13&p2_articleid=94(阅读全文须注册)

中文链接:CIO故事之十八:垃圾与流氓

发表于 @ 2006年08月27日 10:33 AM

CIO Stories Series: Hwatong not so Agile
CIO Stories Series: Hwatong not so Agile
By Pei Youfu, August 10, 2006

Mr. Hu had just returned from an oversea investigation trip. Instead of going back home or to his office, he rushed to Hwatong Co., Limited, a long-term partner, which was developing a corporate resource management system for Hu's company. He thought they must have completed the system while he was away.

As a veteran CIO, Hu has rich experience in projects. Along with Da Yong's assist, he usually doesn't worry a lot about detailed implementation. But this time, it's a little different.

Six months ago, Yu Cong took over as the CEO of Hwatong. He soon initiated a dramatic reorganization and reform in the company. It cost him only a single month to make the transition by integrating all the departments. The company took on a brand new look afterward. He then declared that a software company should represent advanced productivity. So, Hwatong adopted something new called "agile software development methods".

It was at this time that Hu asked Hwatong to develop a resource management system. Yu was eager to try the new "agile software development methods". Since the project wasn't large or critical to Hu's company, Hu just wanted to make sure it was high quality and completed on time. He didn't care how it was done. Of course, Hu gave his full support to his partner. And Hwatong used the opportunity to test the "agile software development methods".

Yu decided to spend RMB800, 000 (US$100,316) to hire an American company to assist with the "agile software development". The cost was actually far beyond Hwatong could earn from the single contract, but Yu considered it a worthwhile, long-term investment.

When Hu arrived at Hwatong, he found that the computer room looked just as it had been before the project was started. And the two American experts were back to the States. He heaved a sigh of relief and gleefully assumed that the project was completed.

However, to Hu's astonishment, it turned out the other way round - the American personnel had left ahead of schedule.

Having realized something emergent had happened, Hu immediately rushed back to his CIO office. "Come here, Da Yong," he yelled at the project manager. Da Yong followed him into the office, without uttering a word. Hu turned pale with anger. "Tell me the problem; I just came back from Hwatong!" he said.

The problem was that Hwatong really had a major stumble. Since the company was not experienced in the "agile software development methods", Hwatong had all the experts employed temporarily. The chemistry was completely not good between them from the very beginning. American experts wanted to arrange tables and chairs in a circle for easier communication, while the Chinese employees just chatted with each other and were distracted from work. Human-focused agile development methods highlighted communication, but the obvious language barrier made that difficult. Consequently, the regular morning summary briefing turned into an oral English classroom. The development group also experienced huge cultural barriers. The Americans wanted everything to be clear and accurate, while Chinese staff felt that wasn't essential.
 
The nudge that triggered the final breakdown was actually tiny. The foreigners insisted that everyone should stand during the daily morning briefing. But one Hwatong staff member resisted and sat on the table, complaining they were too tired from working overtime everyday. This irritated the American partners, who stopped the meeting at once and reported the dissatisfaction to their overseas headquarters. On the other side, Yu was unsatisfied and refused to pay the Americans for failing to fulfill the contract. The Americans responded by immediately pulling out their experts.

"So what about our project now?" asked an anxious Hu.

"We do have something, but it's basically useless," answered Da Yong, as he demonstrated to Hu an IP address in testing environment to show this system. 

Hu quickly tested a few functions, which were far from his expectations. "Ask Yu to come," he yelled impatiently.

Having heard that Hu had visited the development center in Hwatong , Yu hurried to the office, knowing the situation was bad. Hu got increasingly angry as Yu tried to explain the situation. Da Yong had never seen Hu so angry before.
 
After a while, both Hu and Yu calmed down. The unpleasant conversation ended. At last Hu told some staff members at Hwatong to stop their task at hand and join the project at once.

"Let's turn back to the traditional methods. For us, they are more agile." Hu sighed.


原文链接:http://www.cbfeature.com/index.php?categoryid=13&p2_articleid=83(阅读全文须注册)

中文链接:CIO故事之十七:水土不服

发表于 @ 2006年08月15日 10:03 AM

CIO 故事之二十一:整合之道
基本理顺IT 治理结构之后,老胡的工作重心开始转向公司应用系统的整合。在老胡的多年努力之下,公司的各IT系统都运转良好,而且也并非是“老死不相往来”的信息孤 岛。近几年,由于公司业务的持续变革,特别是通过并购实现规模扩张,公司内部的新信息孤岛不断产生,而原有的信息系统“即使不是信息孤岛,但也算得上信息 ‘半岛’了”,老胡这样自嘲道。于是,他开始着眼系统整合。

在这次CIO办公会上,老胡向他的得力干将们布置了任务:“我们不能继续让信息孤岛不断产生。打造统一的应用系统平台,势在必行!”他指出,如果对各应用 系统进行点到点“捉对”整合,意味着n个系统就需要建立n ×(n-1)个连接,而如果建立一个统一的应用平台,所有系统与平台直接相连,n个系统只需要n个连接,并且将来增添新系统时,只需解决与平台的连接,便 可一次实现与其他系统的互联互通。

系统整合尚在策划之中,各路神通的IT 厂商便闻风而至。在CIO 办公会的第二天早上,四方联公司的吴经理就出现在了老胡的办公室。四方联是一家软件中间件供应商,如今祭起了EAI(企业应用集成)的大旗。

胖胖的吴经理用手掌擦着满脑门的汗,像背书似地对老胡说道:“企业的技术架构取决于整体的业务架构,四方联的EAI解决方案能够站在你们公司的总体战略上 部署技术架构,建立起面向未来的可持续发展的基础架构平台,支持你们业务创新和提高服务质量、管理能力。”

老胡是老江湖了,他不愿意被厂商的理念“忽悠”占据太多时间,于是单刀直入地问道:“直截了当说吧,你们打算如何帮我搭建统一的应用平台?”

2吴经理一边掏出厚厚的一本打印资料一边说:“我们的EAI 能够帮助你们公司更多地与客户直接面对面的沟通,实现‘以客户为中心’的业务架构,从技术驱动过渡到业务驱动,最终实现战略驱动。”面对这种不懂技术、只 会大而空地照本宣科的销售人员,老胡的策略是——客气地请他回去,让他换位工程师来。

午饭刚过,老胡办公室的门被一串银铃般的笑声“撞开”。SBI公司的女销售郝思嘉轻盈地坐到老胡对面的转椅上,一声“胡总”叫得老胡后背有些凉意。

郝思嘉看了一眼老胡桌上的四方联公司的EAI 资料,对他说:“胡总,竟然还有人跟您提EAI!那个东西过时了,是‘死神之吻’,我们SBI现在推SOA。您没听过吗?SOA是EAI 的‘拯救天使’!”

老胡有些受不了她的语气。老胡不是不知道,作为国际知名大企业,SBI 力推SOA(面向服务的体系架构)已经多年,据说每年研发经费高达数亿美元。他也知道SOA的理念是先进的,它采用服务的理念把IT资源封装成标准模块, 便于构建和改建业务流程,可以简化EAI的实施、避开EAI 的一些不足。

老胡慢悠悠地问:“这位‘天使’就没有什么缺点吗?”其实他心里有数,SOA的优势在于标准化服务,然而SOA虽已确立一些开放性标准,但在接口规范、安 全性等方面还有一些有待解决的问题,而传统的应用整合,技术相对成熟,效率、可靠性和性价比都比SOA 要高。

见老胡有所质疑,郝思嘉迫不及待地说:“胡总,‘SOA 时代已经来临!’‘SOA 将改变整个IT 产业的格局!’这都是SBI的宣言,您要与时俱进就得尽快转向SOA!”

老胡本来想问问,SBI 推行的SOA实施起来是否昂贵,但这位女sales让他已经张开的嘴巴变成一个呵欠。

老胡心目中的统一应用平台是采用SOA 理念,结合EAI和传统中间件的一些具体技术,进行混合实施,这是他的原则——既要先进,更要实用、可操作,所以他心目中这个项目的IT 供应商既不是四方联,也不是SBI。

送走郝思嘉后,老胡把大勇叫进办公室,和他讨论了自己的大致思路,他说:“统一应用平台应该像硬件的总线结构一样,成为应用和数据的公共通路,让应用和数据各行其道;同时,它还应该是业务流程的转换中心,并能够统一用户管理、整合用户界面。”

老胡要求大勇根据这个思路写一个方案,然后按照方案遴选应用集成供应商。


(BTW,本文的题目原来叫做《死神与天使》,我自觉不错。还有,郝思嘉说话本来比较“时尚地发嗲”。《IT经理世界》似乎倾向于比较中庸。)

发表于 @ 2006年08月06日 9:23 AM

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