Re: Oracle slipping, anyone else feel the same way. SAP to take over?

Nuno Souto <nsouto_at_optushome.com.au.nospam> wrote:
>In a sudden spasm of awareness,
>Niall Litchfield doodled thusly:
>>
>>Cambridge University , one of the worlds top academic institutions recently
>>had experience of installing Oracle applications. The story is (amongst
>>other places) here http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2098974,00.html.
>>
>>
>
>Interesting. Particularly this bit:
>. "The loss of key staff, difficulties with external consultants,
>evident low morale, and lack of coordination among those directly
>involved with (the project) are strongly suggestive of managerial
>failings," it added.

It's OK, we've got some of the lost staff sitting downstairs, they're really quite useful. :-)

As I understand it there were systematic project management failings, changing requirements, inadequate consultation with end-users, lack of control over external contractors. Usual stuff.

>Confirms once again a lot of thoughts. Thanx.

That senior academics couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery[1], let alone manage implementation of an accounting system for an organisation as large as a big company with a far more baroque accounting structure?

If anybody is interested, the full report is online:

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2001-02/weekly/5861/

[1] I can confirm that junior academics are quite capable of organising piss-ups in breweries.

-- 
Andrew Mobbs - http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~andrewm/