Benefits and Risks
of Implementing Each Solution
Benefits of the Data
Warehouse/DSS Expansion
The benefits associated
with the expansion of the data warehouse/DSS include reductions in mainframe
processing and enhanced information access. There is a large amount
of mainframe time currently spent generating reports and transforming and
extracting information. Expanding of the data warehouse/DSS will
enable OSC to redefine numerous business processes, move the data into
the data warehouse/DSS, and enable State agencies to generate reports,
trends, and other analysis directly from the data warehouse. The business
benefits that result from this are expected to be large, but not known
at this time; therefore it is difficult to project a specific return on
investment (ROI). Additional benefits that an expansion of the data
warehouse/DSS solution can bring are:
-
Increased volume of financial
information will be available to all NCAS users;
-
More detailed materials management
financial information will be available in the decision support system;
-
The NCAS will begin to achieve
data independence from the applications;
-
It will be possible to store
and access larger amounts of historical data;
-
Users will have access to financial
data 24 hours a day, seven days a week;
-
Access to financial data will
be more user friendly; leading to reductions in training costs;
-
Cross-region analysis, trends,
and reports will be possible without manual intervention or moving the
data to a PC based spreadsheet; and
-
Replacement of older file management
technology with relational database management will enable increased system
scalability and flexibility.
Risks of the Data Warehouse
Solution
The cost of implementing
and maintaining a data warehouse/DSS expansion is hard to predict;
-
Insufficient time given to requirements
development can lead to performance issues; and
-
Some additional training development
may be required for both the OSC and agency staff.
Benefits of New Technologies
and Products
-
Allows the OSC to maintain a
stable business environment while implementing critical electronic commerce
functionality;
-
The OSC will have the option
to stage its information technology investments and plan for future funding
appropriations; and
-
This alternative allows the
OSC to focus on one complex initiative at a time, while insuring that the
implementation plans are well structured for success.
Risks of the New Technologies
and Products
-
The cost of implementing new
technologies is difficult to predict;
-
It can represent a dramatic
change in the business operating procedures; and
-
Integration of new technology
to old legacy systems can be challenging.
Benefits of Replacing
Current Mainframe Applications
-
Supports the statewide technical
architecture of the state; and
-
Provides more user friendly
functionality.
Risk of Replacing Current
Mainframe Applications
-
The cost of implementing an
integrated system solution will probably be very high; and
-
It can represent a loss of the
current software investment.