The Case of IT Management at Alcan Free Essay Example, 1750 words

In relation to IT Infrastructure the governance style employed was also that of a feudal system where each business unit makes their own decisions in relation to the infrastructure they required to carry out specific areas of its operations. The different operations only shared a few services. However, the accounting infrastructure varied across the different business units and in different locations. In relation to the business application needs, it is much decentralized and fits closely with that of anarchy. According to Robert Ouelette, this has resulted in over 1,000 different applications with over 400 relating to finance. In terms of prioritization and investment decisions, the IT governance system in place was feudalism as in most of the other decision areas. The business representatives for the operating groups decided on the requirements. Each operating group had their own strategic IT plans and so the decisions were made on that basis. Governance is structured in this way at Alcan because there have been many acquisitions and mergers. Each business unit that was acquired or added through merger operated as a separate entity. The advantages of this kind of structure are as follows: The business units are able to make decisions quickly without having to wait on head office. We will write a custom essay sample on The Case of IT Management at Alcan or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now This means that implementation is not affected by inefficiencies associated with bureaucracy which is normally associated with centralization. The head of IT is able to pay attention to major aspects of IT decision-making The business representatives of the operating groups understand the needs of their operating groups best. The disadvantages of this structure are as follows: Each business unit does its own thing without any kind of consultation to determine whether there are persons inside the organization. No internal consultations are done and therefore bad decisions are made. Duplication of services and costs as is the case where three separate implementations of SAP was taking place at the same time. Little or no communication between operating groups.