Introducing an Information Centre in IDV (UK) Ltd.
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635578910132846 |
| Published date | 01 May 1989 |
| Pages | 7-13 |
| Date | 01 May 1989 |
| Author | T.C. Kane |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
INTRODUCING AN INFORMATION
CENTRE IN IDV (UK) LTD
by
T.C.
Kane
International Distillers and Vintners (UK) Ltd
IDV (UK) Ltd is the UK domestic arm of International Distillers and Vintners Ltd, the international
wines and spirits subsidiary of Grand Metropolitan plc.
Being a "grandchild" of Grand Metropolitan has not been without its problems, particularly
within the Systems function, which has had a topsy-turvy life to date.
I
joined the organisation
in mid-1984, and was employed to solve the problem of Systems' lack of credibility within
the organisation. At that time, Systems reported to the Distribution Director, and the service
provided to the company, principally to the Distribution Division, was below acceptable levels.
Company hardware policy has recently been defined, with IBM the preferred supplier. On
the software side, the Arthur Andersen DCS package had been implemented in Harlow and
there were tentative plans to roll this out to the seven regional depots, replacing the Data
General hardware and software which supported depot distribution and accounting systems.
Soon after my appointment, the organisation and the DP Manager parted company, and a
new manager with an accountancy background was hired to replace him. It is interesting
to note that this move corresponds to the classic growth of the Systems function, depicted
in Figure 1, where the organisation reaches the "control" stage of its life.
The appointment brought the required stability to
the department, and in 1985 a practical Systems
strategy was published, incorporating the new
policies which had been agreed, with a long-term
plan to grow the functions of the department along
the lines of Goodyear's MBA dissertation[2]. At the
same time, the organisational structure of the
company was experiencing great trauma, with
Systems eventually reporting to the Deputy
Managing Director/Finance Director, and the
Distribution Director assuming responsibility for the
Production function. The strategy document was
accepted by the new board and the following
policy statements were adopted for IDV (UK)
Systems' developments:
● IDV (UK) will process in-house all critical
applications.
● The company will use packages wherever
possible, and avoid bespoke applications
developments.
● The company will promote the use of
personal computers.
● IBM (or equivalent) hardware will be
installed.
Work commenced on the DCS depot expansion
project and it was eventually completed, although
not without trauma, with the depots going "live"
in January 1987.
In parallel with these developments at Harlow, MSA
sales,
purchase and general ledger packages had
been implemented and customised to run IDV
(UK)'s accounting systems by GMIS at Uxbridge.
During this period of development, a large
proportion of the budget was spent on outside
contractors (agency staff) and this led to an
increase in headcount being justified. The
IMDS
Number 5
1989
7
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