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The Heart of England Co-op had outsourced Application Service Provision (ASP) for its financial business system. However, it decided to move the operation in-house in 2001. elexa was selected to manage the project.
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The Co-op had used Quality Software Products (QSP) financial accounting system. QSP also provided the ASP services
to run the system remotely from its own data centre. In 2001, QSP ceased trading and the Co-op needed to act quickly
to ensure its accounting system continued to function effectively. The Co-op asked elexa Consultants to devise and manage a strategy for
taking the operation in-house.
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Aware of the need for speedy and effective solution, elexa quickly pinpointed the key processes. This involved:
- Identifying the new tasks to be performed by Co-op staff
- Identifying the skills required to perform these tasks
- Matching these skills with those already available in-house
- Deciding how the skills shortfall would to be dealt with by highlighting training requirements
- Documenting the operational procedures to run the application, and identifying which staff would be responsible for the task
- Quantifying the costs for the total project
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An elexa consultant achieved all these multi-faceted tasks on-site. The work involved analysing how the Co-op
operated the current system; assessing what experience Co-op staff had in areas such as UNIX and Oracle; and
quantifying the effect of new responsibilities on employees' workload.
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elexa concluded taking the operation in-house would not create a significant extra workload, or cost,
for the Co-op. elexa worked in conjunction with the Co-op staff to:
- Write and document procedures to ensure the smooth running of the system
- Specify and write the scripts for the operational tasks, such as backup and recovery, and the submission of overnight schedules
- Provide technical and operational cover for the initial shortfall of skills
- Provide on-going training for Co-op staff and general day-to-day support
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The Co-op has been running the system in-house for the last four years. The project has proved to be highly successful and has achieved cost savings for the client. elexa continues to provide on-going assistance and technical support when required.
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