Armada Interactive

Business Systems Integration

The openness and adaptability of Internet technology enables the Intranet to become the medium through which employees can interact with both business applications and co-workers — with processes and people. With a web browser, it is no longer necessary to equip employees with costly proprietary hardware and software before they can share information. They can all see the same interface, whether on a Windows NT or UNIX workstation, or a mainframe terminal.

Going beyond data and communications

The Intranet is eliminating the barriers to communication; allowing groups within companies, and groups across companies, to communicate and share knowledge.

As Tony Martins, of Claremont Technology Group, explains it:

"The challenge faced by business processing software today is very different from that of the past twenty years. In the past, software was an accessory, a subordinate tool: today, software faces the challenge of being an ‘enabler of change,’ the tool that permits service organizations to face the economic storm out there. In order to fulfill that role, the nature and properties of the software that successful organizations need is very different from what they had in the past."

With web-to-host gateway products, it is possible to quickly develop web interfaces to legacy systems, and to build customized applications that afford you new functionality.

Keeping what works...

Integrating existing legacy applications into the client/server environment has never been easy. Indeed, in terms of budgets, returns on investment and implementation costs, incorporating host-based applications into new services has been prohibitively expensive for many companies — until now. Intranets, and the underlying Internet technology, provide the opportunity for companies to economically leverage their existing information, abilities and investment, while "opening up" the organization to unprecedented levels of availability, productivity and ease-of-use.

It’s a method, a process...

Many organizations first start on the Intranet path by implementing an internal web site, where they locate their internal documents, often simply company news and information. Slowly, as the process matures, other uses develop, such as manuals and policies, and some non-secure reporting.

While these initiatives do not provide real growth or competitive advantage to the organization, the savings do provide a means to base their investment decisions on ROI analysis. Often there has been no long term strategic plan to add real value to the company and, although the Intranet is the best vehicle to allow systems to evolve, the lack of a long-term integration plan limits the potential rewards in terms of the full Return On Investment, with the shortest payback period.

Return On Investment

In a recent International Data Corporation (IDC) study of companies implementing Intranet technology, it was discovered that the typical ROI was well over 1000% — far higher than that found with any similar technology investment. Adding to this benefit, payback periods ranging from six to twelve weeks showed the cost of an Intranet is quickly recovered —making the risk associated with an Intranet project extremely low.

IDC also found the Intranet providing quantifiable benefits in areas such as reducing the use of paper or supporting ISO 9000 initiatives. However, the greatest area of savings is in increased productivity. For every company interviewed so far, having immediate access to information through an Intranet made employees more productive. Even a small increase in productivity when projected over the number of employees can provide a measurable gain in productivity that can have an impact on the income statement.

We provide the process

Armada Interactive can incorporate Intranet and Internet technology into your strategic business planning process, and help consolidate and enhance your competitive position by integrating your business solutions, using a common Intranet platform.

Armada Interactive can show you how to recognize the unique benefits your company can enjoy in building an Intranet. Then, based upon the processes and objective’s that you tell us are important, Armada Interactive will design a custom application and develop new operating procedures.

Using proven implementation practices and rigorous quality-assurance controls, Armada Interactive can ensure the timeliness, quality, and effectiveness of the application. Our early adoption of industry-standard tools means we know it will work.

As a Proof of Concept, an initial pilot project is used to demonstrate the success of our approach and the Internet technology. By creating and implementing an initial proof of concept, Armada Interactive is able to quickly gain the confidence of users, management and IT staff. Always cognizant of your information needs, and any cultural issues that may affect the implementation, Armada Interactive works with you to ensure a smooth transition to the new system, with the minimal impact on your current operation. In this way we can be sure that you not only meet the short- and long-term systems integration targets set out in your strategic plan, but that you also achieve a realistic Return-On-Investment.

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Copyright © 1998 Armada Interactive LLC
Last modified: June 28, 1998

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