DATO, VENICE B. IT 4 4.29.15

The Management of End-User Computing – The Role of Information Centres

End User Computing

What is EUC? We will see the meaning of the term “end user” as a user of an application program. Typically, the term means that the person is not a computer programmer. A person who uses a computer as part of their daily life or daily work, but is not interested in computers as such. When end-users, who have not necessarily been taught how to write code in conventional programming languages, write computer programs. Examples include spreadsheet users who write formulas and macros. EUC is an environment in which the user has free control and latitude over the process. He may use data that is interchanged through the mainframe of the MIS division, or he may create his own data. But he is in control; he is responsible for the product and the effectiveness of the use of the equipment. It has since been suggested that the only distinction between EUC and corporate computing is the reporting relationship within the Organization. Computing which reports directly to the Information Systems function is corporate computing; the rest is EUC.

The Information Centre

One major requirement which is now needed is support for that class of end-user that is working alone but on a task which is strategic to the organization. This is normally provided in the form of an Information Centre, which is both a place (often known as the "help-desk") and a group of people. The Information Centre owes its existence to the problems which end users created when PCs first came into offices about fifteen years ago. Now the role has more to do with establishing and enforcing the role of PCs in meeting the IT strategy than just supporting the end-user. For example, the information centre must take the lead in ensuring that personal computers are not the Achilles heel when it comes to data protection. The concept of the Information Centre was launched early in the 1980s when end-users were quite naive. Today, a number of organizations are establishing "self-help" groups from among the more sophisticated of their users. Unless the members of the group are "hybrids", however, they are still going to need considerable IT technical expertise to back them up. With the emergence of the Web and the Intranet much of the work of the Information Centre can be replaced by a suitably designed Intranet Site. On the other hand, access by customers and access by employees of other organizations demands a much higher level of involvement in the support provided. Full details of the background to and the operation of an Information Centre are as follows.

Problems

It became clear very quickly that the managers had bought something that they didn't understand and either had to discard the machine (as happened in many schools who were encouraged by government to acquire computers) or had to be supported to get the most out of their purchases. The particular problems which were posed for the organizations into which these PCs had been introduced were:

a. Lack of standardization between the various purchases leading to: i. inability to share data;

ii. no economy of scale in purchasing;iii. a variety of requirements for maintenance, in the few cases where the problem had actually

been considered.

b. Lack of control over the requirements of legislation, such as software copyright, data protection, health and safety and the specific legal constraints covering the organization.

c. Demands for assistance with:i. systems analysis and design;

ii. programming;iii. software procurement;iv. sizing - machines which have been purchased but are too small for the job;v. maintenance;

vi. fall-back;vii. lack of documentation;viii. data security;

ix. environmental control;x. file conversion and data acquisition;

xi. data organization.

The Information Centre

The term "Information Centre" was conceived by IBM as a way to support not only PCs but also those users who wished to obtain, and process (possibly using fourth generation languages), data which was held on a central corporate database. The Information Centre was to be:

"A small group of specialist personnel whose brief is 'to support and promote the use of personal computing throughout the organization'".

In particular the Information Centre would:

a. support personal computing using PCs or 4GLs by:i. offering advice and support to the individual;

ii. defining standards and undertaking corporate activities (eg arranging maintenance) for the organization;

b. organize and supply data to the individual either from the corporate database or from national or international databases.

The Physical Centre

The Information Centre would be a physical entity, not just a conceptual entity. There would have to be a location to which people could go for advice and demonstrations. The Centre would consist of:

a. A physical centre, which would have:i. a reception area with a desk or window at which to receive enquiries;

ii. a demonstration room equipped with a variety of up-to-date PC equipment and software;iii. a library with software and documentation;iv. offices for a manger and systems analysts;v. a workshop for technicians.

b. A group of staff comprising:i. an Information Centre manager;

ii. receptionist(s)/secretary;iii. librarian/demonstrator;iv. a small group (say 3) of analysts/programmers;v. a small, group (say 2) of technicians.

The exact composition of the staff would depend on the size and the physical structure of the organization. The above would be appropriate for a single site organization with a turnover of about £M100 per annum.

Management Structure

In organizations where the Computer Centre already reports directly to the Board (ie there is a Chief Information Officer) the Information Centre is normally part of the Computer Centre. In organizations where the Computer Centre reports to some other function (eg finance) the Information Centre is usually independent and reports directly to the Board. A structure which is becoming common now is for the Chief Information Officer (a Board level appointment) to be responsible for:

i. a strategy group;ii. the Information Centre, and

iii. the Computer Centre.

This arrangement allows the end-users to see the Information centre as independent from the Computer Centre, yet still provide a co-ordination mechanism.

Skill Requirements

The kind of skills needed by computer professionals in the Information Centre is quite different from those working in the conventional data processing department. A deep knowledge of software packages, communications, contract matters and trouble shooting is more important than information gathering, although conventional analyst or technician skills are required to some degree.

System Development

Panko identifies five environments in which development for end-user computing is taking place. These vary from DP systems through single-user systems that can be bought off-the-shelf to systems, which are developed specifically for departments.

a. Environment 1 - conventional DP systems.b. Environment 2 - one-off PC applications.c. Environment 3 - large end-user projects in which several people are going to use a system, some of whom

might be outside the sponsoring department - the development would still be done by the end users themselves.

d. Environment 4 - large end-user projects which have to be delegated to computer specialists to develop.e. Environment 5 - departmental systems.

All this does, however, involve the development of systems specifically for end-users. Remember that end-users must be involved, through participative design, in any systems in environments one or five.

1. Safeway introduced a tool whereby a registered customer could record on a personal recorder each item that they put into their trolley. This record could be used to advise the customer of their bill to date and of related special offers and it could be used at the check-out to eliminate the need to scan each item in the trolley, thus saving a lot of time. Both the store and the customer benefited. Because the customer was registered the output from the tool showed the customer’s individual purchases each visit. The store could note the purchases made every week and pre-package those before the customer visited. This would create customer loyalty. Note that this was not Web dependent.

2. British Airways sees each individual customer as his/her own segment. The aim is then to package a product for each individual customer. One way is to maintain a database of customer preferences and use those preferences to tailor price/facilities to what the customer wants. For example, instead of offering a range of tickets for a journey, BA will ask a customer what he wants to pay and will then offer a type of ticket that they think will be attractive to the proposed purchaser.

Reference:

http://www.slideshare.net/engineerrd/end-user-computing