Published on the 01/02/2013 | Written by Clare Coulson
The health of our IT sector and its projects are a recurring theme throughout this issue. Those behind New Zealand’s ailing Ministry of Education payroll system, Novopay, have lurched from one error-ridden pay cycle to the next. The project has already sucked up the $30 million budget and caused many a headache in school offices nationwide. Hardly a poster child for efficiency and money well-spent, but, perhaps, an education opportunity for how not to deliver IT…[View emag]
INSIDE: Features: eHealth – Is health up to change?, Healthy income – Get it in the door, Mobility – Paying with your phone, Environment – Who’s counting carbon?, Governance or ignorance? Avoiding Novopay. IT success stories by industry: Tourism, Health & Beauty, Logistics, Food & Beverage, Training, Mining, Manufacturing. With such a high-profile stuff up in mind, I found myself asking, where were the experienced board members and senior executives when the tough questions needed asking? Perhaps the project was symptomatic of a bigger issue when it comes to governing IT projects? So this issue we gathered together industry movers and shakers to understand the state of IT governance. Mind the gap is a treasure trove of their wisdom, and, as it happens, coincides with some broad-reaching industry initiatives. When IT projects do go right, entire sectors can be transformed. Healthcare is one that’s beginning to realise the possibilities technology presents. Regarded by many as the last bastion of paper-shuffling inefficiency, a revolution is being forced by, amongst other things, the expectations of patients, as Chris Bell reveals. And on the subject of personal health, we also take a look at carbon accounting. Richard Chirgwin was assigned to explore the topic and his findings may surprise you. Whilst healthcare and healthy IT have hardly been synonymous, healthy cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. But getting the money through the door efficiently is often not a priority. The true cost of haphazard debt collection can stack up if you don’t have appropriate systems, as David McNickel reveals. It all leads to more and more innovation in ways to pay. The new generation of smartphones means that we will soon be able to ‘tap and go’ which has the potential to completely transform the payments landscape. Mobile Business explores whether the wallet is going to be condemned to history any time soon. So where does this leave the health of the IT sector? In the 7th annual iStart Investment Intentions Survey, we have gauged the appetite of business toward investing in IT. More than 400 business and IT decision-makers responded with plans to invest over 360 million dollars between them. Many are planning to invest in that most fundamental of system: ERP. So we give them a hand by presenting the 2013 ERP Buyers Guide. The guide lists by product the key attributes upon which buying decisions will be made in industries like yours. Find out more from the iStart Investment Intentions Survey. If you’re not quite ready to invest yet, we also have a great collection of customer stories that demonstrate how the right IT solution can work like an elixir for business – without the Novopain. Clare Coulson
Editor
