Rostislav Titov

CERN

Corporate information systems and their role JINR AIS/GRID School 2014

2

Who Am I?

1999: M.Sc. in Computer Science (MPEI)

2012: Ph.D. (MEPhI)

19 years of experience in development and support of large enterprise information systems at CERN

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rostislavtitov

Head of the CERN E-Business unit since 2011:

Electronic Document Handling system (EDH) CERN Stores Catalogue Absence management Document management CERN hotel software support …

3

What is a “Large enterprise”?

Consist of multiple business entities

… working towards common goals

… under common management

… located in different regions/countries

Examples:

CERN

JINR

A large enterprise requires effective and efficient distributed management with

multiple levels of hierarchy

4

Size of organizations and software

Small companies Relatively simple “off-the-shelf” software

Relatively easy to install and use, but limited functionality Not very expensive

Middle-size companies More advanced software

Provide more functionality and flexibility then “off-the-shelf” systems Usually require adaptation to the needs of organization Require training

Large Enterprises Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems

Collect and manage data from many business activities Planning and tracking of all resources of the organization Support distributed nature of processes Require even more adaptation and training

5

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a suite of integrated business management applications that a company can use to collect, store, manage and interpret data from many business activities

Common platform for management of all resources Common database Multiple modules for different business areas Homogenous information Common user interface

Complex Expensive Service life over 5-10 years

6

Russian ERP Market 2010

В. Мещеряков. «Российский рынок ERP: 1С растет быстрее всех», CNews

7

Typical ERP components

Accounting system Human resource management Procurement and logistics Business intelligence Electronic document management

Basic

Additional Customer relationship Project management E-Recruitment …

8

Accounting systems

Manage financial flows of the organization

Resource control and planning

Financial reporting

Purchase and sales orders

Tax calculation

Billing

Bookkeeping

Payroll

Russian ERP solutions with accounting module:

9

Human resource management systems

Personnel information

Career planning

Motivation of personnel (salary, benefits,…)

Performance appraisal

Talent management (training, development plans…)

Absence management

Planning and modelling of personnel situation

10

HRMS: CERN example

11

Procurement and logistics

Planning and control of material, part and product flow

Implementing and controlling the effective and efficient flow of goods

Procurement (in accordance with needs)

Monitoring of resources and in-time replenishment

Transportation and handling

Warehouse management

12

Business intelligence and business analytics

Data mining

Multidimensional reporting (OLAP)

Simulation and forecasts

Processing of unstructured data

Statistical analysis and predictive modelling (business analytics)

Alerts

Set of techniques and tools for the transformation of raw data into meaningful and useful information for business analysis purposes

Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) – a process of extraction data from databases into a data warehouse (a system for reporting and analysis)

13

Electronic Document Management

Electronic Document

Management

Enterprise ContentManagement

(ECM)

ContentManagement

Systems (CMS)

BusinessProcessMgmnt (BPM)

Document Recognition

(OCR)

14

Enterprise Content Management Systems (ECM)

Content management (all formats)

Full-text search (PDF, DOC, etc…)

Document conversion

Records Management

Version control

Metadata

Workflows

Document grouping

Collaborative work

Purpose: Full document lifecycle support

15

ECM Example: AlfrescoWeb Interface

Outlook Integration

SharePoint/Office Integration

Mobile UI

Shared Folders

E-Mail interface

16

Document Capture and Recognition Software

Mass scanning

Transformation into different formats

Bar-code recognition

Text recognition

Integration with ECM systems

Search information

Software for converting scanned images into electronic documents

Use cases: Converting paper documents into an electronic form, invoice recognition, recognition and parsing of CVs, …

17

OCR Example: ChronoScan

18

Content Management Systems (CMS)

[Web] content management

Version control

Collaborative work

Document publishing (Web, RSS, Social)

Search and navigation support

Various plug-ins

CMS ≠ ECM!! Today CMS usually means web content management (web site management)

Joomla

19

When to use a CMS?

Web-site with over 10 pages

… or updated more than once a week

… or being edited by multiple persons

Most popular CMS systems (Jan 2014)

20

Business Process Management Systems

Reinforcement of the rules

Structured data entry (electronic forms)

Collection of electronic signatures

Document workflows

Electronic document archive

Purpose: improving corporate performance by managing and optimizing a company's business processes

21

Example: CERN Electronic Document Handling

22

Off-the-shelf products vs. custom developments

Off-the-shelf products – commercially available systems that can be adapted to the needs of the organization

Custom developments – created specifically for a certain task/organization

Used to solve specific problemsOften do not have prototypesUsually cannot be re-usedHigh risks and costs

The cost and complexity of adaptation depend on the needs of organization and the scale and can be quite high

Only 32% of IT projects are done on time and within budget

24% of IT projects are cancelled prior to completion

Standish Group “CHAOS Summary 2009”

23

When to use custom developments

In most cases, commercially available systems is the best choice

More cost effective in the long termEasier maintenance (usually)Well-known (easy to train and hire experts, easier integration)

Custom developments are better in certain specific cases

Commercial systems not available, not appropriate or too costlySpecific requirements or specific use casesBridging the gap between commercial systems and specific needs of the organization

Pareto’s Law (80/20)

Best of breed vs integrated suite

Package

Needs

NeedsNeeds

Needs

Needs

MissingNot needed

Package

Package

Package

NeedsNeeds

Needs

NeedsNeeds

Needs

Interfaces

Interfaces

Integrated Suite “Best of Breed”

CERN Choice: Best of Breed– Buy best solution for each business unit– We manage the integration & customizations– We provide transparent layer for end-users

25

System Architecture

Traditional client-server

Web applications

Software as a service (SAAS)

Databaseservers

Applicationserver

Client (Web browser)

Web

Generally, only the application server is accessible from the Web. Database and other internal servers are protected from

unauthorized access by a firewall

Server

Web applications

26

Web applications pros and cons

Accessible from anywhere

Use web browser – no installation on the client side

Cross platform (desktop, mobile)

Ease of upgrade

More vulnerable for hackersPrevented by applying Internet security best practices and/or by placing the web application on the Intranet (accessible only for the employees of the organization)

Less interactive user interfacePartially solved by HTML5, modern JavaScript libraries, AJAX, Flash, etc.

Disadvantages

27

Software as a Service

Reduced IT costs (maintenance by the SaaS provider)

Monthly or yearly subscription

More often updates

Software delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted in a cloud. SaaS is typically accessed via a web browser.

Disadvantages Security and legal issues (data stored at 3rd party)

Limited possibilities for customization

28

Why corporate information systems?

Increase effectiveness and efficiency of the management

Faster response to changes

Compliance to standards

Transparency

Optimization of business processes

More efficient document and knowledge management

Although corporate systems can be very expensive and very hard to implement, they can be very cost efficient.

30

Example: OpenCMS

http://www.finddiagnostics.org

31

Reduce costs

Increase efficiency

Maintain control

Streamline processes

Increase productivity

Empower workforce

Reduce costs

Increase efficiency

Maintain control

Streamline processes

Increase productivity

Empower workforce

At least 40 FTE saved

Reuse – cloning

50% documents < 24h

< Admin, > Core activities

Delegation of rights

Enforcing business rules(Budget, Safety)

EDH Helps to Meet the Challenge

32

e-Recruitment

Publish vacancies on the corporate site and social networks

Electronic application forms

Database of CVs

Integration with social networks

Integration with mobile devices

Online testing and online interviews

Personnel requirement support ≠ a job-finding web site !

Especially useful for large organizations

33

Customer Relationship Management

Ведение клиентской базы

Анализ собранной информации о клиентах

Взаимодействие с клиентами (промоакции и т.п.)

Назначение: увеличение степени удовлетворённости клиентов за счёт анализа накопленной информации о клиентском поведении, регулирования

тарифной политики, настройки инструментов маркетинга

34

Системы управления проектами

Сопровождение крупных проектов

Координация совместной работы рабочих групп

Контроль за сроками и бюджетом проекта (например по методологии управления выполненной стоимостью EVM)

Отчеты для руководства

Пример: Большой адронный коллайдер ЦЕРН

Бюджет 6 миллиардов долларов США 10’000 участников из более 100 стран и 500 институтов Система EVM@CERN: весь проект был разбит на ???