Education and Training Integrating data systems sometimes is hampered by the resistance of user groups to share information, says Bradford Bowman, president of The Bowman Group. There are islands of information information fiefdoms and there s some distrust at times about letting other people have access to it. The same is true when it comes to security. Education and training are key elements of successful systems integration, says Bowman. Toronto s Osman agrees.
Most people doing systems integration spend their time looking at the technology.
But most of the time you get the benefit by re-engineering your practices. When you go into a new system to correct problems, unless you constantly look at those practices, you might be reintroducing those same problems over and over. To avoid those pitfalls, planning for that training must begin long before the system is ever implemented, Osman says. You have to observe how people are using existing systems in order to see how they ll use the new system. That sometimes can lead to financial rewards.