Case 4: Corporate Directory

In 2006, the department initiated an IT project called Corporate Directory. The objective of the project was to provide a single approach to managing the information and processes that relate to a person starting work at the agency, changing their details or IT resource requirements whilst here, and managing information about their

departure. It was an ambitious project involving integration with a few existing IT systems. They were Active Directory on the agency’s Microsoft Windows network, the agency’s intranet database, the agency’s HR payroll system and the Email system. The project had been in development for about two years since mid 2006. It has

encountered a large amount of issues and it was suspended after a final review. The system implemented until then includes a web base user interface, triggers and special updating stored procedures in individual database. XML web service had been

4.4.2 Consideration for Research Questions

In some documents found by the research, the corporate directory project was thought to be something extended from the PerOrg project in the previous case, but it actually had a different set of objectives and been through a development life cycle with support from management. The project has it own user interfaces and interact with a number of sub-systems behind the scene. It is a complicate integration system of a number of separate and independent systems. The integration project was aimed for improving processes that are currently carried out separately on individual systems by different users from different departments. It would be of great benefits for the agency as a whole if such integration system could have been implemented successfully. Although the project has been suspended at the end, it would still be an excellent case for the research on system integration and XML application. The project involved a few significant sub-systems, including Microsoft Active Directory, a commercial HR payroll system and an in-house intranet database. XML web services were identified and proposed in the system design document. The integration has a set of users’ requirement from the beginning. The case will enable us to identify issues and solutions for such system integration in large organizations. The case study can provide answers directly related to those research questions.

Many large organizations would have systems like Active Directory for controlling the network, HR payroll system and Intranet. If they are successfully integrated, it will provide enormous benefits and process efficiency as they were stated in the business case. Although the project for this case is not a success, the research of it will help us to identify the causes for its suspension and solutions for future. If those challenges had been identified in the earlier stage of the project, they would have been better handled than they were and the project would have been a success. It will be very important and of great benefits for the agency that the case study can identify all those important issues and solutions.

XML web services were not mentioned in the beginning of the project, but they were found in some design documents created later on. The case study would aim to identify

how XML was involved in the integration project and to answer the research question. Initially the project was designed and implemented by a third party software company, but all source code and documentation have then been handed over to the agency. The corporate directory project might not be regarded as XML web service based solution, as XML web services were not included in the initial stage and were not developed when the project was suspended. However, the case study can still explore into why XML web services were included later and how they would have been used to help the project.

The corporate directory project has been in development for over two years and was finally suspended. The reason for such result has been the topic of investigation for the department and this research. There were a large number of documents, system design and source code produced during and after the project. These material including extra discussions with people involved will enable the case study to establish if XML web services were the critical success factor and why, which also answer the research question.

4.4.3 Summary of Case Findings

(Please refer to the appendix section for detail of findings and preliminary analysis)

1) The corporate directory project would be regarded as integration of common data and processes, with a few workflow elements. It was a complicate system beyond basic integration over 2-3 sub systems. It had involved a number of third party core systems including Active Directory, the payroll system and Microsoft Exchange server. All of the sub-systems are large and complicate. Although many workflow elements would be identified, but it had never been regarded as a workflow system, not even an integration system.

2) There were many factors leading to the suspension of the project at the end. The lack of clear business requirements from the beginning was identified as the primary factor. The project included integration of a number of sub-systems, which the development team was not familiar with or understood well. However, the project was regarded as a simple application to build within short period of time as indicated in the initial business case document.

findings, there were many other important factors including the lack of proper system design.

4) The biggest issue in the system design was the interfaces among sub-systems. The initial design of using complicate stored procedures had caused major problems and delay. It has caused numerous issues for setting up for testing as pointed out in the final report. It would also be very difficult to maintain as they were hidden in the database. Although it was later changed to use XML web service, it was too late for saving the project. As the former system analyst said in the interview, the solution from the software company should have been evaluated properly before it was adopted.

Special characteristics of the corporate directory project:

1) The software company contracted to do the job did not to have some of the required expertise as pointed out by the final report.

2) The project was not identified as an integration project in any document. Common integration issues, such as data sharing, functional interactions were not found to be identified, documented and dealt with systematically during the entire life of the project, starting from the business case and system design.

3) There has not been a consistent design of the system. The original design was not been properly thought through initially, many changes were made during the project, including changing to XML web service interface, as amendment to the original design.

Current status for corporate directory:

1) The project has been suspended and most staff member involved with the project has left the agency.

2) New attempt in future is still possible, as no system has been found to be able to fill the gap that the project was aimed for.