|
|
|
|
|
The implementation of Control-D at your site will have a major impact on your current distribution system. You have the potential to revolutionize the distribution methods currently used. Few projects that you undertake will have such a direct impact on the end user environment.
Only in the past few years have computer departments adapted themselves into a true service industry. Previously, the services supplied to users were controlled by the computer department. Now that many end users have become more computer literate, they are pushing the computer department to supply the services that they require for their business needs. To measure the level of services supplied, many computer departments have introduced Service Level Agreements that contract them to supply defined levels of service.
Data input methods have come a long way since the days of punched cards and paper tape. The end users now have user friendly online facilities for the input of data to the computer systems. However, the output service supplied to them has changed very little, if at all. One of the few enhancements was the introduction of laser printing, allowing users to receive slightly less bulky reports in a nicer format.
With Control-D, you have the power to bring the end users’ output service up to the same standard that they expect from their current input facilities. (If you asked users to revert to filling in forms and inputting data in punch card format, they would be extremely unhappy.) The same level of enhancement, and more, will be achieved when you implement Control-D in your production environment. The output management service you supply will provide the users with a new dimension of productivity.
Because the output service has changed very little over the last twenty years or so, some users may be apprehensive about the introduction of new facilities. This guide takes into consideration such end user apprehensions in its approach to implementation. After all, it is to the end user that we provide service. It is our responsibility not to scare the end user with the thought of change, but to show them the benefits that they will gain.
Some of the questions we will be answering in this phase are: