Business System Consultation Center - Our Business System ColumnVol.148 2024.02.01 Takahashi Minoru

In a system, master data is just as important as functionality

Thank you for your interest and continued support.
This is Takahashi from the Marketing Plan Research Laboratory.


Every system has a lifespan.


A system’s lifespan consists primarily of the following elements:
・Lifespan of the OS/hardware (service life)
・Operational lifespan (use in actual business operations)
・Technical lifespan (maintaining specifications and source code)


When any of the above lifespans comes to an end,
it must be updated, overhauled, or replaced.


The activities necessary to support the system’s lifespan are primarily as follows:
・Replacement of OS/hardware due to failure, and periodic preventive replacement
・Efforts by users to adapt their work processes to the system
・Efforts by IT vendor system engineers and programmers to adapt the system to business operations


For users, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises,
to maximize the system’s lifespan
smooth communication between the user and the vendor
is essential.


Depending on the IT vendor,
"Due to a reorganization, your assigned SE (or sales representative) has changed."
This can happen.
Some vendors set a fixed three-year term for account assignments.
In my experience, this system is common among mid-sized to large IT vendors.


For users (small and medium-sized client companies),
there is absolutely no benefit to the SE change based on the IT vendor’s convenience.


The benefits of changing the assigned SE exist solely for the IT vendor.


By forcibly changing the assigned SE, the IT vendor gains the following benefits:
・Reset past practices, particularly market perceptions (enabling price revisions)
・Enabling negotiations to scrap (and rebuild) existing systems
・Unilaterally breaking tacit understandings (unwritten promises or rules)
・Ability to reorganize internal staffing in a way that is advantageous to the IT vendor
* Transfer the role of the assigned SE to an unpopular SE (or a junior, inexperienced SE)
　　to secure popular/veteran staff and enhance sales efforts for other clients
・"Prevention of collusion" and "prevention of fraud"
*While cases of collusion or fraud are extremely rare in small and medium-sized companies,
　　many IT vendors force through staff changes under the guise of these seemingly reasonable slogans


The disadvantages for the user, as noted above, are as follows:
・Costs increased after the assigned SE (or sales representative) changed
・The new representative recommends unnecessary system upgrades
・They have become less flexible than before and follow procedures more rigidly
・I don’t like the new SE; we don’t get along; it’s harder to communicate
・It has become harder to pressure them into lowering their quotes (lol)


If I were to forcefully list the benefits for the user, they would be as follows:
・When the previous SE is elderly or nearing retirement and is replaced by a younger SE
it can be said that the system’s lifespan has been extended


As a countermeasure
When meeting a new IT vendor, please be sure to ask the following question:
“Do you have a track record of changing the assigned SE for other clients in the past?”
If you use that answer as a starting point for a deeper discussion,
you should be able to get a fairly good idea of how the new IT vendor treats their assigned SE.
It might also be effective to request a quote on the condition that
and gauge their reaction.


That concludes my remarks.
I hope you find the above information useful in extending the lifespan of your system.
That's all, Thank you for reading.

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