Files

My first job after O’Levels was at National Housing Authority. My mother worked in the computer room taping punch cards. I was part of a new team updating incorrect customer records in preparation for a planned project.

The training period went well, the learning materials were properly prepared and the team was set to go at the end of it. We produced good results for one week only. We were unable to source vital records to begin any new files.

For the next month Alison Harris and I designed, got management support and budget to install a new cross–NHA filing platform. All customer files were placed into one folder per customer. When a department wants a file, they can go to that folder to select and compare information.

We worked with pens, paper and cardboard folders, all in a cage vault which served as the new storage centre. The computers were only used for the records department, the rest of the NHA was paper based. The new filing system lasted a couple years before it was computerised and staff work moved digital. So the team’s objective was completed eventually.

The problem today is same. Information becomes conventional within a group and it is a challenge to maintain a single mode in a large and disperse group. The team that manages email accounts uses short names only and will need a translator whenever that form of ID is used as a pointer to the same person’s records in Finance.

The data storage, processing and transmitting formats used in either department are not always compatible. If the practice is to work on localised information, a dialect forms, so to speak. Departments exchange less information and the entire group develops costly processes.

The solution is the same. IT uses the advantages of scale and makes it possible to maintain standards across large groups. The storage capacity, multiple transfer methods, multiple devices and the ease of publishing, all make the communication of knowledge and ideas easier. Centralising the data reduces the need for translators.

Comments

[Geordie Stewart]

Good point! Many years ago I did a security review of a high value customer CRM system. Account managers would speak to customers then fill out a form and leave it in a tray for an admin lady to enter into the system.

Problems with delays and data entry mistakes were rife. I asked why the Account Managers didn't enter the information into the system themselves rather than the admin lady trying to read their writing.

'But then Doris wouldn't have anything to do' was the reply.

[Sean]

IT killed off Doris but honours her in the new systems by not setting them up to fully automate her tasks.

If Doris recorded Sam's 11th of January birthday as 1st November. The new IT will be prone to do the same.