Richter : Information Technology at Hungarys Largest Pharma

Group : 8 Raj Gopalan Sahil Ranchit Sanam Deepti Ahuja 1

Richters Technology Landscape and its evolution

Deployment of SAP Financial Modules Up gradation of IT in 2000, organizational requirement along with changes due to Y2K(dates) SAP Material Management and production planning. Data maintenance and retrieval system ( SQL databases) Company gained a competitive edge by adding the Business Warehouse module to the other SAP modules

What were the problems with the prior system and why?
Decentralized with no coherent strategy No consensus on the definitions of basic concepts Access and inconsistency amongst employees Increased level of customization that required centralized data flow as well as efficient data maintenance Expanding to other countries : The language barrier in the system is one where pharmaceutical language and system language might conflict No central control over the efficiency, integration, and consistency of cross-company systems and processes.
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Analyze the two questions for planning for the future

Information technology structure for growing demands:
Infrastructural expansion as well. Increasing employee strength resulting in growing number of workstations (PC). Increase service volumes Implementations of new technologies (in House) Outsourcing Projects With technical expansion and up gradation Szcs needs to consider cost-volume-profit analysis and then go for viable option.
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 Centralization of affiliates IT Departments

Advantages: Greater integration, efficiency, and consistency across systems and processes. that would strengthen the system Better information sharing would help innovation It would lead to lower total costs and support new and innovative activities Better system security and risk management Disadvantages Loss of independence in decision making might not be welcomed by the employees However,there are many programs that allow remote administration of client computers; however, the company needs to have a backup of their entire system located at an alternate geographic location.
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How would you analyze Richter's major IT strategy in context of the organizational strategy
With privatization Richter faced with expansion and pressures to remain competitive :The IT systems were beneficial as they supported privatization, made financial information more reliable and saved time when publishing reports. New challenges : increased IT infrastructural cost and training requirements.

Thank You