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European-American
Topics - Business
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Information Technology |
Information
Technology: The universal language isn't enough
By Stephen D. McLaughlin
Posted May, 2006
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There can be no doubt that as any business grows and branches
out, Information Technology becomes a critical part of
its successful operation. No matter the size of the company,
or the kind of business they do, the 1) smooth operation
of existing networks and the 2) continuing flow of and
access to information have become key components to a
business’s ability to generate maximum revenue.
With tens of billions of dollars changing hands via e-commerce
every day, the role of Information Technology in the management
of even the most basic transactions has never been more
important.
The Internet has created an entirely new business culture
– one that has the capacity to operate virtually
instantaneously – and nowhere is this more evident
than in doing business overseas. Transactions that in
the past would have taken days or even weeks can now be
completed in a matter of minutes.
Communicating, strategizing and sharing information with
overseas partners which, in the past, was a slow and costly
process is now simply a matter of downloading files or
accessing shared networks. While certainly not eliminating
the need for some travel and other forms of communication
in all cases, setting up a shared computer network with
your overseas partners can cut the cost of doing business
with them by 90% or more.
But how do you go about setting up a network with your
overseas partners? Are your IT people up to whatever challenges
this involves? Are specialized programs, or software packages,
or operating systems necessary to set up this sort of
overseas network?
Let’s look at the last question first, taking companies
in the European Union as our example. In the vast majority
of cases, the operating systems that run their computers
and networks will be exactly the same (with local
languages) as those that run the systems of your domestic
partners – and your own computers. Virtually every
network or operating platform in every corporation in
EU nations runs on either Novell, Microsoft or Linux systems.
The same holds true with the various security and anti-virus
programs these companies use to keep their networks safe
(McAfee, Norton, etc). Once a network has been established,
the lines of communications will be open, and the transfer
of data should progress seamlessly.
The challenges involved in setting up a shared network
with your overseas partner and operating it profitably
aren’t related to their operating systems. Rather,
they come from agreeing upon and then setting up shared
goals and platform systems. Simply being able to effectively
interface with your overseas partner via a shared network
is nowhere near all you need to do to operate successfully.
As a matter of fact, it is only the beginning.
Even when setting up partnerships with other domestic
companies, it takes lot of time and a lot of hard work
to ensure that both companies are operating on the same
page. The reason for this is that virtually no two companies
do things exactly the same way. When dealing with overseas
partners, these challenges become exacerbated. Differences
in time zones and hours of operation, language barriers,
cultural differences and even business philosophies must
all be taken into consideration by your IT professionals
when setting up a shared platform of operations with an
overseas partner.
To take a basic example, say you are partnering with a
German company. In the culture of your company, reports
are generated weekly, in English. In theirs, reports are
generated every two weeks in German. You bill monthly,
while they bill every two weeks. The list of differences
goes on and on and it becomes increasingly obvious that
the platform you operate on is not the same as the platform
they operate on. While the universal language of information
technology is spoken by all, your two companies are speaking
that language in different ways. To operate successfully
and profitably, something must change.
One of the difficulties is that companies don’t
always like change. Your operating platform has worked
for you for 10 years, why should you have to change it?
And your overseas partner is thinking the same thing.
Your members of the conversion team will fight hard to
keep their systems in place, while the members from your
partner will be doing the same thing. Optimally, the best
systems of both platforms should be kept and merged into
one shared working platform, but in all too many cases,
people believe their way is the best way – or the
only way. Add language and cultural differences
to the natural desire both groups will have to hold on
to what has always worked for them and you could very
easily be looking at costly delays in setting up a common
operating platform – not to mention hard feelings
at the start of your partnership.
One time and cost effective solution to these problems
may be hiring an outside consultant or consulting firm
which specializes in designing and building international
operating platforms to oversee your conversion team.
In many cases, an outside consultant will be able to objectively
assess the strengths and weaknesses of both partners’
existing platforms and, working with both sides of the
conversion team, merge the best of each system to create
a new system that most effectively serves the needs of
the partnership. As a completely unbiased facilitator,
an outside consultant will have the ability to impartially
analyze each component of the partnership’s operating
platform using only optimal functionality and profitability
as their criteria, unhindered by the restrictions of either
corporate culture.
If you do choose to go the route of using an outside facilitator,
it is crucial that the consultant or firm you hire be
familiar not only with the platform requirements of your
partnership, but also with the cultural and business paradigms
unique to each partner’s home country –
as well as those of the nations in which you will be doing
business. Just because the software, cables and monitors
are the same does not mean that the style of doing business
is the same. The ability to understand and incorporate
each partner’s ethnic, cultural, and business imperatives
into an effective operating platform is key to a consultant
being able to achieve the end goal of creating a profitable
and workable system which takes its strength from its
diversity.
The challenges of partnering with an overseas company
are considerable, but as success story after success story
shows, the profits can be well worth the challenge. The
key is in understanding that it isn’t enough to
speak the universal language of Information Technology.
You need to make certain that everyone understands what
you are saying!
Author Bio: Steve McLaughlin founded Global Market Insights,
with offices in Europe and the U.S., with his vision of
giving clients two synergistic competencies: knowledge
of the global marketplace and industry expertise in manufacturing,
finance and information technology. Steve McLaughlin has
over twelve years of international experience in three
continents, having started
in executive search as a Beckett-Rogers Associate. Steve
McLaughlin is a graduate of Rice University where he was
student body president, and completed post-graduate studies
in International Economics at the Universidad Mayor, Santiago,
Chile. He is available for consultation and can be contacted
directly by Email:
smclaughlin@gmi.lu or Phone: 352-26364921. Additional
information is located on his website:
http://www.gmi.lu |
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2006 All content property of European Weekly unless where otherwise
accredited
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