Letters to the editor

Re: EllisDon application leads to construction industry site (Sept. 16)

I just read the article regarding software development by EllisDon and Bell. The machine tool industry is similar

in that the projects are very large and require detailed project management record keeping.

These projects are made up of highly engineered components, manufactured internally and purchased from third parties, that usually have considerable engineering changes. A core labour force is employed, but the use of outside contract labour is extensive.

The consensus seems to be that software for machine tools is designed for repeat manufacturing and something to which you could also track projected costs. Maybe EllisDon and Bell should consider this industry as another potential customer base when building and selling their software.

Dan Higgins


Re: Sales Forced (Sept. 13)

As an IT and management consultant I can appreciate your point of view regarding the need for sales forces to be a mandatory part of the system.

However, in defence of the sales force, it is important that these systems be user friendly, not time consuming, and valuable to the sales force (not just the pencil pushers in marketing). My wife (who is a salesperson) has first-hand experience with inadequate remote access, lengthy sychronization of CRM databases to her laptop, and a seemingly valueless and endless collection of data that doesn’t seem to directly help her increase sales. Sales force attitudes towards this need to be changed through well designed systems and systems delivery, good change management initiatives and ongoing involvement in the improvement of the performance of the systems rather than a ‘large stick’ approach.

Gerry Giffin


Re: The inexplicable endurance of business cards (Sept. 12)

I find it interesting that people are always looking for the electronic or technological way of doing something instead of the most efficient way. Technology may mean many things to many people, but for the most part, it was designed to make our lives easier and free us to do more constructive things. It was never meant to enslave us or to completely replace everything in our lives. In my opinion, there are times when the simplest thing is to use a pen and paper, and business cards are one of those times.

Cynthia Lebeuf


Re: The inexplicable endurance of business cards (Sept. 12)

I enjoyed your column on how far we are from a paperless society. It’s a great example of the importance of critical mass for technology adoption. Neither handhelds or eServices such as https://ecardfile.com/ have achieved enough to be socially acceptable in those delicate introductory moments.

Gary Craven
Principal Consultant
Services
Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Ltd.


Re: Interactive TV builds on SaskTel’s DSL Network (Sept. 12)

It must be nice for Regina residents to have access to Interactive TV. One hour east of the city we are still waiting for high-speed Internet. Let alone cell phone coverage that doesn’t make every call long distance.

Yvonne Rediger
Rediger Consulting Corp.
Wolseley, Sask.


Re: Competitive municipalities explore uneasy partnerships (Sept. 12)

Could we expect anything but confusion and mistrust? One has only to look at the IT world at Queen’s Park. For example, we have heard about ‘I Serve’ for many years. The question is, what has been accomplished except more spending, more committees and more consultants? Municipalities cannot be expected to act differently than all of the various departments and groups within the Ontario government structure. There appears to be no agreement and no sharing. Can we expect for one nanosecond that Barrie will talk with Orillia, or Mississauga with Toronto? In fact, I doubt much gets shared even within Toronto.

Robert Lane


Letters to the editor must include the writer’s name and company name along with an e-mail address or other contact information. All letters become the property of ITBusiness.ca. Editors reserve the right to edit submissions for length and content.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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