CTC Canadian Tire Corporation five main groups

information systems (IS)

IBM AS/400 systems at the store level
Page 2

Page 3The CTC IT group supported, operated and managed over 100 different
mainframe, server and desktop development and integration tools, 10 different
hardware platforms, 14 operating systems, seven database management systems
and over 450 different production applications and desktop-based applications and
tools.
IT spending as a percentage of sales under industry benchmarks of about two per
cent.
The CTC IT strategy document concluded that IS at CTC had evolved into a highly
complex and costly environment that offered substantial opportunities for
consolidation, simplification, integration and cost-cutting.
Page42003

Poor coordination had resulted in redundancies and lack of standards.

A complex legacy environment (operated and managed over 100 different
mainframe, server and desktop development and integration tools, 10 different
hardware platforms, 14 operating systems, seven database management systems
and over 450 different production applications and desktop-based applications and
tools.) existed as a result of modifying existing systems and adding new systems
with consideration of global costs.
IT reacted to short-term needs instead of creating long-term business strategy.
Three strategic
IT imperatives were identified:
1. Better alignment to the business to support strategic and operational priorities,
timely project delivery and adaptability to changing business priorities.
2. Cost control through simplifying the technical architecture, improving productivity
and controlling expenses.
3. Implementing governance of IT resources including standardization, risk
management and the development and implementation sustainable processes.
Laid out four programs
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND THE RETAIL ENVIRONMENT
Retailers have turned to BI to improve sales and better serve customers.
Page 5: Develop BI, recommend use which system. HBC: Merge data, real-time Pos
Data-> ERP
Page 6: hard, 10 biggest challenges to achieving success in implementing business
intelligence, in descending order: budget constraints, data quality, understanding
and managing user expectations, culture change, time required to implement, data
integration, education and training, ROI justification, business rules analysis, and
management sponsorship. two groups: different priorities
Page 7: BI Recommendation: The study concluded that BI initiatives were iterative
projects whereby user expectations and training needs expanded as they gained
access to and experience with analyzing data. Additionally, variation in the
viewpoints of IT and business managers could be pressure points for
implementation. Respect to data quality and end user training and education,
pointed to important areas of BI project management.
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND DATA WAREHOUSING AT CANADIAN TIRE P7

Executive summary: identify the root cause issue(s) of the case, and
the primary recommendation
Root Causes:

-Disorganization- multiple independent data sources not included in the IW, lack of data
definitions and consequent inaccuracies in the data, strained resources, and increasing delays
and denial of access of information required by the end user
-Too many legacy systems
-lack of skill-set in the organization for future programs
-[read] Integrated Processes (last chapter in book)
-Planning to transition from Wholesale to Retail, so need more tools/data for this.

Reference:

10 biggest challenges to achieving success in implementing business intelligence, in

descending order: budget constraints, data quality, understanding and managing user
expectations, culture change, time required to implement, data integration, education
and training, ROI justification, business rules analysis, and management sponsorship

Background: any supplemental material that was used to analyze the

problem

-IT Costs are higher than industry standard (most spending on PoS, not BI). Because of
shadow IT Teams, actual cost is not easily calculated.

Analysis: explore alternative courses of action to address those issues

Recommendation: specific recommendations to address the issues

draw a organization chart to develop an erp system. Jackie
Information warehouse: standard data definition
-Get Data in order. Centralized system - ERP System? (Can use Org. Stucture similar to Global
Bike)
-Stop granting all Quick Win requests. Only critical ones are granted, rest are denied. This
allows them to work on their primary BI Implementation.
-Have separate IT staff for ERP/BI Implementation, separate staff for day to day/Quick Win
Projects. Short Term, Long Term divisions.
-Align Priorities of IT and Business Managers during BI Projects. Maybe have umbrella
organization(?)
Communicate the criticality of the project to management and all stakeholders. For an
organisation as critical as CTC, the success rate of IT implementation is very low, so more
attention needs to be focused towards ensuring the successful implementation of the long term
BI strategy
-Choice of BI Supplier with reason.
-See the IT Dept as Strategic Partners, to develop data driven approach and create BI Midnset.
some portion of the IT infrastructure cost should be shifted to the business owners. I
dont think CTC should bear the whole cost

Plan of execution: how should management proceed and what performance

metrics and other measures should be used to determine whether or not the
recommendations were successful.

Your analysis should also contain tables, charts, graphs, etc. if they help
illustrate information or allow you to present a summary in a more concise
manner. They can be included in the text or in a separate appendix. There is
no need to prepare a PowerPoint presentation unless you want to present
specific information from your analysis, such as a table of recommendations
or a cost/benefit analysis.