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NLTB'S IT UPGRADE
Sir,
This statement is issued in response to queries and comments by the press following the full page advertisement that detailed the finalisation of NLTB's IT contract. This was published in the dailies of 14th & 15th of March. There were also commentaries on the trip undertaken to the US by the General Manager and our Strategic Change Manager, Mr Mua.
Benefits of the Trip - It was an opportunity for the General Manager to fully discuss the implementation of SAP by the Tacoma City Council. There were discussions held with two of the nine City Councillors, the current and former City Managers (equivalent of Town Clerk), as well as the Project Director of the SAP Implementation. What we discovered from these discussions are summarised as follows:
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They undertook an assessment period of two years before approving TUI Consulting to undertake the work for Tacoma City Council. Their assessment included investigation of a considerable number of businesses where SAP had been implemented, within as well as outside of US.
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There were two companies that were finally shortlisted, IBM and TUI Consulting. TUI Consulting was given the USD50m job ahead of IBM.
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They confirmed that the job was finished on time and within budget.
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The major challenge that they highlighted was that inadequate attention was given to the project by certain departments of the municipalities. This meant that some departments missed out on training programs that were conducted by TUI Consulting in regards to SAP. NLTB will ensure that we learn from this experience and avoid making this mistake.
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Our Strategic Change Manager, Mr Mua spent the week in discussions with TUI Consulting experts on the implementation program for NLTB. This included the selection of appropriate skills for our IT upgrade.
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The implementation team is due to arrive soon. This is line with our program to ensure that the system turns live on 1st January 2005. The bid initially put by TUI Consulting was for an implementation period of nine months.
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The launching of Vanua Development Corporation and Pacific Connex will be held during the month of April. At that function, the public and the press will be given an insight into the capabilities of the SAP system that NLTB will be installing.
Whilst a lot of negative publicity emanated from the trip we undertook to the US, it has given us a confirmation that the decision we have taken is the right one and also gave us an insight into the pitfalls to be avoided when the installation of SAP is undertaken.
The outcome of this upgrade will go a long way into ensuring that the indigenous landowners obtain maximum benefits from land which is their basic and sometimes only asset. Whilst we Fijians claim to own 90% of the land in this country, the challenge which NLTB has taken up through Vanua Development Corporation Limited is to convert some of these fixed assets into cash. Only then will landowners be able to achieve the benefits pertaining to ownership of land.
Other stakeholders will also benefit from the new IT system as we expect information regarding leases to be readily available, and a more proactive stance taken in so far as the leasing of land is concerned.
K BAKANI
GENERAL MANAGER
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