And lo on Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:11:41 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did  
spake, saying:

> Does anybody else feel frustrated at work?
>
> It just seems that HQ are forever taking simple systems that work, and  
> replacing them with complex systems that don't work.
>
> The irony of all this is that they do this to "simplify" and  
> "streamline" our business process. Ha!
>
> One of the main things they like to do is change it so that al 5 sites  
> do things the same way. Well, it does make sense to standardise. But  
> *why* do they insist on standardising on the worst possible thing?
>
> Examples:
>
> 1. We had a different accounts package at all 5 sites. Obviously, this  
> is highly suboptimal. So we decided to standardise. On Micro$oft Axapta.  
> This cost us $1 million US. And yet it doesn't seem to "understand"  
> about VAT.
>
> (But then, neither do the guys in HQ, despite us explaining it multiple  
> times. They even had our accountant phone the Inland Revenue to  
> offocially ask if we can call it "sales tax" on the invoice. They were  
> really shocked when the answer was "no"...)

Perhaps because shockingly Sales Tax isn't the same as VAT :-)

> Initially the software was configured with the UK currency as "lbs". (!)

Hey it's historically accurate.

> they send you a printed invoice with hand-written corrections, *what*  
> are you going to think about that company??)

That they're a small firm with no grasp of IT systems, which is fine if  
they're plumbers.

<snip>
> This has trippled our accountant's workload.

And HQ have been told this?

<snip>


But at a 4x heightened efficiency no doubt.

> 5. This just in - HQ have proposed a new, standardised company-wide  
> computer naming scheme.
>
> They want to name each computer according to where it is in the building.

Beautiful; you have pointed out that this will break the audit trail  
currently in place, breaks some software, only really works if you have  
one computer per location, and will cost time and money every time a  
computer is moved - whereas using the description field solves the problem  
that they state (being able to see where a computer is) without any of  
these problems.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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