Tag Archives: Centralization

(I’m hoping you heard the irony in the title. There is a lot more to follow. There is also a combination of doubt mixed with some cycnicism. )

I can’t help but notice that the centralization (a merger of the Department of Social Services and the Department of Human Services) and efficiency charge is on with the new Australian Federal Governments agenda. Corporates and Governments of all political persuasions love this option and it is the easiest (to argue) of the ‘restructuring’ initiatives to take when putting a stamp on something. In fact it has been popular since prehistory when some alpha male (note the gender bias here) discovered the benefits of ‘power’. And big consultancy houses love to advise it.

Get The Consultants: It all goes something like this! Let’s join two big departments (businesses) to create a more efficient (profitable) super Department (business) and then implement a single Information Technology system for one big place. That’s got to work! When has designing and implementing one big computer system ever been harder than doing two smaller but still very big systems? One bigger system just has to be easier to control, require less staff, reduce duplication, and reduce development costs for a computer system. It’s just so ‘rational’ I could virtually write the proposal myself however I’m a small independent consultant when what is required is a reputable, expensive, brand name, preferably international consulting group (because that has to mean they are independent) to tell you this. And in no time at all, armed with late 20-year-old MBAs from good universities, they will interview a lot of people, get a huge portfolio of metrics and find a bag full of efficiencies to be realized. And they can help you define the system requirements, architecture, and development strategy (+) for a not inconsiderable fee. Sensibly they will choose to exit before everything gets too close to delivery. Any mess should be somebody else’s fault. If you ignore the consulting fees and the redundancy packages the early signs will no doubt be good if you report them correctly.