Hi folks! Since this is an international list of HP3000 users, I have
decided to post this message looking for some important data to load my
guns. I am searching for information to evaluate how are we standing in
terms of staff vs services/applications.
 
I am pretty much interested in both US general shops (we live in US
territory) as well as some Information Systems departments/groups from other
countries supporting similar applications.
 
Our group:
 
One IS Department Head, one Operations Supervisor, one Systems Support and
Development Supervisor (myself), five Programmer/Analysts, one PC Support
Coordinator/Technician, and one Telephone Communications Technician for a
total of 10 members. (No clerk in the department, so all the typing is done
by ourselves, including all documentation.)
 
The environment:
 
Two HP3000s, a 947 and a 925 on MPE/iX 4.0. Two Vaxes. An ethernet Lan using
two Windows NT servers, and UB-Network hubs with Net Director. Fiber is run
throughout the whole manufacturing plant while inside the buildings
everything is ethernet. One Windows NT server is dedicated to MS-Mail.
Another NT server provides application and file services. We also have DTC
Manager (latest version) and a dedicated PC to control remote access to
MS-Mail. We have nearly 275 PCs  and  200 MS-Mail users. The 3000s have
around 100 users,  the Vaxes between  20-30. Total employees are
approximately 1400.
 
The responsibilities:
 
Support and/or Development of the following purchased or in-house
applications:
 
On the HP3000: MM/3000 (MRP II System), SATCOM (an MRO purchasing system),
FM/3000 (G/L. A/P, A/R), Collier Jackson's Fixed Assets, Collier Jackson's
HR and Payroll, Vehicle Tracking System (to control vehicles going in and
out of the premises), Warehouse Manager, Waste Management System, Labor
Collection (a manual data entry system), Access Control Repository (to
collect information at entrance and exit of every employee from electronic
panels),   Maintenance & Repair System, and several subsystems directly
linked to the MRP II application for Invoicing, Production Cost Control,
Planning, Variances, Process Changes, etc. Most of the related systems have
a high level of integration like 3-Way Matching of Invoices(some with manual
approval, others with automatic approval for payment), and the generation of
G/L journal entries.
 
On the PC Servers: MS-Mail Server, User file/application services, Remote
Mail access, and DTC Manager.
 
On Telephone Communications: Two PBXs for two different locations just a few
miles away, voice mail for both, and 56kb lines between locations.
 
Ongoing and future projects already on schedule: Several Bar Code
applications for inventory management and packaging, WAN between sites and
to US corporate offices, purchase of several 9000's for  document
management, archiving, a new systems for procurement, and a Client/Server
Maintenance and Repairs system.
 
We do not do development on the Vaxes. Development is done on the 3000's and
the PCs. We use PowerHouse (COGNOS) and COBOL/VPLUS/IMAGE applications.
Systems are always up and users are only interrupted for daily backups
between 30-45 minutes. Operators are present from the beginning of the day
until 8:00 pm.
 
I know that we are understaffed, but I have no idea how much. I also know
that many may be surprised at all the things we manage with only 10 people,
but I believe that there are many others just like us, with too many
responsibilities.
 
So the question is this: Can you share with me, without violating any
standard at your company, the responsibilities, organization, and positions
of your group? If answers are too long you may reply privately. I'll really
appreciate it. It will help us strengthen and accelerate changes already
started in our business culture.
 
TIA
 
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