With changes in both technology and the environment, Nortel has had to evolve from a company that sells a collection of telecommunication products to a company that sells integrated packages of products which satisfy specific customer needs. In the past Information Systems (IS) was spread across the various product divisions, supporting a highly decentralized corporate structure. Now it has been charged with transforming itself to facilitate the company's need for greater integration, including a move to standardized systems. IS must redefine its role and restructure itself to fulfil its new mandate. After an extensive analysis and design exercise, the IS function has been revisualized as centring on three key processes: client management, solution delivery and business support. This represents a significant change from a traditional IS shop that focuses on building applications and infrastructure. While there is broad support for the changes in principle, actually getting the new processes fully articulated and implemented presents a significant challenge.
['Olga Volkoff', 'E. F. Peter Newson']
Nortel: reinventing IS