Alfred is a do-it-yourself entrepreneur who built up his fortune in trading. He traded in anything and everything, and kept close control of every activity. That was how he had grown rich enough to indulge in his one dream — to build a college in his hometown. A college that would be at par to the ones in the better cities, the ones in which he could not study himself.
Work started a year back and the buildings were coming along well. He himself did not use computers much and became hooked to the Internet and e-mail only recently. He was determined to provide a PC with Internet connectivity to every students and faculty member. He was currently
engrossed in plans for the 100 - seater computer lab. What was confusing him was the choice of Internet connectivity. He had about a dozen quotes in front of him. Recommendations ranged from 64 kbps ISDN all the way to 1 Gbps leased line to Guwahati, which was almost 200 km away. Prices ranged from slightly under a lakh all the way up to Rs 25 lakh and beyond. He did not understand most of the equipment quoted — firewall, proxy server, cache appliance. Nor was he sure what the hidden costs were. Although it went against his very nature, he would have to identify a trustworthy consultant who would help him make sense of the whole thing.
Questions:
a. In the context of the given case, what managerial issues need to be addressed by Alfred? Why
is it important for managers to be tech savvy?
b. What is the importance of a ‘systems consultant’ to an organization? What skills should he/she
possess?
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