Vertex Implementation at Starbucks - Article Example

The greatest challenging issue of the implementation was the intrinsic cross-functional knowledge space existing between the organization's IT department, the tax department, and the software vendor. The people working with the software vendor understand their product well, likewise to the organization IT department that has a unique infrastructure, and tax department understands how to handle tax regulations worldwide. Connecting the three entities that have different knowledge and professionalism is quite challenging and it demands cross-functional knowledge across the three areas, also very talented workers are needed.

As the organization started working on the project, they know well that successful implementation is significant in organization success. A good option in the implementation is employing a third party or leveraging the service provider. The third-party should be someone who has inside knowledge about Vertex. It should not only be a party that applies business and IT knowledge, but it should also be in a position of identifying problems and rally the required vertex resources to bring a solution to a problem.

In preparation for the system implementation, the IT department had strict support requirements for the interruption to avoid system failure and business disturbance. Vertex provided 2 support IT specialists before implementation to assist in transferring knowledge on tax link extension that support several Oracle modules in different countries. For the cut-over time, vertex support worked together with organization Tax and It members to tailor the support hours and give direct access to high-level team members. Liaising with a service provider which has been proven to be successful specifically on Tax is important for Starbuck. The collaboration between Vertex and Starbuck has gone beyond the initial stages of system implementation and it has empowered the organization's IT department and adds lines to business products. The services currently going on are significant in the Tax system. The vertex Oracle Tax system will be used to manage tax requirements that continuously change. It is not a situation where software is installed and those who did it leave. In the Tax system, a partner is needed to be constantly monitoring the system since taxation changes frequently. Vertex has been found to be the best partner, the organization went through ERP implementation at first but right now they are in a state of upgrading and resolving new problems that are emerging since the IT infrastructure are constantly being changed or business trend is changing. This means that vertex should be adjusted along the way and this will require experts to monitor the system.