Enterprise management solutions: Computer software to enhance your IT department.

• Author: Campbell, Melissa

Fraser Campbell came to Alaska from Scotland two years ago with a clear goal: to bring BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.'s accounting system to the technology age. In about a year, the accounting operations have gone from getting everything on paper to receiving invoices by electronic means. The new system has virtually eliminated the need to write checks and saves time in the approval process, thus allowing faster payment, Campbell said.

It's part of a 10-year, $100 million agreement signed in September 2000 between BP and Accenture, the world's largest technical management consulting company. Campbell is the director of the Accenture Delivery Center in Alaska. Invoices are directed to the Alaska office, however, they don't stop there.

An office in Houston handles some of the accounting services, while servers are managed and data is stored in offices in England and Scotland. It's all done electronically, and it's secure, Campbell said.

This is just one form of enterprise management in today's technology era; a task that spans around the world and one that requires the confidence of its users and managers. Virtually any sized business can operate on a global scale using computers and access to the Internet.

Whole segments of the technology industry focus on providing the tools to help businesses better manage their operations.

The market lists dozens of software packages that help manage servers, databases and workstations, as well as offer protection against viruses and hackers. A little research and knowledge can help you decide which program is best for your business needs.

Here are some things to consider:

1. Know what you have and where things are located. Sounds like common sense in any business, but can become a challenge when a number of employees and their computers are involved.

   Make sure you have a license for every software package that's running on every computer.

   "It's really just knowing what you've got when you have 500 users and 10 servers across the state," said Shawn Purviance, manager of the network solutions group at Alaska Computer Brokers. "The cost of an employed computer at a desktop is high, so the more you can control the management of it, the better."

2. Consider the company's needs and the budget to buy those items. Larger companies or corporations may be able to afford to hire an IT staff to manage all the computer needs across the board. Mid-size companies may have it in their budgets to contract out such work...