Zara Reflection

Sir,

Unfortunately I won’t be able to make tomorrow’s meeting regarding the consultants’ recommendation on our IT infrastructure.  Here are my thoughts.

I know you have strong feeling about our current system-- it hasn't failed us and it isn't broken so we should leave it as it is.  Though I am tempted to follow that path I think the consultant’s recommendation should be entertained. 

The mere fact that DOS will no longer be supported by Microsoft is a huge risk to us and we need to create a sound and feasible solution.  I understand that this system allows local stores some autonomy and if we believe this is an asset to this company we should be sure any solution keeps that in place. Also, the price tag is a huge roadblock; it is hard to justify so much investment into a potential risk that has many workarounds. 

Since this is not an immediate problem, meaning that if Microsoft decided tomorrow not support DOS we can manage on our own for quite some time with aftermarket parts and left over IT Techs who still know the system, we can slowly transition out of DOS into a system over a long period of time.

This situation will allow IT a chance to analyze many solutions in depth rather than the usual reaction to an immediate problem. 

So my recommendation is, yes, move forward with modernizing but we shouldn't spend $7+ million in a short period of time. I hope this perspective is helpful to you and the whole transition team.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks

Rajae EL Temawi

CIO