FACT is a pioneer in the industry for adopting information technology and has the unique distinction of having implemented IT enabled enterprise business systems way back in 1965 to meet the growing need for management information, engineering and commercial applications. IT systems have since then been kept constantly upgraded so as to keep pace with the rapid technological advancements.
FACT>>FORWARD is the enterprise resource planning system (ERP) implemented in November 2009 by an in-house core team along with implementation partners M/s SAP, the world leader in ERP segment.
FACT Information Technology (IT) Department performed a key role in implementation of FACT>>FORWARD system including feasibility analysis, securing management approval, selecting/managing core group members from different functional groups, coordinating project management during project preparation, blueprinting, realization, final preparation and go-live.
IT Department is equipped with around 25 numbers of centrally located virtualized servers for hosting SAP system and the corporate IT network, FACTNET, which encompasses around 800 connected PCs, a Citrix based virtual private network (VPN) that connects via Internet around 150 sales points spread across the 5 southern states and newly opened depots in Orissa, West Bengal and Gujarat, 4 Mbps leased line to FACT Cochin Division, 100 Mbps shared Internet bandwidth for hosting Citrix VPN servers as well as for official internet applications like e-procurement, GST and other Tax returns etc, 2 Mbps leased lines from IT Department to FACT Engineering Works & FACT offices in Willingdon Island and around 20 Km of optical fibre network that links FACT offices in Udyogamandal complex & nearby locations.
Functional modules of ERP system including Finance, Costing, Materials Management, Sales & Distribution, Production Planning, Quality Management, Plant Maintenance, Project Systems, Human Capital Management, Supplier Relationship Management are maintained by the in-house Centre of Excellence consisting of members from functional groups. Technical modules including Enterprise Portal, Business Intelligence and ABAP based custom software are maintained by the in-house IT team.
Besides functioning as a central hub for IT support in the organisation, IT Department has an important role to play in ensuring compliance to enterprise wide standard, business rules and best practices, keep management abreast of fast paced technological changes and recommending timely enhancements of IT resources in the enterprise.
IT Department has augmented its infrastructure and software with refresh of SAP hardware, upgrade of SAP EHP 6 to the highest enhancement patch level available, state-of-the-art disaster recovery(DR) site, extension of optic fibre campus network and access control systems for sensitive areas. IT Department is gearing up to extend enterprise portal to employee work-spots and to explore IT enabled sectors such as mobile computing, integrated e-payment,e-collection and so on.
IT Department has an illustrious history of computer usage right from the introduction of first generation computer system in Finance way back in 1965 to the recent PowerEdge R740 servers. IT Department has been host to the second generation IBM-1401 computer, the third generation TDC-316, the main frame Series-39 computers and the RISC based Sun M-5000, M-4000 blade series servers in between. The timeline of this illustrious history is given below.
History of IT Department
Years | Advancement |
---|---|
1965 |
Introduction of first generation computer in Finance. |
1975 |
Use of second generation computer IBM-1401. |
1979 | Computers in engineering applications in FEDO |
1982 | Use of third generation computer TDC-316 |
1986 | On-line computing using Olympia/32 mini-computer |
1989 | Fourth generation mainframe computer Series-39 |
1990 | FACT-NET through LAN and WAN |
1994 | DRS-6000 mini systems in production divisions with E-mail |
1995 |
Local Area Network at Corporate Office and FEW |
1996 | DEC Alpha Server replaces Series-39 |
1999 | Year-2000 conversion |
2000 |
Commissioning of SUN E-250 database servers |
2000 | Implementation of Online Integrated Information System, custom made ERP |
2008 | On-line Agro-Services Information System (OASIS) implemented |
2009 | FACT>>FORWARD – SAP based ERP system implementation |
2010 |
Commissioning of Sun M-5000, M-4000, blade servers and Storage Area Network(SAN) |
2020 | SAP hardware refresh with state of the art Dell PowerEdge R740 servers, Storage Area Network (SAN) and Dell EMC Data Domain data deduplication storage system. SAP ECC upgrade to EHP level 8 |
2022 | 'Computer Services Center (CSC)' renamed as Information Technology (IT) Department |