Mostly I blame DEMONware for the state I’m in right now…

Valuable time, the precious commodity of life has been taken from me, and I have been coaxed closer to the inevitable march of mortality onto death wasting time with this software “solution.”

Impotently (is there any other way I do things these days), as I struggled with the system, I started to count how many separate screens I needed to connect to in order to buy one lowly pack of paper. In all, there were 23 separate screens that required access in order to complete the ordering process. I will be generous, and I will say that perhaps as much of half of those pages will not be necessary as I gain facility with keystroking in the various fields of near as I can tell practically random digits. (Watch out world, my muscles will develop to awesome breadth and strength as I key, not one, but as many as 10 separate fields, each and every time I order a pad of paper.)

Let’s think about this system a bit, shall we. Let’s even be a tad crude about it and look at the basest of data, dollars and sense. (editor’s note: “sense” was a typo, but a friggin’ apt one.)

For the sake of this argument, let’s say I make $20 an hour (I don’t, but the math is easy and $10 would just make me frowny). I just spent an hour keying in a supply order request, because due to an epic fiasco of implementation someone forgot to turn the switch to allow our administrative staff to buy stuff like they could in the old system. Back to the equation, though. In that hour, I added 13 line items to a requisition. Despite allegedly being linked to the Staples catalog through a searchable database, of the 13 items, seven could not be located (and required me to search both generally by description and specifically by item number before overriding to allow data entry). Once all items were located and keyed in, requiring at least one search of the database for each (Total=13 searches), there was data entry of item id #, description, quantity, unit and vendor (5 fields*7 remaining items=35 fields). Then, each line item requires separate entry of the account to charge for payment, which is comprised of three fields and a drilldown to three sub-fields (6 fields*13 line items=78 fields) So, right now we are at data entry into 113 separate alpha or numeric fields (no telling which! and up to 12 characters long, but searchable) and at minimum 13 catalog searches.

The money to pay for the supplies is coming from the same place, the vendor is all the same (Staples), and all items are easily located in both the vendor catalog we are given and Staples on-line store.

What stole an hour out of my life, my sweet unreplaceable existence for that hour, was the sheer volume of absolutely required data entry, the unbelievable slowness of the interface and server and a horrible, horrible non-intuitive design. And, while you are able to save “Favorites,” as with any web-based system, there seems to be no way to automate and/or simplify repetitive tasks.

Now, back to the reason I mentioned that fictional $20/hour. That hour it took, cost this establishment $25 for my salary itself, plus the costs of the fringe benefits I earn with each hour worked. For this $25, I accomplished a significant amount of data entry, which will now flow to the people in Purchasing who are responsible for checking Staples orders, which is an entry-level Purchasing position, i.e. one that is reimbursed at a level < $20/hr. Again, to be crude, let's say that position is recompensed at $15/hour, but in this this scenario it is much simpler for that person to perform, taking only 20 minutes to proofread and submit, so salary plus fringe benefits would only cost the institute $6.25. Total cost, therefore, to the institute for initiating the purchase order (leaving out the actual receipt and delivery entirely) is $31.25 for a total of one hour and 20 minutes work. Now, what is data without comparison? Nothing, I’ll tell you what. It’s meaningless. So, let’s compare, shall we? In the previous system, I would generally be able to process the same 13-line order in 15 minutes. I would be required to only key in the overall accounting data once (requiring only 2 fields)and an identifier for each item. It would then pass to the same entry-level Purchasing position. It would be up to that person to both proofread the information I had provided from the supply catalog and KEY IN THE DETAILED DATA. Presumably, where that position is comprised of dedicated, centralized tasks, such as data entry, unlike mine, that staff is likely far more efficient with time and have developed skills for these tasks. (Simply, if you are responsible for blue pens every day, you learn about blue pens, whereas if you are responsible only once a quarter your knowledge of blue pens is bound to be lacking.) Therefore, let us assume, they can key in the same order in 3/4 time compared to a monkey, such as I. For the old system then the final tally is (($20/hr+25% fringe benefits) * 15 minutes) + $15$15/hr+25% fringe benefits * 45 minutes). Total money expended by the institute $6.25 + $14 or $20. Total time expended equals one hour. So, folks, if you are still with me, and if you are, what the fuck is wrong with you, you bean-counting turd, the final comparison is thus: Old, unevolved, low-tech system – $20 spent during 1 hour.
Piece of shit DEMONwaret – $31 spent during 1 hour and 20 minutes.