[LINK] Telstra looks to Big Blue

[Marghanita da Cruz]

Jan Whitaker wrote:
> At 10:04 AM 13/09/2006, Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
> 
>> IT services company Accenture has been given a contract for a new 
>> billing system worth $300 million.
> 
> 
> Maybe they will be actually able to bill more transparently as a result. 
> This has been one of Telstra's biggest problems in the past, unable to 
> allow large customers to do billing reconciliation. That may have 
> changed as I've not been involved in comms management for a long time 
> now, but in the past, they were hopeless!
> 
<snip>
Perhaps you would like to check how much has been spent on the billing
system over the years and how many times Accenture, IBM (either as
itself, or the partnership it formed, I don't recall the name) has had
the contract
and what mechanisms are in place to supervise the work.

...there is probably some mention of Sarbanes Oxley compliance this 
time...which is the US response to their corporate failures...but only 
applicable if Telstra is going to end up on US exchanges...

who does audit Telstra?

billing systems are not easy, there was ofcourse the Sydney Water Debacle...
Sydney Water Corporation – Review of Implementation of Customer
Information and Billing System (CIBS)
http://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/publications/reports/financial/2003/vol1/significant-Items.htm

and ofcourse the  OneTel debacle  well documented in#  Corporate Collapse
Accounting, Regulatory and Ethical Failure by Clarke, Dean & Oliver
Revised Edition published by Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 521
82684-5 (hardback) ISBN 0 521 53426 7 (paperback)
2003
http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521826845



-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
Ramin Communications
http://www.ramin.com.au
Phone: 0414-869202
Email: marghanita at ramin.com.au