Building the black box: how understanding your business can improve your IT investment. (Information Technology).(relational database system accomodates provincial changes in property tax and assessment rules)

It's rare that a company can find an off-the-shelf computer solution that fits its needs perfectly. Systems have to be adapted for specific needs and challenges that different industries throw in the way of developers. Like all implementations, the difference between a successful and unsuccessful adaptation lies in the process used to translate the business needs into a computer solution.

When I went looking for an example that would illustrate the point for the pages of Management, Bruce Swanson, CMA, presented me with a case study that tells the story perfectly.

Enbridge Pipelines and affiliated companies operate in six provinces as well as the Northwest Territories. Every time the pipeline crosses a provincial boundary a whole new set of property tax and assessment rules jumps out and bites at the company. It's like dealing with a battery of Canada Customs and Revenue Agencies -- arguably a CMA's worst nightmare.

"Being a Guinness Book World Record holder isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially in my business," laughs Roger Leachman, CMA. Leachman is property tax manager of Canadian operations for Enbridge Pipelines Inc., located in Edmonton -- operator of the world's longest liquids pipeline network.

Leachman inherited this labyrinth of rates and regulations and a completely manual system when he …