SECTION III - INFORMATION SYSTEMS AT AGILENTThis section provides an analysis of the use of information systems by Agilent to gain a competitive advantage. It focuses on specific business strategies that helped Agilent enhance and improve its business processes through information technology.Strategic Option GeneratorTargetThrustDirectionStrategic AdvantageSignificance of TelecommunicationsSuccess Factor ProfileTHE SUCCESS OF AGILENTA. Success of Business Strategy and Information Technology Use to DateAgilent’s aggressive use of information systems has not always paid off. The huge revenue loss that was experienced because of the complexity of the Oracle-based ERP system could have sent Agilent spinning out of control and into another direction. Fortunately for Agilent, its senior management stuck with the ERP system and saw its complete phasing in across all of Agilent’s major businesses. Senior management knew that the long-term benefits of this system would provide Agilent a strong competitive advantage in the many markets it deals with.Despite the revenue loss to the ERP disruption in the third quarter of 2003, Agilent has continued to see growth in key areas of semiconductor test, life sciences, chemical analysis and wireless test. With positive growth signs from many aspects of Agilent’s businesses and the realization that the ERP implementation is providing benefits to the company, Agilent is optimistic about future financial results. The chart below shows in the first quarter of 2004, Agilent had approximately a $200 million increase in revenue compared to the first quarters of the previous two years.B. Is Agilent Effectively Postured for the Future?Agilent has definitely postured itself for a successful future. Despite the downturn in some of the markets Agilent competes in, the growth of their business continues to occur. Agilent has its hands in so many different markets that the old saying “You win some and you lose some,” can apply here. In this case, Agilent is winning more than they are losing. Even when Agilent does take a loss, they jump right back up and position themselves to get back on the winning track.Agilent On The Attackby Michael TekleObjectiveThe objective of this paper is to analyze key business strategies and the use of information technology by Agilent to gain a competitive advantage in the test and measurement industry. Section I focuses on the test and measurement industry by defining what the industry consists of, the competitive strategies within the industry, the globalization of the industry, and the importance of information technology. Section II will focus on Agilent’s company profile, business leaders, competitive strategy, market and financial performance, use of information systems, and the strengths and weaknesses of the company. Section III will discuss the information systems at Agilent, and section IV will a final analysis of Agilent.SECTION I: THE TEST AND MEASUREMENT INDUSTRYINDUSTRY PROFILE The test and measurement industry as a whole reached over $20 billion in sales in 2003. The test and measurement industry was dominated by Agilent in 2003 with sales over $2.5 billion. Companies like Fisher Scientific International, PerkinElmer Inc., Hubbell Incorporated, and Thermo Electron Corp. have been able to have success in the test and measurement industry over the past few years. Companies that design, manufacture, market, and support process and flow control devices, precise measurement and signal processing tools, and other electronic test and measurement instruments, fall under the test and measurement industries umbrella. A growing trend that has surfaced recently in the test and measurement industryis a greater emphasis on software to make measurements easier to use, faster, and more accurate. For example, Agilent’s Test Express standards-based automation test kit shortens setup and coding time, to help it be more efficient. Test and measurement vendors routinely supply their customers with helpful software packages, provide designers with online and on-location seminars, and make available CD-ROMs that help their customers use their products more efficiently.Another major trend that has rippled through the test and measurement industry is that many of the test and measurement vendors are building alliances with other vendors of specialty hardware and software packaages to offer more targeted instrument solutions for specific types of measurements. Also, handheld test and measurement companies are continuously adding more functions into their devices, which open new doors in industrial, communications, automotive and medical electronics. Many of these portable unassuming test instruments are measuring complicated properties such as light properties, magnetic field strength, sound levels, bit-error rates, and chemical attributes.A big challenge within the test and measurement industry has been developing an affordable and viable automatic-test-equipment (ATE) system, as more silicon-on-chipdevices are being created. A potentially promising approach is an open, industry-wide standard for ATE, the Openstar standard proposed by the Semiconductor Test Consortium(STC). Openstar should make it easier for test-equipment vendors to innovate their hardware.1Innovation has always been the pride of many companies within the test and measurement industry. Companies like Keithley have led the way recently in paying attention to areas of the market where growth is projected to be increasing exponentially in the next few years. Keithley is focusing its attention on a relatively small segment of test and measurement, nanoelectronics. Although investing in nanoelectronics seems like a gamble, industry insiders have projected this technology to be a $1 trillion global industry in the next 10 to 15 years.Although the test and measurement industry has had big gains recently, it’s also struggling to keep up with various challenges. The battle to lower testing costs, the increased number of versatile test systems' reliance on the PC, and the growing IC device complexity and performance levels, have given many companies in the test and measurement industry problems. Since the emergence of new applications like telecom, automotive, biomedical, and consumer and optical electronics, users have demanded greater functionality and flexibility from their test and measurement products and services at a cost-effective price. As products within
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