Boral upgrades and builds on Oracle platform

Boral has revamped its information technology department, rolling its technical operations into an existing shared services centre that does much of the company’s back-office processing.   Boral, which began introducing Oracle 11i in July, has merged its internal technology group with the shared services centre, which handles administrative functions.  The new department will be headed by chief information officer Kelvin McGrath.  

The changes come as the company moves to install Oracle 11i to replace its existing Oracle 10.7 system, which, according to the company, is reaching the end of its useful life and carried "unacceptable levels of risk and cost".  Building and testing the new system, and user training took place earlier this year.  

According to Boral, the new system will be the foundation for other IT projects.   "Beyond the immediate benefits, we will have a much more robust platform for future IT-related opportunities," chief financial officer Ken Barton said in a company newsletter.   Boral has 800 Oracle users, and the new technology will include modules for accounting, procurement and billing.  Three businesses in the conglomerate will use the system.  They are Australian Construction Materials, Boral Cement and the company’s head office.