ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY

[INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT IN
SOMALILAND TELESOM]
Executive Summary

Department of Information Technology (DIT), in the Telecommunication of Somaliland

(Telesom) is responsible for formulation, implementation and review of company’s policies in
the field of Information Technology. All policy matters relating to computer based information
technology and processing including hardware and software, standardization of procedures and
matters relating to international bodies, promotion of knowledge based enterprises, internet, e-
commerce.

As Telesom Company is technology oriented has became conscious the importance of

Information Technology since its establishment. The first three years of, the company used
applications those were not more advanced than today because the customers and employees
were not as many as today. Business Systems that company used to use were Billing program
and financial system program which was Dac-easy version 6.0 for DOS . At that time the
business applications were hosted in only two Windows NT servers.
In 2002 January Telesom Information Technology department staff developed the billing
program using visual basic 6.0 and sql server 2000 integrated financial information system. The
company also migrated to high performance HP servers. The department also developed other
applications for the operation of company like human resource management program, supply
chain program and many more. There are also other web based systems and eservices like ZAAD
(local name), it is mobile money transfer (MMT), and Electronic voucher (Voucher) which is
used for topping up prepaid mobiles. All those applications are hosted almost in 20 LINIX
servers from HP; as well, 17 Windows servers are used to host non-LINUX based tools and
applications.

General
Telecommunication of Somaliland has been established in 1999 with a capital of 5 million
consisting of 50،000 registered shares Telesom is the largest and the leading telecommunications
network operator in Somaliland. Telesom is the first major privately owned company providing
GSM in Somaliland territory. Telesom principal activities include local, long distance, national
and international telecommunication, mobile communications, and a wide range of data services
including broadband access.

The headquarter of the company is Hargeisa and has representative offices in all main towns in
Somaliland. The company total employee strength is 1000.

Telesom has seen its mobile communications division growing a fully-fledged cellular operator,
Telesom mobile with 98 percent country wide coverage in major important towns and it provides
both post paid and prepaid services with sms, voice mail services to all its customers.

Telesom will to continue to maximize infusion of skills, expertise and funding brought by these
equity partners in becoming a top-notch communications company that lives to meet all the
international telecommunications standards.
Objectives

To provide the population in Somaliland with equal access to cost-effective, quality, safe and
affordable solutions for international delivery of voice and data.

To maintain the leadership in telecom services in Somaliland market by providing a diversified

range of the stat-of the-art services and thereby conquering all communication opportunities of
new emerging markets.

To generate adequate resource for financing the company’s investment plans and working
capitals needs payment of dividends to its owners and build reserves for future.

• To become the leading company in spreading ICT benefit and rebuilding

Somalia/Somaliland.
• To engage, in accordance with development policies and priorities of the government, in the
construction, Operation, maintenance and expansion of telecommunication services;
• To provide domestic and international telephone, telefax and other communication services;
• To provide communication services using integrated information technology, including
rebroadcast of television broadcasts;
• To repair, assemble and manufacture telecommunications equipment and ancillaries;
• To render training services to telecommunication personnel;
• To engage in other related activities necessary for the attainment of its purpose

Human resource information management program (HRIMP)

 Telecommunication of Somaliland. (TELESOM) uses Human Resource Information
Management Program (HRIMP) for it's employees and management. Based on specific
needs of the company's employees and the management, the HRIMP is customized
software developed by the IT Department jointly by the HR department of TELESOM.
For providing user interface ASP.Net is used whereas for storing database SQL Server
2005 is used. Usage of advanced technology and sophisticated IT tools facilitate HRIMP
to access from web in a secured way within Intranet.
TELESOM has customized its HRIMP according to the needs and requirements of its
employees and management. It consists of:
• Employee Information: It consists of employee's personal, Academic, Training,
Experience, and Leave, Job description and Pay & Wages information at single point of
access.
• Leave Management: Leave allocation and movement can be easily traced out.
• Staffing: It helps in Vacancy and Interview management.
• Training Program: It evolves around employee's training given for the skill
improvement.
• Performance Planning: It is evolved around individual's performance appraisal
system.
• Policy dock: It helps in management of policy document at a single repository.
• Pay Package: Employee's salary & income tax package involves faster, easy and
automatic calculation.

Financial Information system program

Dac-easy accounting
As financial information system the company uses integrated accounting software package
developed by DAC Software. The software handles general ledger, accounts payable, accounts
receivable, inventory control/purchasing, billing, and forecasting. It also has a payroll module
but the company uses the one integrated with Human resource information management
program.

Telesom Billing Program

Telecommunications industry is important for the smooth functioning of a business, as well as

telecom billing software is important for a business of any size to effectively manage telecom
expenses and costs. Such software is also important to ensure that telecom expenditures are
budgeted wisely. The end result is a business that is proactively doing what needs to be done to
manage overall company spending, thus preserving the integrity of their bottom line.
Telesom Billing Program comprises software solutions and applications that manage a wide
range of billing processes and functions used by the company. The software is developed the
company’s IT Department engineers .Typical billing software includes functions such as pricing
management, rating, service authorization, discounting and promotions, billing cycle
management, financial management, and payment & collections.

Telesom Supply Chain System (TSCS)

Basically, a supply chain is the process of moving goods from the customer order through the
raw materials stage, supply, production, and distribution of products to the customer. All
organizations have supply chains of varying degrees, depending upon the size of the organization
and the type of product manufactured. These networks obtain supplies and components, change
these materials into finished products and then distribute them to the customer.
Telesom Supply chain system (TSCS) application is designed to let the company use information
they already have much more effectively, to let them see how they can manage the supply chain
to optimize revenues, cash flow, and customer satisfaction.

Telesom company provides both web based systems and eservices, the most common
web based system that Telesom provide to its departments is Human resource
information management program (HRIMP)
Human Resource Informatation Management Program (HRMS) is completely incorporated user-
friendly software that supplies to the complete automation of the human resource management. It
is engineered on strong foundations of Client/Server providing a high degree of flexibility,
scalability, extensibility, portability, reliability, robustness and seamless integration. It is geared
to lead you into the twenty first century. It provides high degree of flexibility and ease of use and
ease of maintenance.

It provides for easy, accurate & timely retrieval of employee and activity oriented
information through menu driven, user friendly operation. Allows user to store
Employees Photograph against the name of the Employee or his code number

E-voucher is Telesom electronic transaction solution that provides access to prepaid services.
Selling airtime vouchers isTelesom’s first exciting service for Somaliland. It enables sales agents
to sell customers pre-paid airtime Airtime merchants no longer need to deal with scratch cards –
which can be costly and add risk to their business. Using Telesom E-voucher to sell airtime will
ensure a profitable future and business expansion.
IT policies

Passwords: Initial passwords are assigned by the IT department and should not be given to other
staff or persons outside the organization. Employees should change the provided passwords as
soon as possible using the instructions provided by the IT staff. ABC ASSOCIATION reserves
the right to override any employee-selected passwords and/or codes. Employees are required to
provide the company with any such codes or passwords to facilitate access as needed.
Periodically, staff may be required to change their passwords. At no time should an ABC
ASSOCIATION employee allow a temporary, contractor or another employee use of their login.
In the case where an employee does provide another person access to their account, they will be
responsible for the actions of the individual using their account. Passwords should not be stored
in computer data files, on the network, or be displayed openly at any workstation.

Backup Procedures: All network resources are backed up nightly, and tapes are rotated on a 6
week schedule and stored off-site. Nightly backups are stored for one week, and a weekly tape
will be stored for no more than five weeks. Data stored on the local PC drives is not routinely
backed up, and as a result, important data and applications should not be stored on the C: drives
of these machines. Staff working on especially crucial information are encouraged to backup
these projects to disks which can be supplied by the IT department. Computer users will be
responsible for ensuring that the data stored on their local machines is backed up as required by
the owner.

Software Usage: Employees are expected to use the standard software provided by IT, or identify
applications they need in the course of their work. Staff members are not permitted to download
applications, demos or upgrades without the involvement of IT. Employees will use the standard
e-mail system provided by ABC ASSOCIATION for official e-mail communications, and should
not install their own e-mail systems. Additionally, use of instant messaging programs, such as
ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger, Microsoft Messenger, etc., is prohibited unless otherwise
approved by management or the IT department.

Information Management System helps Telesom Company to reach its goals and also achieve
competitive advantages. Information System increases employees productivity by reducing time,
errors, and cost using, it enhances decision making, improve team collaboration,