Technology Solution – Individual Assignment

Before you begin this assignment, be sure you have read the Case Study and completed at least the first three Sections of the Business Case with your group.

Purpose of this Exercise

This activity allows you to demonstrate your understanding of the components of a technology solution and demonstrate your grasp of the concepts covered in the IFSM curriculum (hardware, software, data, networks, etc.). This assignment specifically addresses the following course outcomes to enable you to:

Evaluate, select, and apply appropriate analytical and measurement methods/tools and system development life cycle (SDLC) – methodologies to meet organizational needs.

Research, assess, recommend/select, and implement information technology that aligns with business needs and meets business objectives.

Effectively communicate with stakeholders orally, visually, and formally in writing to determine stakeholders’ business requirements, explain how their requirements will be met, and provide ongoing audience-appropriate information.

Responsibly protect organizations’ critical information and assets by integrating cybersecurity best practices and risk management throughout global enterprises.

Individual Assignment Instructions

Using the Client Case Study and the technology solution (system) identified by your group in Section III of your Business Case, you should independently develop the detailed technical description of the system your group is proposing and supporting, along with how it will be meeting the business needs. You are to describe the technical components of your proposed solution, describe in detail how the system will work functionally, provide a graphical representation of your solution with supporting narrative, and address cost estimates and return on investment in narrative with supporting cost documentation. The five parts of this assignment are more fully described below. Use the numbering scheme and outline provided as you develop your paper.

Business Need and Proposed Solution
Begin your paper with a brief description of the business need identified by your Group in Section II of the Business Case. Then, describe the overall functionality of the system your group selected and included in Section III, including how it relates to the points of your business need. Do not copy Section III of the Business Case, but describe the system in your own words. Make these thoughts tell a story in a logical, complete way.

Solution Resources and Operational Components
Begin with an opening statement that addresses the path below, then name and explain the subsections and their parts.

Required Resources

Hardware

Software

Network and Communications

How these work together to provide the solution

How the Components Will Work

People. Address the people by position who will use the system and how they will use it/for what they will use it.

Data. Develop a discussion of the data needed for the system, where it will come from and how will it get into the system, how it will be used, and how it will, at a high level, flow through the system. Make sure you follow the logical flow from start to finish of the business transaction(s).

Input. Discuss system inputs. When the system is operational, what data will be input to be processed and/or stored? Again, as with all sections, follow the logical order.

Processing. Address what processing will be done by the system, and what the system is required to do with the data in order to create the output.

Output. Address and discuss what the output the system is required to produce.

Storage. Discuss where the data will be stored and how.

Security. List (using bullets) and explain the necessary security devices, software, and policies that will be required.

1. How the System Will Converge
Your paper should

1) explain how these components work together to support the business need identified and

2) how the solution as a whole is appropriate to the business described in the Case Study. The who, what, when, where and how of the system should all be covered, as you envision it being implemented and used.

3) From your description, the reader should be able to envision how the IT solution will be setup and used by the organization in the Case Study.

You must correctly cite and reference any resources you use in APA format.

I. Enterprise Architecture
A graphical representation/diagram shall be integrated into the textual description, along with its supporting narrative, explaining how each business location and component are being addressed.

Approach to Developing This Section. You should include at least one original graphical representation of your specific technology solution in your paper (not as a separate file). It should include all major components of the solution, all the locations of the business, how each group of users will communicate with the system (on-site and remotely), and, of course, the system solution being proposed. The file “Example Network Diagram” shows the level of detail needed and provides sample icons for use in constructing your drawing, if you choose to use them. You should include labels as to the purpose of each component, e.g. email server, database server, system administration PC, etc. The make/model/capacity of the devices does not need to be included – simply provide their generic device type (router, switch, server, etc.) and their function (email, database, etc.). For a cloud-based or hosted solution, you are not expected to identify specific hardware items used at the hosting site.

II. Cost Estimate and Return on Investment (ROI)
First, create the ROI spreadsheet described below. Then, using information from the spreadsheet, develop a narrative that explains the system costs, to include: the expected one-time investment/implementation costs; annual reoccurring costs; and the ROI and payback period. This should be derived from and supported by your calculations as developed in your spreadsheet.

Approach to Developing This Section. Using the Excel spreadsheet provided with the assignment, first review the “Instructions for Using the ROI Calculator” document also provided with the assignment. Then, read the “Instructions” tab, and the “ROI Calculator Example” tab. Next, complete the tab “Costs and Sources” with a list of all components that need to be acquired (either by purchase, lease, subscription, etc.), the quantity of each required and a unit cost and a total cost associated with each item. These general cost estimates may be obtained from any source, but the sources should be cited – for this you should complete the “Source of Cost” column in the spreadsheet inserting the URL where you found the cost. The categories listed are to help you be sure to include everything. Some items listed may not be part of your solution; and you may add rows as needed in the spreadsheet. Note that one-time implementation costs are separated from on-going repeated costs. Enter your items in the appropriate area. For example, software costs that are a one-time startup fee would go in the Implementation Costs, while monthly or annual subscription costs for software would go in the On-Going Costs. Every item in your description of resources and your graphical representation needs to be included on the cost spreadsheet. Assumptions that affect cost are also recorded on the spreadsheet (on the ROI tab). Your spreadsheet should show the formulas for the Total Item Cost for each item and for Sub-Totals and Totals. Display USD($) rounded to the nearest dollar.

Next, using the “ROI Calculations” tab on the spreadsheet provided with the assignment, transfer the one-time costs to that tab, in item 2.2 under year 1. Copy the recurring annual costs for those items and enter the annual cost in item 2.3; enter the annual cost in the columns for years 1-5. Then, go to item 2.1 and enter estimates for the costs of selecting and documenting the proposed solution; use reasonable cost estimates for each category; note these are entered in the “year 0” column, since they are incurred prior to the acquisition of the system. Finally, go to section 1 on the spreadsheet tab and enter several areas where the organization in the Case Study will realize savings by implementing the system. You should refer to Section IV of your group’s business case for areas where savings may be realized. You can add other areas where savings could be expected, ending with a minimum of five areas. Use reasonable estimates for each area.

If you use the spreadsheet as it is and use “Insert Row” to add rows where you need them, the spreadsheet will calculate the total savings and the total costs by year for the first 5 years. The totals are displayed in blue in bold font. The last two lines on this tab of the spreadsheet show the calculated Cash Flow (Savings minus Expenditure) and the calculated Cumulative Cash Flow (cumulative cash flow from the previous year plus the current year cash flow).

Scroll to the top of the page on the “ROI Calculations” tab, and you will see 4 charts. The lower two charts show the categories of costs and the expenditures in pie charts; this shows at a glance where the largest savings or the highest costs are. The chart in the top left shows the costs and savings by year. The chart in the upper right is the most important one. It shows the calculated Return on Investment (ROI) for the project. The ROI is calculated by computing the Net Savings (Total Savings over the 5 year period minus the costs incurred during the 5 year period) and dividing the Net Savings by the Total Expenditure. Then the payback period is calculated to determine in which year the accumulated savings exceed the project costs. Ensure that you have a positive ROI and that a payback period is shown. These will be incorporated into the narrative in Section V of your paper.