UMUC IFSM301 IT Decision Paper

IT
Decision Paper

Before
you begin this assignment, be sure you have read the “Wobbly Wheels Case
Study,” any feedback on your proposed IT project from your ITSP Part 2
assignment, and the previously assigned chapters in the textbook.

Purpose
of this Assignment

This
assignment gives you the opportunity to apply the course concepts to develop an
IT Decision Paper to explain and defend an IT project at Wobbly Wheels
Distribution Company (WW). This assignment specifically addresses the following
course outcomes to enable you to:

·
Apply best practices in
information technology management and governance to make, defend, and justify
an IT decision.

IT
Decision Paper for Your Proposed IT Project

For
your ITSP, Part 2, you proposed an IT project for WW. Carol, the CIO at WW, has
asked you to write an IT Decision Paper to explain your proposed project. She
wants to use the Paper to gain approval from the Governance Board to move
forward with the project. This assignment uses a format for a Decision Paper that
has been tailored to the course material covered in this class. You may work
for an organization that has a format for IT decision papers, and it would be a
good idea for you to take a look at it, but it will likely be structured a
little differently from this one. Each organization develops tools and
techniques that will work for them.

Assignment

You
will develop an IT Decision Paper, using the outline below. Each of the topics
to be included in your outline is covered in the textbook readings assigned thus
far; use the Index to locate specific relevant portions of the text, and to
locate additional ideas that may be included in chapters not yet assigned. In
addition to the course materials, at least one external resource
(resource other than those provided in the class) must be used. A separate
References page should be included. Remember to use the APA formatting rules
and correctly cite and reference your sources with APA format. Use the Grading
Rubric to be sure you have covered everything. Submit your paper as a Microsoft
Word document, or a document that can be read using Word, with your last
name included in the filename.

Please
use this outline to build your IT Decision Paper. Use the numbering and headings shown below.

Project
Description – In two or three sentences,
describe the IT project you proposed for WW in Part 2 of your ITSP.
Describe what major function(s) the system would perform and who would use
it. (Do not provide a technical description with hardware, software, etc.)

Strategic Alignment
– In a short paragraph, explain how the proposed project aligns to the
business strategic objectives in Part 1 of your ITSP, and how the proposed
project aligns to the IT strategies in Part 2 of your ITSP. Your proposed
project must be aligned directly with at least one business strategic
objective and one IT strategy shown in your ITSP.

IT Portfolio Alignment
– Briefly explain where this project fits into the IT Portfolio roadmap
you included in Part 2 of your ITSP. What functional area does it support?
Where should it be included in the timeline – i.e., should it take
priority or be done before another project in the IT Portfolio?

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IT
Architecture – Briefly explain how
this project fits in with other systems in place or in development at WW.
Explain whether it should interface with (share data of any kind with)
other systems either in place or in development. Explain whether it
replaces another system or multiple systems in use at WW. Refer to the
Inventory of Current IT Projects in Part 1 of your ITSP and the IT
Portfolio in Part 2 of your ITSP.

Benefits:
Describe at a high level at least three benefits the project provides to
WW. The benefits should correspond to the business strategies and the
strategic alignment discussed in section 2 above. Refer to Chapter 8,
section on Value Attainment.

Requirements
– List and briefly explain the high level requirements for the project.
First, explain the primary driver of the project (major need of the
business identified in the Case Study). Refer to Chapter 15 and use the
textbook index for additional information about requirements. Develop at
least 8 requirements for the project, and include:

Business/user
requirementsIT/system
requirementsAt
least one system performance requirement

Cost Estimation
– During the Assessment Phase, Cost Estimation consists of estimating the
size and complexity of the project, not the effort required or the actual
projected dollar costs. Copy the table below and place an X (or other
indication) in the box that most closely describes the size and complexity
of your proposed solution. Use your judgment and then write a short
paragraph to introduce and explain the assessments in your table. Refer to
Chapter 17, Cost Estimation, especially the Assessment Phase, described
under Figure 17.2.
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Assessment
of Project Size and Complexity

Size/Complexity

Small

Medium

Large

Very
Complex

Moderately
Complex

Straightforward

8. Performance
Measures – This section explains how WW will know
whether the project is achieving the benefits identified above in section 5.
Review the benefits, and take a look at the requirements you identified, and
come up with three performance measures that will indicate the extent to which
the projected benefits have been achieved. (For example, if you had identified
a benefit that the project would result in more repeat customers, then a
measurement for that would be the number of repeat customers with the goal that
the number would increase.) Refer to Chapter 11, section on Measure Performance
and Make it Visible, just under figure 11.4; also Chapter 21, section on
Performance Measurement. This may be a good area to do some web research. The
measures should be presented in a table with an introductory sentence or two:

Benefit to
Business

Measure

1.(example: increase in repeat customers)

(example: number of repeat customers)

2.

3.

System Development
– Describe how you will use the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
process to approach this project. Include the 5 stages covered in the
textbook: Plan, Design,

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Build, Test, Launch. In two to three
sentences each, explain how each stage would be handled by Carol’s IT team and
who else in WW should be involved in each stage. Refer to Chapter 13.

The
“right” and “wrong” answers have to do with whether or not
you correctly incorporated the course concepts from the textbook and addressed
all parts of the assignment. You need to do some external research on at least
one aspect of the assignment – your choice – and incorporate it and
cite/reference it in APA format in your response. The project you propose is
not as important as that it makes sense in light of the course content and the
Case Study. Use the Rubric below to be sure you have covered all aspects of the
assignment.