IT 201 Case Report Two: Software Guidelines
Overview
The second case report for this course is to determine the software requirements for the company that you profiled in Case Report One. Read the given
scenario below. Then, you will analyze the scenario, write a list of questions for the company, and provide recommendations in a case report.
Your list of questions is due in Module Six, and your case report is due in Module Seven.
Scenario
You have recently begun working for a leading information technology consulting and implementation firm and have just been assigned to your first project as part of the project team. The client company is creating a new organization and building a new facility for research, manufacturing, and distribution of an advanced version of its product. Your project team will be focusing on recommending and implementing information technology for the new facility and organization.
The project manager has asked that you begin by establishing a profile of the client's new organization, and to then develop a list of key questions to determine what hardware you would recommend for their employee workstations. The project manager provides you with the following information to help you get started:
• The company headquarters are located in New York City.
• The new product facility is being built in Chicago, with network connectivity to headquarters.
• Departments within the new organization and their primary requirements include:
o Sales: Employees in this department require mobility to access company resources such as inventory and manufacturing schedules while visiting customers and presenting at sales meetings and conferences.
o Manufacturing: Employees in this department require access to raw materials inventory, manufacturing control systems, and spreadsheet programs.
o Inventory Control: Employees in this department require mobile access throughout the facility to database systems.
o Research and Development: Employees in this department require powerful graphics and computer-aided design (CAD) programs, and access to the internet.
o Management Information System (MIS): Employees in this department require additional processor and memory requirements to support
administration tasks.
As part of the project team, you will determine software requirements for each department. You learn that the client requires software for document processing, spreadsheets, and presentation creation to be installed on all computers. The software you recommend should perform effectively and efficiently and should be cost efficient and reputable.
Format and Requirements
1. Read the given scenario in detail. Read it over a few times and pull out key facts about the company pertaining to its software needs in each department.
2.
a. Create a list of questions for the client based on the profile for this company that you originally created in Module Two to determine what
software you would recommend for its employee workstations. Your list should include at least five questions. The questions should be thought provoking and produce in-depth answers that will yield recommendations. Avoid questions that can be answered with one word. Questions should relate to the hardware recommended in Module Three. You can ask about some of the following: operating systems, office applications, databases, security applications, or management utilities. Some examples include the following:
i. Do you require leading-edge operating systems?
ii. Will open-source solutions be acceptable suggestions?
iii. Do you require backup software options?
Your questions should focus on what you must learn from the client in order to prepare a comprehensive recommendation that will meet the needs of each department. Think about the various components and how they relate to each other. Think in terms of software only.
3. Write a case report that is at least one page in length that includes recommendations of operating system software, application software, and security software that you think will meet the needs of each department.
1. For operating system software, look at desktop operating systems and make a recommendation. There are several popular choices for desktop computers, including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Your research should focus on client operating systems, not server operating systems. For Windows operating systems, Microsoft is an excellent resource. For Linux operating systems, DistroWatchlists the most popular Linux distributions (Linux operating systems are called distros). Finally, Apple provides information for the latest Mac operating systems.
2. For application software, consider the needs of each department. A suite of software (for example, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook are part of Microsoft Office) is one application. Possible applications include word processing, database, presentation, computer-aided design, graphic editing, accounting, and inventory management. Based on the operating system you selected, recommend applications for your client.
3. For security software, you must consider security applications you would install or configure on the desktop operating systems. Possible security applications include backup and recovery, anti-virus, anti-spyware, and personal firewalls.
The components you recommend to your client should execute all current software requirements and include additional computing requirements to be useful in the next three years. For each component, describe what the software does and why you selected it. Possible recommendations include the operating system, office applications, databases, and CAD software. Be sure to defend why this solution meets the requirements. The recommendations should meet the needs of all five departments. Be sure to use terminology from your course content. Use the following sections for your case report:
• Introduction: In one to two paragraphs, summarize the requirements for the new organization and the needs of each department.
• Recommendations: Write up your recommendations in paragraph form. Explain why your recommendations are a good fit for each department.
• Conclusion: In one paragraph, state why you think the recommendations would last for three years .