Testing

Introduction:

Brewton business is a clothing retail company that is operating their business in different cities. This firm has headquartered in Eugene. From headquarter, they are running offices in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and Huston. They have a workforce of 240 employees that are distributed in different cities. The company is already working on various software packages that comprise of accounting, purchase system, personnel tracking, and payroll applications. But the software's are not enough to meet the growing needs of the company. They need to develop an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) application that facilities all offices across the cities and centralized data of all departments at one place.

Key stakeholders that help in implementation plan:

When a new system is going to be implemented in a company, then many people are in favor of it who directly support it or appreciate that change. But many people resist this change by complaining about it, and they want to continue with old ones.

· Mark Brewton who is the CEO of the company is willing to implement this software that brings a good change in business practices by soothing the inventory and accounting operation. For implementing a new system, full support from the side of CEO is with us.

· Barbara Scharer who is the CFO of the company also supports this change because she wants such a system that helps in managing reports. That help in analyzing expenses so that maximum profits can be gain. Hence, when this system is implemented than the support of CFO helps us in analyzing whether this system is developed according to requirements or not (Motiwalla, 2008).

· William Hunter worked as a COO (Chief Operations Officer). As per William, there is not for implementation of such system because he is satisfied with the performance of the previous system. Hence, to gain the full support of William, it is necessary to demonstrate the countless benefits of this system that helps in overall functioning of the company.

· Jennifer Morales worked as Sales and Advertising Director. This software helps him in strong binding between operation and makes their work accessible by directly taking orders over this and send directly to operations.

· Roger Tomlinson, Human Resources Director, states that this system will help him in smoothing their function of HR. Hence, his support is in favor of quick implementation of this software.

· Mike Benson (Information Technology Director) and Gary Holmes (Systems Administrator) finds the implementation of this software a challenging job. These are two persons who are responsible for smoothing implementation and working of this software. As they have no expertise in doing it. Then it is better to hire a consultant who will implement this system and set it on all desktop of employees for proper functioning.

· Nancy Davis (Web Developer) and Jim Travis (Network Administrator) are the satisfied current system but implementing a new system is a challenging task for them. All these problems can be solved by hiring a third party who help in implementation and training of this system.

 Human resources that will be required to implement the application

List of computer and network resources used for implementation of ERP:

· Xeon server computer

· NIC (Network interface card)

· Switches

· Hub

· Connectors and cables

· Modem

· Router

· Server.

· Coaxial cable

· Fiber optic cable

· Sun Solaris,

· IBM AIX,

· Windows Vista/2003/2000/XP,

· Apple Mac OS X,

· OS/400 and z/OS (Sandeep Singhal, 2011 )

Implementation plan:

For the successful implementation of ERP system. It took almost 37 days from deployment of the system to a new startup. The maximum number of days are required for system deployment preparation and user training. Because the employees are spread in different cities (Andreas Jenzer, 2008).

Table: System implementation plan

Figure: Timeline for implementation of ERP.

In the end, it is pertinent to mention that implementing an ERP system is a complicated task that required the attention of all department heads and CEO so that security of the system cannot be ignored. It is also essential that all employees should get significant training so that the can maximum benefit out of it.

Communication plan:

The ERP that is going to implement in a company. Making a proper communication plan is essential. This will help in communicating with the stakeholders regarding the progress of the company. In time communication is important because it helps in catering the challenges and issues that might come with the project. Hence, all the stakeholders must bind to each other in a strong relation of communication that helps them in the success of the project.

Modes of communication:

The modes of communication that can be used in this project are email, calls, fax, messaging, project reports, meetings and presentation. These are the preferred modes of communication. When communicating with the same department emails is the best sources that can be used. But when communication across department and communication regarding the project than project reposts and presentation is the preferable mode.

Communication matrix:

In this matrix, the frequency, distribution, and description of communication have been presented that help the stakeholder in efficient and timely communication. This communication matrix can be used by all stakeholders.

Project reporting:

The project reports are scheduled according to the stage of the project when it is initial stage then there is thrice a week meeting in which plan of project initiation is discussed. But when the project starts them meetings on project progress us schedules with senior management. These meetings are held once in the week. (Ralph L. Kliem, 2007)

Project meetings:

Project meeting is scheduled according to the stage of the project it can be twice in a week or once in a week.

Another vehicle of communication:

The different vehicle of communication that are used in this project are presented in the below-mentioned table:

Documentation:

Documentation is an integral part of the project especially when we are dealing with such a vast system of ERP implementation. It is necessary that its documentation must be completed along with the progress of the project that will help in future if any discrepancy comes.

There are different kinds of projects that are essential to maintaining:

Project documentation:

It describes the purpose of a project along with the stakeholders who are involved in this project. These documents help the managers, project heads and other stakeholders regarding the objective of the project. If includes, the purpose, objective, budget, specifications of technical material used along with the description of hardware and software with details of technician and designers. Hence this document presents the project as a whole.

Test documentation:

Test documentation is used by the quality assurance department who oversee the activities of the project. Before the final implementation, this unit checks whether it is completed in all aspects of not. It also includes a list of logs, list of bugs and reports from testers.

Team documentation:

This documentation includes all the ideas of the project that are exchanged between the team members. It also demonstrates which tasks are assigned to which stakeholder and to what extent they complete these tasks. Schedules, test plans, and status updates are the major components of this project (Bjørner, 2006).

User documentation:

This includes all the material that is used in training of employees when this system is implemented. It includes videos, manuals that help the end user.

Technical documentation:

Technical documentation includes the details of products and services that are used in this project. For example, in this ERP system, it includes details of software, hardware, and servers that are used in the development of this whole system. (Palo Alto Networks, 2014) It includes technical specification, software codes, and API documentation.

Change Management/Control Process

In Brewton Enterprises Incorporation a systematic approach is needed to manage the changes. Through adaptation of better change control process the resources could be utilized efficiently, and a better decision could be taken which would eventually boost up the profitability level of the entity. In this instance, the change would be controlled by a process through which the project would be properly managed, and any disruptions in the success of the project could be removed in time. The change process for Brewton Enterprises Incorporation would be as follows:

Consulting services versus performing them in-house, the costs, benefits, and challenges associated with each option

For the implementation tasks, there are two options in hand of the Brewton Enterprises Incorporation. One of the options is to use the services of the outside consultants. The second option is to perform entire functions in-house without taking any help from outsiders. Both options would require different budgets; both would have different sort of challenges and have a different kind of benefits.

For Outsourcing implementation, the selected plan is as follows:

1. Contract would be done regarding the skills and project

2. Measurable and specific goals would be set up.

3. Communicate expectations regarding the performance.

4. End product, performance expectations along with the deadline and resources would be settled

5. Expert/consultant/extra hand would be hired

6. Detailed plan would be provided

7. Clear map would be created to measure the performance

8. In the end, Evaluation would be done regarding the risks and prepare alternatives

Consulting services versus performing them in-house

References Andreas Jenzer, G. W. (2008). Infrastructure Technology Basics for SAP Deployment. Pearson . Motiwalla. (2008). Enterprise Systems for Management. Pearson Education India. Sandeep Singhal, D. P. (2011 ). Hardware and Software Requirements for Implementation of ERP in Technical Education Institutes in India . International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research , 1-5. Andreas Jenzer, G. W. (2008). Infrastructure Technology Basics for SAP Deployment. Pearson . Bjørner, D. (2006). Software Engineering 3: Domains, Requirements, and Software Design. Springer Science & Business Media. Motiwalla. (2008). Enterprise Systems for Management. Pearson Education India. Palo Alto Networks, I. (2014, 01 01). Technical Documentation. Retrieved from paloaltonetworks.com: https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/documentation Ralph L. Kliem, P. (2007). Effective Communications for Project Management. CRC Press. Sandeep Singhal, D. P. (2011 ). Hardware and Software Requirements for Implementation of ERP in Technical Education Institutes in India . International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research , 1-5.