IFSM 300 Stage 4-Assignment

Developing a System Proposal

This course has taken you from analyzing a business strategy to

identifying opportunities for strategic advantages and ways to increase

the organization’s competitive position; identifying process improvement

opportunities where a technology solution can increase efficiency and

effectiveness; defining stakeholder system requirements; evaluating

solutions, and steps to effectively implementing an IT solution.

This is a lot of information, and often the role of a business analyst is to

create or help create a proposal or presentation to inform key

stakeholders of the findings above and “sell” the potential solution.

Presenting the information in a clear, logical sequence to your audience is

important.

Different organizations use their own formats and components in system

proposals, but there are several common areas that a business analyst will

address:

1. Strategic Analysis—What are the key strategic goals and objectives

of the organization, and what is the current business problem or

opportunity being addressed? How might a technology solution help

the organization achieve its strategy and where can a technology

solution help?

2. Process Analysis—A process is a series of steps to perform a task.

Many organizational processes can be very complex and include

Learning Resource

Developing a System Proposal

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UMGC (n.d.). Developing a System Proposal. Retrieved from https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learning- resourcelist/developing-a-systemproposal.html?wcmmode=disabled#

many sub‐processes and steps. It is important to know what work

needs to be done, how it is currently being done, where

opportunities for improvements exist, and how technology can

support the improved process.

3. Requirements—The requirements identification is critical to defining

exactly what key stakeholders need the system to do; what tasks

they expect the system to complete or support; what overall

performance is required and what processes need improvement; how

a technology solution can help achieve the organizational strategy

and improve processes; and what specific requirements the system

needs to meet based on stakeholder information. Defining these

requirements enables potential solutions to be clearly evaluated to

ascertain whether they will fulfill the organization’s needs.

4. Solution Building—A critical part of any proposals is identifying the

specific system that will effectively support and/or improve the

business process and clearly meet the stated user and system

performance requirements. This may include “build vs. buy” analysis

to determine whether the best solution should be developed

internally or purchased as a COTS or SaaS solution. An organization’s

IT Plan and architecture may help inform those decisions. Also the

degree of specialty of the software is a factor: Is this a common

business process used by multiple companies, such as Human

Resources, Logistics, Accounting and Finance, or something very

unique to the organization that may not be commercially available?

Sometimes, alternative solutions may be presented along with the

pros and cons of each option.

5. Implementation Planning—Equally important to identifying the best

fit solution is implementation planning. What has to happen (how

and when) to help ensure a successful installation of the technology

solution? What supporting activities are required to ensure users are

prepared to be successful using the new system including

communication, training, and ongoing support? The data to be

migrated to the new system must be identified and any data integrity

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or compatibility issues noted. Also it is important to ensure

appropriate maintenance and technical support are in place: Is the IT

staff trained to provide Help Desk Support? Do users have a point of

contact for issues? Should a website be established with frequently

asked questions (FAQs) to help users especially in the early days of

implementation?

Without getting into the details of writing the proposal, understand it is

important to convey the information clearly and concisely. At this point,

significant work has been done to identify the information above, and you

want to present it as effectively as possible. Here are some things to keep

in mind:

• Identify if there is a specific format or template that the organization

uses.

• Is there a preference for a written report, oral presentation,

PowerPoint slides, etc.?

• Who is your audience and what information do they already know?

• What is the key information that you need your audience to pay

attention to?

• Identify specific next steps to keep the initiative moving forward.

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