IT Decision Paper
jarfra
Francis_CIO_Organization_Memo.docRunning head: GG FREIGHTWAYS (GGFRT) IT STRATEGIC PLAN 1
GG FREIGHTWAYS (GGFRT) IT STRATEGIC PLAN 10
GG Freightways (GGFRT) IT Strategic Plan
Nambo Francis
IFSM 301
23 February 2020
GG Freightways (GGFRT) IT Strategic Plan
To: Chief Financial Officer
From: Chief Information Officer Lance
Date: Feb 20, 2020
Subject: CIO- Based Organization Proposal
Introduction and Purpose
After an extensive analysis of the current GG Freightways business operations, I have realized the necessity for changes within the company IT department to enable the company to streamline its internal operations. The purpose of this memorandum is to address the current inefficiencies in the GG Freightways organizational structure of the IT department and propose a realignment focused on an improved day to day operations within GG Freightways. Moreover, the memo addresses, the requirements for the proposed structure in a bid to ensure a smooth process transition that will lead to increased revenue within the organization.
Leadership
Leadership Philosophy
As the Chief Information Officer, I believe in a team-oriented approach when implementing new strategies and ensuring all the processes are conducted according to the legal requirements. I desire to ensure we achieve a successful and smooth process transition within all the departments to attain our organization vision and goals. Therefore, I will ensure a democratic leadership to make sure all the stakeholders have an equal say on the project decisions. Being a result-oriented leader, I aim to ensure all the processes are carried out the right way by utilizing the best personnel with all the required training. My leadership will be based on authenticity, ethics, value, and servant-based.
Management Style
My management will be based on a consultative management style. According to Grace College (2016), in this type of management style, the leader consults with all those involved, but makes the final decision. I aim to ensure the involvement of all stakeholders when implementing the proposed system to ensure acceptability. Moreover, 1 will make sure all the decisions made take into account the interests and suggestions by the members. I will also incorporate coaching to ensure all the employees have a chance to learn the skills needed to operate the new system and improve on their existing skills.
Internal IT Strategies
To ensure maximum value within GGFRT, there is a need to create an action plan to help identify the business internal capabilities. According to Park, Lee, and Ryu (2014), internal IT strategy emphasizes on the internal aspects of the resource control to ensure there is alignment between the resources used and the enterprise operations. The table 1 below shows how implemented IT organizations will help support GGFRT operations by implementing new, internal strategies.
|
Internal IT Strategy/Description (Spring 2019) |
People, Process, or Technology (state which one or more is applicable |
Explanation of how this IT Strategy will Help Improve the Organization’s Effectiveness |
|
Meet compliance requirements by updating current technology or developing/acquiring new technology to meet these various mandates (only one would be chosen from the business strategic objective from ITSP #1). |
Technology |
By updating the Finance/Accounting System to Precise Financials (to meet SOX requirements), updating current or developing a new Fleet Maintenance System, notification on 10K mandated vehicle safety checks will be timelier, developing technology to capture driver hours, the company will be more proactive in their scheduling of vehicles and drivers in their operations which results in a more efficient day-to-day operations. |
|
Update the existing IT management reporting systems to improve information convergence and dispatch |
Technology |
This strategy will help improve the process of data extraction and information analysis as well as improve the decision-making process within GGFRT. The strategy will also ensure accuracy and faster response to problems identified within the company finances. |
|
Improve the departments’ communication among staffs to ensure identified problems are communicated in time |
People |
By employing effective communication among the staff, problems within the departments will be shared. This will ensure faster responses to these problems, improve internal relations and create a team-oriented business organization |
|
Incorporating an automatic scheduler in the fleet maintenance system to ensure properly timed schedules for preventive maintenance |
Process |
Automatic repair schedules will ensure the fleet management staff have enough time to prepare for repairs. Additionally, this will ensure dispatchers can plan shipment schedules accordingly based on the vehicle availability |
Current IT Department Structure
Currently, the IT department consists of 24 personnel. The CIO; who is in charge of the company IT department, two assistants, two shift supervisors, two network engineers, a financial system specialist, a computer security expert, seven programmers, and eight help desk personnel. These help in ensuring all the company information and computer systems function as expected. Figure 1 below shows an organization chart showing the roles and responsibilities of the IT department personnel.
CIOResponsibilities Assess current processes and recommend upgrades Manages IT department Oversees all development processes in the departmentAssistant CIO͛sResponsibilities Assists CIO in IT strategic planning Coordinates evaluation, deployment and management of IT projectsSupervisorsResponsibilities Supervises programmers, network engineers, financial system specialist and computer security expertProgrammersResponsibilities System development and integrationNetwork EngineersResponsibilities Building and maintaining company computer networksHelp desk PersonnelResponsibilities Provides technical support for incoming issues Support the distribution terminals Financial System SpecialistResponsibilities Maintains all financial records written in SQL statementsComputer Security ExpertResponsibilities Managing, motoring and upgrading system security measures Troubleshooting system security problems
New CIO OrganizationThe current IT department organization structure lacks means a properly defined administrative responsibilities leading to neglect of duties. Implementing a CIO organization structure will help solve these inefficiencies and ensure accountability to help boost GGFRT productivity. Moreover, the current organization focuses on technology rather than ensuring that the department complies with all business provisions. According to Chakray (2018), CIO organizations aim at ensuring business integration, aligning technologies with business goals, ensuring users security and value generation, managing company human resources and ensuring compliance with legal issues. On the other hand, the IT department focuses on carrying out maintenance of systems, optimizing, installing and updating software, offering technical support and analyzing the need for additional IT resource requirements (2018).
Utilizing a CIO organization structure, we will incorporate IT directorate in our department to ensure all the staff responsibilities are well defined. Instead of having two supervisors and two assistant CIO’s, 3 IT directors to oversee the department. According to Study. Com (n.d.), IT directors work under the CIO and often help in overseeing small groups of staff members within the IT department. They work as supervisors to ensure the IT department operates smoothly. Moreover, they will be heading the systems development based on their specialization. For example, we will be having one director to be in charge of the financial system, another to be in charge of the management reporting system ad the last one to be in charge of the mobile marketing app development. The department will also incorporate staff management and service desk management in its operation.
Key Services
The new CIO organization will not have the positions of assistant CIO’s and the two shift supervisors to ensure well-defined roles for each position in the IT department. Instead, we will be having three directors. Table 2 below shows key services that will be incorporated in the new CIO organizational structure.
|
Key Service (Spring 2019) |
State IT Strategy (section #3) /Key Service’s Relationship to IT Strategy |
|
Addition to the IT staff of a Compliance Officer |
Meet compliance requirements by updating current technology or developing/acquiring new technology to meet those mandates/By adding this position, it will oversee any projects/personnel that would be involved in any projects where compliance mandates are being implemented to ensure that all mandate requirements are covered in the software. |
|
Removal of assistant and supervisor position in the department |
There is a need to ensure that every staff in the IT department has well-defined duties. While the supervisor and assistant position exists, both perform almost similar duties, Therefore, to ensure that ensure a properly defined administrative responsibilities and reduce department costs, the two positions will be scrapped off |
|
Creation of the IT directorate post |
IT directorate posts will run the responsibilities that were previously run by the assistants and supervisors. Moreover, they will oversee the department projects based on their areas of specialization. |
|
Creation of a help Staff management sub-department |
This division will include all the help desk personnel in all the terminals and will be responsible for creating service level agreement reports, analyzing them to determine how satisfied people were with the service. This department will also be responsible for optimizing the department support strategy. |
New CIO Organization Structure
The new department will be headed by the CIO who will be in charge of the department. The IT directors will to supervise all the department operations and oversee different projects and will be directly under the CIO. To ensure business continuity, they will have the mandate to run the department operations in case the CIO is absent. A staff management subdivision will be created to help monitor the help-desk operations. This department will be in charge of the staff welfare. Moreover, we will add a service desk manager to help in terminal management and customer relations. Figure 2 below shows the organizational chart of the new CIO organization
CIO IT Directors Staff Manager Programmers Network Engineers Service Desk Manager Financial System Specialist Computer Security Expert Help Desk Customer Relation management
Key Milestones
Planning requires setting milestones that will advise transition to ensure minimal disturbances and ensure the organization remains operational as the new structure rolls out. While these dates are just an estimate, it is strongly encouraged that the completion date is achieved before or on the specified days. Table 3 below shows the key milestones identified with the target completion data and risks likely to be encountered as we try to meet each milestone.
|
Key Milestone (Spring 2019) |
Target Completion Date (list in chronologic order) |
Issue(s)/Concerns Accomplishing the Milestone |
|
Hiring of the Compliance Officer |
October 31, 2019 |
Finding a person with the correct skill-set with a thorough understanding of both IT and the various agencies’ compliance requirements may be difficult |
|
Adopting automatic scheduling system in the fleet maintenance system |
March 2, 2020 |
With the new system, company operators will have to be taught how to operate the system. This may affect the accuracy of the system before users have the knowledge how to use the system |
|
Set up more offices for the added posts and restructure IT staff |
March 10,2020 |
Reducing some of the IT positions may lead to legal action taken by the affected staff. This may cause delay for the implementation |
|
Modernize IT management reporting |
April 1, 2020 |
Costs to purchase the needed technologies will lead to increased spending. Moreover, we will have to outsource tech experts to show our team how to operate the system. |
Conclusion
Restructuring the IT department to CIO organization is essential to help GGFRT achieve its future financial goal of 8% profit and an 8% reduction in the operating cost. There is a need to adopt new technologies within the organization to ensure these goals are achievable. Moreover, the new department will help improve customer relations, staff monitoring, and reporting and project monitoring to ensure all projects undertaken by the department align with the organization’s goals. With the milestones set and possible risks identified, this proposal is ready for implementation after your approval.
References
Chakray. (2018). CIO and Information Technology Department: Roles and Responsibilities. Transformation. Retrieved From https://www.chakray.com/cio-and-information-technology-department-roles-and-responsibilities/
Grace College (2016). Types of Management Styles. Business News. Retrieved From https://online.grace.edu/news/business/types-of-management-styles/
Park Jihun, Lee, N. Jae and Ryu, S. Hyun. (2014). Alignment Between Internal and External Information Technology Control Mechanisms: An Extended Resource-Based Review. Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems. 346. Retrieved From http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2014/346
Study. Com. (n.d.). Difference Between CIO and IT Director. Computer Science Articles. Retrieved From https://study.com/articles/difference_between_cio_and_it_director.html
Responsibilities Assess current processes and recommend upgrades Manages IT department Oversees all development processes in the department CIO Responsibilities Assists CIO in IT strategic planning Coordinates evaluation, deployment and management of IT projects Assistant CIO’s Responsibilities Supervises programmers, network engineers, financial system specialist and computer security expert Supervisors Responsibilities System development and integration Programmers Responsibilities Building and maintaining company computer networks Network Engineers Responsibilities Provides technical support for incoming issues Support the distribution terminals Help desk Personnel Responsibilities Maintains all financial records written in SQL statements Financial System Specialist Responsibilities Managing, motoring and upgrading system security measures Troubleshooting system security problems Computer Security Expert
CIO IT Directors Staff Manager Programmers Network Engineers Service Desk Manager Financial System Specialist Computer Security Expert Help Desk Customer Relation management
