Week 3 project

Running Head: IT ACQUISITION AND IMPLEMENTATION 1

IT ACQUISITION AND IMPLEMENTATION 2

IT Acquisition And Implementation.

Student’s Name:

Professor’s Name:

Date.

Overview.

IT Acquisition and Implementation entails the process of purchasing external knowledge and technology without active involvement or incorporation from the technology sources. The practice can also involve hiring employees with adequate knowledge and skills as well as the use of contract research along with consulting services. It must be known that acquisition of IT does not only encompass the process of obtaining and installing application software but also may extend to the incorporation of acquired application, programs, or software into the existing technological infrastructure as well as integration of the developed software into the data and procedures that people could use to make things work out as expected within an organization (Malherbe, 2018). As per the recent case studies on IT acquisition and its implementation, it is evident that acquiring a new system or software is more or less the same as purchasing a new car. Based on this idea, four main methods of IT acquisition and implementation can be identified, and among these include; buying software and using it as it is, purchasing software and personalizing it to provide required services more effectively and desirably, renting or leasing the software or building the software buy oneself for their own use.

The organization deploys the methods mentioned above to acquire information technology-related programs. Among the four applicable methods, most organizations prefer purchasing pre-developed software and personalizing it to suit their needs. Important to note is that both software acquisition and acquiring information systems all mean the same thing. But acquiring some of the software and systems that are powerful in executing various tasks do not come on s silver plate; the organization is forced to pay expensively for such software even If they may acquire it from open sources. As mentioned earlier, system acquisition entails a combination of various elements such as hardware, people data, and procedures. Organizations may choose a wide range of sources to acquire their systems depending on their requirements (Malherbe, 2018). Talking of external sources of technology and innovation, the processes of IT acquisition is mostly considered under the following conditions; when the product line of an organization has fallen far below those of competitors when the is a new entrant into the market posing new competitive threats whose impacts could change competitive dynamics as well as when a company forecast that its ways of operating business or producing products and services are not going to be viable in the long term.

Among the most applicable external types of external sources of acquisition that could be used to improve technology and innovation in a company include mergers/acquisitions (M$A). This involves ownership changes with an organization (Malherbe, 2018). Other processes that may be used for IT acquisition is joint ventures that entail the creation of a new entity whose role is to execute specific processes such as product and process innovation, franchisee agreements which involves engagement of more than one organization for a long-term agreement that encompasses long payoff for sharing a given technology, licensing agreements that entail the acquisition of technology with no R and D and use of formal and informal contracts to allow companies share technologies. Based on the question, this paper will focus on shading lighter on various IT processes, conduct and perhaps offer more insights about the preliminary evaluation of internal IT processes with a primary focus on project management, extensively discuss more about the expansion of IT goals along with performance metrics as well develop a process RACI chart that maps management practices based on their related roles together with the level of responsibility for each role.

Review of the literature.

As per the course concepts, information technology audit may be defined as the assessment or examination of a company’s IT infrastructure, software, programs systems, application, data use policies, IT practices and procedures, IT management along with IT operational processes so as to establish the level of compliance against the set and recognized policies. As mentioned in the course content, IT audit is an important aspect of technology because it creates awareness to organizations on how best to get prepared to handle various IT-related security issues. Other than preventing risks, an IT audit plan also helps organizations and other business entities to avoid possible risks associated with an external compliance policy.

Before companies adopt various technology for their business activities, there is a great need to consider several factors to ensure that the type of technology adopted can align with information technology and overall business operational strategies. This means that the information technology used by companies must be able to support and perhaps enable an organization to run its daily operation without disruption of major processes (Malherbe, 2018). Perhaps information technology project management primarily focuses on the processes that facilitate the effective implementation of IT projects. IT projects involve complex phases and procedures that need to be closely monitored so that desired outcomes can be achieved at the end of it all. Information technology projects are usually undertaken to enable organizations to develop products and systems which will be deployed to help solve some of the organization’s business-related challenges.

Among the products or systems created through IT projects may include deliverables such as hardware, application software, training communications data management systems, deployment, business process alignment, and many others. Normally during IT project management, the deliverables mentioned above are managed as modules a d components. With this regard, a component can be defined as the primary piece of a product made of one or several modules (Lock, 2020). Information technology life cycle provides a comprehensive outline and definition of major product deliverables along with the technical work that is required to be undertaken in order to produce with desirable qualities. Organizations need to ensure that they align their IT projects objectives with business-oriented operations for efficiency and effective management of the project phases of processor the companies be able to sustain such processes and avoid service and operation disruption while adopting new technologies companies ought to take into consideration of the following information technology processes.

· Requirements and analysis

· Architecture

· Design

· Construction

· Integration and test

· Implementation.

Unlike a project management life cycle that encompasses project initiation, project planning, execution, monitoring, and controlling phase, an IT project management life cycle is different, but all the same, the two management systems make use of the same concept in managing the entire project lifecycle.

Key IT processes.

Requirements and analysis.

This process phase involves a detailed description of the problem that needs to be solved by the information technology project. At this point, normally, the objectives of the technology in question are outlined, and through analysis, components or modules of the system are assessed to ascertain their functionality, establish service or system requirements to ensure that they meet deliverable requirements as expected. The main objective of this process is to ensure that the IT project team engages with the stakeholders or the client to collect adequate information on the subject matter. This helps to define the business requirements with respect to technology that is needed to be developed. Experts meet and discuss how well such conditions can be incorporated within the IT system (Lock, 2020). Also, at this phase, the project manager identifies the type of systems, products, or services that need to be delivered, the resources required and skills, as well as the level of expertise needed to complete the tasks. In a nutshell, in this phase, several project components are documented to serve as a memory aid for the subsequent steps. These requirements are categorized into preconditions, functional requirements, operational requirements of the system or product as wells as design limitations.

Architecture

This is one of the critical phases during IT project development. The phase entails the determination and identification of major elements or components that must be included in the service, system, or product being developed (Liu, 2020). In these processes, normally, the architecture evaluates and reviews business requirements to determine what technology solutions are needed for the success of the IT project. From the insights acquired from business requirement reviews, stakeholders analyze the available alternative so that they can pick the most efficient and applicable solution.

Design.

IT project design can be achieved or completed in two phases; these include high-level design and detailed design. High-level design explains how the product or system module will technically operate. In addition to that, it also explains how each component of the product will interact with each hardware and application software to execute its functions. On the other hand, the detailed design offers a comprehensive detail about each component of the product or system by identifying which module is associated with what components (Liu, 2020). The detailed design also describes the suctions associated with each module, the functional capabilities of each module, along with the manner in which each module interfaces with the rest of the modules. Other than that, at this stage project manager sets specific questions for the clients to help validate the major requirement and unique features of the product required. Features such as functionalities and security configurations are discussed in detail with the client at this phase to facilitate the development of the product that meets all the conditions as may be dictated by the client.

Construction.

During this stage, the manager and contractors team together to make a project successful. Before the project is constructed, the architect takes the initiative to conduct a project quality control inspection, after which technical submittals are approved. The main objective of this process is to ensure that the project contractor delivers the project as designed.

Integration and test

Product or system testing is conducted to determine how each individual software component or module is combined to execute various functions. Integration testing is performed to assess and evaluate the compliance level of the product, component, or system with respect to the specified operational requirements (Jonas Construction Software, 2021). All aspects of the system or components are grouped together and tested to confirm their performance, reliability, and functionality.

Implementation.

This is the stage where the final refinement of the product or system is done. Normally final testing, inspection, correction, adjustments, and certification of the system design are done to ensure that the project meets all the requirements and also performs as specified (Jonas Construction Software, 2021).

Conduct a preliminary evaluation of internal IT processes, focusing primarily on project management and software development.

Preliminary evaluations entail the initial stages of assessing and investigating the essence of technology or a project with regard to its intended functions. Major preliminary assessment, in this case, will consider the following elements; the Cost of the IT processes, amount of time taken for the development process, workforce, skills and level of expertise required as well as the security involved in the entire process.

One of the critical factors to consider during product development processes is the cost of the product or service. The software cost is normally influenced by the indented consumer, licensing fees, age of the software, and software development cost (Jonas Construction Software, 2021). Besides that, software development timelines, prototype design, third-party integration, team skills, the complexity of the project, architecture components, along with tools and processes involved. Based on these factors, the cost of the product that will be included during the entire cycle ought to be optimized to help reduce the overall cost of product development. This will, in turn, ensure that the maximum quality of the project is achieved using the lowest cost possible.

Timeframe for software development should also be evaluated properly. As mentioned above, the cost of the project is directly proportional to its timelines. When a software development project is prolonged, the chances are that a supplementary budget has to be provided to facilitate completion of the project, therefore means that Time taken for project development must be well calculated with consideration on the impacts of delays and other associated risks. In addition to that, preliminary evaluation on workforce, skills, and level of expertise required will be essentially good as it will ensure that the correct number of project team members is obtained with the appropriate level of competence in relation to the type of project to be undertaken. Finally, evaluating the security levels of the project or product is a key thing to consider when it comes to IT-related projects (Jonas Construction Software, 2021). There are optimum security standards that should be included in the software, and this must be evaluated to ascertain if such conditions are met or not.

Refine your balanced scorecard as needed, possibly expanding the IT-related goals and the performance metrics

Among the key IT-related goals and metrics to refine on include; Operational metrics, Authoritative metrics, Money related metrics, and Delivery metrics. Operational metrics may involve online applications accessibly whose main objective is to validate the functionality of the software when it comes to clients' wish to access online services. Under operational metrics, there is also online application execution, whose value is to find out the normal Time taken to deliver a page while accessing online services. Delivery metrics include project satisfaction, project delivery, task cost, and imperfection control (Jonas Construction Software, 2021).

Create a process RACI chart that maps management practices to their related roles and indicates the levels of responsibility for each role.

References

Jonas Construction Software. (2021, April 8). 5 essential phases of construction project management. https://www.jonasconstruction.com/blog/phases-of-construction-project-management/

Liu, Y. (2020). Information acquisition costs and misreporting: Evidence from the implementation of EDGAR. https://doi.org/10.26226/morressier.5f0c7d3058e581e69b05d140

Lock, D. (2020). First steps in planning the timescale. Project Management, 79-90. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315245911-5

Malherbe, D. (2018, January 15). Project management: 5 steps and phases. International. https://www.teamleader.eu/blog/project-management-5-steps-and-phases

Rivera, M. (2020, November 6). 6 phases of project cycle management. The Blueprint. https://www.fool.com/the-blueprint/project-cycle-management/

Zighan, S., & Abualqumboz, M. (2021). A project lifecycle readiness approach to manage construction waste in Jordan. Construction Economics and Building, 21(3). https://doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v21i3.7628