Information Systems In Organizations final Project Due In 72 Hours

5/8/2019 Developing a System Proposal

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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?

Learning Resource

5/8/2019 Developing a System Proposal

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2. Process Analysis—A process is a series of steps to perform a task. Many organizational processes can

be very complex and include 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 or compatibility issues noted.

Also it is important to ensure appropriate maintenance and technical support are in place: Is the IT staff

5/8/2019 Developing a System Proposal

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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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