Replies and Critical analysis 2 needed
John_matt
replies_needed_2.docx1
Running head: RUSTY RIMS IT STRATEGIC PLAN
Replies needed 1
Referring to the ITSP, Part 2 assignment #4 and the RR case study, you will identify some risks that the CIO needs to consider. For this discussion, we will focus on risks that the business should be concerned with. Apply what you know about the business environment and come up with and explain 3 risks related to the business environment (not IT-related risks). Explain what impact the risk has on the business, how likely it is to occur, and how it can be prevented or mitigated.
I always find these exercises difficult to complete because there are an unlimited amount of risks to pick from and if you're not familiar with the industry you might not pick the right ones.
The first risk are the drivers. RR is a freight transport company and the drivers are the folks who interacts with the customers during pickup and delivery. Possible issues are:
1 Drivers not trusting the new route selection software and using their own routes
1 Increase fuel consumption
2 Increase wear on the vehicle
3 Keeps drivers on the road longer
4 Potential to miss pickup/delivery times
2 Drivers not reporting miles driven accurately
1 Unable to forecast driver and resource needs accurately (ability to plan ahead)
2 Failure to comply with FMCSA guidelines
3 Failure to comply with Federal vehicle safety checks
Anytime something new is being implemented there is the possibility that people will fight the change. As the case study mentioned, the drivers report their mileage at the end of the day and management may not have an accurate idea on hours driven. It may be worth wile for the drivers to test a delivery route and compare it to what they normally drive. This gives the drivers a chance to see the product without impacting customers.
The second risk falls to financing. As mentioned in the case study the transportation industry is competitive and failing to retain customers because of late pickup times can affect the business.
1 Issues with learning the new financing software
1 Added time needed to correct for errors and to enter financial information
2 Possibilities with paying employees, paying debt, and accepting payments
2 Information from the old system not transferring, or incorrectly transferring data to the new system.
1 May have issues during financial audit
2 Financial reports may not accurately reflect the financial health of the business
Changing financing software will cause problems during data migration and with the user. During migration it may be helpful to have one person enter the data and another to verify.
The third, non-IT risk is adoption of the new projects and procedures by management and the workforce.
1 There may be employees who are not on board with the new changes happening
2 Management may have a difficult time with the transition from the old to the new
From past experience some folks will have a difficult time with the transition. Managers will need to be proactive during this time.
Replies needed 2
Referring to the ITSP, Part 2 assignment #5 and the RR case study, in developing a business continuity plan for RR, the first step is to identify the essential business processes that sustain ongoing operations of RR. Reviewing the case study, identify 3 essential business processes. Explain how these processes could continue in the event of a disaster that makes their IT systems and their current buildings unavailable.
Three essential business processes that sustain the ongoing operations of Rusty Rims are:
3 Data Integrity
4 Compliance is an important part of ensuring the quality and accuracy of information in the company. RR will be greatly affected if the dispatch or finance departments cannot maintain accurate data. Sales could be lost, customer confidence would lower, and productivity would be very hard to keep up. With the proper disaster recovery plan, this data would be backed up to an off-site location to safely store the company’s financial information. A temporary office would need to be set up to work using the backed up data.
5 Distribution
6 The truck fleet must be available to deliver goods to customers. This is a primary business need. However, if the IT systems were unavailable, the fleet would not know where to deliver the packages. Similar to the data integrity recovery plan, the fleet would need to stay in touch with the dispatch department that would be set up in a temporary office. A third party warehousing service would be contracted to store and pack the trucks.
7 Health and Safety
8 Trucks are required by the FMCSA to go through a vehicle inspection every 10,000 miles. Basic maintenance on the fleet, also known as A-Level Service, can be the “most important maintenance” (D&D Truck Sales and Service, 2016). Of the top ten types of violations filed in 2015, 37% of them were related to vehicle maintenance and safety (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2015). If the Wilmington maintenance shop was no longer available, another shop nearby – or multiple smaller shops near each distribution center – could be utilized to ensure the trucks are meeting all government requirements.
References
D&D Truck Sales and Service. (2016). Preventative Maintenance. Retrieved from
U.S. Department of Transportation. (2015). National Listing of Enforcement Cases by Subject Name Closed in Fiscal
Year 2015. Retrieved from https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/enforcement/national-listing-enforcement-cases-subject-name-closed-fiscal-year-2015
Replies needed 3
9 From the Additional Resources area, review the document “Managing Capital Investments at the Indian Health Service: A How to Guide to Risk Management”, pages B2 (risk categories for all investments and risk categories for IT investments are noted) and page B3 (risk categories are restructured into more related risk issues). A sample completed matrix can be found in Appendix C of the document. Although a risk can be ranked as a low probability, if the impact is high, a company may wish to focus their efforts and resources on mitigating that risk.
Referring to the ITSP, Part 2 assignment #4 and the RR case study, you will identify some risks that the CIO needs to consider. For this discussion, we will focus on risks that the business should be concerned with. Apply what you know about the business environment and come up with and explain 3 risks related to the business environment (not IT-related risks). Explain what impact the risk has on the business, how likely it is to occur, and how it can be prevented or mitigated.
Here are list of few risks Rusty Rims are facing and suggestions on how to mitigate the risk.
1. Power outage - Rusty Rims is heavily invested in electronic system to keep the company at optimum working pace. If the city power is out, the company will be at halt.
To mitigate this risk, company should be equipped with stand alone power generator which will provide power in case of power outage.
A battery pack / surge protector should be equipped on every electronic equipment for continued performance without down time and protect from power surge.
2. Danger to life or limb in maintenance shop - working in a maintenance shop, employee can easily get hurt if not following safety regulation. (OHSA, 2005)
To mitigate this risk, maintenance shop manager will read and comply with OSHA regulations.
Request for inspection to find weak points to our shop safety..
3. Vehicle theft - Assets of Rusty Rims need to be protected. Theft of vehicle can cause loss of work time or unable to fulfill transport request which will result in loss of revenue.
Vehicle should always be locked when parking the vehicle. Providing security training to the drivers will help with this process.
Key control should be made in a way which vehicle keys are kept in central area and have the drivers sign it out when utilizing it.
Parking lot security should be enhanced to ensure better protection from vehicle theft.
By taking steps to lower the risk provided above, we can ensure the company have less risk of loosing revenue and resources.
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