FINAL PAPER

The Final Assessment

1. Identify 4 different stages of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and explain how requirements are used in each stage of the SDLC.

a) Planning-The initial stage in software development is the planning stage. In this stage, various requirements are analyzed to their viability and feasibility. Other factors such as costs are fully described as well as the organizational goals and objectives. Proper solutions are also advanced in the planning stage so as to create a sustainable environment for software development process.

b) Design-The design stage involves the description of various operations such as screening layout and business rules. According to Proctor (2011), the screening of layouts must be effectively undertaken since it is significant in ensuring a user-friendly software system. Moreover, documentation and process diagrams are examined and carried out at this stage. Other functions of this stage include the development of functional hierarchal diagrams. The design stage aims at describing the systems in details.

c) Building-In the building stage the requirements are changed or transformed into finished products. This is a significant stage of software development since results in the development of various software that is either the used in-house or sold to other business organizations. The list of requirements is processed together to come up with software products.

d) Testing-This stage is important since it reveals whether the software can work effectively or not. The stage involves the testing of unit, system as well as user acceptance. The developers also test the presence of iterations and its impact in the development process. There are different types of testing that can take place such as path, defect, data and unit testing among others.

2. List and explain three criteria that the Information Technology (IT) Steering Committee should use to select and prioritize their projects.

a) The efficiency of the current technology

The IT steering committee should evaluate the efficiency of the in-house technology before launching a new project. This is because the project will only be successful if it has been done using relevant technology.

b) The demand for the projects

Projects that have high demand should be accomplished before other projects. The IT steering committee should, therefore, assess various projects to determine their viability and demand in the market.

c) Presence of competitors

Competitors also play a major role in the selection of projects in an organization. The IT steering committee should select a project that can compete favorable with other businesses in the market.

3. Explain the relationship between the IT architecture and the IT Roadmap used in the IT Strategic Plan.

To achieve an effective IT strategic plan, IT architecture and IT roadmap must work together. The IT roadmap defines the strategies or plan that will be used to achieve a particular IT goal while IT architecture provides the required infrastructure for the accomplishment of the goal. The IT architecture and roadmap has a significant impact on the operations of the organization since it enhances the implementation of the strategic plan. The chief information officer can utilize the IT architecture to create a sustainable environment for the strategic plan through the application of the IT roadmap. For example, the enterprise software can be used to spearhead the IT roadmap that is then used to implement the proposed strategic plan of the organization. The IT roadmap presents how the strategic plan will be implemented using the available IT architecture so as to achieve goals and objectives.

4. Different kinds of personnel are required to staff an IT department depending on their IT strategy. For the two organizations below, identify four important IT positions that an IT department should retain in-house in each organization scenario below and explain why these positions are important.

a. An organization whose IT strategy is to outsource as much of their IT as possible, and

b. An organization whose IT strategy is to develop proprietary, in-house applications that directly support their business and operation.

a. An organization whose IT strategy is to outsource as much of their IT as possible.

i) Enterprise Resource Manager-The process of outsourcing of information technology systems require effective management that can only be done by an enterprise resource manager. The job will involve evaluating the various systems and analyzing their compatibility with the technology that is being used by an organization.

ii) Chief Information Officer-The CIO will ensure that relevant information about the outsourcing plan is relayed to the various stakeholders in the organization.

iii) Chief Executive Officer-The CEO is integral in the implementation of the outsourcing strategy. The CEO will also approve the outsourcing process.

iv) Chief Technology Officer-The CTO will also have a great impact on the outsourcing process since he or she will be expected to evaluate and test the compatibility of the outsourced technology with the available technology systems.

b) An organization whose IT strategy is to build in-house applications that directly support their business and operation.

i) The Chief Security Officer-The CSO will ensure that the in-house applications in the organization are safe from cyber- attacks.

ii) The Chief Information Officer-The CIO role will be to ensure that information concerning the relationship between the in-house applications and the various business operations are disseminated to the workers and the managers.

iii) Applications management Officer-The APO will evaluate and manage the various applications and test the in-house applications about other applications that are found from vendors.

iv) Chief Technology Officer-The role of the CTO is critical since it will ensure the integration of the in-house applications with the ones that have been purchased from various vendors.

5. Explain what business continuity planning is, who should create the plan, and the role of IT.

A business continuity planning is a process that is undertaken by a business to adopt intervention mechanisms that can ensure the operations of the business continues in the presence of certain problems (Kedar, 2009). For example, if hackers have accessed the database of an organization, there are special software systems that can be used to prevent the loss of client’s data. The plan should be created by the Chief Information Officer and the Chief Technology Officer. These two managers can effectively ensure the adoption of high-tech data encryption systems that can prevent complete loss of vital documents and data. IT plays a significant role in business continuity planning through information technology systems that are the ones that are used to create security systems that can store data.

6. Explain what it means to say that the “IT Strategic Plan is aligned to the business Strategic Plan.”

The IT strategic plan should create an enabling environment for the achievement of the goals of the strategic business plan for the two plans to be aligned. Hence the chief information officer should adopt strategies that can ensure that the business achieves the goals and objectives. For example, a company can decide to create a user-friendly blog and website that can attract clients thus ensuring an increase in the sale of their products due to good reputation from the clients. When It strategic plan is aligned with the business strategic plan, then the available IT architecture and the IT roadmap can be used together to implement the strategic plan. The IT strategic plan should therefore present the various IT architecture such as software that will be used during the implementation of the critical issues in the business strategic plan.

7. Explain why the IT architecture is important to the IT Steering Committee and how they could use it.

IT architecture is significant to the IT steering committee since presents the various infrastructure that are needed in the implementation of various systems such as software systems. The goals of the steering committee that may involve the adoption of advanced technological systems can only be achieved if there the IT architecture is viable. According to Dyche (2000), the IT architecture, therefore, helps in the overall planning for the adoption of advanced and viable systems in an organization.

Moreover, the IT architecture can also be used to evaluate the most important projects that should be handled first in the organization. For example, during systems development, the analysis and testing of software should occur before final implementation of the software systems.

8. List and explain three reasons a Chief Information Officer (CIO) might outsource a project at a greater cost to the company.

a) Need for skilled labor-force-In information technology, the skills of the employees are important since it can result in the production of high-quality technological systems. Hence a CIO can decide to outsource if there are skilled expertise outside the company.

b) Rise in demand for the products-If a company is receiving a high demand for its products; it can easily outsource so as to meet the demand.

c) Expansion of the company-Another reason that can make the CIO outsource is when the company has decided to make reforms and expand to other regions. The rise of global mobility has made organizations outsource labor-force from other regions.

9. The CIO is responsible for the business rules or requirements that generate a new system or changes to the existing system. How is his/her role responsible for these changes?

The role of the chief information officer is significant in an organization. In a business whenever there is a need to generate new systems or to change the existing system, the CIO must be in the forefront by adopting measures that would result in an effective strategic plan for the change. The CIO, therefore, must create a sustainable environment for the generation of new systems or make changes in existing systems. The CIO can evaluate the current situation and also undertake a SWOT analysis of the business operations so that he or she can develop a comprehensive strategic plan for adopting new systems or making changes to an existing system.

10. What is change management and how does it relate to the IT organization?

Change management refers to a process by which a business organization creates a sustainable environment for change. Change is a fundamental aspect that requires effective management from the stakeholders in an organization. The business must adopt relevant strategies that can help in the management of the change that it has embraced. For instance, if a business has embraced advanced software systems as a means of boosting security, some of the practices of change management that can be undertaken include training of employees on how to use the new software system. Information technology-based organizations assist in the evaluation of the change and also create an enabling environment for change to take place.

In summary, information technology has brought a tremendous revolution on how businesses conduct their operations. Effective strategies should be adopted to ensure businesses embrace advanced information technology systems.