Background of Technology Project Essay

The Project to be studied is an implementation of a work assignment and tracking system in an IT department in a medium sized company. The IT Department before the project was started, had undergone a management change and a reorganization due to corporate cost cutting and restructuring. The previous structure of the IT organization was teams of people that support specific applications in the system, and the business users of a particular application contacted the team assigned to their application for system enhancements and support. There was no system for managing and tracking projects and tasks, and it was left to the managers of each team to handle project prioritization, assignment and tracking. This structure was changed to a pooled resource structure where IT staff people were grouped by functional areas (such as mainframe support group, pc support group, web applications, etc). The IT structure was no longer hierarchical and the work was no longer handed down in a top down approach thus creating a need for a systematic way of managing people and tasks to function effectively. SDLC (Systems Development Life Cycle) The Life Cycle for this particular project did not exactly match the order of the phases as described in the Systems Development Life Cycle concept. Because of the immediate reorganization of the IT organization, current projects encountered delays and the IT procedures and tasks were disrupted. This prompted a need for a quick reshuffling of work between the new groups and a quick and dirty way to manage the work at hand and incoming work until a better system is implemented. Initiation The initiation of a system (or project) begins when a business need or opportunity is identified. This happened for this project when a CIO was appointed to head the new IT organization and was asked to reduce head count by pooling the resources while at the same time still provide timely and effective service to the business users of the IT systems and applications. System Concept Development Phase In this phase of SDLC, the business need has been approved and the approaches for accomplishing the concept are reviewed for feasibility and appropriateness. Several approaches were considered for tackling the problem in the IT department. The first approach was an Excel spreadsheet to list all IT personnel and their assigned tasks but this turned out to be too cumbersome and hard for several persons to use. An in-house developed web based system was also considered and was in fact implemented but was cancelled since it was not flexible enough to handle the different tasks of the different IT groupings and the different sources of work requests. The last approach was either to buy an existing package that would fit the requirements and customize it for the IT organization’s structure and procedures or develop one in-house. Planning Phase In the planning phase, the concept/approach is further developed to describe how the business will operate once the approved system is implemented, and to define project resources, activities, schedules, tools, and reviews to ensure the products and /or services provide the required capability on-time and within budget. The planning phase for this particular project was being done while simple solutions were being used and implemented since there were time constraints and something had to be in place right away. A team was assembled to look into existing applications within the company or packages out in the market that would fit the requirement and assess its flexibility and long term viability for the organization. That team also had to come up with a process flow of how work will be handled in the new IT structure to help in the use of the short-term solutions and to help in finding a long-term solution. Finally, two long term approaches were proposed. One was that of customizing the packaged software that was currently being used by the Help Desk to track PC and Mainframe work requests for PC Technicians and Mainframe System  Programmers, which was from a company called Remedy. The other was to develop a work flow system in-house. Requirements Analysis Phase In this phase, functional user requirements are formally defined and delineate the requirements in terms of data, system performance, security, and maintainability requirements for the system. The functional user requirements for this project detailed all the different tasks that an IT organization performs and the information that needs to be tracked for each such as requestor, status, assigned IT person etc. One of the main requirements gathered was that of accessibility of the work flow system. Different people will be entering work requests such as business users and help desk personnel and the user interface and performance requirements for the two types would be far different. So the chosen system should have flexible interfaces and need to communicate work status and results back to the requester in a medium that is accessible company wide. Another main requirement is that the system can be implemented quickly and should be flexible enough to easily add features in the future. Design The physical characteristics of the system are designed during this phase. For this project, after reviewing the requirements, the only option that would work was an out of the box solution such as the Remedy Action Request System. Since it was already being used by the Help Desk team, it has already proven itself as a flexible and reliable system to use. As a help desk software it allows entry of work request, assigns work, allows a way to log the progress of a request and stores all the history regarding a request. Design was simply a matter of finding out the customizable options and features in Remedy and designing it for the different IT groups formed. Since help desk work was different as compared to application development work, two type of request were designed and one was for support/problems and one was an enhancement to the system or major project that have subtasks and  involved lots of people with different roles and responsibilities. For the IT staff a client server platform was needed for faster execution, and for accessibility and ease of use, a simple web-based interface was designed for the business users since they don’t need to see too much detail. Since company wide communications was done through email, work assignment, status and results need to be communicated through this medium. Development, Integration , Test and Implementation Phase The four phases for this project was combined into one because of the time constraints and since it was a packaged software approach and the main components no longer needed development and testing. Most of the development involved loading tables that the package uses such as logon ids, departments, user data etc, and the customization of the user interfaces. The necessary components of Remedy were installed and hooked up with the web servers and the email system. Before final rollout, it was given a trial basis by one representative in each IT group and finalized based on the recommendations of each representative. Once the work flow system was ready, the IT staff were trained on how to use it and how work should flow through the organization. Conclusion The project as a whole went through a couple of cycles of the SDLC due to different implementations. But the final result was relatively successful since it incorporated the ideas that Trepper suggested in his article â€Å"Getting an edge on the competition† which was about process management. According to Trepper, process management † should also cover the establishment of actual development phases and activities, creation of a workflow among participants, and selection and implementation of tools and techniques best suited to the task.† This was accomplished by the Remedy AR system. The customized Remedy AR System also incorporated the two principal source of best practices as listed by Trepper which is industry best practice and ones  developed within the company. The Remedy AR System already had the industry best practice since it is a widely used system and the company best practices were incorporated through the customization of the system based on recommendations of the different IT groups.

Final Exam Solution Essay

1) Two information systems that support the entire organization are BIS 220 final exam question 2) _______ is the direct use of information systems by employees in their work 3) ______ attempt to duplicate the work of human experts by applying reasoning capabilities 4) ______ issues involve who may obtain information and how much they should pay for this information Bis 220 final exam 5) _____ issues involve collecting, storing, and disseminating information about individuals. 6) Your company’s computers have been taken over by an attacker and used to attack another organization’s information systems. Your problem is which of the following? 7) You are the only person in your office to upgrade to Microsoft ® Word 2010. Before you share documents with coworkers, you should do which of the following? 8) Which of the following is detected by the contextual spelling checker? 9) If your cursor is near the bottom of a page and you want to display the next paragraph you type at the top of a new page, you should use which of  the following? 10) Your ______ is the collection of traceable data that is captured when you use various information technologies such as credit cards or the Internet 11) No alphabetic characters in a social security number field is an example of 12) In a database, the primary key field is used to 13) Search engines and metasearch engines are examples of which network application? 14) ______ portals coordinate content within relatively narrow organizational and partners’ communities 15) Workflow, groupware, and telepresence systems are examples of which network application? 16) Which type of e-commerce does an organization provide information and services to its workers? 17) _______ auctions are the most common auction model for large purchases. 18) ______ collect data from many points over an extended space. 19) Which type of satellite has the largest footprint? 20) Which of the following is the most appropriate wireless networking standard for creating personal area networks? 21) If cell D15 contains the formula =$C$5*D15, what is the D15 in the formula? 22) What should you do if you see a column of pound signs (###) instead of  values or results of formulas? 23) ______ feasibility determines if the project is an acceptable financial risk and if the organization can afford the expense and time needed to complete the project 24) In the traditional systems development life cycle, users 25) To create a Microsoft ® PowerPoint ® presentation based on an installed template, click the 26) Which of the following demotes a bullet point from the first level to the second level in Outline view in Microsoft ® PowerPoint ®? 27) ________ connects parts of the intranets of different organizations and allows secure communications among business partners 28) ______ is a system with universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information via a client/server architecture 29) A process that allows users to place information in multiple, overlapping associations is called 30) ________ are websites that provide collections of content from all over the World Wide Web

Marketing Is Easy to Define Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Is Easy to Define - Outline Example This paper stresses that marketing is considered as a process that would help identify products or services that would entice consumers through employing strategies that utilize business development, sales and communications. In essence, it is a process that entails businesses to establish strong consumer relationships and build value towards the business' consumers. Marketing is a process utilized to determine consumer markets, satisfy them and retain them. In that regard, it is important to identify the concept of customer satisfaction. In retrospect, as a means to achieve organizational goals, a business must be able to identify the needs and wants of the target market and in accordance with this, provide customer satisfaction. Apart from establishing good relationships, creating value towards the customer, this would be beneficial towards the business as well. This paper makes a conclusion that marketing can be defined as a constructive analysis of a business' customers, competitors and a company, which would be integrated into an understanding of what segmented markets are, assessing the profitable groups, effectively positioning products and services, which is then subsequently followed on the delivering what is required in product positioning and promotion. In effectively positioning a product, a marketing strategy must be employed. Through implementing appropriate brand and advertising techniques by means of various communication tools and instruments, marketing measures can be delivered.

Factors Influence a Consumer to Select Restaurant in the UK Coursework

Factors Influence a Consumer to Select Restaurant in the UK - Coursework Example Restaurant selection has without any doubt become an established art as of these days. While consumers seemingly exclaim that the quality of prepared food and the type food are the critical variables for restaurant selection or rejection for that question, there might definitely be an overwhelming number of other less significant choice variables. This line of reasoning may in addition to the former one, prove to be an unquestioning component of the deciding factors in determining the final reflection on restaurant selection for the British consumers. In a very significant contrast to what used to be the norms in the early days of the restaurant in Britain, when getting fed was supposed to be the one and only explanation for hungry consumers to visit commercial eating places in the United Kingdom, consumers of the present age have acquired different moods and tastes and accordingly, rummage around for restaurants or dining places where they could get a more than fair to middling oppo rtunity in order to comply with the requirements of their specific penchant and palate. In sequence to putting adequate light on the subject of restaurant selection and the motives and driving factors that move British consumers, there is a dire need to furthermore look into and discuss another major and very much relevant topic which is; dining out. Selection of a Restaurant is no doubt very much related to the subject of Dining Out. Everyone needs to eat out and enjoy. There is a considerable population in Britain that actually loves to go and eat out in restaurants, cafes, fast food outlets and even bars, taverns, and inns. For some consumers though, it is a leisure activity that usually takes up all of their time and more often than not, their amounts of money too. The specific comportment, in which Britons dine out today, is evermore changing and before we could even start taking into account the ins and outs of modern day restaurant dining, it is important and interesting to u nderstand how the actual practice got underway.  

Critical literary essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical literary - Essay Example the Magi† O’ Henry primarily deals with the passion of two opposite sexes for each other, at the inner level of it, he leaves a message that is more serious than it sounds on the surface level. It is the message that appeals to the readers to review their own relationship with their female counterpart of the society. For those readers who are not acquainted with some of his other stories like â€Å"Hearts and Hands†, â€Å"the Romance of a Busy Broker† and â€Å"Girl† may easily mistake his handling of â€Å"love† between Jim and Della for an anecdote that is devoid of any complex theme. In this regard Rena Korb says, â€Å"The majority of critics then dubbed O. Henry’s stories facile, anecdotal, superficial, and flippant† (1). But these stories fairly play the role of a foil to â€Å"the Gift of the Magi†. While reading â€Å"the Gift of the Magi† a reader may perceive the amorous bond between Jim and Della as it is. But when one reads â€Å"the Romance of the Busy Broker†, he is confronted with the question what love should be and immediately the answer lies in the reflection of â€Å"the Gift of the Magi† that love is as unconditional and spontaneous as Jim-Della’s is. Therefore the themes in these stories are comple mentary to each other that integrate into a more holistic view of Henry about the amorous relationship between opposite sexes. When critics comment that â€Å"the Gift of the Magi† is nothing more than a mere anecdote, it is the problem of their approach that fails to delve deep into the message of the author. As the formalist critics are exclusively engaged with the author’s intention and style, they cannot interpret the message that the author leaves it in his story for his readers. Hence the reader-response approach to Henry’s stories is more holistic than the formalist approach. In general, critics on the story, â€Å"the Gift of the Magi† are of the opinion that his approach to human passion like â€Å"love† is more of the fantasy than of

Globalization and Arab Spring Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Globalization and Arab Spring - Research Paper Example dared to rebel, especially because they knew that their messages and videos, uploaded to YouTube, which could be seen abroad and the worldwide media among others (Till, 2011). Consequently, the elements of globalization turned out to be decisive in inflicting a final blow to the cruel political systems prevailing in the Arab world. Social media, Mayfield (2008) asserts, could be stated as a group of new kinds of online media, which share the characteristics including participation, openness, conversation, community and connectedness, and brings the like-minded people closer to one another through its platform. Before embarking upon the topic under analysis, it would be advisable to define and discuss globalization and its impact on the Arab spring in a precise way, which is as following. The term globalization simply concentrates upon the expansion of multiculturalism in the wake of tremendous technological advancements that have paved the way towards fast communication processes bet ween the individuals and nations belonging to the pole-apart regions of the globe. In other words, globalization stands for the interconnectedness of the people at global scale through the sharing of technological equipments, corporate activities, cultural traits, social norms, political systems, religious values, traditional rituals and conventions at large. The term globalization, according to Brainpan, is not confined to few financial and industrial cooperation pacts between the nations; rather, the term refers to the integration of economies of the world through uninhibited trade and financial flows, as also through mutual exchange of technology and knowledge (Goyal, 2006:168). While expected by the political analysts one day or the other, the rebellions in Arab states were somewhat... The term globalization simply concentrates upon the expansion of multiculturalism in the wake of tremendous technological advancements that have paved the way towards fast communication processes between the individuals and nations belonging to the pole-apart regions of the globe. In other words, globalization stands for the interconnectedness of the people at global scale through the sharing of technological equipments, corporate activities, cultural traits, social norms, political systems, religious values, traditional rituals and conventions at large. The term globalization, according to Brainpan, is not confined to few financial and industrial cooperation pacts between the nations; rather, the term refers to the integration of economies of the world through uninhibited trade and financial flows, as also through mutual exchange of technology and knowledge (Goyal, 2006:168). While expected by the political analysts one day or the other, the rebellions in Arab states were somewhat horrendous for the world at large, which could not anticipate any dauntlessness move from the oppressed and suppressed subjects had been leading a miserable and pathetic life under the longstanding dictatorial regimes. Recent upheavals in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya, according to Hoover (2011), have caught many by surprise as the order of things has proven protean in a way that official experts and conventional wisdom were largely blind to.

Constitutional Law of the EU Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Constitutional Law of the EU - Case Study Example Individuals were given the right to bring actions before the ECJ for judicial review of the acts of Community institutions under Article 173. However, as a means of enforcing individual rights, this Article has limited utility as, first, individuals are not permitted to bring actions against Member States and therefore have no rights or remedies where a State violates their Community law rights and, secondly, individuals are required to demonstrate that the measure is a decision which is of direct and individual concern to the applicant. An individual cannot challenge regulations unless it is demonstrable that it is merely a decision in the garb of a regulation1. The individual must show that the effects of the decision apply directly to the applicant without depending on the exercise of discretion by another body2. Moreover, the decision must affect the individual's legal position3. The ECJ has taken its own view as to the nature and effect of treaties known as the doctrine of 'direct effect.' The concept of Direct Effect of EC law was developed by the ECJ to allow individuals and organisations to use the provisions of EC law within their Member States' domestic courts without having to wait for the Member State to fulfil some obligation which it had omitted to do. Although, individuals could complain to the Commission, nevertheless they could not compel the Commission to ensure that their rights were enforced if the Commission was chary of doing so4. The implication of this jurisprudential concept is that individuals can obtain the required mandate directly from community law, for enforcement in their own national courts. It also places control in the hands of ordinary individuals, as per the provisions of Article 226 EC, which enables the Commission to initiate proceedings against Member States for breaches. Direct effect has in this manner empowered every citizen of the Union to participate actively and in this manner has brought the community into their lives. Its legal foundations were established in Van Gend En Loos 5 in which the Court held that an individual was entitled to invoke Article 25 EC in order to prohibit Member States from introducing new customs duties on imports and exports and other charges having equivalent effects. The Court held that Article 25 EC was directly effective and could be challenged by individuals in the national courts. However the ECJ reasoned that direct effect exists and that the individuals may have the rights conferred upon them directly under EC treaties. This reasoning was based on the need to carry out the political and legislative programme that the treaties had set out to create a community not only of states but also of personsthat calls for the participation of everybody. The spirit of the preamble to the EC implies that reference has to be made not only to member governments but also to individuals, and is therefore, more than an agreement which creates mutual obligations between the contracting states. In this way it is distinct from other international treaties and constitutes a new legal order of international law for the benefit of which the stated have limited their sovereign rights, although within limited fields, the subjects of which comprise not only member states but also their nationals. Therefore it was concluded that, community lawis intended to confer upon individuals righ ts which become part of their

The richest arabic person in the world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The richest arabic person in the world - Essay Example But his role is not limited solely as the only leader of the Al-Kharafi Group. He has served on the board of directors of the National Bank of Kuwait, been the chairman of the Egypt Kuwait Holding Company, the managing director of the Aluminium Industries Companyas well as the chairman of the Kuwait Food Company. He has distinguished himself in each of these roles and has been presented with many awards, accolades, and honorary degrees for his abhorrence for corruption and his business acumen, both in Kuwait and in other countries. His brother Jassam Mohammad Al- Kharafi, is a prominent politician in Kuwait, being the former member of the Kuwait National Assembly and former Minister of Finance. His sister Faiza was the first woman president of Kuwait University from 1993 to 2002. Al- Kharafi's three sons, Marzouk, Badr and Faisal have now proven their mettle in various roles in the group of companies. Most of this fabulous wealth was inherited, but Al-Kharafi has done a lot to increase manifold the wealth that was left to him by his parent. M.A. Kharafi & Sons started off as the National Company for Mechanical and Electrical works in1976.

Apple Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Apple Strategy - Essay Example This has been done using the quality employees who they employ. In recruiting the new employees, Apple does not necessarily follow what most companies have been doing. Contrary, Apple looks for great sales persons who have been using their products and have consequently developed a likeness of the same. By doing this, they help differentiate true enthusiasm and the salespersons believe in the products. The company has gone further to invent black cards. This strategy is to be used by their customers whereby they can issue black cards to their employees. The cards have an Apple emblem and they contain some written materials on the sidelines. This card directs the Apple customers to talk to the company. On the rear side of the black card, it recommends the Apple customers to fill in, whereby they indicate, whether they have received good customer service or not. Moreover, the company has also developed an idea of a store within a store. This has been achieved through the setting up of Apple shops in big departmental stores and supermarkets such as the Best Buy. They have also placed Apple consultants at this shops whereby they train employees about their brands and all others (Apple Inc., 2010, p.1). For Apple to climb to such heights, the company has developed a distribution and market segment that has overseen the brand name attain global recognition. Through its distribution and marketing segment, the company sells its product throughout the world using online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. The company also sells to consumers, of large-scale and small-scale, and small and medium sized business, creative customers, education, enterprise, and the government (Apple Inc., 2010, p.1). Business Strategies Apple has employed high standard of business strategy, which are followed by all members of the institution. This is done because the company is committed to delivering nothing but the best personal computing, moveable digital music and moveable communication practice to customers, scholars, instructors, commerce, and administration agencies through its groundbreaking hardware, software, peripherals, amenities, and internet offerings. The company’s business level strategies shows the companies unique ability to come up with, and develop the companies own operating system, hardware, application software, and services to deliver its clienteles different products and elucidations with superior ease-of-use, seamless integration, and innovative industrial design (Apple Inc., 2010, p.1). This company believes strongly in the need for continued investments in research and development. The reason is that the development of this will enhance innovativeness in its products and technologies. In the business level strategies, the company considers the use of cost leadership. This is done in order to compete for a wide customer base, which is usually based on its prices. How ever, the products developed by Apple are expensive for moderate people in other countries outside the US. Nevertheless, these prices are based on internal efficiency so that the company can form a margin, which will sustain above average returns and cost to the customer so that customers will purchase Apples products. This happens since the technology sector is standardized whereby if a company fails to achieve certain targets, other rival companies will surpass it. Some of Apples largest competitors are Samsung and HTC. However, there has been a continuous effort to lower the cost to be relative to customers (Apple Inc., 2