KALCH Distribution Company (KDC) IT Decision
Paper Assignment
Before
you begin this assignment, be sure you have read the “KALCH Distribution
Company Case Study,” any feedback on your proposed IT project from your ITSP
Part 2 assignment, and the previously assigned course materials.
Purpose of this Assignment
This
assignment gives you the opportunity to apply the course concepts to develop an
IT Decision Paper to explain and defend an IT project at KALCH Distribution
Company (KDC). This assignment specifically addresses the following course
outcomes to enable you to:
·
Apply best
practices in information technology management and governance to make, defend,
and justify an IT decision.
IT Decision Paper for Your Proposed IT Project
For your ITSP, Part 2, you proposed an IT
project for KDC. Leona, the CIO at KDC, has asked you to write an IT Decision
Paper to explain your proposed project. She wants to use the Paper to gain
approval from the Governance Board to move forward with the project. This assignment
uses a format for a Decision Paper that has been tailored to the course
material covered in this class. You may work for an organization that has a
format for IT decision papers, and it would be a good idea for you to take a
look at it, but it will likely be structured a little differently from this
one. Each organization develops tools and techniques that will work for them.
Assignment
You will develop an IT Decision Paper, using
the outline below. Each of the topics to be included in your outline is covered
in the course content readings assigned thus far. In addition to the course
materials, at least one external resource (resource other than those
provided in the class) must be used. Two or more cited references
will earn top credit. Use a separate References page to list just the
references you have cited.Remember to use the APA formatting rules and
correctly cite andreference your sources with APA format. Use the
Grading Rubric to be sure you have covered everything. Submit your paper as a
Microsoft Word document, or a document that can be read using Word, with
your last name included in the filename.
Please use this outline to build your IT
Decision Paper. Use the numbering and
headings shown below.
1. Project Description – In two or three sentences, describe the IT
project you proposed for KDC in Part 2 of your ITSP. Describe what major
function(s) the system would perform and who would use it. (Do not provide a
technical description with hardware, software, etc.)
2. Strategic Alignment – In a short paragraph, explain how the
proposed project aligns to the business strategic objectives in Part 1 of your
ITSP, and how the proposed project aligns to the IT strategies in Part 2 of
your ITSP. Your proposed project must be aligned directly with at least one
business strategic objective and one IT strategy shown in your ITSP.
3. IT Portfolio Alignment – Briefly explain where this project fits into
the IT Portfolio roadmap you included in Part 2 of your ITSP. What functional
area does it support? Where should it be included in the timeline – i.e.,
should it take priority or be done before another project in the IT Portfolio?
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4. IT Architecture – Briefly explain how this project fits in
with other systems in place or in development at KDC. Explain whether it should
interface with (share data of any kind with) other systems either in place or
in development. Explain whether it replaces another system or multiple systems
in use at KDC. Refer to the Inventory of Current IT Projects in Part 1 of your
ITSP and the IT Portfolio in Part 2 of your ITSP.
5. Benefits: Describe at a high level at least three benefits the project provides
to KDC. The benefits should correspond to the business strategies and the
strategic alignment discussed in section 2 above. Discuss this
relationship/alignment for each benefit. Refer to course content readings from
Week 4 on Value Attainment. External research may also be beneficial.
6.
Requirements – List and briefly explain the high level requirements for the
project. First, explain the primary driver of the project (major need of the
business identified in the Case Study). Refer to course content readings
regarding requirements. External research may also be beneficial. Develop at
least 8 requirements for the project, and include what category of the
requirements below your presented requirements fit into:
a.
Business/user requirements
b. IT/system requirements
c. At least one system performance requirement
7.
Cost Estimation – During the Assessment Phase, Cost Estimation consists of estimating
the size and complexity of the project, not the effort required or the actual
projected dollar costs. Copy the table below and place an X (or other
indication) in the box that most closely describes the size and complexity of
your proposed solution. Use your judgment and then write a short paragraph to
introduce and explain the assessments in your table. Refer to course content
readings from Week 4 on Cost Estimation, especially the Assessment Phase.
Assessment of Project Size and Complexity
Size/Complexity Small Medium Large
Very Complex
Moderately
Complex
Straightforward
8. Performance Measures – This section explains how KDC will know
whether the project is achieving the benefits identified above in section 5.
Review the benefits, and take a look at the requirements you identified, and
come up with three performance measures that will indicate the extent to which
the projected benefits have been achieved. (For example, if you had identified
a benefit that the project would result in more repeat customers, then a
measurement for that would be the number of repeat customers with the goal that
the number would increase.) Refer to course content readings on Performance
Measurement. This may be a good area to do some web research. The measures
should be presented in a table with an introductory sentence or two:
|
Benefit to |
Measure |
|||||
|
1.(example: increase in repeat |
(example: number of repeat |
|||||
|
2. |
||||||
|
3. |
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9. System Development – Describe how you will use the System
Development Life Cycle (SDLC) process to approach this project. Include the
following 5 stages: Plan, Design, Build, Test, Launch. In two to three
sentences each, explain how each stage would be handled by Leona’s IT team and
who else in KDC should be involved in each stage. Refer to course content
materials on SDLC.
The “right” and “wrong”
answers have to do with whether or not you correctly incorporated the course
concepts from the course content and addressed all parts of the assignment. You
need to do some external research on at least one aspect of the assignment –
your choice – and incorporate it and cite/reference it in APA format in your
response. The project you propose is not as important as that it makes sense in
light of the course content and the Case Study. Use the Rubric below to be sure
you have covered all aspects of the assignment.
