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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?
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
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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 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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Change Management
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Change Management
Effective strategies can help organizations and individuals adapt more readily to the
changing environment and reduce disruption to productivity. Understanding the nature of
change and implementing effective change management strategies will also enable
organizations to increase their capacity to absorb changes.
Leadership must provide a strong, consistent vision and guide the organization through
the execution of its strategic plan. Effective project management practices will provide
more consistent delivery of successful projects on time and within budget. Although little
can be done to stem the rate or amount of change within organizations, effective
strategies can help organizations and individuals adapt more readily to the changing
environment and reduce disruption to productivity.
What Is Change?
You can find a variety of definitions, but typically they contain elements related to
becoming different, replacing something, or altering the way things are done. In today’s
business environment, more changes are coming at a faster rate than ever before. In 1970,
Alvin Toffler, a sociologist, published his book Future Shock, in which he defined the
concept of future shock as a personal perception of “too much change in too short a
period of time” (p. 4). He predicted that as technology and society change, the increased
change rate will create a level of stress and information overload.
In the twenty-first century, we see the reality of Toffler’s (1970/1990) prediction. The
impacts of increased computing power, the internet and the World Wide Web, wireless
connectivity, corporate mergers and acquisitions, and global commerce are seen daily in
news headlines. Strong, effective leadership is critical to helping to guide organizations
through turbulent times to achieve business strategy and increase competitive advantage.
Let’s look at the graphic below that illustrates a typical change model showing the process
of change.
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The Process of Change
In the current state, employees know the norms, or written and unwritten rules; they are
comfortable (even if the situation isn’t ideal). The future state is unknown and could be
the result of implementing a new invoice-processing system, migrating to the next release
of Windows and Office, or introducing a new management structure and reporting
relationships. The transition state is murky and nebulous, and it is understandable that
employees have concerns and don’t want to venture there, even if the other side sounds
promising.
Resistance
The reality is that human beings resist change, and it is unrealistic to think that we can
eliminate resistance. The appropriate strategy is to anticipate resistance to change,
recognize its characteristics, and seek to effectively lead and guide employees through a
change while minimizing disruptions to productivity. So what happens during resistance,
especially when employees don’t want the change and feel they have no control over the
situation?
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Reaction to Change
Source: Adapted from Conner (1992, p. 133)
The graphic above shows the common emotional response to change where users go
through the following typical stages: immobilization, denial, anger, bargaining, depression,
testing and acceptance . The degree to which individuals display these responses ranges
from mild loss of productivity to major dysfunction. Also, the longer an employee has
been in the current state, the more dramatic his or her response to change may be. Many
of you have been in workplace situations in which a change was announced. Employees
spend a great deal of time debating the impact of the change, trying to guess
management’s ulterior motive, and asking, “What does this mean to me?” Very little of the
organization’s work is being accomplished during this time.
A key factor in resistance is feeling that we have lost control over a situation. Also, change
has a cumulative effect. Few of us are in the enviable position of being able to process
one change at a time, get used to the new thing, and relax before tackling the next
change. The reality is that individuals experience ongoing change at work, at home, at
school, and in society at large. We each have our own capacity to assimilate change, and
when we reach a saturation point, we have little energy to take on more changes.
Darryl Conner (1992), founder of ODR, Inc., an organizational consulting firm, has spent a
significant portion of his career researching the human response to organizational change.
He has identified five characteristics of resilient people. His research shows that people
who excel in these five areas are able to move more quickly through the change cycle,
maintain higher levels of productivity, and apply lessons learned from one change
initiative to the next.
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Characteristic Description Characteristic Description
positive sees opportunities and has a sense of self-assurance
focused has a clear vision of what he or she wants to achieve
flexible demonstrates the ability to be more fluid and less rigid when
responding to uncertainty
organized is able to develop structured approaches to ambiguous or unclear
situations
(Note: This use of the word organized focuses on making sense out
of chaos rather than on being a “neat freak.”)
proactive is able to embrace or engage change rather than defend against it
Source: Conner (1992, p. 239)
Although some individuals may be more innately resilient than others, it is possible to
increase one’s capacity for change by focusing on these characteristics. Those who
already have a high capacity for resilience will have an easier time increasing their
capacity. Although those with a lower initial capacity may never reach high levels of
resilience, they can improve.
We can increase our resilience by learning from more resilient individuals, as well as
learning from our own past experiences. When confronted with a difficult situation,
drawing on what helped in the past better positions us to move through the current
change. When leaders demonstrate vision, commitment, and management, they create a
culture and environment in which employees can more quickly move through the
transition state to the future state. This reduces anxiety and decreases the loss of
productivity and dysfunctional behavior that organizational change can instigate.
Earlier, we mentioned that resistance stems, in part, from a sense of loss of control. In
reviewing the characteristics of resilience, you will note that they can relate to regaining
one’s sense of control. For example, providing a sense of organization in ambiguous or
vague situations can help restore a sense of control. Being proactive and looking for the
opportunities a change may provide can also bring back a sense of control over one’s
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future. Think about the implementation of a new system to automate the invoice creation
process. Suppose you are a clerk in the order-taking department, and this new, automated
system is going to redefine the way orders are received. You will no longer have to type
invoices. A resilient person would see the opportunity to learn a new software tool and
increase his or her value to the department by organizing a plan to learn the new system.
A less resilient person would see only the loss of a known job function, fear of not
knowing to use the new system and appearing “stupid,” while missing the possibility of
future advancement this change could provide.
Roles of Change
Resilient people also recognize that there are different roles within a change initiative and
understand the dynamics and interrelationship of these roles. Less resilient people lack an
understanding of these roles and are often perplexed about who is filling what role.
Conner (1992) described these roles below.
Organizational Change Roles
Although each of these four roles, Sponsor, Agent, Advocate and Target, plays a critical
part in the effective implementation of organizational change, the sponsorship role is the
key. Particularly in times of change, it is critical that the organization’s leadership provides
this essential sponsorship role. Sponsorship requires more than an all-hands email notice
announcing a new initiative; it requires sustained sponsorship throughout the life of the
change. Without a consistent, ongoing message about the importance of the initiative, the
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benefits, the progress, and rewards for success and accountabilities for failures, the
initiative is likely to fail. The employees are very comfortable in their known environment
and resistant to venturing into the murky unknown or ill-defined future state. Without
sustained sponsorship, employees will quickly revert to their comfort level.
Another element of sponsorship is cascading sponsorship. The corporate CEO may launch
a new initiative and stress its importance to his or her executive team. The CEO expects
that (1) progress will continue, and (2) the executive team knows what to do, and he or
she moves on to the next critical business priority. A weak link or links in the executive
team’s sponsorship quickly dilutes the message as it cascades through the organization.
The next thing we know, part of the organization has fallen into the “black hole”—no
information is passed along, no accountabilities are in place to ensure compliance, and six
months later, the change has not been implemented.
Leadership is a set of processes that creates organizations in the first place or adapts
them to significantly changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the future should
look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the
obstacles (Kotter, 1996, p. 25).
Senior executives tend to move more quickly through the change process because of their
position in the organization. William Bridges, a management consultant and author
of Managing Transitions, calls this the marathon effect. Leadership can see the ultimate
goal before others in the organization may even know that the race is on (Bridges &
Bridges, 2000, p. 30). Moreover, the change process may have been in their thoughts for
some time, so instituting the change does not seem so precipitous to them. Therefore,
senior management should be reminded that others in the organization have less
information, will be resistant to letting go of the status quo, may lack a sense of the “big
picture,” and will need time to transition to the future state.
Change Management for Systems Implementation
One of the common reasons systems fail is not the technical aspects, but rather the failure
to properly communicate, prepare, and support users. A key component of this is
addressing change management in the implementation plan. Just as a new driver needs
experience actually driving a car, a knowledge of how to operate a car, and an
understanding of the laws, system users should be prepared to be successful when a new
technology solution is introduced. This starts with the concept of sponsorship—
communicating why this change is important to the organization or why this system is
being implemented. Users want to know what impact it will have on their jobs, how they
will be trained, and whether they will be able to do their jobs as well with the new system
as they did before. Earlier we discussed resistance to change and fear of the unknown. If
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employees know how to do their work using an old technology or even manual processes,
they have adapted and get things done one way or another, and this provides a certain
level of comfort and confidence. When faced with a new technology or system, there is a
natural fear of the unknown. Senior leadership can help reduce employee resistance by
explaining its vision and its importance to the organization’s success, and by providing
assurances that employees will have access to the appropriate communication, training,
and ongoing support to help them succeed in their jobs.
This is why the concept of cascading sponsorship is important—there cannot be a one-
time large town-hall meeting after which employees never hear anything more. Ongoing
communication, status updates, training plans and schedules, etc. are needed to gain the
employees’ confidence that they will be supported and can be successful.
Often when a system is implemented, the business process changes as well. It is important
that users understand how the business process is changing in addition to how to
navigate and use the new technology. A simple analogy—think of driving to a new
location you’ve never been to before in a new vehicle you’ve never driven before. You
receive training on how to use the new car, but no directions or information on how to get
to the new location. Both are equally important for success.
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon that communication and training are short-changed at
the end of a project. Time is running short, and the team is trying to hit the planned
implementation date. This can cause major issues. The communication and training steps
are equally important milestones in the project plan. The project manager should monitor
these activities along with the more technical aspects of the project.
As we recognize that the rate or amount of change within organizations continues to
accelerate, the strategies presented here can help organizations and individuals more
readily adapt to the changing environment and reduce disruption to productivity. Three
critical areas are:
Leadership must demonstrate vision, commitment, and management to guide the
organization and show sustained sponsorship for change initiatives.
Project management practices with a focus on the people aspects will provide more
consistent delivery of successful projects on time and within budget.
Change management strategies to address the natural resistance to change and
fostering resilience characteristics in the corporate culture can increase the
organization’s capacity to assimilate change more quickly.
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The focus on the human aspects we have discussed in this section will help the
organization as a whole and help ensure the effective implementation of technology
solutions to support the business strategy. Ignoring the human aspects will cause even the
best technology solution to fail in meeting its objectives.
References
Bridges, W., & Bridges, S. (2000, April). Leading transition: A new model for change.
Leader to Leader, 2000(16), 30-36.
Conner, D. (1992). Managing at the speed of change. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.
Kotter, J. (1996). Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Toffler, A. J. (1990). Future shock. New York, NY: Bantam Books. (Original work published
1970.)
© 2022 University of Maryland Global Campus
All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity
of information located at external sites.
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Leadership
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Leadership
It is important to set a corporate strategy to identify the organization’s priority objectives
—where is the organization going and how does it get there? Having a strategic plan in
place, however, means that your work has just begun. The success of executing a business
strategy depends on the quality of the organization’s leadership—those who will guide the
organization in the right direction.
Leadership is a much-studied and written about topic; below are several descriptions of
leadership.
Perspectives on Leadership
Quote Speaker Source
“Leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a
vision that is well communicated, building trust among
colleagues, and taking effective action to realize your own
leadership potential.”
Warren
Bennis
Saladis
(2006)
“The aim of leadership should be to improve the
performance of man and machine, to improve quality, to
increase output and simultaneously to bring pride of
workmanship to people. Put in a negative way, the aim of
leadership is not merely to find and record failures of men,
but to remove the causes of failure to help people to do a
better job with less effort.”
W.
Edwards
Deming
Out of
the
Crisis
(1982,
p. 248)
Source: Leadership Quotes, n.d.
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Quote Speaker Source
“My definition of a leader…is a man who can persuade
people to do what they don’t want to do, or do what
they’re too lazy to do, and like it.”
Harry S.
Truman,
33rd
president
of the
United
States
Legacee
(2011)
“Leadership is the art of influencing and directing people
in a way that will win their obedience, confidence, respect,
and loyal cooperation in achieving a common objective.”
US Air
Force
The
Cadet
NCO
Guide
(n.d., p.
25)
“The task of a great leader is to get his people from where
they are to where they have not been….Leaders must
invoke an alchemy of great vision.”
Henry
Kissinger
Clawson
(2003)
“Through years of study, teaching and working with
people all over the world, from all walks of life, I have
determined that leadership is: Communicating to people
their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see
it in themselves. It is the influence we have with others to
help them discover their own voice, to find their own
purpose, to make their unique contribution, and to release
their potential, that truly defines leadership.”
Stephen
R. Covey
Khan
(2005)
Source: Leadership Quotes, n.d.
One thing you might have noticed in the six leadership quotes presented above is that
position or hierarchy was not mentioned. This was not an inadvertent omission; it
indicates that individuals at any level in an organization can influence and exhibit
leadership characteristics. Think about your own life experiences, and you can most likely
identify some influential leaders who lacked positional power, yet others willingly
followed their lead. “Leading strategic change can occur on at least three levels:
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organizational, work group, and individual” (Clawson, 2003, p. 39). Although leadership is
traditionally thought of as being at the executive and most senior levels of an
organization, leadership can, and should, be carried out throughout the organization.
Sometimes the strongest influencers in an organization are not sitting in the executive
office suite, but are running machinery, working in the production areas, or sitting in a
lower-level supervisory position.
Although many factors can contribute to an organization’s success or failure, leadership is
certainly a critical success factor. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA)
provides seven criteria that organizations can use to assess their organizational
effectiveness. It is no surprise that leadership is a key category; in fact, it is among the
highest-weighted criterion for the MBNQA.
To reinforce these qualities, the graphic below shows the Baldrige Criteria Framework
(Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, 2017) from a systems perspective. This
framework demonstrates the importance of leadership to achieving results, and the
effectiveness of leadership determines an organization’s level of
success.
Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence Framework: A
Systems Perspective
Seven criteria used to assess organizational effectiveness
What’s the Difference Between Management and Leadership?
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This is a common question and potential source of confusion, although managers may be
leaders, the terms are not synonymous. The role of a manager, while it may vary from
organization to organization, focuses on directing activities and employees from an
operational perspective—what work needs to be done in this department for this
particular time period of the project. In contrast, leaders not only are more forward
looking but also set the vision for the direction and lead by example, building relationships
and encouraging followers, evaluating opportunities and potentially taking risks to propel
the organization to new levels.
Vision, Commitment, Managing Model
Just as there are many definitions of leadership, many different leadership models, sets of
characteristics, and clever acronyms have appeared over the years. One simple model that
supports the leadership qualities we want to emphasize comes from James Clawson
(2003), author of Level Three Leadership: Getting Below the Surface. Clawson calls it
the VCM model and uses it to illustrate three areas in which leaders demonstrate their
ability to influence, as shown below.
Source: Adapted from Clawson (2003, p. 37)
Vision is a critical component of leadership. Visioning is describing where the organization
will be at some future time, which sets the direction in which the organization should
move to reach the stated goal. Strategic planning is part of the process because it defines
the route to achieving the vision. Critical leadership skills are required to help establish
and convey that vision to the rest of the organization. The leadership skills required to be
successful in this area include:
identifying trends,
scanning the environment,
knowing what has happened in the past, and
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understanding where the organization is in the present.
Commitment involves garnering the dedication of others. This includes sharing the vision
to get others involved with the direction and strategic objectives. Communication skills
are critical and include the leader’s ability to convey his or her message to others. But
equally important is the leader’s ability to listen to others. Part of gaining commitment
is alignment—getting individuals to understand how they fit into the vision and how they
contribute to meeting the organization’s strategic objectives. Aligning individual goals
with department goals that support the corporate goals is important to organizational
success.
Management includes monitoring, measuring, directing, and controlling the organization.
Skills required here include the ability to assess how well the organization is moving
toward its vision and how well the strategy is being executed. Having effective measures
in place enables leadership to course-correct as needed if the organization begins to stray.
Recognition is also important here—rewarding and praising those who are helping to guide
the organization and achieve the intended results (Clawson, 2003).
References
Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. (2017). 2017-2018 Baldrige Excellence
Framework: A systems approach to improving your organization’s performance. Baldrige
National Quality Program. Retrieved October 3, 2018 from
https://www.nist.gov/baldrige/publications/baldrige-excellence-
framework/businessnonprofit
Clawson, J. (2003). Level three leadership: Getting below the surface. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Leadership Quotes. (n.d.). The Teal Trust. Retrieved April 13, 2007 from
http://www.teal.org.uk/leadership/quotes.htm
Licenses and Attributions
Framework Overview
(https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/960_x_960_limit/public/images/2016/09
/06/2015_2016_Bus_NP_Overview ?itok=4PqRGvg7) from How Baldrige Works
comprises public domain material from the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce. UMGC has modified this work.
https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/960_x_960_limit/public/images/2016/09/06/2015_2016_Bus_NP_Overview ?itok=4PqRGvg7
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© 2022 University of Maryland Global Campus
All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity
of information located at external sites.
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 1
Maryland Technology Consultants, Inc.
Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC) is a successful Information Technology consulting firm
that utilizes proven IT and management methodologies to achieve measurable results for its
customers. Its customer base includes small to mid-tier businesses, non-profit organizations
and governmental agencies at the local, state and federal levels. MTC feels strongly that its
success is dependent on the combination of the talent of its IT consultants in the areas of,
Business Process Consulting, IT Consulting and IT Outsourcing Consulting and their ability to
deliver truly extraordinary results to their clients.
Corporate Profile
Corporate Name: Maryland Technology Consultants, Inc.
Founded: May 2008
Headquarters: Baltimore, Maryland
Satellite Locations: Herndon, Virginia; Bethesda, Maryland
Number of Employees: 450
Total Annual Gross Revenue: $95,000,000
President and
Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Samuel Johnson
Business Areas
MTC provides consulting services in the following areas:
• Business Process Consulting – Business process redesign, process improvement, and best
practices
• IT Consulting – IT strategy, analysis, planning, system development, implementation, and
network support
• IT Outsourcing Consulting – Requirements analysis; vendor evaluation, due diligence,
selection and performance management; Service Level Agreements
Business Strategy
MTC’s business strategy is to provide extraordinary consulting services and recommendations
to its customers by employing highly skilled consultants and staying abreast of new business
concepts and technology and/or developing new business concepts and best practices of its
own.
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 2
Excerpt from the MTC Strategic Business Plan
While the complete strategic plan touches on many areas, below is an excerpt from MTC’s
latest Strategic Business Plan that identifies a few of MTC’s Goals.
Goal 1: Increase MTC Business Development by winning new contracts in the areas of IT
consulting.
Goal 2: Build a cadre of consultants internationally to provide remote research and analysis
support to MTC’s onsite teams in the U. S.
Goal 3: Continue to increase MTC’s ability to quickly provide high quality consultants to
awarded contracts to best serve the clients’ needs.
Goal 4: Increase MTC’s competitive advantage in the IT consulting marketplace by increasing its
reputation for having IT consultants who are highly skilled in leading edge technologies and
innovative solutions for its clients.
Current Business Environment
MTC provides consultants on-site to work with its clients, delivering a wide variety of IT-related
services. MTC obtains most of its business through competitively bidding on Requests for
Proposals issued by business, government and non-profit organizations. A small but growing
portion of its business is through referrals and follow-on contracts from satisfied clients. MTC
anticipates it will win two large contracts in the near future and is preparing proposals for
several other large projects.
MTC, as a consulting company, relies on the quality and expertise of its employees to provide
the services needed by the clients. When it is awarded a contract, the customer expects MTC
to quickly provide the consultants and begin work on the project. MTC, like other consulting
companies, cannot afford to carry a significant e number of employees that are not assigned to
contracts. Therefore, they need to determine the likelihood of winning a new contract and
ensure the appropriately skilled consultants are ready to go to work within 60 days of signing
the contract. MTC relies on its Human Resources (HR) Department to find, research, and assess
applicants so that line managers can review and select their top candidates and hire
appropriate consultants to meet their needs for current new contracts. It is very much a “just
in time” hiring situation.
The Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, houses approximately 350 employees. Satellite
offices have been opened in the last two years in both Herndon, Virginia and Bethesda,
Maryland to provide close proximity to existing clients. It is anticipated that new pending
contracts would add staff to all locations. The management team believes there is capacity at
all locations, as much of the consultants’ work is done on-site at the clients’ locations.
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 3
Strategic Direction
As a small to mid-size business (SMB), MTC recognizes that it needs to carefully plan its future
strategy. Considering the competitive environment that contains many very large IT consulting
firms, such as Hewlett-Packard (HP), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), and Science Applications
International Corporation (SAIC), as well as numerous smaller companies with various skill sets,
market niches, and established customer bases, MTC will be evaluating how best to position
itself for the future and recognizes that its ability to identify its core competencies, move with
agility and flexibility, and deliver consistent high quality service to its clients is critical for
continued success. MTC’s plan for growth includes growing by 7% per year over the next five
years. This would require an increase in consulting contract overall volume and an expanded
workforce. One area that is critical to a consulting company is the ability to have employees
who possess the necessary knowledge and skills to fulfill current and future contracts. Given
the intense competition in the IT consulting sector, MTC is planning to incorporate a few
consultants in other countries to provide remote research and analysis support to the on-site U.
S. teams. Since MTC has no experience in the global marketplace, the Director of HR has begun
examining international labor laws to determine where MTC should recruit and hire employees.
Challenges
Increased business creates a need to hire IT consultants more quickly. Overall, the Director of
HR is concerned that the current manual process of recruiting and hiring employees will not
allow his department to be responsive to the demands of future growth and increased hiring
requirements. There are currently two contracts that MTC expects to win very soon will require
the hiring of an additional 75 consultants very quickly. He is looking for a near-term solution
that will automate many of the manual hiring process steps and reduce the time it takes to hire
new staff. He is also looking for a solution that will allow MTC to hire employees located in
other countries around the world.
Management Direction
The management team has been discussing how to ramp up to fill the requirements of the two
new contracts and prepare the company to continue growing as additional contracts are
awarded in the future. The company has been steadily growing and thus far hiring of new
employees has been handled through a process that is largely manual. The HR Director
reported that his staff will be unable to handle the expanded hiring projections as well as
accommodate the hiring of the 75 new employees in the timeframe required. The Chief
Information Officer (CIO) then recommended that the company look for a commercial off-the-
shelf software product that can dramatically improve the hiring process and shorten the time it
takes to hire new employees. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) wants to ensure that all
investments are in line with the corporate mission and will achieve the desired return on
investment. She will be looking for clear information that proposals have been well researched,
provide a needed capability for the organization, and can be cost-effectively implemented in a
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 4
relatively short period of time to reap the benefits. The CEO has asked HR to work with the CIO
to recommend a solution.
Your Task
As a business analyst assigned to HR, you have been assigned to conduct an analysis, develop a
set of system requirements, evaluate a proposed solution, and develop an implementation plan
for an IT solution (applicant tracking system hiring system) to improve the hiring process. You
have begun your analysis by conducting a series of interviews with key stakeholders to collect
information about the current hiring process and the requirements for a technology solution to
improve the hiring process. Based on your analysis and in coordination with key users you will
produce a Business Analysis and System Recommendation Report (BA&SR) as your final
deliverable.
Interviews
In the interviews you conducted with the organizational leaders, you hear the comments
recorded below.
CEO: Samuel Johnson
“While I trust my HR staff to address the nuts and bolts of the staffing processes, what is
critically important to me is that the right people can be in place to fulfill our current contracts
and additional talented staff can be quickly hired to address needs of future contracts that we
win. I can’t be out in the market soliciting new business if we can’t deliver on what we’re
selling. Our reputation is largely dependent on having knowledgeable and capable staff to
deliver the services our clients are paying for and expect from MTC.”
CFO: Evelyn Liu
“So glad we’re talking about this initiative. As CFO, obviously I’m focused on the bottom line. I
also recognize it’s necessary to invest in certain areas to ensure our viability moving forward. I
recognize that the current manual hiring process is inefficient and not cost-effective. Having
technology solutions that improve current process and enable future functionality is very
important to MTC’s success. We must consider the total cost of ownership of any technology
we adopt. MTC is run as a lean-and-mean organization and support processes must be effective
but not overbuilt. We do want to think towards the future and our strategic goals as well and
don’t want to invest in technology with a short shelf-life. Along those lines, we currently have a
timekeeping and payroll system that requires input from the hiring process to be entered to
establish new employees; and to help support our bottom line financially, any new solution
should effectively integrate with, but not replace, those systems.
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 5
CIO: Raj Patel
“As a member of the IT Department, you have a good understanding of our overall architecture
and strategy; however, let me emphasize a few things I want to be sure we keep in mind for this
project. Any solution needs to be compatible with our existing architecture and systems as
appropriate. Obviously, we have chosen not to maintain a large software development staff so
building a solution from the ground up does not fit our IT strategic plan. Our current strategy
has been to adopt Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions that can be deployed relatively quickly
and leverage industry best practices at a low total cost. In addition, our distributed workforce
means we are very dependent on mobile computing – this brings some challenges in term of
portability, maintenance, and solutions that present well on mobile devices. We’ve been
expanding at a rapid rate and are seeking to expand internationally so any solution will need to
be viable globally. And last, but certainly not least, MTC’s success is largely dependent on our
ability to satisfy the requirements of our clients and maintain a reputation of high credibility,
reliability and security. Any security breach of our applicants’ data could have a devastating
effect to our ability to compete for new business as well as maintain current clients. Any
technology solution adopted by MTC must contain clear security measures to control access and
protect data and allow us to use our current security for mobile links. I recognize that MTC can
no longer rely on a manual hiring process to meet these needs.”
Director of HR: Joseph Cummings
“Thanks for talking with me today. I see this effort as very important to the success of
MTC. While the recruiting staff has done an excellent job of hiring top IT consultants, the rapid
growth to date and future plans for expansion have pushed our recruiting staff, and we
recognize we can no longer meet the hiring and staffing demands with manual processes. I’m
also interested in solutions that are easy-to-use and can interface with our existing systems and
enhance processes. I’m willing to consider a basic system that can grow as MTC grows and
provide more capabilities in the future. I’m sure Sofia, our Manager of Recruiting, can provide
more specifics.”
Manager of Recruiting: Sofia Perez
“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to begin the process of finding a technology
solution to support our recruiting processes. In addition to myself, there are 2-3 full-time
recruiters who have been very busy keeping up with the increased hiring at MTC; and there are
no plans to increase the recruiting staff. It goes without saying that a consulting company is
dependent on having well-qualified employees to deliver to our customers. We’re in a
competitive market for IT talent and want to be able to recruit efficiently, process applicants
quickly, and move to making a job offer to the best candidate before the competition snaps
him/her up. When I talk with my colleagues in other companies, they mention applicant
tracking systems that have enabled them to reduce their hiring time by 15-20%. I’m so envious
of them and look forward to having our new solution in place before the next set of contracts
are won and we need to hire 75 (to as many as 150) staff in a 2-month period. I do not think my
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 6
team can handle such an increase in an efficient and effective manner. On-going growth at
MTC will continue to increase the demands to hire more consultants quickly. It really seems like
there would be a rapid return on investment in a technology solution to support and improve
the hiring process.”
Recruiters: Peter O’Neil (along with Mike Thomas and Jennifer Blackwell)
“This project should have happened 2 years ago but glad it’s finally getting some attention. As a
recruiter, I’m sort of the middleperson in this process. On one hand, we have the job applicant
who is anxious to know the status of his/her application and fit for the advertised position. It’s
important that the recruiters represent MTC well, as we want the best applicants to want to
come to work for us. Then we have the actual hiring manager in one of our business areas who
has issued the job requisition and wants to get the best applicant hired as quickly as possible.
Obviously recruiting is not the hiring manager’s full-time job, so we’re always competing for
time with other job responsibilities, so we can keep things moving as quickly as possible. They
provide us with job descriptions to meet the needs of clients and look to us to screen resumes
and only forward the best qualified applicants to them so they can quickly identify their top
candidates. Working with Tom, our administrative assistant, we need interviews to be
scheduled to accommodate everyone’s calendars. After the hiring managers make their final
selections of who they would like to hire, it is our task to get the job offers presented to the
candidates – hopefully for their acceptance. Everything is very time sensitive, and the current
process is not nearly as efficient as it could be. Applications and resumes can get lost in
interoffice mail or buried in email; and, when a hiring manager calls us, we often cannot
immediately provide the status of where an applicant is in the process. This can be very
frustrating all around. Speaking for myself and the other recruiters, I have high expectations for
this solution. We need to really be able to deliver world-class service to MTC in the recruiting
and hiring areas to meet the business goals.”
Administrative Assistant: Tom Arbuckle
“I support the recruiters in the hiring process. After the recruiters screen the resumes and select
the best candidates for a position, my job is to route those applications and resumes via
interoffice mail to the respective functional/hiring manager, receive his or her feedback on who
to interview and who should be involved in the interviews, schedule the interviews based on
availability of applicants and the interview team members, collect the feedback from the
interview team and inform the assigned recruiter of the status of each candidate who was
interviewed. In addition to preparing the job offer letter based on the recruiter’s direction, after
a job offer has been made and accepted, I coordinate the paperwork for the new hire with HR
and Payroll to ensure everything is ready to go on the first day. As you can imagine when hiring
volume is up, I’m buried in paperwork and trying to keep all the applicants and their resumes
straight, track their status in the process, and ensure everyone has what they need is very
challenging. I love my job, but want to ensure I can continue to keep on top of the increased
hiring demands and support the recruiting team effectively. Any tool that would help the
workflow and enable many steps in the process to be done electronically would be wonderful.”
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
MTC Case Study 11/23/2019 Ver. 1 7
Hiring Manager (in functional area; this person would be the supervisor of the new employee
and would likely issue the job requisition to fill a need in his/her department/team):
“While it’s a good problem to have – new business means new hires — the current method for
screening applications, scheduling interviews, identifying the best qualified applicants, and
getting a job offer to them is not working. My team is evaluated on the level of service we
provide our clients, and it is very important that we have well-qualified staff members to fulfill
our contracts. Turnover is common in the IT world and that along with new business
development, makes the need for hiring new staff critical and time-sensitive. I confess that
sometimes I’m not as responsive to HR as I should be; but although hiring new consultants for
the contracts I manage is important to successfully meet the clients’ needs, this is only one of
several areas for which I’m responsible. I look to the recruiters to stay on top of this for me. In
the ideal world, I’d like an electronic dashboard from which I can see the status of any job
openings in my area, information on all qualified candidates who have applied and where they
are in the pipeline. Electronic scheduling of interviews on my calendar would be a real time
saver. It’s important that we impress candidates with our technology and efficiency – after all
we are an IT consulting company—and using manual processes makes us look bad. And, this
system must be easy to use – I don’t have time for training or reading a 100-page user’s
manual. Just need to get my job done.”
1
Referring to the MTC Case Study, Raj Patel, the Chief Information Officer (CIO), has indicated that the current IT strategy is to adopt Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. This week’s discussion focuses on the benefits, considerations, and risks of adopting a SaaS solution. |
Group 4: Review the Week 7 reading Implementing a SaaS Solution and then prepare your initial response as follows:
1. List two benefits of the IT Strategy to use a SaaS solution to support the hiring process.
2. Identify three things the CIO and his team should look for as they consider which SaaS vendor to select. Explain what they are and why they are important to MTC’s business.
3. Then, explain what you think is MTC’s biggest risk in outsourcing this IT function, why you selected that risk, and what MTC’s IT department’s key responsibilities are to minimize risk and protect the business as they select and use a SaaS solution.
Remember – the Group 4 initial posting is due by Friday midnight; it should be about two short paragraphs in length, supported by external research, and it should be posted by clicking on “Start a New Thread”. These postings need to thoroughly respond to the questions and incorporate relevant research correctly. Please look at what has been posted by your classmates before choosing your examples, and then select something that has not yet been discussed, if possible. Let’s try to spread the discussion across as many examples as possible.
Then members of Groups 1,2 and 3 should reply to at least three different postings by other classmates before Tuesday midnight. Responses to initial postings should be specific and assess whether posting accurately and sufficiently addresses the questions asked in the discussion topic and should incorporate relevant research correctly. Explain your assessment as to why the information is or is not correct and/or complete, providing correct information to enhance the discussion.