Selection of an Information Technology Platform

Question: Describe about the Selection of an Information Technology Platform. Answer: Abstract ITM is a leading manufacturing business for different product lines. The company has gone through a number of mergers. Currently, the organization lacks a suitable information system for it. Previously a number of IS projects have failed and the manager, Page has suspected that there is something fundamentally wrong. A further investigation shows that Page was right and the business lacks proper strategies to align the current business process with IS implementations in the company. Current IT infrastructure of the company is mostly outdated and not very efficient to manage the current manufacturing process and the workload. Cost is a serious issue for the management whereas BG focuses on innovation. To balance both, Page needs to select a suitable option for the IS implementation. However, it needs to assess the requirements first and then developing suitable strategies to align the IS and the current business process of ITM. Analysis According to the meeting between Charlie and Page, four possible approaches to the information system development approach for IMT were suggested. The approaches are, The first option it to move forward for deployment and implementation of a centralized computing environment for the company. The organization already follows a legacy centralize mainframe-based solution from IBM. The proposed plan of the centralized IS will follow a similar centralized approach of the IBM system (Brown, Dehayes, Hoffer, 2015). The second option is workstation computing as named by Charlie. The mainframe computer will be replaced by workstation computers from IBM and a significant support from Sun. There will be servers and workstations connected by suitable LANs (Brown et al., 2015). Alternatively, it can use Linux OS as it is more user-friendly than UNIX. It will be deployed based on full client-server architecture (Brown et al., 2015). The third option is outsourcing the server management to some external service provider like data center hosting company. Then the company will provide a virtualized desktop environment to the staffs of ITM. This is actually a cloud based solution (Antonopoulos Gillam, 2012). The fourth option suggested by Charlie is to wait-watch and response to the problems related to IS as the problem comes. It is more like a trial and error process where a possible solution for an IS related problem will be offered to the end users and it will be monitored. If the performance of the proved solution is good enough the solution will be deployed at a large scale (Brown et al., 2015). A detailed analysis of the proposed solution is summarized in the following table. The table will help the management to compare the feasibility and benefits of each of the solutions from various perspectives. Criteria Option 1: Centralized Solution Option 2: Workstation Computing Option 3: Outsourcing and Virtual Desktop Environment Option 4: Watch and implement approach for Solutions The ability of the staffs to adopt the proposed solution. The staffs are already accustomed to working in the current mainframe computing environment. The proposed centralized solution will have similarities with the existing solution (Baltzan Phillips, 2015). So, staffs are not likely to face much trouble in the proposed solution. However, people may be resistant to move from UNIX and Sun platform to Linux. The people may find difficulties in moving to the new working environment according to the proposed solution (Schwalbe, 2014). People won't find much difficulty in the proposed environment. Rather it is more user-friendly. However, it will require a high-speed internet connection all the time. Over time, people may find it difficult to work in a custom-made and ad-hoc type environment. Key applications of the system and how staffs can work on the applications The mainframe computers of the company will be there. Additionally, it will require Linux-based PCs rather than Unix and Sun based PCs. The mainframe computers will be replaced slowly. Will require significant changes in hardware and software solutions for data center servers, LAN, and desktop environment (Brown et al., 2015). The existing infrastructure will not be required. The data center management will be outsourced and the vendor will provide virtualized desktop environment. As and when required by a problem. Availability of the tools for the proposed solution Most of the hardware are already present. Software needs to be changed. Most of the solutions will be procured. Available from vendors. As and when required by a problem. Stability of Vendors(s) The vendors are mainly IBM, and Oracle (formerly Sun) and are stable vendors. The vendors are mainly IBM, and Oracle (formerly Sun) and are stable vendors. Vendor selection and stability of vendors may be an issue. However, there are stable vendors like IBM, Amazon, and Microsoft and so on (Antonopoulos Gillam, 2012). Depends on the solutions. Consistency with the vision and strategies of the BG. It matches with the vision of BG. It matches with the vision of BG. It matches with the vision of BG. It does not match with the strategy of BG and there are chances of incompatibility over time. Budget and Capacity Planning It is a low cost and energy efficient solution. Cost- intensive but efficient solution. Cost effective and efficient solution Depends on the solution. There may be performance bottleneck over time (Chang, Chang, Wang, 2014). Software Licensing Required less as most of the solutions are open source (Willcocks, 2013). Required as OS and other application will be Licensed solutions (Willcocks, 2013). No need to consider as the service provider will handle the licensing Will be required. Depends on the chosen solution. Conclusion Before adopting any of the proposed solutions, the company needs to make a strategic plan to align its business processes with the IS requirements (Davenport, 2013). Otherwise, so the solution will be able to fulfill its business requirements. The main problem of the company is, it is more focused on making profits. There were various mergers in past. Each merger needs to assess the changes creeping into the business process (Alaranta Kautz, 2012). But the management did not follow any change management in the business. Currently, the system running the business are mostly legacy systems and requires significant human controls. Hence, there is scope for errors. As suspected by Page, there is the fundamental issue with the IS in the business. It lacks proper strategies to align the business process with the IT. Once, those are aligned, then either option 2 or 3 can be selected based on the business requirements and the strategies. References Alaranta, M., Kautz, K. (2012). A framework for understanding post-merger information systems integration. JITTA: Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application, 13(1), 5. Antonopoulos, N., Gillam, L. (2012). Cloud Computing. New York: Springer Baltzan, P., Phillips, A. (2015). Business Driven Information Systems. New York: McGraw-Hill. Brown, C. V., Dehayes, D. W., Hoffer, J. (2015). Managing Information Technology: Vital Source (for Pearson) VST E+p. Chang, S.-I., Chang, I.-C., Wang, T. (2014). Information systems integration after merger and acquisition. Industrial Management Data Systems, 114(1), 37-52. Davenport, T. H. (2013). Process innovation: reengineering work through information technology: Harvard Business Press. Schwalbe, K. (2014). Information Technology Project Management. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Willcocks, L. (2013). Information management: the evaluation of information systems investments: Springer.