Assignment Description

IT Strategy Design Document

This course is comprised of a series of Individual Project assignments that will contribute to a Key Assignment submission at the end of the course. Each week, you will complete an information technology (IT) Strategy Design Document that is focused on a business impact assessment plan. You will select an example organization from your textbook and apply your research to the development of an IT Strategy Design Document that is focused on a business impact assessment plan that would be appropriate for the organization to focus on the root cause effects, examine issues within its organizational context, translate technical issues into business ramifications, and create recommendations that are directed at actual business problems.

Organization Selection

The first step will be to select an organization from one of the scenarios listed in your textbook, as follows:

• Hefty Hardware: Pg 76 (Delivering Business Value with IT)
• Nothern Insurance: Pg 79 (Investing in TUFS)
• ModMeters: Pg 82 (IT Planning at ModMeters) & Pg 324 (Project Management at MM)
• RR Communications: Pg 156 (Building Shared Services at RR Comm)
• North American Financial: Pg 165 (IT Investment at North American Financial)
• International Foods: Pg 234 (Innovation at International Foods)
• Minitrex: Pg 242 (CRM at Minitrex)
• Datatronics: Pg 244 (Customer Service at Datatronics)
• Genex Fuels: Pg 333 (Managing Technology at Genex Fuels)

You will refer to the selected scenario as the target for your IT Strategy Design Document. This organization will be used as the basis for each of the assignments throughout the course.

You will be developing an IT Strategy Design Document. To do this, you will be analyzing the present IT Management and Planning policies and procedures at a Scenario Company of your choosing, which will be one of the companies included in the Mini Cases presented in your textbook (IT Strategy: Issues and Practices, 2nd Ed., 2012, by McKeen, J. D., and Smith, H. A.). You will need to choose one of those companies as your scenario company for your Key Assignment document.

Select an organization from the list that meets your requirements, and submit your proposal to your instructor before proceeding further with the assignments in the course. Approval should be sought within the first several days of the course. Your instructor will tell you how to submit this proposal and what notification will be given for project approval.

Assignment

For the assignments in this course, you will be developing an IT Strategy Design Document that defines a business impact assessment for the organization. Your first task in this process will be to select an organization to use as the basis of your research and analysis for each of the assignments in the course. You will also create the shell document for the final project deliverable that you will be working on during each unit. As you proceed through each project phase, you will add content to each section of the final document to gradually complete the final project delivery. Appropriate research should be conducted to support the development of your document, and assumptions may be made when necessary.

The project deliverables are as follows:

• Submit your project proposal to your instructor for approval.
• IT Strategy Design Document
  • Use Word
  • Title Page
    • Course number and name
    • Project name
    • Student name
    • Date
  • Table of Contents (TOC)
    • Use an autogenerated TOC.
    • It should be on a separate page.
    • It should be a maximum of 3 levels deep.
    • Be sure to update the fields of the TOC so that it is up-to-date before submitting your project.
  • Section Headings (create each heading on a new page with TBD as content, except for the sections listed under New Content below)
    • Company Overview (Week 1)
      • Company Overview
      • Current IT Strategic Planning and Management
      • List the problems cited in the current IT planning strategy (Note: Identify at least 3 problems)
    • Identify the Business Impact of Each Problem (Week 2)
      • For each problem identified in Week 1, write its business impact on the organization
      • Craft a Business Impact Summary
    • Technology Roadmap for Company (Week 3)
    • Information Security Strategy for Company (Week 4)
    • IT Functions and Capabilities Strategy for Company Week 5)
    • References
    • Appendix A. The “250” Template (Week 5)

New Content

• Project Outline (Week 1)
  • Provide a brief description of the organization that will be used as the basis for the projects in the course.
  • Include the company size, location(s), and other pertinent information.
  • Provide an overview of the current IT planning and management strategy that is followed and implemented by the organization.
  • List the limitations of the current planning process.
    • Show why the current IT planning strategy is inadequate.
  • List at least 3 problems with the current IT planning strategy.
• References
  • Provide at least 2 references to support your research paper.
• Be sure this project is approved by the instructor
• Name the document “yourname_IT375_IP1.docx.”