Finance and Procurement In 2008, the Lexington City Council (LCC) initiated its first first attempt to overhaul the procurement and finance infrastructure located in the city of Lexington, NC. When the overhaul began the primary focus was upon updating very outdated systems that were left over from the early 1990s. Many believed that significant growth could be achieved by upgrading the finance, human resources and payroll information technology and communication (ITC) systems. Not only had technology and services become more advanced and complex, but also the requirements of the LLC staff had advanced beyond the technology currently being utilized. In, 2009, the leading requirements pursued were:
• A more manageable, receptive, unified
…show more content…
The LLC board of directors requested a comprehensive report of requirements including an examination of major procedures. Requirements were acknowledged by conducting workshops and meetings with the most substantial platform users. In order to identify strategic areas for potential upgrading, flow charts were developed to explain the municipal ITC platform structure. Suppliers were asked to give precise instructions as to how these requirements would be met and responsiveness was a key consideration for the issuance of contracts. In addition to responsiveness, stability, longevity within the industry, technical capacity, track record, future business objectives and cost were also important considerations. Risk management concerns were key as well and strategic plans for managing risk were included as part of the whole strategic initiative. In addition to considering current risk management issues, proper consideration was given to being every vigilant with regard to future risk.
The major risks considered were:
• Insufficient software with complex licensing requirements.
• Lack of capable employees.
• Scope extension due to ongoing LLC plans.
• Insufficient responses to contract offer.
• Mismatch between software and end user needs
• Difficulty accomplishing the outstanding requirements by modified development or de-scoping.
By 2010, the LCC had put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) and held onsite appointments.
The company is served by an IT infrastructure comprising of an amalgamation of off the shelf software and components and locally developed applications and middleware. The hardware infrastructure is by and large robust and capable of withstanding any current operational peaks. The infrastructure employs a high level of redundancy and good recovery and password management systems, so there is little risk of high business impact in the case of IT issues. No architecture document exists and minimal change control is executed.
The major goal is to integrate Information Systems/Information Technology with the corporate strategy to use information for better governance and management. This has improved with the connectivity and networking and also the shrinking cost- performance ratios in technology. IT governance thus is a result of the complete merger of computer and communications technologies, like data processing and high advancement in networks, and integrated systems. (Bloomfield; et al, 2000) To this extent the software of the stand alone systems have to be converted to a single functional system for all requirements and the system involves the creation of a network with the following functionality:
The implementation of “10-Point Plan for IT Modernization” began as Teri’s big initiative to upgrade the information technology infrastructure. An assessment on typical IT infrastructures we look at the organization, technological, and the strategy overall. In order to begin implementing new plans, the current infrastructure and architecture must be assessed, a design and model for the new system must be created and then the strategy to implement the new
As stated by Hyman (2014), "governments are formed to exercise authority over the actions of people who live together in a society and to provide and finance essential services" (p. 7). In order for the government to provide these essential services, resources much be purchased by the government (Hyman, 2014). These purchases are either consumption expenditures that use resources to satisfy current needs, or gross investment that is used to purchase new capital in the form of roads, equipment, and structures (Hyman, 2014). The largest portion of Morristown's expenditures, almost 2/3, is spent on salaries and benefits for city employees (City of Morristown, 2017). Thus, leaving roughly 1/3 for other
Midsouth Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit, member driven, business advocacy group is in the processes of upgrading their current information system. Midsouth has decided they need to upgrade their information system to a more currently system, in order to increase revenue producing opportunities. Their original IS system was built by an outside consultant (who is no longer in business) on a departmental need base, rather than a company wide need. The original system was put into place in 1987, with modifications done in 1993, and 1995. During this time all IS decision were made by outside
The purpose of this memo is to prepare the Oz City Council for the upcoming budget study session with the public. At the session, the council will discuss proposed changes in the cost accounting system of the Emerald City Planning and Zoning (P&Z) department. The proposal would shift the system to an activity-based costing (ABC) scheme rather than a traditional cost scheme. This change would allow the department to address budget deficit issues within the permitting process that currently utilizes equal cost allocation. The ABC scheme would allocate these costs on the basis of plan review, site review, code review, and other activities within the permitting process (Marlowe, 2007, p. 1). Thus, the ABC system would allow the P&Z department to accurately calculate the cost of services then charge accordingly. This system can help ensure efficient and equitable services. Furthermore, the ABC scheme would align with and further enhance the performance management model set forth by the recent internal performance audit. While there are advantages to ABC, there are also several disadvantages and other considerations. I will outline and analyze these to present a balanced and complete analysis that will facilitate a productive and successful budget session with the public. It is critical to address the public’s concerns and obtain support for the implementation of an ABC scheme within the P&Z department. Lastly, I will conclude with a recommended course of action which
The purpose of this memo is to prepare the Oz City Council for the upcoming budget study session with the public. At the session, the council will discuss proposed changes in the cost accounting system of the Emerald City Planning and Zoning (P&Z) department. The proposal would shift the system to an activity-based costing (ABC) scheme rather than a traditional cost scheme. This change would allow the department to address budget deficit issues within the permitting process that currently utilizes equal cost allocation. The ABC scheme would allocate these costs on the basis of plan review, site review, code review, and other activities within the permitting process (Marlowe, 2007, p. 1). Thus, the ABC system would allow the P&Z
Each division focuses on maintain a security and stable IT infrastructure for Duke Energy. To implement an enterprise project will involve getting Chief Information Office (CIO) level sponsorship. To gain sponsorship, a business case is submitted and reviewed. After approval, the IT organization holds a meeting with representation from each of the respective operations sub-organizations, security, telecom as well as the application team implementing the application. The sub-organizations of Duke Energy's IT operations are server support, database support, web infrastructure support, and enterprise storage. By having representation from each of the IT organizations the success of the project is improved since the proper IT and hardware resources are properly assigned to the
3. Centralized IT system for the affiliates with the rollout of new technologies outsourced –
information technology (IT) strategic plan in the history of Cirque. The plan presented a coherent
This portfolio focus on what I have learned during the whole IT Strategy and Control paper, a critical reflection of this paper would be provided. This reflection includes the key points, support reference and the demonstration of my own understanding about the paper itself and all of my personal understandings are based on the learning outcome of this paper. In the first part of this portfolio, I would discuss all the key IT Operations Management framework which have been introduced in the paper, the analysis of the processes based on my own understanding would be given. In the second part, analyze processes required for aligning IT infrastructure and operations with the business goals of an organization would be talked about, and I would focus a business organization which has been mentioned in the caselets as a sample. In the third part, some critical evaluate operational IT organizations and their processes against the studied models would be listed and analyzed. In the last part, the recommendations and analysis of my own would be given against those organizations (caselets) which have some problems and current issues arising from the implementation of the IT framework.
With a specific end goal to improve the probability of a venture achieving a fruitful conclusion, the dangers or potential issues for an undertaking should be distinguished at an early stage and suitable countermeasures must be created. The main purpose of the report is the evaluation and analysis of the project management: (The PCNet Project (A): Project Risk Management in an IT integration Project). The project definition phase of the PCNet project will be discussed in the report and also some of the difficulties that has been faced during the project regarding the definition phase of the project. The paper will also focus on the role of the PCNet project manager andexamined a portion of the center skillsets requested by the employment part. The feature of the risk management (PCNet project) was also considered in the given report. Lastly the recommendations are also given to report the problem faced by Jack Muller, the project manager for the PCNet project.
The key reason behind the project is the fact that AEnergy’s current IT infrastructure is heavily over invested in its current design and needs to be brought up to industry
The added IT solutions will help in improving company’s scalability. Using these solutions, in a long run, will help the company in expanding its customer base and its reach across the country.
To enable successful execution of the new IT plans the author plans to move ahead with the planning on SLA (Service Level Agreement) with third party IT vendors, IT Security and plan to mitigate risks. The author has prioritized the proposed