IFSM 300 Stage 4-Assignment - Assignment Essays

Please see the attached files and let me know if you have any questions.

Stage 4: System Recommendation and Final BA&SR Report – 5 pages

Before you begin work on this assignment, be sure you have read the Case Study and reviewed the feedback received on your Stage 1, 2 and 3 assignments.

Overview

As the business analyst in the CIO’s department of Maryland Technology Consulting (MTC), your next task in working towards an IT solution to improve the hiring process at MTC is to write a justification and implementation plan for a system that the CIO has decided will meet MTC’s needs. The system, EZ-ATS, is described in the vendor brochure provided with this assignment. The vendor, UMUC Hiring Solutions, Inc., and EZ-ATS are fictitious names created for use with this case study but based on real-world SaaS application information. In this Stage 4 assignment, you will explain how the selected system meets MTC’s requirements, and what needs to be done to implement the system within MTC. You will combine Stages 1-4 to provide a
complete final BA&SR Report.

Assignment – BA&SR Section IV. System Recommendation and Summary & Conclusion

The first step is to review any feedback from previous stages to help improve the effectiveness of your overall report and then add the new section to your report. In addition to the Stage 4 content, part of the grading criteria for this final stage includes evaluating if the document is a very effective and cohesive assemblage of the four sections, is well formatted and flows smoothly from one section to the next

Section IV of the Business Analysis and System Recommendation Report will explain how the selected system helps MTC achieve its strategy, improve its hiring process, and meet its system requirements, and you will explain how each implementation area might be addressed to help ensure a successful implementation of the technology solution.

Using the case study, assignment instructions, vendor brochure, Course readings (in particular,
Implementing a SaaS Solution and
Developing a System Proposal) and external research, develop your Section IV. System Recommendation. Approximate lengths for each section are provided as a guideline; be sure to provide all pertinent information.

As you review the case study, use the assignment instructions to take notes to assist in your analysis; in addition, review information provided in earlier stages of this report to identify where the proposed solution can address the needs and requirements.

Use the outline format and headings provided and follow all formatting instructions below.

IV. System Recommendation

A.
System Justification

Provided with the Stage 4 Assignment Instructions is a brochure that describes an IT solution that the CIO has selected, with the HR Director’s endorsement, to meet the needs of improving MTC’s hiring process. In Stage 1, you analyzed the strategy and objectives for MTC and how a technology solution to improve the hiring process would contribute. In Stage 2, you analyzed how to improve the hiring process with a technology solution, and in Stage 3 you identified specific requirements. After reviewing the EZ-ATS Brochure, briefly describe the recommended solution. Then, describe how that selected solution
aligns with achieving the strategy,
improves the process, and
meets the requirements. Write two to three clear, concise, well-organized paragraphs to
summarize this assessment. Don’t just repeat information from previous stages but synthesize this information and provide strong information and justification to explain why this proposed solution is a good fit for MTC.
Don’t describe details of the functionality but address overall how this solution will address the current issues with the manual hiring process and benefit MTC.
Remember you are writing a report to your boss, the CIO of MTC, that he can use to convince the leadership team why this is the best solution based on your analysis.

B.
Implementation Areas

To successfully implement this technology solution, MTC will need to develop an Implementation Plan and below is a list of key implementation areas that should be included.
First, provide a brief introduction to this section – what it contains and why an Implementation Plan is so important for MTC. Then address each of the seven (7) areas below to explain what MTC needs to do (with support by the vendor). Provide the numbered heading and then write one to two paragraphs to address the area. The sub-areas (a,b,c, etc.) contain questions and areas to help guide your thinking about what should be covered and should be incorporated within your response to the major category. For an explanation of the implementation areas, refer to the
Week 7 Reading “Implementing a SaaS Solution” as well as conduct additional external research
. The vendor brochure provides information for some of these areas, but
you need to include what MTC must do as well. Remember you are writing this section to help MTC plan for a successful implementation. It is not sufficient to just indicate “
Vendor provides” or “
employees need to be trained.” In addition to incorporating course content, external research on implementation areas will strengthen your understanding and explanation.
The goal for this section is to help MTC know what needs to happen in each area and who might be responsible for given activities to help support a successful implementation of EZ-ATS.

1.
Vendor agreement (MTC must enter into a contractual agreement with the vendor before full implementation. This identifies responsibilities as well as costs.) Incorporate answers to the following questions in your paragraph – do not include the questions themselves.

a. What does the vendor require from MTC to be able to start using the system?

b. How much will it cost to get access to and configure the system for MTC’s use?

c. How much will it cost per month to support 60 system users?

d. What option is offered for MTC to just try out the system to see how it works?

2.
Hardware and telecommunications (Although this is a SaaS solution, MTC must ensure that its IT infrastructure can support the use of the system and that its employees can correctly access the system.) Include the following:

a. List the types of hardware MTC employees can use to access the system.

b. Identify what kind of telecommunications will be used for the solution, including local connectivity inside MTC and Internet access from outside MTC.

c. List any other considerations related to ensuring employees can access the applicant tracking system.

3.
Configuration (Even SaaS solutions require a degree of configuration for each client. What needs to be done to implement the MTC job requisitions, workflow, reports, terminology and/or logo/graphics?) (Include the answers to the questions below, but not the questions themselves.)

a. What options does the vendor offer for configuring the off-the-shelf system to MTC’s needs?

b. How will the configuration be done and by whom?

4.
Testing

a. Once MTC has signed up and configured the system, how will it test the system to see if it is working properly for its needs? Describe how MTC will conduct User Acceptance Testing. (This would be a good area for you to research.)

b. Choose one of the
user requirements (listed in Section III of your BA&SR Report) and explain how that requirement will be specifically tested to ensure it is working properly and the requirement is met.

(Note: A free trial period does not suffice as software testing)

5.
Employee preparation and support – Identify what MTC should do in each area below to prepare the employees (including the hiring managers in the various departments) for the introduction and use of the new applicant tracking system. Identify who (by their title or role) should do what in each area. (Incorporate information from Course readings on Leadership and Change Management.)

a. Leadership (2-3 sentences)

b. Change Management (2-3 sentences)

c. Training (2-3 sentences)

d. User Support (2-3 sentences)

6.
Data Migration – Consider what existing data (applications in process with the manual process) would need to be entered into the system to get started and how this might be accomplished.

7.
Maintenance – How will updates and enhancements to the EZ-ATS system be made? What will the vendor be responsible for and what should MTC address?

Summary and Conclusion: Close your Business Analysis and System Recommendation Report with a summary of the key points including the benefits MTC can expect to gain from this solution and the alignment with strategic objectives. (One well-written paragraph). Don’t just repeat information presented earlier but put it in context of a conclusion to provide a strong finish to this report. Just as your introduction informed your reader about why you’re writing and what’s to come, the conclusion should provide a clear and concise final paragraph to reinforce/emphasize key points and a compelling argument for the chosen solution – and it should urge the reader to take action.

Formatting Your Assignment

NOTE:
This final submission should be a cohesive Business Analysis and Systems Recommendation Report for the CIO of Maryland Technology Consulting. The formatting should be consistent throughout the document, and the writing should flow well from beginning to end. Headings, section and page numbering should be correct for a final submission. Although you prepared this in stages, the final product should not seem to be piecemeal or disconnected.
Any track changes or feedback from previous versions should be removed once addressed.

Consider your audience – you are writing in the role of a MTC business analyst and your audience is MTC and your boss, the CIO. Don’t discuss MTC as if the reader has no knowledge of the organization.
Use third person consistently throughout the report. In third person, the writer avoids the pronouns I, we, my, and ours. The third person is used to make the writing more objective by taking the individual, the “self,” out of the writing. This method is very helpful for effective business writing, a form in which facts, not opinion, drive the tone of the text. Writing in the third person allows the writer to come across as unbiased and thus more informed.

· In Stage 4, you are preparing the final part of a 4-stage report.
Use the structure, headings, and
outline format provided here for your report. Use the numbering/lettering in the assignment instructions as shown below.

IV. System Recommendation

A. System Justification

B. Implementation Areas

1. Vendor Agreement

2. Hardware and telecommunications

3. Configuration

4. Testing

5. Employee preparation and support

6. Data migration

7. Maintenance

Summary and Conclusion

· Begin with Sections I, II and III, considering any feedback received, and add Section IV to your final report.

· Write a
complete, well organized paper that includes the four sections of the Business Analysis and System Recommendations (BA&SR) report. Use the recommendations provided in each area for
length of response. It’s important to value
quality over quantity.
Length for Section IV should not exceed five (5) pages in addition to Sections I, II and III.

· Content areas should be
double spaced; table entries should be
single-spaced.

· Ensure that each of the
tables in the final report is preceded by an
introductory sentence that explains what is contained in the table, so the reader understands
why the table has been included.

· Continue to use the
title page created in Stage 1 that includes: The title of report, company name, your name, Course and Section Number, and date of
this submission.

For Section IV, use

at least three

resources
with APA formatted citation and reference. One reference must be from an external source
, one must be the EZ-ATS Brochure, and one must be another reference from the IFSM 300 course content. Course content should be from the class reading content, not the assignment instructions or case study itself. For information on APA format, refer to Content>Course Resources>Writing Resources.

· Finalize the
Reference Page for resources required for all sections of the report. The final document should contain all references from all stages appropriately formatted and alphabetized.

· Running headers are not required for this report.

· Compare your work to the
Grading Rubric below to be sure you have met content and quality criteria.

· Submit your paper as a
Word document, or a document that can be read in Word. Keep tables in Word format – do not paste in graphics.

Your submission should include

your last name first in the filename:

Lastname_firstname_Stage_4

GRADING RUBRIC:

Criteria

Far Above Standards

Above Standards

Meets Standards

Below Standards

Well Below Standards

Possible Points

How the Proposed IT Solution Meets the Requirements

How the IT solution aligns with achieving the strategy, improves the process, and meets the requirements

30 points

26.2-30 Points

Clear, complete, compelling and related to the Case Study and Vendor Brochure; demonstrates sophisticated analysis and writing.

26.1 points

Complete and related to the Case Study and Vendor Brochure; demonstrates effective analysis.

20.1 points

Provided and related to the Case Study.

18 points

Incomplete, inaccurate and/or not related to the Case Study.

0 points

0-16 points

Content missing or extremely incomplete, did not reflect the assignment instructions, showed little or no originality, demonstrated little effort, is not supported with information from the Case Study; and/or is not original work for this class section.

Implementation Steps

An introduction and all areas (vendor agreement, hardware/ telecom, configuration, testing, employee preparation, data migration, and maintenance)

Generally, 0-5 points each. Both quantity and quality evaluated.

70 points
62.5-70 Points
Clearly and thoroughly included introduction and covered all areas, strongly derived from the Case Study and vendor brochure, and demonstrates sophisticated analysis and writing.
All 7 areas well done.

62.3 points
52-62.3 Points
Clearly covered and included introduction and all areas, derived from the Case Study and vendor brochure, and demonstrates effective analysis and writing.

6 areas covered.

51.8 points
49-51.8 Points
Covered and included introduction and majority of areas and related to the Case Study and the vendor brochure.

5 areas covered.

44.1 points
41-44.1 points
All areas not covered, and/or are not related to the Case Study and/or the vendor brochure.

4 areas covered.

0 points
0-40 Points
Content missing or extremely incomplete, did not reflect the assignment instructions, showed little or no originality, demonstrated little effort, is not supported with information from the Case Study; and/or is not original work for this class section.
3 or fewer areas covered.

Summary and Conclusion

Summarizes the BA&SR and provides a compelling explanation of benefits to be gained

20 points
18-20 Points
Provides strong, clear and concise summary; demonstrates sophisticated analysis and writing.

17 points
17 Points
Provides clear summary; demonstrates effective analysis and writing.

15 points
15 Points
Provides summary.

13 points
13 points
Lacks sufficient information to provide adequate summary.

0 points
0-10 Points
Content missing or extremely incomplete, did not reflect the assignment instructions, showed little or no originality, demonstrated little effort, is not supported with information from the Case Study; and/or is not original work for this class section.

Research

Three

or more sources—one is the vendor brochure, one from within the IFSM 300 course content, and one external (other than the course materials)

30 points

26.5-30 Points

Required resources are incorporated and used effectively. Sources used are relevant and timely and contribute strongly to the analysis. References are appropriately incorporated and cited using APA style.

26.1 points

22-26.1 Points

At least three sources are incorporated (vendor, course content and external) and are relevant and somewhat support the analysis. References are appropriately incorporated and cited using APA style.

21.9 points

20-21.9 Points

Fewer than 3 resources properly incorporated, and/or reference(s) are not cited using APA style.

18 Points

A source may be used, but is not properly incorporated or used, and/or is not effective or appropriate; and/or does not follow APA style for references and citations.

0 points

0-16 Points

No course content or external research incorporated; or reference listed is not cited within the text

Complete BA&SR Report

Well organized and clearly presented information for all four stages. `

30 points

25-30 points

Document is a very effective and cohesive assemblage of the four sections, is well formatted and flows smoothly from one section to the next.

24 points

22-24 Points

Document is a good assemblage of the four sections with appropriate formatting and flow.

21 points

20-21 Points

Document includes content for all four stages; lacks
a cohesive presentation and flow.

18 Points

Incomplete stages; lack of continuity of flow and presentation of final information.

0 points

0-16 Points

Incomplete report, missing stages, is not supported with information from the Case Study; and/or not well compiled and presented as a cohesive document.

Format

Uses outline format provided; includes Title Page and complete Reference Page including sources for all 4 stages.

20 points
18-20 Points
Very well organized and is easy to read. Very few or no errors in sentence structure, grammar, and spelling; double-spaced, written in third person, contains all required references, and presented in a professional format.

17 points
17 Points
Effective organization; has few errors in sentence structure, grammar, and spelling; double-spaced, written in third person, contains all required references, and presented in a professional format.

15 points
15 Points
Some organization; may have some errors in sentence structure, grammar, and spelling; missing some required references. Report is double spaced, and written in third person.

13 points
13 Points
Not well organized, and/or contains several grammar and/or spelling errors; and/or is not double-spaced, missing several required references, and written in third person.

0 points
0-10 Points
Extremely poorly written, has many grammar and/or spelling errors, missing required references, or does not convey the information.

TOTAL Possible Points

200

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)

Source: Leadership Quotes, n.d.

Learning Resource

Leadership https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learni…

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UMGC (n.d.). Leadership. Retrieved from https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learning-resourcelist/
leadership.html?wcmmode=disabled#

Quote Speaker Source

Source: Leadership Quotes, n.d.

“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)

“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)

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Quote Speaker Source

Source: Leadership Quotes, n.d.

“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)

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: 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

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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?

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

Leadership https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learni…

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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:

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• identifying trends,

• scanning the environment,

• knowing what has happened in the past, and

• 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.

Leadership https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learni…

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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.

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.

Leadership https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learni…

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https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/960_x_960_limit/public/images/2016/09/06/2015_2016_Bus_NP_Overview ?itok=4PqRGvg7

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

Learning Resource

Developing a System Proposal

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UMGC (n.d.). Developing a System Proposal. Retrieved from https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learning-
resourcelist/developing-a-systemproposal.html?wcmmode=disabled#

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 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

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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.

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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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

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Change Management

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UMGC (n.d). Change Management. Retrieved from https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learning-resourcelist/
change-management.html?wcmmode=disabled

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.

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

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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?

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

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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.

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)

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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

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.

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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 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

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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

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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 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

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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.

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.

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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.)

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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UMGC Hiring Solutions, Inc. is a fictitious company designed for the UMGC IFSM 300 case study and its product, EZ-ATS is an applicant tracking
system representative of typical SaaS products. (10/19/2019 ver. 1)

EZ-ATS APPLICANT TRACKING SOFTWARE

Page 1

EZ-ATS
Brought to you by UMGC Hiring Solutions, Inc .

Applicant Tracking Software that provides
everything you need to create a high performing
Hiring Process and a great Candidate Experience!

More Efficient and Cost-Effective
Hiring!

Guaranteed!

Easy to implement…..and

Easy to use!

EZ-ATS is a single platform for all of your applicant
tracking needs. We guarantee that we’ll improve
your total hiring system results or your money
back!

With EZ-ATS you’ll see:

• Increased Collaboration and
Communication with Hiring Managers

• Decreased Time to Fill Positions

• Applicants’ Skills Highlighted

• The Best Candidates Before Others Hire
Them

• Decreased Cost-per-Hire

• Less work for HR to Manage and Report
on the Hiring Process

Do you need to replace your paper applications
and spreadsheets, but don’t have a big
budget? We make it easy to get a hiring system
without breaking the bank!

With EZ-ATS you’ll get:

• No Long-Term Contracts Required
• Access to all EZ-ATS Capabilities
• Global access 24/7
• System and data security
• Mobile device access
• Unlimited Support at No Additional Cost
• Pricing Based on Number of Users

($50 to $500/month)

• Free 30-day Trial

What You Get

Custom Implementation

Dedicated Account Manager

Automatic Software Updates

EZ-ATS APPLICANT TRACKING SOFTWARE

Page 2

Use EZ-ATS to:

• Attract top talent with a responsive, professional interaction
with applicants.

• Retain and motivate top HR talent with a flexible, workflow-
driven applicant tracking system.

• Align hiring goals with corporate goals with clear visibility
into how efficiently hiring the right talent contributes to the
success of the organization.

• Drive a strategic, end-to-end hiring strategy with a single,
integrated system for all hiring-related activities.

Customers love our:

• Configurability: Arrange your dashboards and workflows
however you like, to meet your needs.

• Custom Reports: Create customizable reports to track
performance and recruit more effectively.

• Workflow: Expedite approval processes for job openings,
candidates, and formal offers.

• Customer Support: Our mission is your success — our
customers are our top priority.

Cloud-Based Software as a Service (SaaS)

√ Connect Anywhere – Just connect with Internet or WIFI

√ Use Any Device – PC, laptop, mobile devices

√ No New Hardware – Systems at our data centers

√ Unlimited data storage – Online and archived data

√ Secure Your Data – Professional protection

EZ-ATS APPLICANT TRACKING SOFTWARE

Page 3

Everything You Need to Track and Manage Applications

Preparation: Work seamlessly with hiring managers to develop job requisitions that will allow automatic
screening.

Advertise: Post your job to hundreds of job boards, social media sites, workforce services, colleges, and
associations with a click of the mouse.

Screening: Automate your screening of new applicants by having the system compare the application to the
requisition and highlight resumes with requisite expertise and/or experience.

Evaluation: Easily review and evaluate candidates to ensure minimum qualifications are met.

Workflow: Use the system to automate your company’s steps in the hiring procedure workflow from recruiter
to reviewer to hiring manager as tasks are completed – working the way your company already works.

Dashboards: All authorized stakeholders in the organization can have a custom dashboard with relevant
information and notices of actions that need to be taken in the system.

Collaboration: Quickly coordinate actions while maintaining transparency and security in the hiring process.

Interview Scheduling: Coordinate electronic calendars to schedule interviews to include all participants.

Selection: Obtain the best candidates before they are hired by others by using a streamlined hiring process.

Communication: Efficiently and effectively communicate with job seekers and hiring managers throughout the
hiring process using our integrated email and QuickText communication inbox.

Metrics: Generate real time hiring metrics to help you identify opportunities for improvement in your process
and job requirements.

Integration: Easy integration with your corporate email, existing systems, website, and social media sites.

Impress the Candidates: Impress applicants with the efficiency of the process and professional
communication, including offer letters.

Capture Skills of New Hires: As applicants are hired, their information and skills can be exported to your
employee management system.

Try EZ-ATS for FREE!

FREE 30-day trial
No obligation, no credit card needed. Getting started is as easy as 1-2-3!

Test drive EZ-ATS and when you have decided it is the system for you, visit our website and sign up!

EZ-ATS APPLICANT TRACKING SOFTWARE

Page 4

Launching EZ-ATS

1. Select the services you need at a price that fits your budget
➢ Up to 25 system users $50 per month
➢ 25-100 system users $100 per month
➢ 101-1000 system users $200 per month
➢ Over 1000 system users $500 per month
➢ One-time system setup fee $1,000 to initialize system connections
➢ One-time configuration fee $2,500 to individualize system for your company
➢ Web-based training $295 for “Train the Trainers” course
➢ Unlimited data storage Included in licensing fees
➢ Comprehensive security Included in licensing fees
➢ System maintenance Included in licensing fees
➢ Regular updates Included in licensing fees
➢ Offsite backup and recovery Included in licensing fees

2. Sign the User Agreement with the vendor and provide credit card or purchase order information.
3. When your User Agreement and payment are received, your dedicated Account Manager will contact

you to help you with the configuration steps and preparation to “go live.”
➢ Use your company name and logo
➢ Link to your corporate email and social media sites
➢ Link to the LinkedIn and job boards you use to post job announcements
➢ Show you how to

▪ Set up custom reports
▪ Set up user accounts for your employees
▪ Set up your custom workflow
▪ Redesign and upload your job requisitions to use the automated screening function
▪ Test each function to ensure it is working as intended

Deploying EZ-ATS is just as simple!

1. Train your employees
➢ Using free EZ-ATS website videos
➢ Using EZ-ATS training resources to develop on-site training to meet your needs

2. Provide users with account and login information, including one-time password
3. Identify user support resources provided by your company

Using the system is even easier!

1. Authorized users can access EZ-ATS
➢ From any device
➢ From any location
➢ At any time

2. System maintenance does not interrupt user experience
3. Security and other updates are automatically installed – with no action on your part required!

EZ-ATS APPLICANT TRACKING SOFTWARE

Page 5

About Software as a Service (SaaS)

What is Software-as-a-Service?

• Available to customers over the Internet; available from anywhere

• Application is hosted by a third-party provider; typically no additional IT
infrastructure or expertise required for customer; low startup costs for customer

• Updates and data backups automatically available

• Subscription services available; cost based on number of users; predictable
scheduled payments

Key Benefits of EZ-ATS Cloud-based SaaS to Your Organization

• Cost efficiency and fixed payment schedule

• Saves time and money on implementing a solution; low up-front costs

• No disruption due to product installation

• Frees staff to focus on key business activities

• Greater flexibility – available anywhere, anytime, from any device

• More efficient support – controlled environment managed by experts

• Safety and security of systems and data through access control, network security
using firewalls, and data encryption

• Easy scalability as business grows

• Free upgrades and enhancements

Reference Listing and Citation for this Brochure

UMGC Hiring Solutions, Inc. (2019). EZ-ATS Brochure [Course Resources]. In IFSM 300: Information
Systems in Organizations. Retrieved from http://learn.umgc.edu

In-text citation (UMGC Hiring Solutions, 2019)

http://learn.umgc.edu/

Information Systems Security

Introduction

As computers and other digital devices have become essential to business

and commerce, they have also increasingly become a target for attacks. In

order for a company or an individual to use a computing device with

confidence, they must first be assured that the device is not compromised

in any way and that all communications will be secure. In this reading, we

will review the fundamental concepts of information systems security and

discuss some of the measures that can be taken to mitigate security

threats. We will begin with an overview focusing on how organizations

can stay secure. Several different measures that a company can take to

improve security will be discussed. We will then follow up by reviewing

security precautions that individuals can take in order to secure their

personal computing environment.

The Information Security Triad: Confidentiality,
Integrity, Availability (CIA)

Confidentiality

When protecting information, we want to be able to restrict access to

those who are allowed to see it; everyone else should be disallowed from

learning anything about its contents. This is the essence of

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Information Systems Security

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Link: https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learning-resourcelist/information-systemssecurity.html?
wcmmode=disabled#

confidentiality. For example, federal law requires that universities restrict

access to private student information. The university must be sure that

only those who are authorized have access to view the grade records.

The Information Security Triad

Integrity

Integrity is the assurance that the information being accessed has not

been altered and truly represents what is intended. Just as a person with

integrity means what he or she says and can be trusted to consistently

represent the truth, information integrity means information truly

represents its intended meaning. Information can lose its integrity

through malicious intent, such as when someone who is not authorized

makes a change to intentionally misrepresent something. An example of

this would be when a hacker is hired to go into the university’s system

and change a grade.

Integrity can also be lost unintentionally, such as when a computer power

surge corrupts a file or someone authorized to make a change

accidentally deletes a file or enters incorrect information.

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Availability

Information availability is the third part of the CIA triad. Availability

means that information can be accessed and modified by anyone

authorized to do so in an appropriate time frame. Depending on the type

of information, appropriate time frame can mean different things. For

example, a stock trader needs information to be available immediately,

while a salesperson may be happy to get sales numbers for the day in a

report the next morning. Companies such as Amazon.com will require

their servers to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Other

companies may not suffer if their web servers are down for a few minutes

once in a while.

Tools for Information Security

In order to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of

information, organizations can choose from a variety of tools. Each of

these tools can be utilized as part of an overall information‐security

policy, which will be discussed in “Security Policies.”

Authentication

The most common way to identify someone is through their physical

appearance, but how do we identify someone sitting behind a computer

screen or at the ATM? Tools for authentication are used to ensure that

the person accessing the information is, indeed, who they present

themselves to be.

Authentication can be accomplished by identifying someone through one

or more of three factors: something they know, something they have, or

something they are. For example, the most common form of

authentication today is the user ID and password. In this case, the

authentication is done by confirming something that the user knows

(their ID and password). But this form of authentication is easy to

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compromise (see “Password Security” below) and stronger forms of

authentication are sometimes needed. Identifying someone only by

something they have, such as a key or a card, can also be problematic.

When that identifying token is lost or stolen, the identity can be easily

stolen. The final factor, something you are, is much harder to

compromise. This factor identifies a user through the use of a physical

characteristic, such as an eye‐scan or fingerprint. Identifying someone

through their physical characteristics is called biometrics.

A more secure way to authenticate a user is to do multi‐factor

authentication. By combining two or more of the factors listed above, it

becomes much more difficult for someone to misrepresent themselves.

An example of this would be the use of an RSA SecurID token. The RSA

device is something you have and will generate a new access code every

60 seconds. To log in to an information resource using the RSA device,

you combine something you know, a four‐digit PIN, with the code

generated by the device. The only way to properly authenticate is by both

knowing the code and having the RSA device.

Access Control

Once a user has been authenticated, the next step is to ensure that they

can only access the information resources that are appropriate. This is

done through the use of access control. Access control determines which

users are authorized to read, modify, add, and/or delete information.

Several different access control models exist. Here we will discuss two:

the access control list (ACL) and role‐based access control (RBAC).

For each information resource that an organization wishes to manage, a

list of users who have the ability to take specific actions can be created.

This is an access control list, or ACL. For each user, specific capabilities

are assigned, such as read, write, delete, or add. Only users with those

capabilities are allowed to perform those functions. If a user is not on the

list, they have no ability to even know that the information resource

exists.

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ACLs are simple to understand and maintain. However, they have several

drawbacks. The primary drawback is that each information resource is

managed separately, so if a security administrator wanted to add or

remove a user to a large set of information resources, it would be quite

difficult. And as the number of users and resources increase, ACLs

become harder to maintain. This has led to an improved method of access

control, called role‐based access control, or RBAC. With RBAC, instead of

giving specific users access rights to an information resource, users are

assigned to roles and then those roles are assigned the access. This allows

the administrators to manage users and roles separately, simplifying

administration and, by extension, improving security.

Comparison of ACL and RBAC

Access control list (ACL) and role‐based access control (RBAC)

Encryption

Many times, an organization needs to transmit information over the

Internet or transfer it on external media such as a CD or flash drive. In

these cases, even with proper authentication and access control, it is

possible for an unauthorized person to get access to the data. Encryption

is a process of encoding data upon its transmission or storage so that only

authorized individuals can read it. This encoding is accomplished by a

computer program, which encodes the plain text that needs to be

transmitted; then the recipient receives the cipher text and decodes it

(decryption). In order for this to work, the sender and receiver need to

agree on the method of encoding so that both parties can communicate

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properly. Both parties share the encryption key, enabling them to encode

and decode each other’s messages. This is called symmetric key

encryption. This type of encryption is problematic because the key is

available in two different places.

An alternative to symmetric key encryption is public key encryption. In

public key encryption, two keys are used: a public key and a private key.

To send an encrypted message, you obtain the public key, encode the

message, and send it. The recipient then uses the private key to decode it.

The public key can be given to anyone who wishes to send the recipient a

message. Each user simply needs one private key and one public key in

order to secure messages. The private key is necessary in order to decrypt

something sent with the public key.

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Public Key Encryption

Sender uses public key to encode, and reader uses private key to decode

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Password Security

So why is using just a simple user ID/password not considered a

secure method of authentication? It turns out that this single‐factor

authentication is extremely easy to compromise. Good password

policies must be put in place in order to ensure that passwords

cannot be compromised. Below are some of the more common

policies that organizations should put in place.

• Require complex passwords. One reason passwords are

compromised is that they can be easily guessed. A study found

that the top three passwords people used in 2012 were

“password,” 123456 and 12345678 (Gallagher, 2012). A

password should not be simple, or a word that can be found in a

dictionary. One of the first things a hacker will do is try to crack

a password by testing every term in the dictionary. Instead, a

good password policy is one that requires the use of a minimum

of eight characters, and at least one uppercase letter, one

special character, and one number.

• Change passwords regularly. It is essential that users change

their passwords on a regular basis. Users should change their

passwords every 60 to 90 days, ensuring that any passwords

that might have been stolen or guessed will not be able to be

used against the company.

• Train employees not to give away passwords. One of the

primary methods that is used to steal passwords is to simply

figure them out by asking the users or administrators.

Pretexting occurs when an attacker calls a helpdesk or security

administrator and pretends to be a particular authorized user

having trouble logging in. Then, by providing some personal

information about the authorized user, the attacker convinces

the security person to reset the password and tell him what it is.

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Another way that employees may be tricked into giving away

passwords is through email phishing. Phishing occurs when a

user receives an email that looks as if it is from a trusted source,

such as their bank, or their employer. In the email, the user is

asked to click a link and log in to a website that mimics the

genuine website and enter their ID and password, which are

then captured by the attacker.

Backups

Another essential tool for information security is a comprehensive backup

plan for the entire organization. Not only should the data on the

corporate servers be backed up, but individual computers used

throughout the organization should also be backed up. A good backup

plan should consist of several components.

• A full understanding of the organizational information resources.

What information does the organization actually have? Where is it

stored? Some data may be stored on the organization’s servers, other

data on users’ hard drives, some in the cloud, and some on third‐

party sites. An organization should make a full inventory of all of the

information that needs to be backed up and determine the best way

to back it up.

• Regular backups of all data. The frequency of backups should be

based on how important the data is to the company, combined with

the ability of the company to replace any data that is lost. Critical

data should be backed up daily, while less critical data could be

backed up weekly.

• Off‐site storage of backup data sets. If all of the backup data is being

stored in the same facility as the original copies of the data, then a

single event, such as an earthquake, fire, or tornado, would take out

both the original data and the backup! It is essential that part of the

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backup plan is to store the data in an off‐site location.

• Test of data restoration. On a regular basis, the backups should be

put to the test by having some of the data restored. This will ensure

that the process is working and will give the organization confidence

in the backup plan.

Besides these considerations, organizations should also examine their

operations to determine what effect downtime would have on their

business. If their information technology were to be unavailable for any

sustained period of time, how would it impact the business?

Additional concepts related to backup include the following:

• Universal Power Supply (UPS). A UPS is a device that provides

battery backup to critical components of the system, allowing them

to stay online longer and/or allowing the IT staff to shut them down

using proper procedures in order to prevent the data loss that might

occur from a power failure.

• Alternate, or “hot” sites. Some organizations choose to have an

alternate site where an exact replica of their critical data is always

kept up to date. When the primary site goes down, the alternate site

is immediately brought online so that there is little or no downtime.

As information has become a strategic asset, a whole industry has sprung

up around the technologies necessary for implementing a proper backup

strategy. A company can contract with a service provider to back up all of

their data or they can purchase large amounts of online storage space and

do it themselves. Technologies such as storage area networks and archival

systems are now used by most large businesses.

Firewalls

Another method that an organization should use to increase security on

its network is a firewall. A firewall can exist as hardware or software (or

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both). A hardware firewall is a device that is connected to the network

and filters the packets based on a set of rules. A software firewall runs on

the operating system and intercepts packets as they arrive to a computer.

A firewall protects all company servers and computers by stopping

packets from outside the organization’s network that do not meet a strict

set of criteria. A firewall may also be configured to restrict the flow of

packets leaving the organization. This may be done to eliminate the

possibility of employees watching YouTube videos or using Facebook from

a company computer.

Network Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

Partially secured section of a network

Some organizations may choose to implement multiple firewalls as part of

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their network security configuration, creating one or more sections of

their network that are partially secured. This segment of the network is

referred to as a DMZ, borrowing the term demilitarized zone from the

military, and it is where an organization may place resources that need

broader access, but still need to be secured.

Intrusion Detection Systems

Another device that can be placed on the network for security purposes

is an intrusion detection system, or IDS. An IDS does not add any

additional security; instead, it provides the functionality to identify if the

network is being attacked. An IDS can be configured to watch for specific

types of activities and then alert security personnel if that activity occurs.

An IDS also can log various types of traffic on the network for analysis

later. An IDS is an essential part of any good security setup.

Virtual Private Networks

Using firewalls and other security technologies, organizations can

effectively protect many of their information resources by making

them invisible to the outside world. But what if an employee working

from home requires access to some of these resources? What if a

consultant is hired who needs to do work on the internal corporate

network from a remote location? In these cases, a virtual private

network (VPN) is called for.

A VPN allows a user who is outside of a corporate network to take a

detour around the firewall and access the internal network from the

outside. Through a combination of software and security measures,

this lets an organization allow limited access to its networks while at

the same time ensuring overall security.

Physical Security

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An organization can implement the best authentication scheme in the

world, develop the best access control, and install firewalls and intrusion

prevention, but its security cannot be complete without implementation

of physical security. Physical security is the protection of the actual

hardware and networking components that store and transmit

information resources. To implement physical security, an organization

must identify all of the vulnerable resources and take measures to ensure

that these resources cannot be physically tampered with or stolen. These

measures include the following.

• Locked doors. It may seem obvious, but all the security in the world

is useless if an intruder can simply walk in and physically remove a

computing device. High‐value information assets should be secured

in a location with limited access.

• Physical intrusion detection. High‐value information assets should be

monitored through the use of security cameras and other means to

detect unauthorized access to the physical locations where they

exist.

• Secured equipment. Devices should be locked down to prevent them

from being stolen. One employee’s hard drive could contain all of

your customer information, so it is essential that it be secured.

• Environmental monitoring. An organization’s servers and other high‐

value equipment should always be kept in a room that is monitored

for temperature, humidity, and airflow. The risk of a server failure

rises when these factors go out of a specified range.

• Employee training. One of the most common ways thieves steal

corporate information is to steal employee laptops while employees

are traveling. Employees should be trained to secure their equipment

whenever they are away from the office.

Security Policies

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Besides the technical controls listed above, organizations also need to

implement security policies as a form of administrative control. In fact,

these policies should really be a starting point in developing an overall

security plan. A good information‐security policy lays out the guidelines

for employee use of the information resources of the company and

provides the company recourse in case an employee violates a policy.

According to the SANS Institute, a good policy is “a formal, brief, and

high‐level statement or plan that embraces an organization’s general

beliefs, goals, objectives, and acceptable procedures for a specified

subject area.” Policies require compliance; failure to comply with a policy

will result in disciplinary action. A policy does not lay out the specific

technical details, instead it focuses on the desired results. A security

policy should be based on the guiding principles of confidentiality,

integrity, and availability (SANS Institute,

n.d.).

A good example of a security policy that many will be familiar with is a

web use policy. A web use policy lays out the responsibilities of company

employees as they use company resources to access the Internet.

A security policy should also address any governmental or industry

regulations that apply to the organization. For example, if the

organization is a university, it must be aware of the Family Educational

Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which restricts who has access to student

information. Health care organizations are obligated to follow several

regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability

Act (HIPAA).

A good resource for learning more about security policies is the SANS

Institute’s Information Security Policy Page.

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Mobile Security

As the use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets

proliferates, organizations must be ready to address the unique

security concerns that the use of these devices bring. One of the

first questions an organization must consider is whether to allow

mobile devices in the workplace at all. Many employees already have

these devices, so the question becomes: Should we allow employees

to bring their own devices and use them as part of their employment

activities? Or should we provide the devices to our employees?

Creating a BYOD (“Bring Your Own Device”) policy allows employees

to integrate themselves more fully into their job and can bring higher

employee satisfaction and productivity. In many cases, it may be

virtually impossible to prevent employees from having their own

smartphones or iPads in the workplace. If the organization provides

the devices to its employees, it gains more control over use of the

devices, but it also exposes itself to the possibility of an

administrative (and costly) mess.

Mobile devices can pose many unique security challenges to an

organization. Probably one of the biggest concerns is theft of

intellectual property. For an employee with malicious intent, it would

be a very simple process to connect a mobile device either to a

computer via the USB port, or wirelessly to the corporate network,

and download confidential data. It would also be easy to secretly

take a high‐quality picture using a built‐in camera.

When an employee does have permission to access and save

company data on his or her device, a different security threat

emerges: that device now becomes a target for thieves. Theft of

mobile devices (in this case, including laptops) is one of the primary

methods that data thieves use.

So what can be done to secure mobile devices? It will start with a

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good policy regarding their use. According to a 2013 SANS study,

organizations should consider developing a mobile device policy that

addresses the following issues: use of the camera, use of voice

recording, application purchases, encryption at rest, Wi‐Fi

autoconnect settings, bluetooth settings, VPN use, password

settings, lost or stolen device reporting, and backup (SANS Institute,

n.d.).

Besides policies, there are several different tools that an organization

can use to mitigate some of these risks. For example, if a device is

stolen or lost, geolocation software can help the organization find it.

In some cases, it may even make sense to install remote data‐

removal software, which will remove data from a device if it becomes

a security risk.

Usability

When looking to secure information resources, organizations must

balance the need for security with users’ need to effectively access and

use these resources. If a system’s security measures make it difficult to

use, then users will find ways around the security, which may make the

system more vulnerable than it would have been without the security

measures! Take, for example, password policies. If the organization

requires an extremely long password with several special characters, an

employee may resort to writing it down and putting it in a drawer since it

will be impossible to memorize.

Personal Information Security

There is no way to have 100% security, but there are several simple steps

we, as individuals, can take to make ourselves more secure.

• Keep your software up to date. Whenever a software vendor

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determines that a security flaw has been found in their software,

they will release an update to the software that you can download to

fix the problem. Turn on automatic updating on your computer to

automate this process.

• Install antivirus software and keep it up to date. There are many

good antivirus software packages on the market today, including free

ones.

• Be smart about your connections. You should be aware of your

surroundings. When connecting to a Wi‐Fi network in a public place,

be aware that you could be at risk of being spied on by others

sharing that network. It is advisable not to access your financial or

personal data while attached to a Wi‐Fi hotspot. You should also be

aware that connecting USB flash drives to your device could also put

you at risk. Do not attach an unfamiliar flash drive to your device

unless you can scan it first with your security software.

• Back up your data. Just as organizations need to back up their data,

individuals need to as well. And the same rules apply: do it regularly

and keep a copy of it in another location. One simple solution for this

is to set up an account with an online backup service, such as Mozy

or Carbonite, to automate your backups.

• Secure your accounts with two‐factor authentication. Most email

and social media providers now have a two‐factor authentication

option. The way this works is simple: When you log in to your

account from an unfamiliar computer for the first time, it sends you a

text message with a code that you must enter to confirm that you

are really you. This means that no one else can log in to your

accounts without knowing your password and having your mobile

phone with them.

• Make your passwords long, strong, and unique. For your personal

passwords, you should follow the same rules that are recommended

for organizations. Your passwords should be long (eight or more

characters) and contain at least two of the following: uppercase

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letters, numbers, and special characters. You also should use

different passwords for different accounts, so that if someone steals

your password for one account, they still are locked out of your

other accounts.

• Be suspicious of strange links and attachments. When you receive an

email, tweet, or Facebook post, be suspicious of any links or

attachments included there. Do not click on the link directly if you

are at all suspicious. Instead, if you want to access the website, find

it yourself and navigate to it directly.

You can find more about these steps and many other ways to be secure

with your computing by going to Stop. Think. Connect. This website is

part of a campaign that was launched in October of 2010 by the STOP.

THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention in partnership with the US

government, including the White House.

Summary

As computing and networking resources have become more and more an

integral part of business, they have also become a target of criminals.

Organizations must be vigilant with the way they protect their resources.

The same holds true for us personally: as digital devices become more

and more intertwined with our lives, it becomes crucial for us to

understand how to protect ourselves.

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Study Questions

1. Briefly define each of the three members of the information

security triad.

2. What does the term authentication mean?

3. What is multi‐factor authentication?

4. What is role‐based access control?

5. What is the purpose of encryption?

6. What are two good examples of a complex password?

7. What is pretexting?

8. What are the components of a good backup plan?

9. What is a firewall?

10. What does the term physical security mean?

References

Gallagher, S. (2012, November 3) Born to be breached. Retrieved on May

15, 2013, from http://arstechnica.com/information‐technology/2012/11

/born‐to‐be‐breached‐the‐worst‐passwords‐are‐still‐the‐most‐common/

SANS Institute (n.d.). A short primer for developing security policies.

Retrieved from http://www.sans.org/security‐resources/policies/

SANS Institute (n.d.). SANS Institute’s mobile device checklist. Retrieved

from www.sans.org/score/checklists/mobile‐device‐checklist.xls

Licenses and Attributions

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Chapter 6: Information Systems Security (https://www.saylor.org

/site/textbooks

/Information%20Systems%20for%20Business%20and%20Beyond )

from Information Systems for Business and Beyond by David T. Bourgeois

is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported

T. Bourgeois. UMGC has modified this work and it is available under the

original license.

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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https://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Information%20Systems%20for%20Business%20and%20Beyond

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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.”

IFSM 300 Stage 3-Assignment

A. Stakeholder Interests
Operating a company the size of MTC would include a lot of moving pieces, mostly because it’s crucial to accommodating all parties. The following table lists MTC’s current challenges with stakeholders on the hiring procedure and how the proposed program intends to resolve them.

Role			Specific problem related to the current hiring process	How a technology solution to support them hiring process could address the problem
1. CEO	MTC needs and wants to hire the best-talented individuals in the sector to ensure commercial success. The CEO can no longer improve MTC because of the manual hiring process’s inefficiency and the acquisition process’s slow pace.	After quickly selecting through the best candidates in the field, MTC will be able to hire excellent candidates thanks to the adjustment of our present hiring process and the adoption of new recruiting tools. As a consequence, the CEO will be free to expand MTC whenever it suits them.
2. CFO	The current CFO thinks that MTC’s employment process is expensive and ineffective. “As a result of that, MTC is presently losing money and additional staff that could have been employed on other tasks.	By executing the new employment process, which will include a one-time fee, and redistributing personnel tasked with hiring and recruiting to other tasks, MTC will be able to decrease costs and sacrifice man hours.
3. CIO	MTC has lately turned its focus to employing people internationally, which the business’s current hiring procedure would not allow. The CIO further went so far as to state that MTC could no longer depend on a traditional acquisition process in order to achieve these goals.	The new employment mechanism, which is accessible on most channels, will make it feasible to discover talent from anywhere in the universe. (UMGC n.d.)
4. Director of Human Resources	The HR director of MTC believes that “procedures cannot meet the recruiting and staffing goals” at this time. Because it has made it harder to find employees. (UMGC, n.d.).	As was already noted, implementing the new employment system will speed up the recruiting team’s hiring process (Sołek-Borowska & Wilczewska, 2018).
5. Manager of Recruiting	Considering that MTC has no plans to hire more recruiters, the fact that only three to four full-time personnel are managing the task of examining hundreds of resumes at once considerably slows down the recruiting process.	Our competitors have already altered their hiring practices, reducing recruiting rates by 20% to 30%. Our comprehensive recruiters’ burden could drop from 90 hours weekly to 70 hours if MTC adopted a similar approach.
6. Recruiters	The MTC recruiters are aware of how time-sensitive their work is and that the organization only wants the most bright and skilled individuals. The current challenge for MTC’s recruitment agencies is that the traditional acquisition process necessitates recruiters to personally sort through applications and send them off, which takes more time and raises the chance that they will get lost. Furthermore, paper is not free, making this a pricey operation.	Thanks to the improved system, recruiters won’t need to print out and filter through applications.
7. Administrative Assistant	Currently, our AA is in charge of organizing interviews, mailing submissions across offices and routing them, and ensuring all documentation is prepared for a new hire. To ensure that the interview hours are suitable for both groups, she also looks at the schedules of all potential participants. As it stands, this strategy provides MTC’s AA with very little breathing room.	Our Employees won’t have to seek out viable options to determine whether a given date is vital for an interview since all open interview times will be recorded in the program. (UMGC, n.d.).
8. Hiring Manager (Functional supervisor the new employee would be working for.)	The acquisition manager explained, “We must surprise candidates with our tech and reliability manual procedures makes us look terrible. We are an IT consulting firm. The discretionary hiring method is unsuccessful in addition to damaging MTC’s reputation. (Sołek-Borowska & Wilczewska, 2018)	By employing a recruitment system, MTC will leave the stone age behind and be capable of attracting fresh talent owing to the straightforward hiring process.

B. Defining Requirements

The table below highlights the new employment software’s system and user requirements. Design specifications are the activities the individual chooses the system to accomplish, whereas requirements specifications are the characteristics the program must have.

EXAMPLE

CIO – Raj Patel

Administrative Assistant

CIO – Raj Patel

Requirement ID # only	Requirement Statement	Stakeholder (Position and Name from Case Study that identified this requirement)
User Requirements – (What the user needs the system to do)
	EXAMPLE	The system must store all information from the candidate’s application/resume in a central applicant database.	Recruiter – Peter O’Neil
1.	The technology must isolate the qualified candidates from the others to speed up the recruiting process. (UMGC, n.d.).	CEO: Samuel Johnson
2.	The system must have a planning program to ensure that both players to an evaluation can keep the regular appointment.	Administrative Assistant-Tom Arbuckle
3.	The solution will simplify the team’s communication, ending the days of sending an inter-office emails. .	Administrative Assistant- Tom Arbuckle and Hiring Manager
4.	The software must notify parties of invites as well as schedule interviews.		Administrative Assistant
5.	The system must notify the administrative assistants when an individual has finished their interview and the hiring manager has determined whether or not to hire them (Sołek-Borowska & Wilczewska, 2018).	Administrative Assistant
System Performance Requirements – (How the system will perform)
The system must be implemented as software as a Service solution.				CIO – Raj Patel
6.	The system needs to be steady with the organization’s existing plans and building (UMGC, n.d.).
7.	The system should back several electronic functions.
8.	The system needs record staff members’ identifications and expertise levels.	CFO: Evelyn Liu
9.	The system should use role-based identification.
10.	The scheme needs to protect all candidate data.

References

Sołek-Borowska, C., & Wilczewska, M. (2018). New technologies in the recruitment process. Economics and Culture, 15(2), 25-33. Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330255138_New_Technologies_in_the_Recruitment_Process

UMGC (n.d.). Analyzing Process Improvements Supported by IT. Retrieved from

https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learning-resourcelist/analyzing-processimprovementssupportedbyit.html?wcmmode=disabled

UMGC (n.d.). Developing Requirements for an IT System. Retrieved from

https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learning-resourcelist/developing-requirementsforanitsystem.html?wcmmode=disabled

Stage II: Process Analysis

Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC)

IFSM 300 Information Systems in Organizations

02/07/2023

II. Process Analysis

A.
Hiring Process

Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC) wants to develop and become a leading provider of IT consulting services with an objective to electronically replace the manual hiring procedure now in place. The table below will describe the present procedure, make some suggestions, and explain to MTC the necessity for a new approach.

Recruiter

Hiring Manager

Administrative Assistant

n/a

Administrative Assistant

MTC Hiring Process
As-Is Process	Responsible MTC Position	To-Be Process – How the system Will Support and Improve the hiring process	Business Benefits of Improved Process (Align with MTC’s overall business strategy and needs.)
1. Recruiter receives application from job hunter via Postal Service Mail.			Recruiter	The system will receive the application via online submission through MTC Employment Website and store it in the applicant database within the hiring system.	A more efficient submission process decreases the time needed to receive and begin processing applications. This will present a positive image to potential employees and help MTC compete for top IT talent.
2. Recruiter screens resumes to identify top candidates by matching with job requirements from job description.	The system will be employed to sort applications and choose the best applicants who satisfy the criteria.	The procedure will be enhanced by quicker testing and processing time that only displays suitable individuals, saving time and enabling MTC to rob a bigger circle of applicants quickly (Davies et al., 2023).
3. Recruiter forwards top candidates to Administrative Assistant via interoffice mail	The system shall produce an account with the best prospects that may be electronically forwarded to the AA.	The information about the candidates will be provided immediately to the AA because of a paperless update procedure.
4. Administrative Assistant forwards candidates’ resumes and applications to hiring manager for the position via interoffice mail.						Administrative Assistant	The technology will inevitably create a package with the candidate’s information and send it to the hiring manager after pulling it from a database.	The prospective employer can obtain and examine the data electronically to conduct additional candidate screening, saving time and productivity (Business Enterprise Mapping, 2021).
5. Hiring Manager reviews applications and selects who he/she wants to interview.		Hiring Manager	The information system will enable resume searches to find particular qualifications and talents the recruiting manager is looking for in a candidate.	A system with searchable material will streamline the hiring process by focusing on competent individuals. By cutting down on the time needed to read and examine paper resumes, will help MTC reach its employment objective more quickly (Davies et al., 2023).
6. Hiring Manager sends email to Administrative Assistant on who he/she has selected to interview and identifies members of the interview team.	The solution will let the hiring manager immediately notify the AA of the chosen applicants and interview panel.	The system’s deployment will shorten the time needed for the hiring manager to provide info to the AA. The recruiting process will move faster because of this benefit for MTC.
7. AA schedules interviews by contacting interview team members and hiring manager to identify possible time slots	The technology allows the AA to choose the days and times they are eligible for interviews by synchronizing the recruiting manager’s and the assessment team’s appointments.	Conflicts over scheduling and repeated phone conversations can be avoided with a system that syncs calendars, picks time slots, and generates emails for the AA (Business Enterprise Mapping, 2021).
8. AA emails candidates to schedule interviews.	The solution permits the AA to deliver an automatically compiled email containing all of the available time slots and a read receipt certification.	The system can monitor who has or hasn’t replied to the interview emails and can notify or remind the AA to verify the interview times. This allows for smooth tracking.
9. Interview is conducted with candidate, hiring manager and other members of the interview team.	Hiring Manager and Interview Team	The interview is conducted with the candidate, hiring manager, and other interview team members.		n/a
10. AA collects feedback from interviews and status of candidates	After the interviews are over, the interviewers can input their feedback into the system. The AA can be alerted to view the response in the system and modify the status of the applicants.	The system will effectively score the applicants and update their position by sending notifications when feedback is entered. This will simplify the work for the AA.
11. Hiring manager informs the AA on his top candidate for hiring	The hiring manager should utilize the system to choose the final options and then send a notification to the AA so that they can retrieve the data from the database.
12. Administrative Assistant prepares offer letter based on information from recruiter and puts in the mail to the chosen candidate.	The system enables AA to prepare a job offer letter by storing the offer letter template and information on each candidate.	A more efficient offer process presents a positive image to applicants, decreases the time needed to prepare an offer letter, and enables MTC to hire in advance of the competition (Analyzing Process Improvements Supported by IT)

B.
Expected Improvements

MTC must urgently modernize its employment procedure as they are not helped by the manual approach, which takes additional effort and time. MTC intends to expand by 7% annually over the following five years. MTC will be able to accomplish its objective by utilizing technology to develop a smooth hiring procedure.

Area	Current Issues (from the Case Study)	Improvements (due to the use of technology)
Collaboration:	The Hiring Manager states that recruiting is only one area he is responsible for, and he isn’t as responsive to HR as he could be. Therefore, he counts on the Recruiters to help manage the process and keep him informed. The current manual system causes many communication breakdowns and takes additional effort and time to stay on top of the hiring process.	An efficient system with all information in one place, easily accessible via a dashboard, and updated in real time could make his recruiting job easier; and he could devote time to effectively working collaboratively and proactively with HR on his staffing needs.
Communications: Explain how a hiring system could improve internal and external communications	MTC has a limited number of employees dedicated to recruiting, and those working on the employment procedure are overworked. There is insufficient appropriate communication between the recruiter, AA, and hiring manager. Resumes and applications may become misplaced in email or abandoned in interoffice mail.	By storing the data electronically and allowing users to search for keywords and particular skill sets for the role, an efficient system could reduce employers’ time to assess and screen applicants.
Workflow: Explain how a hiring system could improve the MTC hiring process by providing a consistent structure for each participant to perform his/her part in the hiring process.	Each stage of the hiring process takes significantly longer when everything is done manually. Before a candidate can proceed through the procedure, an excessive amount of paperwork must be reviewed.	The employment process can be streamlined with an information system. All team members could quickly and effectively carry out their responsibilities by uploading resumes to their system for the recruiter to and select the most competent applicants (Davies et al., 2023).
Relationships: Explain how implementing an enterprise hiring system could foster stronger relationships with applicants/potential employees.	The recruiting manager claims that employing manual procedures makes MTC appear unprofessional as an IT company. In order to rapidly update worried job seekers on the progress of their applications, MTC must answer their inquiries (Davies et al., 2023).	The applicants will receive real-time updates regarding their status through a system that uses technology. With this system, MTC will be seen as a cutting-edge, contemporary technology firm.

References

Analyzing Process Improvements Supported by IT.

https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/ifsm/ifsm300/2228/learning-resourcelist/analyzing-processimprovementssupportedbyit.html?wcmmode=disabled

Business Enterprise Mapping. (2021, June 10). Six process improvement strategies that work – BEM.

https://www.businessmapping.com/blog/process-improvement-strategies/

Davies, J., Heasman, B., Livesey, A., Walker, A., Pellicano, E., & Remington, A. (2023). Access to employment: A comparison of autistic, neurodivergent and neurotypical adults’ experiences of hiring processes in the United Kingdom. Retrieved from

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613221145377

Section I: Strategic Use of Technology

Name

Institutional Affiliation

Professor

Course

Date

Introduction

Maryland Technology Consultants is an accessing firm that specializes in providing Information Technology (IT) solutions to clients. The firm uses proven methodologies to deliver measurable results and enhance business performance. The provision of IT consulting and outsourcing services will be the main topics of the Business Analysis and System Recommendations (BA&SR) report on MTC’s commercial zone. Therefore, the report aims to create a strategic plan for implementing an onboarding program or recruiting system to enhance MTC’s recruitment procedure. The report will employ a four-stage strategy to accomplish this goal. Each of them examines a different portion of the study. The report will emphasize providing exceptional consulting guidance and advice to its customers by hiring highly qualified experts and keeping up-to-date with cutting-edge business technologies and innovations.

I.

Strategic Use of Technology

A. Business strategy

IT can revolutionize the manufacturing industry and transform business operations. Utilizing technology plays a critical role in trade and economic growth and can aid MTC in boosting its business progress through new contracts and partnerships (Chi, 2022). The usage of IT also broadens MTC’s reach because it is no longer constrained by geographical region. By utilizing IT, MTC can assemble a group of international consultants that can help American onsite teams via remote study and evaluation. This can be one of the company’s strategies. Additionally, IT enables more efficient identification of potential business partners in other countries or continents.

B. Competitive advantage

The Manufacturing Technology Corporation (MTC) operates in a highly competitive market, facing competition from both large-scale IT consulting organizations and smaller companies with specialized skill sets, as well as small to mid-sized businesses. MTC is concentrating on its hiring method to draw top IT experts with in-depth knowledge of cutting-edge technology and an inventive strategy for problem-solving for customers in order to acquire a competitive advantage (Amadeo & Rasure, 2022). The organization is aware that many applicants utilize online forms and anticipate a simple and quick application procedure in the current digital era. MTC has implemented an integrated hiring and retention strategy to fulfill this expectation, including a new IT solution. The candidate monitoring and hiring procedure is improved overall by this technology, which monitors the process more effectively than the manual method. The system also has a tool for managing business activities, simplifying management (David & David, 2016). The recruiting and recruitment procedures are streamlined by a piece of software called the applicant tracking system. Online processing allows the monitoring system to manage business operations and gather data, giving MTC a competitive edge over its main competitors.

C. Strategic Objectives

MTC intends to compete with more prominent companies for new IT Consulting projects by offering highly qualified IT consultants. MTC will be likely to do this in order to boost its effectiveness.

Strategic Goal

Objective

Explanation

Increase MTC business development by winning new contracts in the areas of IT
consulting.

Look into prospective business opportunities. Think about taking on one contract as the prime contractor and collaborating with at least two big firms as a subcontractor.

This statement suggests that the person or company should research different business opportunities and consider taking on a contract as the primary contractor while working with two other larger companies as subcontractors. This could involve partnering with larger companies to bid on and complete a project, with the primary contractor taking on the lead role and the subcontractors providing additional resources and expertise. This strategy could potentially help the primary contractor gain experience and credibility in the industry while also leveraging the resources and reputation of the larger firms.

Build a cadre of consultants internationally to provide remote research and analysis
support to MTC’s onsite teams in the U. S.

Over the next twelve months, increase overseas hiring and bring on six research analysts.

Online applications will be accepted from candidates worldwide, resulting in a spike in the number of international applicants. As a result, hiring managers would have the chance to track candidates’ progress for these roles, identify key research competencies, and evaluate resumes in light of those competencies. By looking at the applicant pool, recruitment agencies can quickly assess how many candidates are required to fulfill a goal.

Continue to increase MTC’s ability to provide high-quality consultants to quickly
awarded contracts to best serve the client’s needs.

Enlarge the hiring market. Over the next five months, five exceptionally talented talent acquisition specialists with at minimum five years of fast-paced experience in the industry should be employed.

To implement the new hiring strategy successfully, hiring qualified recruitment agencies used to demanding work settings is vital. They ought to know about hiring personnel after winning contracts.

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.

Create a culture within your firm that will draw in and keep talent. Reward staff members every quarter and acknowledge their contributions. Make use of MTC’s advantages to expand your clientele and gain more market share.

Rewarding top achievers will result in happier, more productive workers and lower turnover rates. Customers will value and appreciate MTC’s qualities, resulting in new contracts and collaborations.

D. Decision Making

Data tracking capabilities are among the most crucial features of information systems. The fact that an info system turns data into specific information is vital to comprehend. The ability to make decisions can be strengthened by using upgraded information just after data has been converted into knowledge.

Role

Level as defined in Course Content Reading

Example of Possible Decision Supported by Hiring System

Example of Information, the Hiring System, Could provide to Support your Example Decision

Senior/Executive Managers (Decisions made by the CEO and the CFO at MTC supported by the hiring system)

Strategic level

Promote emerging markets that you are considering joining.

You should specify how many experts you will need because you will be working with a new arrangement.

Middle Managers (Decisions made by the Director of HR and the Manager of Recruiting supported by the hiring system)

Managerial level

There are various phases involved in allocating budgets and resources.

According to the contract terms, candidates might be chosen by hiring managers and the director of the headquarters office.

Operational Managers (Decisions made by the line managers in the organization who are hiring for their projects supported by the hiring system)

Operational level

Work at a different location with workers moving from one area to another.

All qualifications and certificates necessary for the new post will be confirmed through the system’s verification procedure.

References

Amadeo, K, and Rasure, E. (2022, January). US and World Economies, What is Competitive Advantage?

https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-competitive-advantage-3-strategies-that-work-3305828

Chi, C. (2022). Business Strategy: What It Is & How to Build an Effective One.

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/business-strategy

David, F., & David, F. R. (2016). Strategic management: A competitive advantage approach, concepts, and cases. Pearson–Prentice Hall. Retrieved from

https://gibsoncollege.edu.et/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Strategic-Management-Concepts-and-Cases-15th-Ed.-by-Fred-R.-David-and-Forest-R.-David

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