Prepare the first section of a report that will ultimately analyze the organization described in the case study and recommend a system solution. In this section, you will analyze the organization and explain how an IT system could be used to support its strategies and objectives and support its decision-making processes.
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:
Founded:
Maryland Technology Consultants, Inc.
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.
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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.
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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 offtheshelf 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.
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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.
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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
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
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are won and we need to hire 75 (to as many as 150) staff in a 2-month period. I do not think my
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
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
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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.”
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.”
Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study.
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Data
This week we will take a closer look at data, how it is stored and
used, and how it is organized. While it is not expected that you
will become database experts, it is critical that you understand
the fundamentals of how data is stored, arranged, classified,
linked together, and secured for efficiency in providing
information. Data is the key to information systems. Data is the
raw facts collected from various transactions and events
throughout an organization. Individually, the data represents a
specific item such as a product code, customer address, invoice
amount, etc. Collectively, information systems transform the
data into useful information. For example, collecting the totals
of all the invoices for a given month lets us know how much was
sold. Therefore, if information is derived from data, it is critical
that the data be correct both in content and format. Accuracy
and data integrity enable the organization to rely on the
information to effectively manage, control, plan, and oversee
what’s going on in the business.
In today’s business environment, there is tremendous power in
linking databases throughout the enterprise to get the right
information to the right people at the right time. In addition,
databases can provide strategic business intelligence to
effectively support decision making. However, it’s important to
emphasize that ultimately it is the ability of employees and
managers to interpret the information, understand how to apply
it effectively, and use their experience and knowledge that
maximizes the value of the information in their decision making.
Data and Databases
Introduction
You have been introduced to the five key components of
information systems. However, two components, hardware and
software, by themselves do not make a computer useful.
Imagine if you turned on a computer, started the word
processor, but could not save a document. Imagine if you
opened a music player, but there was no music to play. Imagine
opening a web browser, but there were no web pages. Without
data, hardware and software are not very useful.
Data, Information, and Knowledge
Data is the raw bits and pieces of information with no context. If
I told you, “15, 23, 14, 85,” you would not have learned
anything. But I would have given you data.
Data can be quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative data is
numeric, the result of a measurement, count, or some other
mathematical calculation. Qualitative data is descriptive. “Ruby
Red,” the color of a 2013 Ford Focus, is an example of
qualitative data. A number can be qualitative too: If I tell you my
favorite number is 5, that is qualitative data because it is
descriptive, not the result of a measurement or mathematical
calculation.
By itself, data is not that useful. To be useful, it needs to be
given context. Returning to the example above, if I told you that
“15, 23, 14, and 85″ are the numbers of students that had
registered for upcoming classes, that would be information. By
adding the context—that the numbers represent the count of
students registering for specific classes—I have converted data
into information.
Once we have put our data into context, aggregated and
analyzed it, we can use it to make decisions for our
organization. We can say that this consumption of information
produces knowledge. This knowledge can be used to make
decisions, set policies, and even spark innovation.
The final step up the information ladder is the step from
knowledge (knowing a lot about a topic) to wisdom. We can say
that someone has wisdom when they can combine their
knowledge and experience to produce a deeper understanding
of a topic. It often takes many years to develop wisdom on a
particular topic, and requires patience.
Information Ladder
Progression of the usefulness of data with information,
knowledge, and wisdom
Examples of Data
Almost all software programs require data to do anything useful.
For example, if you are editing a document in a word processor
such as Microsoft Word, the document you are working on is the
data. The word-processing software can manipulate the data:
create a new document, duplicate a document, or modify a
document. Some other examples of data are an MP3 music file, a
video file, a spreadsheet, a web page, and an e-book. In some
cases, such as with an e-book, you may only have the ability to
read the data.
Databases
The goal of many information systems is to transform data into
information in order to generate knowledge that can be used for
decision making. In order to do this, the system must be able to
take data, put the data into context, and provide tools for
aggregation and analysis. A database is designed for just such a
purpose.
A database is an organized collection of related information. It is
an organized collection, because in a database, all data is
described and associated with other data. All information in a
database should be related as well; separate databases should
be created to manage unrelated information. For example, a
database that contains information about students should not
also hold information about company stock prices. Databases
are not always digital—a filing cabinet, for instance, might be
considered a form of database. For the purposes of this text, we
will only consider digital databases.
Relational Databases
Databases can be organized in many different ways, and thus
take many forms. The most popular form of database today is
the relational database. Popular examples of relational
databases are Microsoft Access, MySQL, and Oracle. A relational
database is one in which data is organized into one or more
tables. Each table has a set of fields, which define the nature of
the data stored in the table. A record is one instance of a set of
fields in a table. To visualize this, think of the records as the
rows of the table and the fields as the columns of the table. In
the example below, we have a table of student information, with
each row representing a student and each column representing
one piece of information about the student.
Relational Database
Students’ names and information about the students
In a relational database, all the tables are related by one or more
fields, so that it is possible to connect all the tables in the
database through the field(s) they have in common. For each
table, one of the fields is identified as a primary key. This key is
the unique identifier for each record in the table. To help you
understand these terms further, let’s walk through the process
of designing a database.
Designing a Database
Suppose a university wants to create an information system to
track participation in student clubs. After interviewing several
people, the design team learns that the goal of implementing
the system is to give better insight into how the university funds
clubs. This will be accomplished by tracking how many members
each club has and how active the clubs are. From this, the team
decides that the system must keep track of the clubs, their
members, and their events. Using this information, the design
team determines that the following tables need to be created:
•
Clubs: This table will track the club name, the club
president, and a short description of the club.
•
Students: The table will contain student name, email, and
year of birth.
•
Memberships: This table will correlate students with clubs,
allowing us to have any given student join multiple clubs.
•
Events: This table will track when the clubs meet and how
many students showed up.
Now that the design team has determined which tables to
create, they need to define the specific information that each
table will hold. This requires identifying the fields that will be in
each table. For example, Club Name would be one of the fields
in the Clubs table. First Name and Last Name would be fields in
the Students table. Finally, since this will be a relational
database, every table should have a field in common with at
least one other table (in other words: They should have a
relationship with each other).
In order to properly create this relationship, a primary key must
be selected for each table. This key is a unique identifier for
each record in the table. For example, in the Students table, it
might be possible to use students’ last name as a way to
uniquely identify them. However, it is more than likely that some
students will share a last name (like Rodriguez, Smith, or Lee),
so a different field should be selected. A student’s email address
might be a good choice for a primary key, since email addresses
are unique. However, a primary key cannot change, so this
would mean that if students changed their email address, we
would have to remove them from the database and then reinsert them—not an attractive proposition. Our solution is to
create a value for each student—a user ID—that will act as a
primary key. We will also do this for each of the student clubs.
This solution is quite common and is the reason you have so
many user IDs.
You can see the final database design in the figure below:
Student Clubs Database
A user ID is the primary key that relates one table to another
With this design, not only do we have a way to organize all of
the information we need to meet the requirements, but we have
also successfully related all the tables together. Here’s what the
database tables might look like with some sample data. Note
that the Memberships table has the sole purpose of allowing us
to relate multiple students to multiple clubs.
Clubs Database Table
Club ID Club Name
President
1
Cheese Club
14
2
Chess Club
1
3
Archery Club
6
Sample data on specific clubs
Students Database Table
ID
First Name
Last Name
Email
1
Peter
Lee
plee@university.edu
2
Jonathan
Edwards
jedwards@university.edu
3
Marilyn
Johnson
mjohnson@university.edu
6
Joe
Kim
jki@university.edu
12
Haley
Martinez
hmartinez@university.edu
14
John
Mfume
jmfume@university.edu
15
David
Letty
dletty@university.edu
Sample data on students
Memberships Database Table
Club ID
Student ID
1
1
Short desc
To talk about our love of chee
To learn how to become bette
To compete in archery.
Year of Birth
1992
1994
1993
1992
1993
1991
1995
Memberships Database Table
Club ID
1
1
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
Sample data on memberships
Events Database Table
Club ID
Event name
1
Cheese promo
2
MLK Tournament
3
January meeting
2
January meeting
Sample data on events
Student ID
2
14
1
3
5
6
1
6
12
14
15
Date
1/10/2013
1/21/2013
1/22/2013
1/28/2013
Normalization
When designing a database, one important concept to
understand is normalization. In simple terms, to normalize a
database means to design it in a way that: 1) reduces
duplication of data between tables and 2) gives the table as
much flexibility as possible.
In the Student Clubs database design, the design team worked
to achieve these objectives. For example, to track memberships,
a simple solution might have been to create a Members field in
the Clubs table and then just list the names of all of the
members there. However, this design would mean that if a
student joined two clubs, then his or her information would have
Atte
6
17
12
10
to be entered a second time. Instead, the designers solved this
problem by using two tables: Students and Memberships.
In this design, when a student joins their first club, we first must
add the student to the Students table, where their first name,
last name, email address, and birth year are entered. This
addition to the Students table will generate a student ID. Now we
will add a new entry to denote that the student is a member of a
specific club. This is accomplished by adding a record with the
student ID and the club ID in the Memberships table. If this
student joins a second club, we do not have to duplicate the
entry of the student’s name, email, and birth year; instead, we
only need to make another entry in the Memberships table of
the second club’s ID and the student’s ID.
The design of the Student Clubs database also makes it simple
to change the design without major modifications to the existing
structure. For example, if the design team was asked to add
functionality to the system to track faculty advisors to the clubs,
we could easily accomplish this by adding a Faculty Advisors
table (similar to the Students table) and then adding a new field
to the Clubs table to hold the Faculty Advisor ID.
Data Types
When defining the fields in a database table, we must give each
field a data type. For example, the field Birth Year is a year, so it
will be a number, while First Name will be text. Most modern
databases allow for several different data types to be stored.
Some of the more common data types are listed here:
•
Text: for storing non-numeric data that is brief, generally
under 256 characters. The database designer can identify
the maximum length of the text.
•
Number: for storing numbers. There are usually a few
different number types that can be selected, depending on
how large the largest number will be.
•
Yes/No: a special form of the number data type that is
(usually) one byte long, with a 0 for “No” or “False” and a 1
for “Yes” or “True.”
•
Date/Time: a special form of the number data type that can
be interpreted as a number or a time.
•
Currency: a special form of the number data type that
formats all values with a currency indicator and two decimal
places.
•
Paragraph Text: data type that allows for text longer than
256 characters.
•
Object: data type that allows for the storage of data that
cannot be entered via keyboard, such as an image or a
music file.
There are two important reasons that we must properly define
the data type of a field. First, a data type tells the database what
functions can be performed with the data. For example, if we
wish to perform mathematical functions with one of the fields,
we must be sure to tell the database that the field is a number
data type. So if we have, say, a field storing birth year, we can
subtract the number stored in that field from the current year to
get age.
The second important reason to define data type is so that the
proper amount of storage space is allocated for our data. For
example, if the First Name field is defined as a text(50) data
type, this means 50 characters are allocated for each first name
we want to store. However, even if the first name is only 5
characters long, 50 characters (bytes) will be allocated. While
this may not seem like a big deal, if our table ends up holding
50,000 names, we are allocating 50 * 50,000 = 2,500,000 bytes
for storage of these values. It may be prudent to reduce the size
of the field so we do not waste storage space.
The Difference Between a Database and a Spreadsheet
Many times, when introducing the concept of databases to
students, they quickly decide that a database is pretty much the
same as a spreadsheet. After all, a spreadsheet stores data in an
organized fashion, using rows and columns, and looks very
similar to a database table. This misunderstanding extends
beyond the classroom: spreadsheets are used as a substitute for
databases in all types of situations every day, all over the world.
To be fair, for simple uses, a spreadsheet can substitute for a
database quite well. If a simple listing of rows and columns (a
single table) is all that is needed, then creating a database is
probably overkill. In our Student Clubs example, if we only
needed to track a listing of clubs, the number of members, and
the contact information for the president, we could get away
with a single spreadsheet. However, the need to include a listing
of events and the names of members would be problematic if
tracked with a spreadsheet.
When several types of data must be mixed together, or when the
relationships between these types of data are complex, then a
spreadsheet is not the best solution. A database allows data
from several entities (such as students, clubs, memberships, and
events) to all be related together into one whole. While a
spreadsheet does allow you to define what kinds of values can
be entered into its cells, a database provides more intuitive and
powerful ways to define the types of data that go into each field,
reducing possible errors and allowing for easier analysis.
Though not good for replacing databases, spreadsheets can be
ideal tools for analyzing the data stored in a database. A
spreadsheet package can be connected to a specific table or
query in a database and used to create charts or perform
analysis on that data.
Structured Query Language
Once you have a database designed and loaded with data, how
will you do something useful with it? The primary way to work
with a relational database is to use Structured Query Language,
SQL (pronounced “sequel,” or simply stated as S-Q-L). Almost all
applications that work with databases (such as database
management systems, discussed below) make use of SQL as a
way to analyze and manipulate relational data. As its name
implies, SQL is a language that can be used to work with a
relational database. From a simple request for data to a complex
update operation, SQL is a mainstay of programmers and
database administrators. To give you a taste of what SQL might
look like, here are a couple of examples using our Student Clubs
database.
•
The following query will retrieve a list of the first and last
names of the club presidents:
SELECT “First Name”, “Last Name” FROM “Students” WHERE
“Students.ID” = “Clubs.President”
•
The following query will create a list of the number of
students in each club, listing the club name and then the
number of members:
SELECT “Clubs.Club Name”, COUNT(“Memberships.Student ID”)
FROM “Clubs” LEFT JOIN “Memberships” ON “Clubs.Club ID” =
“Memberships.Club ID”
An in-depth description of how SQL works is beyond the scope
of this introductory text, but these examples should give you an
idea of the power of using SQL to manipulate relational data.
Many database packages, such as Microsoft Access, allow you to
visually create the query you want to construct and then
generate the SQL query for you.
Other Types of Databases
The relational database model is the most used database model
today. However, many other database models exist that provide
different strengths than the relational model. The hierarchical
database model, popular in the 1960s and 1970s, connected
data together in a hierarchy, allowing for a parent/child
relationship between data. The document-centric model allowed
for a more unstructured data storage by placing data into
“documents” that could then be manipulated.
Perhaps the most interesting new development is the concept
of NoSQL (from the phrase “not only SQL”). NoSQL arose from
the need to solve the problem of large-scale databases spread
over several servers or even across the world. For a relational
database to work properly, it is important that only one person
be able to manipulate a piece of data at a time, a concept known
as record-locking. But with today’s large-scale databases (think
Google and Amazon), this is just not possible. A NoSQL database
can work with data in a looser way, allowing for a more
unstructured environment, communicating changes to the data
over time to all the servers that are part of the database.
Database Management Systems
To the computer, a database looks like one or more files. In
order for the data in the database to be read, changed, added,
or removed, a software program must access it. Many software
applications have this ability: iTunes can read its database to
give you a listing of its songs (and play the songs); your mobilephone software can interact with your list of contacts. But what
about applications to create or manage a database? What
software can you use to create a database, change a database’s
structure, or simply do analysis? That is the purpose of a
category of software applications called database management
systems (DBMS).
DBMS packages generally provide an interface to view and
change the design of the database, create queries, and develop
reports. Most of these packages are designed to work with a
specific type of database, but generally are compatible with a
wide range of databases.
For example, Apache OpenOffice.org Base (see screenshot) can
be used to create, modify, and analyze databases in opendatabase (ODB) format. Microsoft’s Access DBMS is used to
working with databases in its own Microsoft Access Database
format. Both Access and Base have the ability to read and write
to other database formats as well.
Apache OpenOffice.org Base
Database management system
Microsoft Access and Open Office Base are examples of personal
database-management systems. These systems are primarily
used to develop and analyze single-user databases. These
databases are not meant to be shared across a network or the
internet, but are instead installed on a particular device and
work with a single user at a time.
Enterprise Databases
A database that can only be used by a single user at a time is
not going to meet the needs of most organizations. As
computers have become networked and are now joined
worldwide via the internet, a class of database has emerged that
can be accessed by two, ten, or even a million people. These
databases are sometimes installed on a single computer to be
accessed by a group of people at a single location. Other times,
they are installed over several servers worldwide, meant to be
accessed by millions. These relational enterprise database
packages are built and supported by companies such as Oracle,
Microsoft, and IBM. The open-source MySQL is also an
enterprise database.
As stated earlier, the relational database model does not scale
well. The term scale here refers to a database getting larger and
larger, being distributed on a larger number of computers
connected via a network. Some companies are looking to
provide large-scale database solutions by moving away from the
relational model to other, more flexible models. For example,
Google now offers the App Engine Datastore, which is based on
NoSQL. Developers can use the App Engine Datastore to develop
applications that access data from anywhere in the world.
Amazon.com offers several database services for enterprise use,
including Amazon RDS, which is a relational database service;
and Amazon DynamoDB, a NoSQL enterprise solution.
Big Data
A new buzzword that has been capturing the attention of
businesses lately is big data. The term refers to such massively
large data sets that conventional database tools do not have the
processing power to analyze them. For example, Walmart must
process over one million customer transactions every hour.
Storing and analyzing that much data is beyond the power of
traditional database-management tools. Understanding the best
tools and techniques to manage and analyze these large data
sets is a problem that governments and businesses alike are
trying to solve.
Data Warehouse
As organizations have begun to utilize databases as the
centerpiece of their operations, the need to fully understand and
leverage the data they are collecting has become more and more
apparent. However, directly analyzing the data that is needed for
day-to-day operations is not a good idea; we do not want to tax
the operations of the company more than we need to. Further,
organizations also want to analyze data in a historical sense:
How does the data we have today compare with the same set of
data this time last month, or last year? From these needs arose
the concept of the data warehouse.
What Is Metadata?
The term metadata can be understood as “data about data.” For
example, when looking at one of the values of Year of Birth in
the Students table, the data itself may be “1992.” The metadata
about that value would be the field name Year of Birth, the time
it was last updated, and the data type (integer). Another
example of metadata could be for an MP3 music file;
information such as the length of the song, the artist, the
album, the file size, and even the album cover art, are classified
as metadata. When a database is being designed, a “data
dictionary” is created to hold the metadata, defining the fields
and structure of the database.
The concept of the data warehouse is simple: extract data from
one or more of the organization’s databases and load it into the
data warehouse (which is itself another database) for storage
and analysis. However, the execution of this concept is not that
simple. A data warehouse should be designed so that it meets
the following criteria:
•
It uses nonoperational data. This means that the data
warehouse is using a copy of data from the active
databases that the company uses in its day-to-day
operations, so the data warehouse must pull data from the
existing databases on a regular, scheduled basis.
•
The data is time-variant. This means that whenever data is
loaded into the data warehouse, it receives a time stamp,
which allows for comparisons between different time
periods.
•
The data is standardized. Because the data in a data
warehouse usually comes from several different sources, it
is possible that the data does not use the same definitions
or units. For example, our Events table in our Student Clubs
database lists the event dates using the mm/dd/yyyy
format (e.g., 01/10/2013). A table in another database
might use the format yy/mm/dd (e.g., 13/01/10) for dates.
In order for the data warehouse to match up dates, a
standard date format would have to be agreed upon and all
data loaded into the data warehouse would have to be
converted to use this standard format. This process is
called extraction-transformation-load (ETL).
There are two primary schools of thought when designing a data
warehouse: bottom-up and top-down. The bottom-up approach
starts by creating small data warehouses, called data marts , to
solve specific business problems. As these data marts are
created, they can be combined into a larger data warehouse. The
top-down approach suggests that we should start by creating an
enterprise-wide data warehouse and then, as specific business
needs are identified, create smaller data marts from the data
warehouse.
Benefits of Data Warehouses
Organizations find data warehouses quite beneficial for a
number of reasons:
•
The process of developing a data warehouse forces an
organization to better understand the data that it is
currently collecting and, equally important, what data is not
being collected.
•
A data warehouse provides a centralized view of all data
being collected across the enterprise and provides a means
for determining data that is inconsistent.
•
Once all data is identified as consistent, an organization
can generate one version of the truth. This is important
when the company wants to report consistent statistics
about itself, such as revenue or number of employees.
•
By having a data warehouse, snapshots of data can be
taken over time. This creates a historical record of data,
which allows for an analysis of trends.
•
A data warehouse provides tools to combine data, which
can provide new information and analysis.
Data warehouse process (top-down)
Data Mining
Data mining is the process of analyzing data to find previously
unknown trends, patterns, and associations in order to make
decisions. Generally, data mining is accomplished through
automated means against extremely large data sets, such as a
data warehouse. Some examples of data mining include:
•
An analysis of sales from a large grocery chain might
determine that milk is purchased more frequently the day
after it rains in cities with a population of less than 50,000.
•
A bank may find that loan applicants whose bank accounts
show particular deposit and withdrawal patterns are not
good credit risks.
•
A baseball team may find that collegiate baseball players
with specific statistics in hitting, pitching, and fielding
make for more successful major league players.
In some cases, a data-mining project is begun with a
hypothetical result in mind. For example, a grocery chain may
already have some idea that buying patterns change after it
rains and want to get a deeper understanding of exactly what is
happening. In other cases, there are no presuppositions and a
data-mining program is run against large data sets in order to
find patterns and associations.
Privacy Concerns
The increasing power of data mining has caused concerns for
many, especially in the area of privacy. In today’s digital world, it
is becoming easier than ever to take data from disparate sources
and combine them to do new forms of analysis. In fact, a whole
industry has sprung up around this technology: data brokers.
These firms combine publicly accessible data with information
obtained from the government and other sources to create vast
warehouses of data about people and companies that they can
then sell.
Business Intelligence and Business Analytics
With tools such as data warehousing and data mining at their
disposal, businesses are learning how to use information to their
advantage. The term business intelligence is used to describe
the process that organizations use to take data they are
collecting and analyze it in the hopes of obtaining a competitive
advantage. Besides using data from their internal databases,
firms often purchase information from data brokers to get a
big-picture understanding of their industries. Business
analytics is the term used to describe the use of internal
company data to improve business processes and practices.
Knowledge Management
We end the chapter with a discussion on the concept
of knowledge management (KM). All companies accumulate
knowledge over the course of their existence. Some of this
knowledge is written down or saved, but not in an organized
fashion. Much of this knowledge is not written down; instead, it
is stored inside the heads of its employees. Knowledge
management is the process of formalizing the capture, indexing,
and storing of the company’s knowledge in order to benefit
from the experiences and insights that the company has
captured during its existence.
Summary
We have learned about the role that data and databases play in
the context of information systems. Data is made up of small
facts and information without context. If you give data context,
then you have information. Knowledge is gained when
information is consumed and used for decision making. A
database is an organized collection of related information.
Relational databases are the most widely used type of database,
where data is structured into tables, and all tables must be
related to each other through unique identifiers. A database
management system (DBMS) is a software application that is
used to create and manage databases and can take the form of a
personal DBMS, used by one person, or an enterprise DBMS that
can be used by multiple users. A data warehouse is a special
form of database that takes data from other databases in an
enterprise and organizes it for analysis. Data mining is the
process of looking for patterns and relationships in large data
sets. Many businesses use databases, data warehouses, and
data-mining techniques in order to produce business
intelligence and gain a competitive advantage.
Study Questions
1. What is the difference between data, information, and
knowledge?
2. Explain in your own words how the data component relates
to the hardware and software components of information
systems.
3. What is the difference between quantitative data and
qualitative data? In what situations could the number 42 be
considered qualitative data?
4. What are the characteristics of a relational database?
5. When would using a personal DBMS make sense?
6. What is the difference between a spreadsheet and a
database? List three differences between them.
7. Describe what the term normalization means.
8. Why is it important to define the data type of a field when
designing a relational database?
9. Name a database you interact with frequently. What would
some of the field names be?
10.
What is metadata?
11.
Name three advantages of using a data warehouse.
12.
What is data mining?
Licenses and Attributions
Chapter 4: Data and Databases from Information Systems for
Business and Beyond by David T. Bourgeois is available under
a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. © 2014,
David T. Bourgeois. UMGC has modified this work and it is
available under the original license.
© 2023 University of Maryland Global Campus
All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for
the validity or integrity of information located at external sites.
Learning Resource
Print
Characteristics of Quality Data
People depend on the systems they use to contain high-quality data. If
they find the data to be wrong, outdated, or incomplete, they begin to
distrust the system and will likely stop using it. If the data in the system
is personally important to the individual, such as the data in payroll or
medical systems, then there is a strong need to have it corrected as
quickly as possible.
What are the characteristics of good-quality data? There are a variety
of characteristics, but we will focus on six. Let’s look at the data that
may be in a payroll system and how each of the characteristics of
quality data are important, and consider an example of each.
•
•
•
•
Accuracy – Is the information correct? For example, is the annual
salary correct?
Completeness – Is all the information there? For example, if
overtime was worked, is it included?
Timeliness – Is the information current and pertaining to a
specific, identified time period? Does the payroll data pertain to
the current pay period? For example, is old, outdated data used,
which could change the amount paid to the employee?
Uniqueness – Does each record have its own individual identifier
(often referred to as a unique identifier)? Does the payroll record
apply to a specific individual? For example, does a specific payroll
record pertain to a specific employee?
•
•
Validity – Is the information appropriate for defined parameters?
Is the data in the payroll record based on the acceptable ranges?
For example, is the hourly rate within the accepted range and is
the number of hours worked reasonable?
Consistency – Does the data correctly align with other data in the
system? For example, if the employee is a salaried employee does
the payroll record reflect that vs. hourly employee data?
It is important that the data in information systems is of high quality. As
systems are developed, the testing should include ensuring that the
quality of data is maintained throughout the system, from its source to
the final output. Therefore, data needs to have these characteristics
when it is entered into the system. The data entry process should
include validation that it meets these quality attributes, and then it
needs to be protected as it resides in and flows through the system. If
any of these characteristics are missing, the system must be analyzed to
discover where the problem lies. The correction may be as simple as
fixing an individual record; or, if it is not clear where the problem lies,
the system may be considered unreliable overall and may need to be
taken offline until corrections are applied. When migrating data to a
new system, it is also important to maintain accuracy and integrity.
Inconsistency or redundancy in data will reduce the acceptance of a
new system by users. Part of a system implementation plan should
include specifics about how data will be transferred, entered, and
verified to ensure a high degree of accuracy (often referenced as a data
migration plan).
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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.
How Information Supports Decision Making
Now that you have been introduced to the basics of data, how it can be
stored, and the importance of data quality, let’s look at how data
transformed into information supports organizational decision making.
In their simplest form, information systems are all about getting the
right information in the most usable format to the right people, at the
right time and place. Advances in integrated software applications, the
internet, and better data management practices provide businesses
with better tools to support that goal.
A key competitive advantage of an organization is the ability to react to
changes quickly. Being able to make the right decision to address a
potential threat or seize an opportunity could make the difference in
whether or not the company stays in business or continues to increase
profits. The key to making good decisions is having the relevant
information readily available in the form that is needed. There are three
basic levels of decision making in an organization: operational,
managerial, and strategic as illustrated below.
Let’s look at the process of creating an invoice. An invoice contains
several pieces of data, such as customer name, number, address,
shipping method, items ordered, and quantities. This data is required at
an operational level to update inventories, handle logistics, add to
accounts receivable, and so forth. At the mid-level of our pyramid, the
management level, the data from each individual invoice are not as
important as the cumulative information that many invoices can
provide. For example, sales have increased 25% on product A, orders
for product B are shipping consistently behind schedule, and shipping
costs with shipper X are increasing more than with other shippers. With
this information on trends or patterns, management can investigate
further and make decisions on production schedules, supplier
relationships, or preferred shipping vendors.
At the senior or executive level of an organization, the company
leadership is less concerned than middle management about the trends
or patterns—their concerns are strategic. Senior management looks at
information, both from within the organization and external. For
example, suppose a key component needed in the manufacturing
process is petroleum-based. Rising oil prices, coupled with industry
forecasts that prices will continue to rise, call for addressing this
situation at a strategic level. Senior management might consider
whether a price increase can be justified, how much of an increase the
market can bear, or whether there are alternatives that would not
degrade the product.
A primary advantage of an information system is its ability to support
and improve decision making throughout the organization by turning
data into useful information. However, the system is just a tool and
does not replace the human factor; people are still required to make the
choices involved in the decisions. Individuals at all levels of the
organization can use the information provided by the system as they
make their decisions. In the invoice example above, the creation and
use of the invoice data could all be done by hand, using paper invoices.
However, the use of a system to capture, store, and share that
information throughout the organization significantly increases the
efficiency and effectiveness of the process and makes the information
immediately and readily available to those who need it to make their
decisions.
We can see that information moves through the organization and is
viewed for different purposes by different levels within the
organization. However, the data are captured at the operational level
(transaction-processing systems) and made available in appropriate
forms (summary of product, customer, geographic distribution
differences, and so on) at the various managerial levels.
It is important to note that information can flow both up and down the
levels within an organization. Information that is useful for monitoring
(“How are we doing?”) typically flows from the operational level
upward. Control information (“Is business going as planned?”) typically
flows from the top level downward. For example, a senior manager
notes that sales figures are declining. She queries down through the
organization to find more information to control the declining sales.
From mid-level management, she may learn that only the Midwest
region is experiencing a decline. From the operational level, she may
learn that the sales force in that region has had significant turnover and
that 40 percent of its sales representatives have fewer than six months
of experience.
More specifically, let’s look at some examples of possible types of
information and decisions different levels of the organization based on
information from an invoice processing system based on the graphic
above.
Level
Strategic
Types of
Information
Overall sales
figures
Area of Focus or Concern
Amount of increase in market
share.
Decision Example
Decide to discontinue underperforming products.
Supporting I
System
The system co
products wher
meeting the p
Monitor sales volume vs.
projected sales.
Strategic
Overall Sales
Figures
Determine manufacturing
capacity requirements and
resource utilization.
Identify increasing costs of raw
materials due to increased oil
prices.
Decide whether to reduce production The system co
of products that use significant
products that
petroleum-based ingredients.
petroleum-bas
Types of
Level
Information
Managerial Monthly
Invoices
Area of Focus or Concern
Plan monthly production
schedule.
Supporting I
Decision Example
System
Decide to increase production
The system w
schedule to meet increased demands volume inform
on certain products.
demand produ
Schedule employees.
Plan maintenance schedules.
Managerial Monthly
Invoices
Operational Invoice Data
Manage inventory.
Impact on monthly payroll;
overtime hours worked.
Update inventory, schedule
production. Coordinate
shipping.
Decide to increase number of
employees in certain departments to
reduce excessive overtime.
Decide to negotiate shipping rates
with most-used shippers.
To provide a more personal example, think about the information you
can gain from your online bank account system. The system can show
your current balance, total of deposits, total of withdrawals, pending
payments (if you use online bill paying), etc. Then based on information
the system provides, you can make more informed decisions about your
budgeting and spending. If the system showed information that last
month your total withdrawals at ATM machines had increased
significantly, on average you were hitting the ATM machine 3 or 4
times each week, and the withdrawals averaged $50 per withdrawal,
you could decide to limit yourself to once-a-week ATM withdrawals of
no more than $100. Further analysis of your spending habits could
show a significant amount of money being spent daily on eating lunch
out. You could then decide to pack your lunch two days a week. This
shows how you could make fact-based decisions supported by
information from the banking information system.
Keep in mind that information technology is simply a tool. Knowing
how to use the tool correctly is instrumental to overall effectiveness.
The key to using IT successfully is knowing what data an information
system contains and how the data can be converted into useful
information to support decision making at each level in the
organization. This helps organizations achieve their business strategy
and maintain or increase its competitive advantage.
The system co
indicating wh
demand by 15
The system co
volume of shi
vendor and th
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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.
Stage 1: Strategic Use of Technology
Before you begin work on this assignment, be sure you have read the Case Study on Maryland
Technology Consultants (MTC). MTC is a fictional company created for IFSM 300’s Case Study. It is also
recommended that you review the additional Stages (2, 3 and 4) as well as the vendor brochure
provided for Stage 4. This will help you understand the overall report and potential solution.
Overview
As a business analyst in the Chief Information Officer’s (CIO’s) department of Maryland Technology
Consulting (MTC), 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
or hiring system) to improve the hiring process for MTC. This work will be completed in four stages, and
each of these four stages will focus on one section of an overall Business Analysis and System
Recommendation (BA&SR) report to be delivered to the CIO.
Section I. Strategic Use of Technology (Stage 1) – The first step is to look at the organization and explain
how an IT system could be used to support MTC’s strategies and objectives and support its decisionmaking processes.
Section II. Process Analysis (Stage 2) – Next you will evaluate current processes and workflow and
explain how MTC can use IT to improve its processes and workflow.
Section III. Requirements (Stage 3) –Then you will identify key stakeholder expectations for the new
technology solution to support MTC’s hiring process and develop a set of requirements.
Section IV. System Recommendation (Stage 4) – Finally, you will review the provided Vendor brochure
for a proposed applicant tracking system and explain how it meets the requirements and what needs to
be done to implement the system within MTC.
The sections of the BA&SR will be developed and submitted as four staged assignments. For stages 1, 2,
and 3, only the material associated with that stage will be graded. The stage 2, 3, and 4 submissions will
include the stage that is due, which will be graded according to the assignment requirements and rubric
criteria, as well as include all previously submitted stages with any revisions made. It is recommended
that when preparing stages 2, 3, and 4, you review any feedback from previous assignments to help
improve the effectiveness of your overall report and increase the likelihood of a well-written final
submission. For stage 4, the complete BA&SR submission includes grading criteria for evaluating if the
document is a very effective and cohesive assemblage of the four sections, is well formatted across all
sections and flows smoothly from one section to the next.
Assignment – BA&SR: Introduction and Section I. Strategic Use of Technology
Write an appropriate Introduction to the entire BA&SR Report (guidelines are provided below). Section I
of the BA&SR document contains an organizational analysis and identifies ways in which an information
system to improve the hiring process can help MTC, the organization in the case study, meet its strategic
goals and meet the information needs of various levels of management.
Stage 1: Strategic Use of Technology 03/19/2020
1
Using the case study, assignment instructions, Content readings, and external research, develop your
Introduction and Section I. Strategic Use of Technology. To start, review the readings in Weeks 1 and 2.
The case study tells you that the executives and employees at MTC have identified a need for an
effective and efficient applicant tracking or hiring system. As you review the case study, use the
assignment instructions to take notes to assist in your analysis.
Use the outline format, headings and tables provided and follow all formatting instructions below.
For Stage 1, create a title page and reference page that will be used for all 4 stages.
Apply specific information from the case study to address each area.
Introduction
Begin your report with a clear, concise, well organized introduction to explain why you are writing and
what is to come in the complete BA&SR report (not just Stage 1). This should briefly set the context for
MTC – business purpose, environment, and current challenges related to hiring. Then specifically
provide what is to come in the full report. Keep your audience in mind – this is an internal report for
the CIO of MTC. Provide an introduction in one paragraph that engages the reader’s interest in
continuing to read your report.
I.
Strategic Use of Technology
A. Business Strategy – In this section, you should clearly present – at a broad level – what
MTC’s business strategy is (refer to case study information), then what issues the current
manual hiring process may present that interfere with achieving that strategy, and how
improving the hiring process will benefit MTC and support its business strategy. (Use two to
three strong sentences that explain how the system would support the strategy and justify
your position with specifics from the Case Study.)
B. Competitive Advantage – First, provide an overview of the competitive environment
that MTC is currently operating in based on information from the case study. Then explain
how and why MTC can use the new hiring system to increase its competitive advantage and
help achieve its overall business strategy. Your explanation should demonstrate your
understanding of what competitive advantage is as well as how improving the hiring process
will help achieve MTC’s competitive advantage. Include how MTC can use the type of data
or information that will be in the hiring system to improve its competitive advantage.
(Paragraph of 4-5 sentences)
C. Strategic Objectives- Review the four Strategic Goals presented in the Strategic Business
Plan section of the MTC Case Study. The CIO has asked you to come up with an example of
an objective to help meet each goal and explain how a new hiring system would help
achieve that objective. As you can see from the example provided in the table below, an
objective is a statement that is clear (not vague) and is something that can be measured or
evaluated to determine whether it has been met or not. An important part of setting
objectives is that they are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound). In order to evaluate whether an objective has been achieved, it’s important to be
able to measure it. Consider this difference – Student wants to get a degree (non-specific
Stage 1: Strategic Use of Technology 03/19/2020
2
and not measurable) vs. Student wants to earn a degree in Information Systems
Management by May 2020. (This objective provides specific what and when.) First, insert
an introductory opening sentence for this table. Then, for each of the rows listed below,
complete the table with the requested information. (Provide an introductory sentence and
copy the table. Create an objective for each of the 3 remaining goals and explain using 2-3
complete sentences for each.) Note: This is not about an objective to implement a hiring
system or broad business goals but rather the focus is on objectives that would be
supported by the use of a technology solution to support/improve the hiring process.
Strategic Goal
(from case study)
Increase MTC Business
Development by winning
new contracts in the areas of
IT Consulting
Build a cadre of consultants
internationally to provide
remote research and analysis
support to MTC’s onsite
teams in the U. S.
Objective
(clear, measurable and time-bound)
Increase international recruiting
efforts and employ 5 research
analysts in the next 12 months.
EXAMPLE PROVIDED –
(Retain text but remove this
label and gray shading in
your report)
Continue to increase MTC’s
ability to quickly provide high
quality consultants to
awarded contracts to best
serve the clients’ needs
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
Stage 1: Strategic Use of Technology 03/19/2020
3
Explanation
(2-3 sentences)
The new hiring system would
allow applicants from around the
world to apply online, increasing
the number of international
applicants. It would enable the
recruiters to carefully monitor
the applications for these
positions, identify the necessary
research and analysis skills
needed, and screen resumes for
these key skills. Recruiters
could quickly view the number of
applicants and identify when
additional recruiting efforts are
needed to meet the objective.
D. Decision Making – In the reading, “How Information Supports Decision Making,” you
were introduced to the information requirements of various levels of the
organization. First, insert an introductory opening sentence for this section. Then,
for each of the management roles listed below, complete the table with the
appropriate level (as defined in the reading – one word is all that is required in this
column), an example of a specific decision supported by the Hiring System to be
made at that level, and what type of information from the hiring system would be
needed to support that decision. Think about what information the hiring system
could provide about applicants, etc., and then identify an example of a decision that
might be made by each level of management. A decision is a choice or conclusion
that the management might make about business operations or future planning.
This is not about the decisions about implementing a new technology solution or
about general responsibilities of each role. Example: A decision example could be
stated as: CEO decides to expand MTC’s services to include cybersecurity. He can
make this decision because the hiring system provides information that many
applicants have the needed skills, certifications and experience to enable MTC to
easily recruit IT consultants in this area. (Provide an introductory sentence then
copy the table and insert information within, writing in complete sentences.)
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.)
Middle Managers
(Decisions made by the
Director of HR and the
Manager of Recruiting
supported by the hiring
system.)
Operational Managers
(Decisions made by the
line managers in the
organization who are
hiring for their projects
supported by the hiring
system.)
Formatting Your Assignment
Consider your audience – you are writing in the role of an 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.
Stage 1: Strategic Use of Technology 03/19/2020
4
Also do not reference “stage #” or “case study” – these are class terms and would not be in a business
report. 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.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Create a title page that includes: The title of report, company name, your name, Course and Section
number and date (revise date with each submission).
In Stage 1, you are preparing the first 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.
Introduction
I.
Strategic Use of Technology
A.
Business Strategy
B.
Competitive Advantage
C.
Strategic Objectives
D.
Decision Making
Write a short concise paper: Use the recommendations provided in each area for length of
response. It’s important to value quality over quantity. Assignment should not exceed 4 pages
excluding title and reference pages.
Content areas should be double spaced; table entries should be single-spaced.
To copy a table: Move your cursor to the table, then click on the small box that appears at the
upper left corner of the table to highlight the table; right click and COPY the table; put the cursor in
your paper where you want the table and right click and PASTE the table.
Ensure that each of the tables is preceded by an introductory sentence that explains what is
contained in the table, so the reader understands why the table has been included.
Use at least two resources with APA formatted citation and reference. Use at least one external
reference and one from the course content. Course content should be from the class reading
content, not the assignment instructions or case study itself. Refer to APA Requirements for IFSM
300 Classes that is posted under Content>Course Resources>Writing Resources for specifics related
to citing from the class content. For information on general APA format, refer to Content>Course
Resources>Writing Resources.
Begin a Reference Page for resources required for this assignment. Additional research in the next
stages will be added to this as you build the report. The final document should contain all
references from all stages appropriately formatted and alphabetized. Use APA format for your
reference page.
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_1
Stage 1: Strategic Use of Technology 03/19/2020
5
GRADING RUBRIC:
Criteria
Far Above
Standards
Above Standards
Meets Standards
Below
Standards
Well Below
Standards
Introduction
16 points
13.6 points
12points
10.4 Points
0 points
Describes the
organization
and provides
an introduction
to the overall
Report
14.4-16 Points
13.6 Points
12 Points
10.4 Points
0-8 Points
The introduction is
very effective; is
clear, logical,
derived from the
Case Study; and
demonstrates a
sophisticated level
of writing.
The introduction
is clear, logical,
and derived from
the Case Study.
The introduction is
adequate and is
derived from the
Case Study.
The
introduction is
not clear,
logical and/or
derived from
the Case
Study.
32 points
27.2 points
24points
20.8 Points
Content missing or
extremely
incomplete, did not
reflect the
assignment
instructions, showed
little or no
originality,
demonstrated little
effort, is not derived
from the Case
Study; and/or is not
original work for this
class section.
0 points
28.8 – 32 Points
25.6 – 27.2 Points
22.4 – 24 Points
19.2 – 20.8
Points
The explanation is
clear, logical and
fully supported with
information from
the Case study and
using a
sophisticated level
of writing.
The explanation
is clear, logical
and supported
with information
from the Case
study.
The explanation is
provided and
supported with
information from
the Case Study.
24 points
20.4 Points
17.52 Points
14.4 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.
0 points
20.8 – 24 Points
20.4 Points
16-17.6 Points
14.4 Points
0-12.8 Points
Clear, complete,
logical, derived from
the Case Study, and
demonstrates
sophisticated
analysis and writing.
Complete and
accurate; derived
from the Case
Study,
demonstrates
Explanation is
provided and
related to the Case
Study, may lack
specifics and/or
clear logic.
Explanation is
not clear,
logical and/or
supported
with
information
Content missing or
extremely
incomplete, did not
reflect the
assignment
instructions, showed
Strategy
How the
system will
support the
organization’s
strategy as
derived from
the case study
Competitive
Advantage
Explanation of
how the system
and its data
can be used for
competitive
advantage
Stage 1: Strategic Use of Technology 03/19/2020
6
The
explanation is
not clear,
logical and/or
supported
with
information
from the Case
Study.
Possible
Points
16
32
0 – 17.6 Points
24
analysis and
effective writing.
Strategic
Objectives
Three
objectives
derived from
Strategic Goals
in Case Study
with
explanation of
how new hiring
system would
help achieve.
Generally, 0-5
points per
objective. Both
quantity and
quality
evaluated.
DecisionMaking
Types of
decisions
supported by
the system for
each of the
three levels of
the
organization
Generally, 0-5
points per
decision
example. Both
quantity and
quality
evaluated.
Research
Two or more
sources–one
source from
within the IFSM
300 course
24 Points
20.4 points
17.52 Points
14.4 Points
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.
0 points
20.8 – 24 Points
20.4 Points
16-17.6 points
14.4 Points
0-12.8 Points
Objectives are clear,
measurable and
time-bound and are
strongly and fully
explained using a
sophisticated level
of writing.
Objectives are
clear, measurable
and time-bound,
and are clearly
explained.
Objectives are
somewhat clear,
measurable and
time-bound, and
are explained.
Objectives are
not clear,
measurable
and/or timebound, and/or
are not
explained.
24 Points
20.4 Points
17.52 Points
14.4 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.
0
20.8 – 24 points
20.4 Points
16-17.6 Points
14.4 Points
0-12.8 Points
Identified correctly
and fully, clearly
and logically
explained; are
derived from the
Case Study; and
demonstrate
sophisticated
analysis and writing.
Identified
correctly and
clearly and
logically
explained; are
derived from the
Case Study; and
demonstrate
analysis and
effective writing.
Identified correctly
and explained and
are derived from
the Case Study.
Not all
provided;
and/or are not
correct and/or
not derived
from the Case
Study.
16 points
13.6 points
12 points
10.4 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.
0 points
13.6 Points
12 Points
10.4 Points
0-8 Points
Only one resource
is used and
properly
A source may
be used, but is
not properly
No course content
or external research
incorporated; or
14.4-16 Points
Required resources
are incorporated
and used
At least two
sources are
incorporated and
Stage 1: Strategic Use of Technology 03/19/2020
from the Case
Study.
7
24
24
16
content and
one external
(other than the
course
materials)
Format
Uses outline
format
provided;
includes Title
Page and
Reference Page
effectively. Sources
used are relevant
and timely and
contribute strongly
to the analysis.
References are
appropriately
incorporated and
cited using APA
style.
24 points
are relevant and
somewhat
support the
analysis.
References are
appropriately
incorporated and
cited using APA
style.
incorporated
and/or
reference(s) lack
correct APA style.
reference listed is
not cited within the
text.
17.52 points
incorporated
or used,
and/or is not
effective or
appropriate;
and/or does
not follow APA
style for
references and
citations.
14.4 points
20.4 points
20.8-24 Points
20.4 Points
16-17.6 Points
14.4 Points
0-12.8 Points
Well organized and
easy to read. Very
few or no errors in
sentence structure,
grammar, and
spelling; doublespaced, written in
third person and
presented in a
professional format.
Effective
organization; has
few errors in
sentence
structure,
grammar, and
spelling; doublespaced, written
in third person
and presented in
a professional
format.
Some
organization; may
have some errors
in sentence
structure,
grammar and
spelling. Report is
double spaced and
written in third
person.
Not well
organized,
and/or
contains
several
grammar
and/or spelling
errors; and/or
is not doublespaced and
written in
third person.
Extremely poorly
written, has many
grammar and/or
spelling errors, or
does not convey the
information
required.
0 points
TOTAL Points
Possible
Stage 1: Strategic Use of Technology 03/19/2020
8
24
160
Stage 3: Requirements
Before you begin work on this assignment, be sure you have read the Case Study and reviewed the
feedback received on your Stage 1 and 2 assignments.
Overview
As the business analyst in the CIO’s department of Maryland Technology Consulting (MTC), your next
task in developing your Business Analysis and System Recommendation (BA&SR) Report is to develop a
set of requirements for the hiring system.
Assignment – BA&SR Section III. Requirements
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. Only content for Stage 3 will be graded for
this submission. Part of the grading criteria for Stage 4 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. For this assignment, you will add Section III of the Business Analysis and System
Recommendation (BA&SR) Report to your Sections I and II. In this section you will identify requirements
for the new hiring system. This analysis leads into Section IV. System Recommendation of the BA&SR
(Stage 4 assignment) that will analyze a proposed IT solution to ensure it meets MTC’s organizational
strategy and fulfills its operational needs.
Using the case study, assignment instructions, Content readings, and external research, develop your
Section III. Requirements. The case study tells you that the executives and employees at Maryland
Technology Consultants (MTC) have identified a need for an effective and efficient applicant tracking or
hiring system. As you review the case study, use the assignment instructions to take notes to assist in
your analysis. In particular, look for information in the interviews to provide stakeholder interests and
needs.
Use the outline format, headings and tables provided and follow all formatting instructions below.
III.
Requirements
A.
Stakeholder Interests – Review the interest or objectives for the new hiring system for
each stakeholder listed below based on his or her organizational role and case study
information. Consider how the technology will improve how his/her job is done; that is, identify
what each of the stakeholders needs the hiring system to do. Then to complete the table below,
use information from the stakeholder interviews and identify one significant challenge or
problem for each stakeholder related to the current hiring process (not their future
expectations). Then explain how a system could address their problems. Do not define what
that position does in the organization. (Provide an introductory sentence for this section, copy
the table below and complete the two columns with 1-2 complete sentences for each role in
each column.)
Role
Stage 3: Requirements 03/17/2020
Specific problem related to
the current hiring process
1
How a technology
solution to support the
hiring process could
address the problem
1. CEO
2. CFO
3. CIO
4. Director of Human Resources
5. Manager of Recruiting
6. Recruiters
7. Administrative Assistant
8. Hiring Manager (Functional
supervisor the new employee
would be working for.)
B.
Defining Requirements – The next step is to identify the essential requirements for the
information system. In addition to the stakeholder interests identified above, review the Case
Study, especially the interviews, highlighting any statements that tell what the person expects or
needs the system to do. User requirements express specifically what the user needs the system
to do. This can be in terms of tasks the users need to perform, data they need to input, what
the system might do with that data input, and output required. System performance
requirements express how the system will perform in several performance areas and security.
As a member of the CIO’s organization, you will use your professional knowledge to Identify 5
User Requirements (including one specifically related to reporting) and 5 System Performance
Requirements (including 2 security-related requirements). Refer to Week 5 content on
requirements; security requirements are covered in Week 6. Additional research can expand
your knowledge of these areas.
Once you have identified the 10 requirements, evaluate each one using the criteria below and
create 10 well-written requirements statements for the new hiring system.
The requirement statement:
• Is a complete sentence, with a subject (system) and predicate (intended result, action or
condition).
• Identifies only one requirement; does not include the words “and,” “also,” “with,” and “or.”
• For User Requirements, states what tasks the system will support or perform.
• For System Performance Requirements, states how the system will perform.
• Includes a measure or metric that can be used to determine whether the requirement is
met (time or quantity), where appropriate.
• Is stated in positive terms and uses “must” (not “shall,” “may” or “should”); “the system
must xxxx” not “the system must not xxx”.
• Avoids the use of terms that cannot be defined and measured, such as “approximately,”
“robust,” “user friendly,” etc.
• Is achievable and realistic; avoids terms such as “100% uptime,” or “no failures”.
For a full requirements document, there will be many requirement statements; you only need to
provide the number of requirements identified for each category. Do not provide generic
statements but relate to the needs of MTC to improve its hiring process.
Stage 3: Requirements 03/17/2020
2
(Provide an introductory sentence, copy the table, and complete the Requirements Statement
and Stakeholder columns. No additional information should be entered into the first column,
Requirement ID.)
Requirement Requirement Statement
ID# only
EXAMPLE
Stakeholder
(Position and Name from
Case Study that identified
this requirement)
User Requirements – (What the user needs the
system to do)
The system must store all information from the
candidate’s application/resume in a central
applicant database. EXAMPLE PROVIDED – (Retain text but
Recruiter – Peter O’Neil
remove this label and gray shading in your report)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
EXAMPLE
(Reporting-Output of organized information
retrieved from the system—replace this statement
with a specific reporting requirement)
System Performance Requirements – (How the
system will perform)
The system must be implemented as a Software as a
Service solution. EXAMPLE PROVIDED – (Retain text but
CIO – Raj Patel
remove this label and gray shading in your report)
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
(Security-replace this with a specific security
requirement)
(Security-replace this with a specific security
requirement)
Formatting Your Assignment
Consider your audience – you are writing in the role of an 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.
Stage 3: Requirements 03/17/2020
3
•
In Stage 3, you are preparing the third 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.
III.
Requirements
A. Stakeholder Interests
B. Defining Requirements
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Begin with Sections I and II, considering any feedback received, and add to it Section III.
Write a short concise paper: Use the recommendations provided in each area for length of
response. It’s important to value quality over quantity. Section III should not exceed 3 pages.
Content areas should be double spaced; table entries should be single-spaced.
To copy a table: Move your cursor to the table, then click on the small box that appears at the
upper left corner of the table to highlight the table; right click and COPY the table; put the cursor in
your paper where you want the table and right click and PASTE the table.
Ensure that each of the tables 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.
Use at least two resources with APA formatted citation and reference for this Stage 3 assignment.
Use at least one external reference and one from the 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.
Add the references required for this assignment to the Reference Page. Additional research in the
next stage will be added to this as you build 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_3
Stage 3: Requirements 03/17/2020
4
GRADING RUBRIC:
Criteria
Stakeholder
Interests
Identification of
specific
stakeholder
problems
(interests and
objectives for
improving the
hiring process)
and how a
technology
system could
address.
Generally, 0-3
points per role.
Both quantity and
quality evaluated.
User
Requirements
5 user
requirements (1
addresses
reporting)
Generally, 0-5
points each. Both
quantity and
quality evaluated.
Far Above
Standards
Above Standards
Meets Standards
Below Standards
Well Below
Standards
38.4 Points
32.64 points
28.8 points
23.808 points
0 points
35.2-38.4 Points
32-33.6 Points
27.2-30.4 Points
22.4-25.6 Points
0-20.8 Points
Problems and
how a technology
solution will
address are
correctly and
clearly described
and fully
explained using a
sophisticated
level of writing.
Problems and how
a technology
solution will
address are clearly
described and
explained using an
effective level of
writing.
Problems and how
a technology
solution will
address are not
clearly described
and explained;
and/or lacks
effective
presentation of
information
40 points
33.6 points
28.8 points
25.6 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.
0 points
36.8-40 Points
32-35.2 Points
27.2-31.7 Points
24-25.6 Points
0-22.4 Points
Correctly
identified,
written and
sourced; clearly
derived from the
Case Study;
demonstrates
sophisticated
analysis.
Identified, written
and sourced
correctly;
requirements are
derived from the
Case Study;
demonstrates
effective analysis.
Identified and
sourced;
requirements are
related to the Case
Study.
Fewer than 5
requirements are
identified and
sourced; and/or
information
provided is not
correct; and/or
requirements are
not all related to
the Case Study.
Stage 3: Requirements 03/17/2020
Problems and how
a technology
solution will
address are
described and
explained.
5
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.
Possible
Points
38.4
40
40 points
33.6 points
28.8 points
25.6 points
0 points
36.8-40 Points
32-35.2 Points
27.2-31.7 Points
24-25.6 Points
0-22.4 Points
Correctly
identified,
written and
sourced; clearly
derived from the
Case Study;
demonstrates
sophisticated
analysis.
Identified, written
and sourced
correctly;
requirements are
derived from the
Case Study;
demonstrates
effective analysis.
Identified and
sourced;
requirements are
related to the Case
Study.
Fewer than 5
requirements are
identified and
sourced; and/or
information
provided is not
correct; and/or
requirements are
not all related to
the Case Study.
Research
16 points
13.6 points
12 points
10.4 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.
0 points
Two or more
sources–one
source from
within the IFSM
300 course
content and one
external (other
than the course
materials)
14.4-16 Points
13.6 Points
12 Points
10.4 Points
0-8 Points
At least two sources
are incorporated
and are relevant
and somewhat
support the
analysis. References
are appropriately
incorporated and
cited using APA
style.
Only one resource
is used and
properly
incorporated
and/or
reference(s) lack
correct APA style.
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.
No course
content or
external research
incorporated; or
reference listed is
not cited within
the text.
20.736 points
17.664 points
15.872 points
0 points
19.2-10.8 Points
17.6 Points
16 Points
0-14.4 Points
Effective
organization; has
few errors in
sentence structure,
grammar, and
spelling; doublespaced, written in
third person and
presented in a
professional format.
Some
organization; may
have some errors
in sentence
structure,
grammar and
spelling. Report is
double spaced and
written in third
person.
Not well
organized, and/or
contains several
grammar and/or
spelling errors;
and/or is not
double-spaced and
written in third
person.
Extremely poorly
written, has
many grammar
and/or spelling
errors, or does
not convey the
information.
Performance
Requirements
3 performance
requirements and
2 system security
requirements
Generally, 0-5
points each. Both
quantity and
quality evaluated.
Format
Uses outline
format provided;
includes Title
Page and
Reference Page
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.
25.6 points
22.4-25.6 Points
Very well
organized and
easy to read.
Very few or no
errors in
sentence
structure,
grammar, and
spelling; doublespaced, written in
third person and
presented in a
professional
format.
Stage 3: Requirements 03/17/2020
6
40
16
25.6
TOTAL Points
Possible
Stage 3: Requirements 03/17/2020
7
160
Stage 4: System Recommendation and Final BA&SR Report
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.
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