I.T Implementation Plan for ProComm Technology Solutions - Term Paper Example

? I.T Implementation Plan for ProComm Technology Solutions affiliation Overview and Structure of the Business Mission ment ProComm Technology Solutions is an IT firm dedicated to providing technical knowledge and set standards of excellence in the industry. Our company's success has been founded on our dedication to quality and reliable service tailored specifically to meet the client’s needs. ProComm has purposed to deliver cutting edge technology solutions that can be successfully embedded into today’s dynamic business environment. This is effectively realized through our wide range of products and services that seek to deliver a new way of handling day to day business affairs with the incorporation of IT infrastructure. Business Overview and Structure ProComm responds to a dynamic market and is therefore structured uniquely to handle the challenges that come with such changes. It consists of various departments and technical specialists organized into multidisciplinary teams. The organizational structure of ProComm is considered an adhocracy characterized by several levels of management (Laudon & Laudon). The business is characterized by a senior management staff consisting of a top CEO/President, VP/Sales & Marketing. Their role in the company is to make long-range strategic decisions about products and services as well as ensure the financial performance of the company. Middle management will consist of a Director of Sales and a Director of Operations. They carry out the programs and plans of senior management while monitoring the daily activities of the business. Knowledge workers will consist of a small team of sales people with regional territories. Their job role is to identify and interact with potential customers, make customers aware of the products and services offered and procure work for the firm. The production and service workers are the employees that actually produce and implement the services of the company. They will be led by a team leader/supervisor. Their main function is to assemble products and implement services, check for quality assurance and produce bills of materials when jobs are completed. Business Process and Services The performance of a firm depends on how well its business processes are planned and synchronized. Business processes can be a source of competitive advantage if they enable the company to execute better than its rivals. The major business functions of the company will consist of Business Process Management, Sales and Marketing, Production and Services, Finance and Accounting, and Human Resources. Business Process Management Business Process Management (BPM) is a "holistic management" approach to aligning an organization's core processes with the needs of clients. This promotes business efficiency while at the same time striving for flexible innovation, and technology integration. It makes the organization's workflow more effective, and capable of adapting to a dynamic market. Senior management will be in charge of BPM, and also have at their disposal Executive Support System functionality. The system offers a powerful management tool to gather and analyze information throughout the firm. It produces user-defined reports instantaneously, enabling decision makers at all levels to view integrated financial, clinical, and statistical information from all departments (Meditech 2010). In the middle management hierarchy the Operations manager will be entailed with a Transaction Processing System to keep track of elementary activities and transactions of the organization. These transactions include: sales, receipts, cash deposits, payroll, credit decisions and service flow that make up the day o day company activity. The Director of Sales will be entailed with a Decision Support System focus on problems that are unique, and the solution may not be fully predefined. They try to answer questions of possible future outcomes based on certain circumstances (Laudon & Laudon, 2010). Sales and Marketing The main business function of the firm is to consult with customers and to provide IT services to the best of our abilities. Customers encompass the main purpose of the company’s existence. Therefore the company will use a Customer Relationship Management system to help manage their relationships with their customers. CRM systems provide information to coordinate all of the business processes that deal with customers in sales, marketing, and service to optimize revenue, customer satisfaction, and customer retention. This information helps firms identify, attract, and retain the most profitable customers; provide better service to existing customers; and increase sales. Production and Services The function of the production and service process is to procure products for inventory and for potential jobs, manage supply chain, assemble products, orders, etc. This business function will entail using a supply chain management system to help manage relationships with suppliers. The ultimate objective is to get the right amount of their products from their source to their point of consumption in the least amount of time and at the lowest cost. Finance and Accounting Financial accounting is a fundamental back office process that includes general ledger (GL), accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR). Processes and systems to efficiently manage financial accounting are crucial to success. Key elements include: Manage general ledger (GL) with financial controls and procedures, including industry standard guidelines Manage accounts payable (AP), including vendor payments, aging, reconciliations, journal entries, tax reporting, etc. Manage accounts receivable (AR), including invoices, receipts, aging, reconciliations and journal entries Facilitate multiple payments, types, receipt types and journal entries Consolidated financial reporting, ad-hoc reporting and online query Automated workflow processes to enforce control requirements Compliance with regulations and guidelines (Quorum Business Solutions) Human Resources Human Resources (HR) management is the organizational function that deals with issues related to all the people in the organization who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the organization’s objectives. Among these issues are staffing and recruitment, compensation and benefits, performance management, safety, well-being, communication, employee motivation, development, and growth. HR management activities are intended primarily to attract, develop, retain, and transition employees. People are the organization’s most valued assets; human resources management promotes and administers policies and procedures that ensure that staff members have the skills, motivation, and opportunities to make their best contributions to the mission of the organization (Catholic Relief Services, 2008). Business Analysis A comparison to Michael Porter’s competitive forces model is needed to determine how competitive ProComm Technology Solutions will be in the consulting industry. This model is comprised of five comparison points: traditional competitors, new market entrants, substitute products and services, customers, and suppliers (Porter, 1980). These will be used to determine how well ProComm as an organization captures and retains its market share. In addition, SWOT analysis will be used to determine how competitive ProComm Technology Solutions will be in the consulting industry. This will constitute all the market forces that contribute to the performance of the organization. Also, the various aspects of the environment that directly or indirectly affect the overall contribution will be touched on. ProComm is a very competitive organization with a dedicated human resource that is ready to meet all the challenges. This coupled with the extensive research on the market propels them forward and strengthens the impact on the market. Furthermore, considering the services and products on offer do not require any manufacturing ProComm ensures it gets and delivers only the best clients. Weaknesses of this organization include the fact that the product and service range on offer are limited by the manufactures and market capacity. The technology sector is extremely price sensitive and judging from how fast it changes any organization, including ProComm, can very easily be thrown out of the market. However, with extensive research this issue can very easily be tackled. Products and services offered by our company are themselves a great opportunity for excellence. The market and the world at large is technology hungry and provision of quality and reliable products will bear positive results. Furthermore, technology standards are uniform globally offering a huge market potential for ProComm. Finally, being fairly new in the market other industry players offer a significant amount of threat to normal business. Other forms of threat may include different currency values that may affect international trade and economic crisis that will destabilize the market. References Catholic Relief Services. (2011). Human Resources. Retrieved from http://www.crsprogramquality.org/storage/pubs/partnership/Chapter%208%20Human%20Resources.pdf Curtice, R. M. (n.d.). Fundamentals of Process: Best Practices in Optimizing Cross-Functional Business Processes. Retrieved from http://www.bptrends.com/publicationfiles/11-03%20ART%20Fund%20of%20Process%20Mang%20-%20Curtice.pdf Meditech. (2010, April 7). Executive Support System: Functionality Brief. Retrieved from http://https://www.meditech.com/ProductBriefs/pages/Product_Briefs/Executive_Support_System.pdf Quorum Business Solutions. (n.d.). Financial Accounting Business Process. Retrieved from http://www.qbsol.com/financial-accounting-process/ SearchCIO. (2011, January). Business Process Management. Retrieved from http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/business-process-management Porter, M. (1980). Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. Brookline, Massachusetts: Free Press; 1 edition. Read More