Case Scenario:
The scope of this project will be to define the problem (including a problem statement), look at constraints and opportunities, analyze potential risks, ensure business continuity, and provide a comprehensive analysis of internal and external factors to ensure that the project will be successful. You will be responsible to provide a robust analysis and propose a solution to the business problem.
You work for a medium-sized company that is in the travel and leisure industry called AllAboutYourTravel.com. (This is an imaginary company and any similarity to anyone or anything is purely unintentional). AllAboutYourTravel.com is very heavily invested in technology to conduct business.
- There is a call center of over 200 reservationists that books travel for individual and corporate clients.
- The reservationist population is expected to swell to 375 during the next peak time 4 months from now. This will now include 24-hour operations with 125 per shift.
- This can involve hotel, cruise, land packages, car rental, and air travel.
- There is approximately 250 people in the entire company, including executive management, human resources, the information technology department as well as marketing.
- You are the liaison between the various departments within the company and the information technology department.
- You are tasked with finding a solution to the current reservation system that only allows 100 people in the system at a time and crashes frequently when there are over 90.
- It is determined that for every hour the system is down, there is a potential loss of $10,000 in revenue.
- When it crashes, it can take up to 45 minutes to get the system back up. *
- Operations are typically two shifts from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to midnight.
- During 2 peak periods of the year, executive management has decided to add a third shift from midnight to 8 a.m. with an additional 125 reservationists bring the total to 375.
- Marketing did a great job overseas and there are more and more international calls using the company's services.
The phone system is limited to 115 users and is a voice over IP (VoIP). Overtime is not allowed and each reservationist must work a minimum of 20 hours per week (unless they are out sick or on vacation. Some reservationists have had their hours cut so that their fellow employee can meet their 20-hour minimums to keep their fringe benefits like medical coverage. This has happened since only one reservationist can access the current reservation system at a time (no sharing) and again there is a limit to the two major systems that every reservationist uses. There is a third system each reservationist uses to look up fares and rates for various travel components previously listed (e.g. cruises, airfare, etc.). Currently there is no interface between the company reservation system and the individual vendor's lookup systems. There are dozens of vendors.
QUESTIONS:
1. An explanation of what an IT systems request and feasibility analysis contains. Include how business needs shape the requirements.
2. Identify three possible methodologies for a technology project with the pros and cons of each type.
3. Describe the roles and responsibilities of the systems analyst, software developer, stakeholder, executive sponsor and end-user in an information technology project life cycle.
4. Analysis results and recommendation for the methodology that best suits this type of project.
5. Identify all the business needs of the above scenario and how your recommendation will solve the complex challenges.
6. Describe the proposed solution in detail and what scope creep is and how you plan to avoid it.
7. Include a detailed budget for the software and hardware needs.
8. Explain possible vulnerabilities in the system and solutions to mitigate.
9. Close with a summation of immediate steps you recommend.