JP Morgan Chase Proposal Analysis - Essay Example

Proposal analysis Introduction JP Morgan Chase wishes to use an in house software development process to solve one of its challenges in cyber security. Through research and development, the technology team at JP Morgan Chase will come up with a system that will used in protecting the intrusion of hackers. As a banking institution, the protection of information is a very important aspect of their business. Access to such information by hackers poses a threat to the confidentiality of the customers and potential losses through theft of money from their accounts. An alternative to their in house development of the software is to purchase generic software that would be used as intrusion prevention. This method is disfavored by the company due to the numerous limitations of the technological process. In this analysis of the proposal, support is given to the in house research and development of software as opposed to the alternative of buying the same. It gives both the benefits and disadvantages of the process and technology and draws a conclusion that it is a more viable option as compared to a purchase. Benefits of in house research and development The process of developing software to deal with the problem of cyber security is as important as the outcome. Through development of the system from scratch, the information and technology team will have a greater understanding of the functionalities. In designing the system for instance, the description of the data flows help the development team to identify any potential weak point in the system. Through charts and diagrammatical explanations, other members of the organization can also easily understand the underlying processes in the system [4]. In most organization, the introduction of new ideas and ways of doing business is often met with a degree of resistance. The resistance will stem from the fact that the members of the organization have little or no understanding of the system. As such, implementing the change brings with it a high level of challenge. Through this process JP Morgan Chase staff involved in the change to the new system will receive an in depth understanding that is crucial for the system’s successful implementation. As a direct result of the comprehensive understanding of the system, the employees involved in the development process can also easily troubleshoot the system. This is mainly at the times of failure or interruptions of service due to external or internal faults. The functionality of the resulting system in this case is under the full control of the team that built it [1]. It is therefore highly unlikely that the services of the company can be greatly delayed from such faults. In any system development exercise, the gathering of system requirements is often a tedious process that also involves many stakeholders. An iterative approach to the development of the system for instance would require the team to constantly engage with the users to learn and capture all the specifications of the system. Communication is at the centre of this process and success of the overall system will depend on how well the requirements and specifications have been met. In this case, the system is fully owned and will be used by JP Morgan Chase. Its employees are the main users of the system who will also provide their specifications on the different modules that they will use. Through developing the system by a team of experts from within the company, the specifications are likely to be properly captured and implemented. The time that would be spent in capturing this information is also reduced as the employees provide n almost complete pool of users of the system [4]. While capturing the specifications, the intent of the team is to suit the specific business needs of the employees of JP Morgan Chase. The result of this exercise is a customized system that meets only the intended specific objectives of the company. Generic systems often cover a wide variety of modules that could be of no use to the company in capturing storing and protecting its data[2]. The challenge of these software is that they do not meet the specific need of organizations to the level that is expected in the specific company. Another challenge could be on the consumption of system resources. While the generic systems are generally robust in terms of functionality, not all the modules that are contained in the code could be required by the company that has purchased it. The challenge here is that the other unnecessary modules will consume the computing power of the organization to no benefit. The high computing power required to run these modules also adds to the expense of the company in terms of computer hardware and cuts in on the margins likely to be attained. In developing the system form within the organization, proper attention and focus will be given to the modules that are of importance and service to the organization. This way, the resulting product has limited but highly effective and efficient modules that all work to the benefit of the organization. Such modules also will have limited computing power requirement that translate to the benefit of efficient and faster run times. An increase in the speed of the system sets the company apart from its competitors. It is observed that most organizations rely on the functionality of the computer systems that they own. Provision of efficient and timely service to consumers is a possible avenue of differentiation. Through focusing on only the intent of the company, fast and efficient systems can be generated [3]. The ownership that JP Morgan Chase will have over the resulting software product is of great importance to the security of data and information in the company. As compared to generic software that are available for all malicious attackers to survey and learn, the JP Morgan Chase’s system will be fairly protected. Access to this system will only be to the employees of the company. Therefore any potential hacker will only be left guessing about the code of the software and this reduces chance of attack. Limitations of the system and process A comparison between purchasing the software for this problem and building it obviously displays the time difference between the two. Developing the system will take a considerably high amount of time that could be invested in the training of the users of the system. With an increase in the time limit for effecting the change, costs are bound to escalate. The number of employees involved in the research and development of the software takes a considerable amount from the company. The technical staffs that are involved in this exercise are experts that require a high level of pay besides being difficult to attract and retain. As a result, the company is likely to spend a high amount of money on the employees’ remuneration than in the case that the software is bought from the market. Robust systems are developed from subjecting the code of the software to testing in different settings. In the commercially produced systems, the subject of testing is given a high level priority leading to the production of systems that can function under different conditions and computing power. The ability to recover from errors that are subject to the operation of the software by different parameters is also well covered. In in-house development, the focus of the development is on the functionality and the aspect of testing is also limited [6]. The limit in testing is from the fact that the conditions that are expected within the company are not varied and diverse as those that can be found in the environment of other generic software [4]. For this reason, the end product of the in house software development team is likely to have a low ability to be utilized in other platforms. Upgrading the software systems is also seen as expensive and difficult to attain [5]. The argument is supported by the fact that most custom made software are for a limited users set and scalability is often a challenge. In conclusion the process and end product in providing solutions to corporate problems are equally important. Cyber security is one of the problems that JP Morgan Chase, a modern corporation, is grappling with and it can be solved through a variety of means. An option that is available to the company is to assemble a team to develop a custom software for the protection of its Data. This method of development of the software is an important to the company as the change process will be managed by the employees of the company and not outsiders. The result is that there is likely to be a high degree of ownership of the change than if the software was bought and introduced on them. A high level of understanding and participation will encourage the employees to encourage the change. Generation of specifications is an important part of the process of developing a software. In the case of JP Morgan Chase, the pool of staff offers an almost complete set of the entire users that will make it easy to capture all the necessary requirements. Furthermore, the resulting software will be customized to the need of the company rather than generic modules that might not be necessary Criticisms to this process of acquiring new information systems believe that the costs involved is the biggest challenge of the methodology. According to this school of thought, the company would need to first recruit new employees that are of the required skill set in order to undertake this exercise. The process of attracting and retaining these technical staff has been criticized as both time consuming and costly [6]. Apart from the costs on time and money, the process has also been thought to produce software that are difficult to upgrade and transfer across platforms. Other factors such as the robustness and the adequate testing are also taken up as possible avenues of challenge. It has to be noted that these are challenges that can affect any software system and is not seen as being specific to the case of JP Morgan Chase. Costs too cannot be a major factor as the fight to protect the companies data is a continuous process that needs the leadership and continued innovation. This can only be achieved by a dedicated research and development team that is constantly pursuing new ends in cyber security [7]. It is this reason that the in-house development of software is the most viable option for JP Morgan Chase. References 1. G,. B. Shelly, , and J.R. Harry. Systems Analysis and Design. Boston: Course Technology Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. 2. M. Kirchmer.. Business process oriented implementation of standard software: how to achieve competitive advantage efficiently and effectively. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012. 3. C.K. Eric. Why inhouse software development matters to your business survival. 2014. Retrived from http://blogs.ca.com/2014/12/10/why-in-house-software-development-matters-for-your-companys-survival/ on 18th November 2015. 4. A.,Ashta. Advanced technologies for microfinance. Challenges and solutions. Hershey, PA, 2011. 5. H-W.,Kim, and K., Atreyi. "Investigating user resistance to information systems implementation: A status quo bias perspective." Mis Quarterly (2009): 567-582. 6. N., Mann. The Pros and Cons of Developing Your Own Software Versus Outsourcing. Retrived from: http://www.businessbee.com/resources/technology/software/the-pros-and-cons-of-developing-your-own-software-versus-outsourcing/ 7. M.Howard, and L. Steve. The security development lifecycle. OReilly Media, Incorporated, 2009 Read More