IT Management for MDCM - Business Plan Example

Inserts inserts IT Management 17th March MDCM (B) MDCM has two broad objectives that should form part ofits strategic business plan for the coming years. These objectives include taking measures to generate internal efficiencies and rethinking its supply chain management to develop external efficiencies (Jeffrey and Norton 3). In the first report, it was clear that nothing short of a complete overhaul of the supply chain management system is necessary to make the company competitive once more. The list of projects required for this process to be successful includes the following. The use of an enterprise resource management system to make it easier for staff and clients to communicate and the implementation of a supply chain management system that includes a clearly defined order processing system. Other potential systems that can help the company to improve on its internal and external efficiencies includes the creation of a company intranet, consolidation of data centers and networks, standardization of server hardware, improvement of group support systems and the creation of customer self service portal. Obviously, there is no need to implement all these projects because some of them will solve the entire problems that some should solve. It is therefore necessary to develop a means of classifying the projects to ensure that whichever portfolio of projects chosen answers the company’s needs. In order to determine which portfolio will answer the needs of the company, there is need for a detailed look at what each of these potential projects will bring to the company. Enterprise resource management system (ERM): An ERM system helps a company to optimize its resources. In this case, resource means financial resources, human resource, and time. The application of an ERM makes it possible for a company to know how to deploy its resources better. This system makes sure that existing systems provide the most value for the company. They however do not help with the design of the system itself. Supply chain management system: These systems are useful in the design and management of a supply chain, because they help a company to manage the critical processes affecting its supply chain. They often include an order processing system, inventory management system, and a supplier management system. Its purpose is to ensure that there is a smooth flow of orders and business supplies to ensure that the client gets what they need. Company intranet: A company intranet refers to a closed system of online communication. It uses a system similar to the internet and may even cover similar distances. What makes it an intranet is the fact that only the employees of the company can access it. Its benefits include greater data security and a better corporate image. It can also help in the development of unique software capabilities and data integration for the company. Consolidation of data centers and networks: Data networks are regions linked together with some form of systems. In this case, data networks include the specific networks that serve the individual subsidiaries of MDCM. Standardization of server hardware: The reason behind the need to standardize server hardware is to reduce the need to use different applications for server management. It also increases the possibilities available for expanding IT systems. Improvement of group support systems: A group support system is any hardware and software deployment that makes it easy for a specific group of people to interact better. These systems can greatly increase the efficiency of the data management systems and hence increase the overall operational efficiency of the company. Customer self-service portal: It is also possible to deploy a customer self-service portal to increase the tasks that customers can do for themselves such as tracking the progress of their order in the system. From this elaboration, it ought to be clear that there is no need to implement all these projects because some of them overlap in function, or they substantially reduce the impact of not implementing others. It is simply a question of identifying the best portfolio of projects to determine which of these projects meet the needs of the company. Portfolio Application Model Matrix The Portfolio Application Model Matrix is a tool that can help to make decisions of this kind where there are a number of possible solutions to a problem. The matrix compares the value of the project to the company against its likelihood of success. In this case, the criteria for use in determining where to place the projects in this matrix is table 1 below. Likelihood of success criteria and weights Value to the business Technical standards: 10% Skills, capability and training: 10% Scope and complexity: 25% Business alignment: 22% Risk: 21% Management capability: 12%  Financial return: 30% Customer and consumer focus: 20% Supply chain business benefits: 15% Technology efficiency: 15% Knowledge advantage: 10 Table 1: Portfolio Application Model Matrix Variables Borrowed from Kraft Foods The following Portfolio Application Model Matrix is the result of using the criteria on the projects identified earlier. Figure 1: The Portfolio Application Model Matrix for MDCM The final choice of projects does not entirely depend on the results of this exercise because of the need to determine the best portfolio. It may well be that the projects needed to solve the company’s problems do not form part of those that lend themselves well enough to implementation because of the risks. Three projects fall on the upper right quadrant. They are the enterprise resource system, the supply chain management system, and the customer service portal. Projects that fall in this quadrant are those that are riskiest to implement because they have a low probability of success. However, these are the most valuable projects for the company. It is therefore important to find ways of reducing the risk among the projects in order to implement them. It is not necessary to implement both the supply chain management project and the enterprise resource management system. Either one of these two projects will reduce the impact of the absence of the other. However, the company needs to prioritize implementation of the supply chain management system because it will also negate the need for the immediate implementation of the customer self-service portal. In the upper left quadrant, there are projects that have a high chance of success and will yield high value for the company. The projects in this quadrant are the consolidation of data centers and networks, standardization of server hardware and improvement of group support systems. The main reason why these projects have a high probability of success is the fact that they ride on already existing infrastructure and simply reorganizes access to the information there. Amongst the three, the highest value project is the implementation of group support systems. This comes from the fact that one of the most significant problems in the company is teamwork and co-working between departments. Empowering work teams is a top priority for the company. The power of good co-working will reduce the impact of the non-standard software. However, this may limit the long term systems upgrade prospects of the company. In another sense, lack of standard server hardware may hamper the implementation of the group support systems. It means therefore that the best value for the company will come from implementing the two projects with a priority on the improvement of group support systems. The lower left represents projects that can succeed vey easily but have low value for the company. The development of a company intranet is not a necessary project if the company implements the other projects. The project can help to increase the efficiency of existing systems. It is an example of a project that can give the IT implementation team an easy win to boost their moral. This value is significant enough to think seriously about it. Works Cited Jeffrey, Mark and Joseph F Norton. "MCDM, Inc. (A) IT Strategy Sychrinization." Kellog School of Management (2006): 1-9. Read More