Project Course
Content
Project Course _ COURSE PROJECT Course Project Milestone 2 Managerial Applications of Information Technology Course Project Milestone 2 Introduction Safety Council Texas City (SCTC) is a nonprofit organization that provides safety training to contractors in the petrochemical industry. Registration is set up online for employee training. The safety training is delivered by either a stand-up instructor or by computer based training (CBT). There are times when safety training must be delivered to contractors at their site location instead of at the SCTC location. Currently SCTC has to set up computers at the location of the contractor. Setting up computers at the contractors location can be cumbersome and time consuming. Registration also has to be done ahead of time to help save time. SCTC currently does not offer any type of technology that can be delivered through a smart phone. The registration and training can only be set up through a PC or MAC computer. Many times contractors that need to set up their employees are not always at their computer. The newest portable technologies are smartphones and tablets. Allowing the registration and training through either smart phones or tablets could help improve convenience and technology to clients. Identify the problem SCTC could set up their technology to accommodate the newest technology such as smart phones and tablets. This type of technology can be expand the user-friendliness of the SCTC website, its registration process, and possibly their training delivery. Possible technology solutions SCTC could provide an application that will allow their members to register online using either a smart phone or tablet such as the iPad. Applications can help bring ease to searching the SCTC website. The application could also help the functionality of those clients that are away from their computers.
Course Project _ Direct audience The completed project is directed toward the executives of the SCTC organization. The executives include the President/CEO, the Executive Vice-President, and the Senior VicePresident. The Executive Vice-President (EVP) is over the Technology Services part of the organization. The EVP must get buy-in for this type of project to be considered. The EVP will certainly require research on what this type of project will need in terms of man-hours, expertise, timeline, and cost. Milestone 1 Business Problem SCTC has a limited communication lines that many times affect the business. Customers are not always at their desk on their computer and the SCTC website is not currently available by mobile devise. Customers have been providing feedback to SCTC that they have a difficult time reaching customers services representatives because of busy phone lines or not able to view information online. The limited technology is hindering the business of SCTC. Currently customers have to call customer service to find out course schedule dates and registration for those instructor led courses. The SCTC website or internal format does not allow customers to click on a calendar on the webpage to view the course information. The SCTC website is also limited for only Internet Explorer users, which means that customers using other types of browsers are not able to access or view the SCTC web page. Customers can easily go to a competitor due to ease of their website and its ability to schedule and search online. Company background SCTC is a nonprofit organization that has had the same webpage for over 20 years. The website format is designed to have most of the information in layers so that the information is not easily
accessed. There is very limited information that can be accessed from the home page of the website. The website also operates by using pop ups for a new page to appear. The pop up window method had been a good solution for the rapidly expanding business by easily added pages to the website for new information to appear. Customers find the pop up pages cumbersome. The SCTC website is a link for customers to login to register computer based courses, run reports of employee training history, access invoices, and renew memberships online. The SCTC website is not set up to schedule instructor led courses online. The information for instructor led courses can only be gained with a phone call to the SCTC customer service representatives. Every new piece of business that should be integrated to the SCTC website is instead created with a manual process. Discussion of business issues The business issues are based on the lack of new technology for mobile devices. The SCTC website is not compatible for mobile users. SCTC provides a large amount of information so that incoming phone calls to the organization can be minimized. Many of the SCTC customers work from the field and are not in the office. SCTC should recognize the need of the majority of the customers that need an alternate way to access information from their mobile devices. Customers that cannot access the necessary information will cause those customers to go to a competitor that does provide the information they are seeking. This shift with customers going to a competitors website will in the end cost SCTC revenue dollars. Benefits of solving the problem The benefits of the solving these problems will help generate greater customer satisfaction and increase the amount of registrations for safety training. The increase will come when the ease of
the website can accommodate mobile device users. Updating the SCTC website Course Project _ would help bring additional avenues for registration of both computer based courses and instructor led courses. Mobile device users would benefit to having a SCTC application for easy access, easy registration, easy payment methods, and easy safety training searches. All these features allow business to move forward even if the customer is away from the office. On the other our hand, petrochemical facility owners can also use a mobile application as a verification tool. The petrochemical facilities can use the mobile application to verify contractor’s safety training. Initial Business/Technical approach SCTC will need to create an application (app) for mobile device users. SCTC will need to update their web page to accommodate the new features. The new features will include information to be easily found from the home page through drop down menus. The SCTC web page will also need to have a format created for mobile access. Mobile users will need to be redirected to the version for mobile devices. The web page will need to include wiki-enabled pages for mobile capability. Pop ups will need to be removed, clarity for content requested must be kept simple, limit scrolling, limit images and the pages must be divided up for appropriate mobile device size. High level solution The high level solution would include reviewing the current SCTC web page to determine the drawbacks of the current web page. Make a list of necessary information that must appear on the new web page. Consider todays mobile devices and what technology and formats will be required to view a web page. SCTC will need to consider any new features that will add ease and accessibility for all users. The functionality of the web page will be critiqued by users with computers as well as users with mobile devices.
Business Practices used to augment Milestone 1 SCTC is currently limited to business in person and by their website. The currently website is not set up for contractors to access class schedules, view invoices, or register individuals for class. The current website can only be accessed by using the browser, Internet Explorer. Mobile browsers are not able to bring up information for the SCTC website. Mobile users are on the rise and the organization, SCTC, is not equipped for mobile commerce or mcommerce. Colin Gibbs states, As wireless Web use increases, the phone can be used to pay for a variety of goods and services that can be marketed based on preferences (Benefits of wireless connectively, 2005). Cloud Virtualization Software as a Service (SaaS) is a Web-based service that can provide access to software remotely. SCTC can bundle up safety training software and provide them to contractors using the Web to provide this service. Contractors struggle with taking their employees out of work to travel to the SCTC location to take required safety training. SCTC could provide that safety training at site locations so that employees do not have to leave their worksite. SCTC could also provide certain clientele remote access to the safety training. There are clients that specialize in their type of work that are located outside of the United States. These types of clients could access safety training on their mobile devices before needing to travel to the United States for their on site work. This type of convenience could allow contractors outside of the country to save time and money on travel expenses prior to their actual work. Utilizing SaaS also has other benefits that would help the SCTC organization move forward with other aspects of their technology and how they do business. Value of Approach Course Project _ The approach in using SaaS would help SCTC keep its cost down and maybe even reduce the cost of hiring internal IT staff members. IT staff members are highly specialized and can cost a great deal to an organization for these specialized skills. The approach
of handling events of maintenance would be handled by the cloud virtualization vendor and not the SCTC organization. The cost and time of implementation of such service could also take months if done internally as opposed to days using a vendor. The vendor would take responsibility for maintenance as well as upgrades. The vendor could also customize the service to the specifications to the SCTC organization. The remote access would be through the internet with the utilization of a variety of browsers for ease and use of the client. This approach would also help keep the current cost of real estate and not have to expand its current location to accommodate more staff members. The applications would be access not only by the SCTC organization, but also all their remote locations. These remote locations are located throughout the United States and are highly dependent on the delivery of software by the main SCTC location. The SaaS vendor would help expand its services to all SCTC locations. How approach will be accomplished The SaaS approach would be accomplished through the utilization of a vendor. The vendor will not be on the SCTC site. SCTC already has an internal IT department that handles the management of the servers, the databases, the backups, and the maintenance of all electronic devices in the organization. SCTC will maintain control of any IT vendors which would include the SaaS vendor. The entire SCTC organization will need to set up their business practices to be integrated and configured to be aligned with the software product used by clients. The levels of activities would include web interfacing, self-service architecture, dynamic infrastructure, and application integration with SaaS platform. References Frolick, M. N., & Leida-Chen, M. N. (2004). ASSESSING M-COMMERCE OPPORTUNITIES. Information Systems Management, 21(2), 53-61. Retrieved on November 27, 2011 from http://proxy.devry.edu/login?url= Gibbs, C. (2005). Benefits of wireless connectivity are key to handset-based m-commerce. RCR Wireless News, 24(44), 12. Retrieved on November 27, 2011
from http://proxy.devry.edu/login?url= Safety Council Texas City website. (2011). Facility Information. Retrieved on November 17, 2011 from http://www.csctc.org/ W3C webpage. (2011). Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0. Retrieved on November 17, 2011 from http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/.
Course Project _ Direct audience The completed project is directed toward the executives of the SCTC organization. The executives include the President/CEO, the Executive Vice-President, and the Senior VicePresident. The Executive Vice-President (EVP) is over the Technology Services part of the organization. The EVP must get buy-in for this type of project to be considered. The EVP will certainly require research on what this type of project will need in terms of man-hours, expertise, timeline, and cost. Milestone 1 Business Problem SCTC has a limited communication lines that many times affect the business. Customers are not always at their desk on their computer and the SCTC website is not currently available by mobile devise. Customers have been providing feedback to SCTC that they have a difficult time reaching customers services representatives because of busy phone lines or not able to view information online. The limited technology is hindering the business of SCTC. Currently customers have to call customer service to find out course schedule dates and registration for those instructor led courses. The SCTC website or internal format does not allow customers to click on a calendar on the webpage to view the course information. The SCTC website is also limited for only Internet Explorer users, which means that customers using other types of browsers are not able to access or view the SCTC web page. Customers can easily go to a competitor due to ease of their website and its ability to schedule and search online. Company background SCTC is a nonprofit organization that has had the same webpage for over 20 years. The website format is designed to have most of the information in layers so that the information is not easily
accessed. There is very limited information that can be accessed from the home page of the website. The website also operates by using pop ups for a new page to appear. The pop up window method had been a good solution for the rapidly expanding business by easily added pages to the website for new information to appear. Customers find the pop up pages cumbersome. The SCTC website is a link for customers to login to register computer based courses, run reports of employee training history, access invoices, and renew memberships online. The SCTC website is not set up to schedule instructor led courses online. The information for instructor led courses can only be gained with a phone call to the SCTC customer service representatives. Every new piece of business that should be integrated to the SCTC website is instead created with a manual process. Discussion of business issues The business issues are based on the lack of new technology for mobile devices. The SCTC website is not compatible for mobile users. SCTC provides a large amount of information so that incoming phone calls to the organization can be minimized. Many of the SCTC customers work from the field and are not in the office. SCTC should recognize the need of the majority of the customers that need an alternate way to access information from their mobile devices. Customers that cannot access the necessary information will cause those customers to go to a competitor that does provide the information they are seeking. This shift with customers going to a competitors website will in the end cost SCTC revenue dollars. Benefits of solving the problem The benefits of the solving these problems will help generate greater customer satisfaction and increase the amount of registrations for safety training. The increase will come when the ease of
the website can accommodate mobile device users. Updating the SCTC website Course Project _ would help bring additional avenues for registration of both computer based courses and instructor led courses. Mobile device users would benefit to having a SCTC application for easy access, easy registration, easy payment methods, and easy safety training searches. All these features allow business to move forward even if the customer is away from the office. On the other our hand, petrochemical facility owners can also use a mobile application as a verification tool. The petrochemical facilities can use the mobile application to verify contractor’s safety training. Initial Business/Technical approach SCTC will need to create an application (app) for mobile device users. SCTC will need to update their web page to accommodate the new features. The new features will include information to be easily found from the home page through drop down menus. The SCTC web page will also need to have a format created for mobile access. Mobile users will need to be redirected to the version for mobile devices. The web page will need to include wiki-enabled pages for mobile capability. Pop ups will need to be removed, clarity for content requested must be kept simple, limit scrolling, limit images and the pages must be divided up for appropriate mobile device size. High level solution The high level solution would include reviewing the current SCTC web page to determine the drawbacks of the current web page. Make a list of necessary information that must appear on the new web page. Consider todays mobile devices and what technology and formats will be required to view a web page. SCTC will need to consider any new features that will add ease and accessibility for all users. The functionality of the web page will be critiqued by users with computers as well as users with mobile devices.
Business Practices used to augment Milestone 1 SCTC is currently limited to business in person and by their website. The currently website is not set up for contractors to access class schedules, view invoices, or register individuals for class. The current website can only be accessed by using the browser, Internet Explorer. Mobile browsers are not able to bring up information for the SCTC website. Mobile users are on the rise and the organization, SCTC, is not equipped for mobile commerce or mcommerce. Colin Gibbs states, As wireless Web use increases, the phone can be used to pay for a variety of goods and services that can be marketed based on preferences (Benefits of wireless connectively, 2005). Cloud Virtualization Software as a Service (SaaS) is a Web-based service that can provide access to software remotely. SCTC can bundle up safety training software and provide them to contractors using the Web to provide this service. Contractors struggle with taking their employees out of work to travel to the SCTC location to take required safety training. SCTC could provide that safety training at site locations so that employees do not have to leave their worksite. SCTC could also provide certain clientele remote access to the safety training. There are clients that specialize in their type of work that are located outside of the United States. These types of clients could access safety training on their mobile devices before needing to travel to the United States for their on site work. This type of convenience could allow contractors outside of the country to save time and money on travel expenses prior to their actual work. Utilizing SaaS also has other benefits that would help the SCTC organization move forward with other aspects of their technology and how they do business. Value of Approach Course Project _ The approach in using SaaS would help SCTC keep its cost down and maybe even reduce the cost of hiring internal IT staff members. IT staff members are highly specialized and can cost a great deal to an organization for these specialized skills. The approach
of handling events of maintenance would be handled by the cloud virtualization vendor and not the SCTC organization. The cost and time of implementation of such service could also take months if done internally as opposed to days using a vendor. The vendor would take responsibility for maintenance as well as upgrades. The vendor could also customize the service to the specifications to the SCTC organization. The remote access would be through the internet with the utilization of a variety of browsers for ease and use of the client. This approach would also help keep the current cost of real estate and not have to expand its current location to accommodate more staff members. The applications would be access not only by the SCTC organization, but also all their remote locations. These remote locations are located throughout the United States and are highly dependent on the delivery of software by the main SCTC location. The SaaS vendor would help expand its services to all SCTC locations. How approach will be accomplished The SaaS approach would be accomplished through the utilization of a vendor. The vendor will not be on the SCTC site. SCTC already has an internal IT department that handles the management of the servers, the databases, the backups, and the maintenance of all electronic devices in the organization. SCTC will maintain control of any IT vendors which would include the SaaS vendor. The entire SCTC organization will need to set up their business practices to be integrated and configured to be aligned with the software product used by clients. The levels of activities would include web interfacing, self-service architecture, dynamic infrastructure, and application integration with SaaS platform. References Frolick, M. N., & Leida-Chen, M. N. (2004). ASSESSING M-COMMERCE OPPORTUNITIES. Information Systems Management, 21(2), 53-61. Retrieved on November 27, 2011 from http://proxy.devry.edu/login?url= Gibbs, C. (2005). Benefits of wireless connectivity are key to handset-based m-commerce. RCR Wireless News, 24(44), 12. Retrieved on November 27, 2011
from http://proxy.devry.edu/login?url= Safety Council Texas City website. (2011). Facility Information. Retrieved on November 17, 2011 from http://www.csctc.org/ W3C webpage. (2011). Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0. Retrieved on November 17, 2011 from http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/.
