Before you begin work on this assignment, be sure you have read the Case Study. Refer to the Business Analysis and System Recommendations (BA&SR) Table of Contents below to see where you are in the process of developing this report.
Overview
As a business analyst in the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) department of Chesapeake IT Consulting (CIC), you have been assigned to conduct an analysis, develop a set of system requirements and propose an IT solution to improve the hiring process for CIC. This work will be completed in four stages, and each of these four stages will focus on one section of an overall Business Analysis and System Recommendation (BA&SR) report to be delivered to the CIO.
The graphic below outlines the Table of Contents for this report:
Section I: Background and Organizational Analysis (Stage 1) The first step is to look at the organization and explain how an IT system could benefit CIC by improving its hiring system.
Section II: Strategic Use of Technology (Stage 2) Next you will explain, in general, how CIC can use IT for strategic purposes.
Section III: Strategic and Operational Outcomes (Stage 3) Then you will analyze CICs strategy and processes to determine how technology solutions can be used to support the organizational processes and enable CICs strategic and operational outcomes, and develop a set of requirements for the new hiring system.
Section IV: System Recommendation (Stage 4) Finally, you will identify an enterprise hiring system for CIC, and explain how it meets the requirements, and what needs to be done to implement the system within CIC.
The sections of the BA&SR will be developed and submitted as four staged assignments. In stages 2, 3 and 4, you will also incorporate any feedback received when the previous stage is graded to improve the effectiveness of your overall report and then add the new section to your report. At the end of the course, you will submit a complete BA&SR document that includes all the sections and changes that
CIC Case StudyChesapeake IT ConsultantsChesapeake IT Consultants (CIC) is a successful Information Technology consulting services firm that utilizes proven IT and management methodologies to achieve measurable results for its customers. Its customer base includes small to mid-tier businesses, non-profit organizations and governmental agencies at the local, state and federal levels. CIC feels strongly that its success is dependent on the combination of the talent of its IT consultants, the best practices CIC employs, and a dedication to delivering truly beneficial IT solutions to their clients.Corporate ProfileCorporate Name: Chesapeake IT Consultants, Inc.Founded: May 2004Headquarters: Baltimore, MarylandSatellite Locations: Herndon, Virginia; Bethesda, MarylandNumber of Employees: 400Total Annual Gross Revenue: $80,000,000President andChief Executive Officer (CEO): Alvin MorrisonBusiness AreasCIC provides consulting services in the following areas: Business Process Consulting Business process redesign, process improvement IT Consulting IT strategy, analysis, planning, system development, implementation, and network support IT Outsourcing Consulting Requirements analysis; vendor evaluation, due diligence, selection and performance management; Service Level AgreementsBusiness StrategyCICs business strategy is to provide extraordinary consulting services and recommendations to its customers by employing highly skilled consultants and staying abreast of new business concepts and technology and/or developing new business concepts and best practices of its own.Current Business EnvironmentCIC provides consultants on-site to work with its clients, delivering a wide variety of IT-related services. CIC obtains most of its business through competitively bidding on Requests for Proposals issued by business, government and non-profit organizations. A small but growing portion of its business is through referrals and follow-on contracts from satisfied clients. CIC anticipates it will win two large contracts in the near future and is preparing proposals for several other large projects.CIC Case Study 3/18/2017 2CIC, as a consulting company, relies on the quality and expertise of its employees to provide the services needed by the clients. When it is awarded a contract, the customer expects CIC to quickly provide the consultants and begin work on the project. CIC, like other consulting companies, cannot afford to carry a large number of employees that are not assigned to contracts. Therefore, they need to determine the likelihood of winning a new contract and ensure the appropriately skilled consultants are ready to go to work when needed. CIC relies on its HR Department to find and hire the personnel that the line managers need for upcoming contracts. It is very much a just in time hiring situation.The Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, houses approximately 300 employees. Satellite offices have been opened in the last two years in both Herndon, Virginia and Bethesda, Maryland to provide close proximity to existing clients. It is anticipated that new pending contracts would add staff to all locations. The management team believes there is capacity at all locations, as much of the consultants work is done on-site at the customers locations.Strategic DirectionAs a small to mid-size business (SMB), CIC recognizes that it needs to carefully plan its future strategy. Considering the competitive environment that contains many very large IT consulting firms, such as Hewlett-Packard (HP), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), as well as numerous smaller companies with various skill sets, market niches, and established customer bases, CIC will be evaluating how best to position itself for the future and recognizes that its ability to identify its core competencies, move with agility and flexibility, and deliver consistent high quality service to its clients is critical for continued success.One area that is critical to a consulting company is the ability to have employees who possess the necessary knowledge and skills to fulfill current and future contracts. With all the competition in IT consulting services, CIC is planning to incorporate consultants in other countries to provide remote research and analysis support to the on-site teams. Since CIC has no experience in the global marketplace, the Director of HR has begun examining international labor laws to determine where CIC should recruit and hire employees.ChallengesThe two contracts that CIC expects to win very soon will require the hiring of an additional 75 consultants very quickly. The Director of Human Resources (HR) is concerned that the current manual process of recruiting and hiring employees will not allow his department to be responsive to these needs. He is looking for a near-term solution that will automate many of the manual hiring process steps and reduce the time it takes to hire new staff. He is also looking for a solution that will allow CIC to hire employees located in other countries around the world.CIC Case Study 3/18/2017 3Additional business plans include adding help desk support as a provided service. This may include partnering with another vendor offshore to provide economical competitive services in this area.Management DirectionThe management team has been discussing how to ramp up to fill the requirements of the two new contracts, and prepare the company to continue growing as additional contracts are awarded in the future. The company has been steadily growing and thus far hiring of new employees has been handled through a process that is largely manual. The HR Director reported that his staff will be unable to accommodate the hiring of the 75 new employees in the timeframe required. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) then recommended that the company look for a commercial off-the-shelf software product that can dramatically improve the hiring process and shorten the time it takes to hire new employees. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) wants to ensure that all investments are in line with the corporate mission and will achieve the desired return on investment. She will be looking for clear information that proposals have been well researched, provide a needed capability for the organization, and can be cost-effectively implemented in a relatively short period of time to reap the benefits. The CEO has asked the CIO to work with HR to recommend a solution.Your TaskAs a business analyst in the CIOs department, you have been assigned to conduct an analysis, develop a set of system requirements, and propose an IT solution. The CIO has set up a series of interviews for you to collect information about the current hiring process and the requirements for a system. He has asked you to produce a Business Analysis and System Recommendation Report (BA&SR) as your final deliverable.
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