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Basicsof Defining Information System Acquisition Strategies

Dr. Jennifer Carter, July 2016

M. Burke and K. Hogan, editors

Acquisition Strategy Overview

Acquisition refers to the procurement of products and/or services to meet a business requirement. In addition to directly purchasing a product, acquisitions often include contracting for engineering or management services to support in-house development, customization, or integration. Acquisition of information systems can be complex. The system scope typically includes software, hardware, services, data, and processes. Some of this scope will be newly acquired but some may also be leveraged as part of the existing infrastructure. For this reason, an information system acquisition may be a single comprehensive contract or a set of contracts for products and services that are managed together to obtain an information system.

Not all acquisitions are for new systems. The scope for an information systems acquisition could also be focused on the operation, data management, modernization, information assurance, or maintenance of an existing system. Information systems acquisitions are further complicated by the fact that the buyer is not always the end user. Often the Chief Information Office or Information Technology Department is responsible for the information system acquisition intended to provide services for an entire organization comprised of their customers. This perspective adds complexity because of the need to establish long term customer support, often with varied responsibility and accountability for customer satisfaction.

There are three major decision areas required to define an effective IS/IT acquisition approach:

1) What are you going to buy?

a) Will it be bought as a product or service?

b) Will it be commercial off-the-shelf or custom?

c) Who will be responsible for development, customization, integration and/or sustainment?

2) What infrastructure will you leverage or include?

a) Where will the system be hosted?

b) How will connectivity be made available?

c) How will security be handled?

d) How will business continuity requirements be handled?

e) What are the data management considerations?

3) What contract options will provide the best outcome (cost and performance) over the life cycle?

Each one of these has its own set of alternatives and criteria for consideration to determine the strategy that best meets the requirements.

1) What are you going to buy?

This section provides the basic questions that need to be answered in order to determine the scope of what will be bought. While these decisions are related and have similar pros/cons, the separation into multiple perspectives helps add clarity to the decision process. Often the decisions for complex acquisitions require hybrid approaches or a modular approach where the solution is comprised of multiple capabilities acquired in different ways. For these cases, the strategy would provide an acquisition overview, describe the modular aspects, define the different approaches and finish with a summary of how they combine to satisfy the requirements.

There are three aspects to be considered:

a) Will it be bought as a product or service?
b) Will it be commercial off-the-shelf or custom?
c) Who will be responsible for development, customization, integration and/or sustainment?

a) Will it be bought as a product or service?

Product

Buying a product refers to the purchase of hardware, software, or a system that is delivered and then owned (or possibly leased, as in the case of licensed software) by the customer.

Pros:

– Ability to configure as needed

– Ability to control system operation

– Ability to integrate into the local secure environment

– Leverages existing infrastructure

– Can be customized as a unique instance

Cons:

– Initial investment costs

– Typically requires more time than a service for setup and configuration prior to availability

– Lack of flexibility to move to a new solution based on investment costs

– Scalability may be limited

– Requires product maintenance

Service

Many requirements for information systems can be satisfied by purchasing a capability as a service instead of the traditional approach of buying hardware/software and establishing your own service. Examples include public enterprise service offerings such as e-mail, web conferencing, chat, storage, and business software. Many of these are bundled into integrated service packages such as Office 365. Service contracts are set up with defined performance levels. These service level targets ensure that the service will meet customer needs and include the service levels for customer support. Typical service level measures include availability and response times. The market research should provide information on the availability and types of service offerings and products available to meet the requirement.

Pros:

– Low capital or up-front investment costs

– Puts the burden of operations, maintenance and infrastructure on the provider/contractor

– Typically more scalable for dynamic number of users

– Depending on the contract terms for use of service, this option typically provides more flexibility for changing to a new service offering in the future, i.e. less lock-in to a particular solution

– Focus organization’s activities/people on core mission versus IS/IT services

Cons:

– Dependent on provider service performance

– Limited or no ability to make changes to the service

– Limited information and control for resolution of potentially high impact of service interruptions

– Security is dependent on the provider infrastructure and environment, typically shared with other customers

– Dependent on network access

b) Will it be commercial off-the-shelf or custom?

Commercial off-the-shelf

These are products and/or services that have already been developed and can be demonstrated. Generally, they will be in use by other organizations. The customer organization obtains the off-the-shelf product as-is and usually has little limited ability to customize it to the organization’s particular needs.

Pros:

– Larger user base enables economies of scale

– Upgrades and maintenance can be purchased with the product

– Least time to delivered product, no development time

– Proven performance and reliability

Cons:

– Requires some compromise on the requirements for a “best fit”

– May lock customer into a particular vendor for a period of time

– May or may not be able to leverage/integrate existing infrastructure or align with planned architecture

– Limited ability to influence new features or upgrades

Custom

This category refers to solutions specifically designed to meet a set of specified requirements. It generally requires the system to be designed and developed “from the ground up” to meet the requirements. It is then often owned by the organization that paid for its development, and is not shared with other organizations.

Pros:

– The system fully meets the customer requirements.

– The solution is owned by the organization so there are no data rights or licensing issues

– Full control of the system

– Ability to make changes to the system to meet dynamic requirements

– Possibly provides a competitive advantage with unique capabilities

– Potential to make revenue from sale of rights to developed code

Cons:

– Long term maintenance and upgrades are all the responsibility of the organization

– Schedule requires development time

– Typically requires custom integration with architecture or security

– Higher performance risk with an unproven, unique solution

– Typically higher cost to maintain

c) Who will be responsible for development, customization, integration, or sustainment?

The choice here is to use in-house staff or external staff acquired through a contractual arrangement.

In-house staff

Those who develop, customize, integrate and/or maintain the system are employees of the organization.

Pros:

– Results in local expertise/knowledge about the product or service that enables resolving issues and future enhancements to respond to dynamic requirements

– In-house developers have expertise on the mission and requirements.

– Clear control and accountability for the work and results

– Staff is incentivized directly and has vested interest in outcome

Cons:

– Typically requires long-term commitment, funding and benefits for staff

– Often IS/IT development is outside the organization core competency, diluting organizational focus

– May require specialized skills not already on staff; typically hiring process is slow. May require staff training which can extend the delivery schedule.

– Requires reallocation of staff after completion of development

External (contractor) staff

These resources are acquired via a contract and are managed by the contractor. The contractor is responsible for hiring, training and employing the resources to perform the job, and has the flexibility to provide specialized staff for short periods, as needed, to complete the project.

Pros:

– Can leverage specialized expertise for a limited time, just when needed

– No long term commitment to staff and related benefits

– Keeps internal labor focused on core business versus enablers or side projects

– Inherent culture and processes of the provider organization

Cons:

– Labor rates are typically higher

– Less control over the work and the schedule

– More risk that product/service may not meet needs

– Limited ability to influence performance for external labor

2) What infrastructure will you leverage or include?

This section will narrow down the scope of the procurement by determining what related infrastructure will be part of the acquisition. This includes designating what existing infrastructure will be leveraged, thereby requiring specific standards, interoperability or integration as part of the acquisition. Some of these infrastructure decisions may be defined within the requirements, but in general, the requirements will not specify the solution. Not all of these decisions need to be made ahead of time, but if not, the information on options, architecture, and related constraints would be provided to potential bidders. For most information systems, key infrastructure decisions include computing platform, connectivity, security, continuity of operations, and providing for appropriate management of the data.

a) Where will the system be hosted?

Information systems require a computing platform. In many cases an organization already has an existing computing infrastructure such as a data center or cloud architecture. If there is a mandate to use the common environment, then these constraints should be documented and provided to the potential bidders. If not, then the alternatives should be evaluated to determine what to include as part of the procurement. Specifically, the contract can specify dedicated servers, use of a data center, or cloud computing. The pros and cons of each will be highly dependent on the application, however, the following provides some general considerations for each.

Dedicated servers

If dedicated servers are to be used to host the system, they may already be owned by the organization, or they may be purchased under the same contract along with the system, or they may be separately acquired and provided by the organization to host the system.

Pros:

– Computing performance is not affected by competing priorities

– Can be located to minimize latency and network access issues for the specific application

– Can be configured and optimized for the specific application

– No constraints on choices of computing platform (servers), operating system, development tools, etc.

– Can be isolated in a secure environment

Cons:

– Typically higher cost, pay for all server capacity including unused

– Requires staff for system administration

– Need to obtain related supporting infrastructure: power, space, connectivity, and cooling.

– Inefficient for applications with dynamic processing requirements

– Growth in processing requirements requires procurement of new servers impacting scalability and flexibility

– Time consuming to setup new, dedicated computing resources.

– Requires security be established and updated

Data Centers

Data center environments can be provided by the organization, by the contractor, or by a third party. If the organization has its own data center, it may well choose to have the new system run in that data center. The contractor that is providing the system may offer to host the system in its data center. It may also be determined that using a third party data center is most cost effective.

Pros:

– Less time required to leverage existing infrastructure

– Can take advantage of economies of scale

– Less time required to leverage existing infrastructure

– Typically enables use of existing, more advanced, cybersecurity

– Computing is typically dynamically scalable and virtualized

– Leverage existing compliance standards, certifications, configuration management processes, information assurance updates, etc.

Cons:

– Shared assets may impact performance

– Access to/from data centers may impact performance

– Possible constraints on computing alternatives such as operating systems, development environments, etc. due to data center architecture, standards, and configuration

– Dynamic scalability dependent on shared architecture

Cloud computing

As in the case of the data center option, the cloud computing environment can be owned by the organization, the contractor, or a third party vendor. If the cloud environment is owned by the organization, it will have pros and cons more aligned to those identified for a data center. The considerations below generally apply to cloud computing environments provided by the contractor or a third party.

Pros:

– Reduced capital investment cost

– Large economies of scale

– Pay for what is used

– Dynamically scalable

– Improved disaster recovery

– Provides access from anywhere

– Professionally maintained and serviced

– Has potential to improve security

Cons:

– Constant internet connection required; performance dependent on network

– Corporate data and intellectual property more accessible to others

– Vendor lock-in

– Potentially high cost to shift cloud solutions

– Limited control and flexibility; architecture and standards constraints

b) How will connectivity be made available?

The business case will set the scope and constraints on connectivity. The range of solutions should be narrowed down enough to specify a comprehensive approach that supports expected growth. For example, connectivity alternatives may include internet, community or local network, mobile carrier, and often all of the above. Some connectivity alternatives, such as internet service provider or mobile carrier agreements, may require separate contracts. If buying software as a service, the network is a critical dependency. For cloud services and remote data centers, the network characteristics, such as bandwidth, potentially have a significant impact on performance. In addition, some cloud based services, such as storage, may incur additional network fees for data access.

c)
How will security be handled?

There are multiple approaches to achieve desired levels of information security, to include perimeter defense, identity management, data security (at rest), encryption (data in transit), user access controls, automated monitoring, and defense in depth. When designing an information system, it is important to clearly specify the security requirements and that they enable meeting security objectives without overly driving cost or constraining the commercial solution alternatives. The security approach often impacts the ability to integrate, modify, scale, or upgrade the solution in the future.

d) How will business continuity requirements be handled?

There are multiple approaches for obtaining continuity of business operations. A common approach is to use a smaller scale capability at an alternate location from the primary, either on-site or remote. The requirements need to clearly state any ranges of acceptable recovery times and/or data loss. An acquisition strategy should address whether the solution for continuity will be through the same contract (i.e. dependency on the same provider and contract vehicle) or whether there will be a separate in-house or contracted recovery ability. Using the same contract vehicle adds significant risk in the event that the contractor is not able to perform. If the strategy is for a system backup with a separate provider, then there are potential issues with intellectual property, accountability, additional cost, contract overhead, and clear allocation of responsibility for meeting the performance requirements between parties.

e) What are the data management considerations?

For most information systems, management of the data is fundamental to the system performance. In many cases, such as business and health systems, the data volume is so large that it is a driving force in the system design and overall cost. There are also many cases where the ability to access, view or analyze legacy data is required. The operational use of the data provides the context for acquisition related decisions regarding the analytic environment. For example, systems primarily used for data archiving can utilize low cost, offline storage alternatives, whereas systems that are used for real-time, flexible analysis of business data may require in-memory storage for rapid access. In any case, the data must be adequately protected and available to the owning organization when contracts are terminated.

3) What contract options will provide the best outcome (cost and performance) over the life cycle?

The selection of an appropriate set of contract vehicles is a critical component of the acquisition strategy. Not only is the contract type important, but the number of contracts, the term, and the method to ensure accountability are also critical factors. While a single contract for the entire scope of work provides the simplest contracting approach, it also typically results in higher cost and less flexibility. Since many information systems share common infrastructure components, there may be opportunities to leverage existing contracts for some portion of the acquisition scope. The pros and cons of a longer contract term will be very dependent on the scope of the acquisition. Similarly, the performance measures will be dependent on priorities. The important aspect of performance is to ensure the basic success criteria are defined and measurable so that they can be incorporated into contract incentives, quality assurance planning and source selection.

There are several contract types. The contract types are categorized into fixed price, cost reimbursement, indefinite delivery, and purchase agreement. There is no single right answer for which type of contract is best for a particular information system acquisition. However, there are some general guidelines and principles to consider. One of the major factors to consider is risk. Fixed price contracts shift the risk to the contractor, while cost reimbursable contracts retain more risk within the organization. Other major factors are flexibility and control, both of which are limited for fixed price contracts. Schedule is another major factor, and contract vehicles such as indefinite delivery indefinite quantity or blanket purchase agreements provide opportunities to reduce contracting time through use of existing vehicles. The cost benefit of specific contract types will be dependent on the scope of the procurement and the market pricing trends.

In addition to these formal contracts, there are a variety of single-purpose contractual arrangements available. Telecommunications (e.g., internet and cellular services) may be acquired through a standard service contract offered by the provider to all customers. Hardware may be acquired through a purchase order with a hardware vendor, where the list price is paid and a warranty may be included. Many software-as-a-service vendors offer the use of their software online via a “subscription” at a fixed cost that may vary by number of users, storage used, etc. Cloud service providers may also offer similar subscriptions.

It is not unusual for an acquisition strategy to include several different acquisition approaches for the various components of a system. These may all be “bundled” together so that a single contractor (“integrator”) is responsible for acquiring, coordinating and managing the entire system project. Or, the individual components (hardware, software, and telecommunications) may be separately acquired and integrated and managed by the organization itself. This may result in lower cost, but may increase risk. Acquisition strategy development is about making the tradeoffs outlined throughout this paper and determining the best approach for the organization and the system being acquired.

8/14/2016 1

Section IX:

Project Management

Section X: Acquisition Strategy

Trusty Carpets

Table of Contents
Executive Summary 4

I. Background and Environmental Analysis

5
A. Background 5
B. Environmental Analysis 5
1. Business Objectives Refresh 5
2. Process Improvement 5
3. New Technology Opportunities 5
4. Commercial Trends Driving Change 5
5. Competitor Products 6
6. Environmental Requirements 6

II. Problem Analysis

6

III. Proposed Solution

7
IV. Expected Improvements 7
V. Alternatives Analysis 8
A. Status Quo 8
B. Square Retail Solution 9
C. SAP Enterprise CRM Solution 11
D. Process Change 12
E. Comparison of Alternatives 13
F. Selected Alternative 15
VI. Feasibility Analysis 15
A. Economic/Financial 15
B. Organizational/Operational 15
C. Technical 16
VII. Requirements Checklist 16
A. Functional Requirements 16
B. Data Requirements 16
C. Technical Requirements 17
VIII. Context Diagram 17
IX. Project Management 17
A. Project Management 17
B. Project Team 19
X. Acquisition Strategy 19
A. End User Hardware. 19
B. Proposed System. 20
C. Connectivity to Proposed System. This includes whatever is needed for the end users to connect to the proposed system (both from the business 20

locations and remotely, as appropriate).

20

Executive Summary

(the executive summary provides the essential facts from the business case for the decision-maker and is written at an appropriate level of detail. a well-written, clear, and compelling conclusion is provided.)

I. Background and Environmental Analysis

A.

Background

Trusty Carpets, owned and operated by Jerry Montgomery, is a carpet sales business with 20 years in the industry. The recent acquisition of Metro Carpets and imminent merger with Mike’s Carpet Installations will expand Trusty Carpets’ sales while adding organic installation capabilities with combined annual revenue of approximately $4.6 million with a 9% profit margin. The recent changes have driven a review of how Trusty Carpets will manage sales, inventory, and employees across multiple locations and mobile installation teams. The IT Squad has been hired to examine the business and develop and implement information technology (IT) solutions that will help to increase Trusty Carpets’ sales and profits.

B.

Environmental Analysis

An environmental analysis of Trusty Carpets indicates that several internal and external factors should be considered as the company implements its expansion.

1. Business Objectives Refresh

Trusty Carpets’ acquisition and the imminent merger have opened several avenues for growth. By re-evaluating the business’ strategic objectives, Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Baker can chart a new direction for the company to grow in-home and online sales new construction and use Ann Montgomery’s connections to interior decorating to drive growth.

2. Process Improvement

Trusty Carpets operates with manual business processes that have been assisted by information technology. The recent acquisition of Metro Carpets brought on paper-based ledgers and sales records that require digitizing to fit the current system or a proposed solution. Mike’s Carpet Installations is also paper-based and will require similar digitization. Further, Trusty Carpets has a limited, if any, internet presence, as it advertises in newspapers, so modernization of the business model to include e-commerce is necessary.

3. New Technology Opportunities

The company does not have a dedicated IT infrastructure or staff to support operations. To properly support multiple locations, a warehouse, mobile installation teams, and the development of an online presence will require an overhaul of processes and the acquisition of infrastructure to support the demands. The technology opportunities available for Trusty Carpets are vast. Technology is continuously growing, and businesses use it to improve customer relationship management, business processes, and sales.

4. Commercial Trends Driving Change

Industry reports suggest that the demand for carpet has increased because of increased housing construction, renovation, and remodeling across the United States (Carpet and Rug Mills, 2021). Rising incomes aid the increased demand. Consumer trends also increase demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly carpets (Mordor Intelligence). Trusty Carpets has a prime opportunity to increase its sales by tapping into these trends.

5. Competitor Products

Carpet industry competitors, such as Mohawk Industries, Inc., offer carpet tiles, which are on-trend (Mohawk Industries, Inc.). Carpet tiles are often viewed as easier to maintain and install. Carpet manufacturers are also producing more durable carpets, particularly waterproof carpeting. Finally, given the societal focus on environmentally friendly products, manufacturers also make carpets from recycled materials (Flooring, Inc., 2021). As Trusty Carpet implements its expansion, it has an opportunity to integrate these new products into its business.

6. Environmental Requirements

The current and future direction of the city council is headed down a clear path of going green. This can be expensive to align the business organization. However, Trusty Carpets has recently acquired a warehouse, and allocating storage space to support carpet recycling is an opportunity to change practices and become an early adopter. This presents an opportunity for Trusty Carpets to re-brand and label their company green through the EPA’s WARM recycling program for carpet waste. This is an easy win for the company with minimal effort to transport and store used carpets for monthly pick-up.

II. Problem Analysis

Due to the recent acquisition of Metro Carpets and the imminent merger with Mike’s carpet installation business, Trusty Carpets needs to combine the three separate companies into one company seamlessly; however, the business will operate from multiple locations. Currently, all three firms employ a different method for managing business processes, such as processing orders, invoicing, and payment collection, and maintaining business data, such as customer data. Further, the businesses have minimal or no technological support.

Trusty Carpets uses an accountant who does not work solely with Trusty Carpets to handle invoices, payments, bills, and payroll. Although minimal, Trusty Carpets is the most technologically advanced of the three businesses with a basic IT infrastructure. Metro Carpets has no IT infrastructure and has hand-written ledgers for business data, which are not well-organized. Similarly, the installation business does not have an IT infrastructure; however, its paper-based business files are well-organized.

Using three different methods for business processes and maintaining business data is outdated, inefficient, and costly. Paper-based files are not widely accessible, require substantial physical space, are error-prone, and are less secure and less likely to be recovered if lost or damaged. Further, navigating through paper files takes time, which increases the time needed to process business transactions and decreases the number of business sales.

Trusty Carpets needs all business processes and data to use the same systems to operate as a single business. Developing and implementing a system that consolidates the business data for all three companies is a critical first step to working as a single business. Consolidation will also assist in increasing profits. Trusty Carpets should immediately plan to resolve this problem and implement a solution within the next six months.

III. Proposed Solution

The recommended solution to Trusty Carpets modernization is using Square’s retail Point-of-Sale (POS) solution for managing in-store and online sales, inventory, payroll, customer relationship management (CRM), finances, and payments of all types. Square offers an integrated service solution that includes essential tools such as cross-location stock checking, inventory history, and low stock alerts for managing inventory. The vendor provides saved cards, search features, and cross-location returns between online and in-store solutions. Additionally, a service is provided to quickly create and host a website that looks professional and is fully integrated into the POS and CRM systems, including reviews, discounts, and cohesive payments. This information allows data-driven analytics and reports to understand sales, profits, and costs. The payroll system enables mobile and multi-site timecards, tracking, labor costs, and wages for different employee types.

Implementation: cloud-based with on-site hardware using Square Stands, Square Registers, and web-based access. This will benefit the existing IT infrastructure while capitalizing on a streamlined solution to IT equipment acquisition. Furthermore, it is recommended that Trusty Carpets improve their on-site internet access and establish business email accounts for a more professional appearance.

IV. Expected Improvements

Understanding the problem and finding a proposed solution will help us explain why improvements are needed in Trusty Carpets.

The Square retail POS solution will allow Trusty Carpets to consolidate the distinct business processes and business data for the three companies using a single, streamlined, and more efficient system. With the merging of these companies, there will be a greater volume of sales and customers, and other data to handle. Automating invoicing, payments, payroll, and other business functions using a single system will help meet the primary business objective of increasing Trusty Carpets profit margins and will also position Trusty Carpets to handle the demands of the expanding business.

There are several financial and non-financial benefits of implementing Square. Some of the financial benefits include:

·

Reducing Costs – Square will reduce personnel costs associated with the business’s accounting functions by reducing labor hours. In addition, Square will eliminate the need for paper files and associated costs for physical storage space.

·

Increasing Sales – Square will provide other options for processing sales transactions. Square can be used to process orders during in-home visits and with the development of a website, customers will be able to place orders on-line as well. Expanding the methods for processing orders will increase the business’s sales capacity.

The non-financial benefits include:

·

Better Data Management – Square will allow Trusty Carpets to access, maintain and manage business data with a single solution regardless of business location. All files will be electronically stored and organized allowing easy access and retrieval. Square will also allow Trusty Carpets to track inventory of any stock maintained in its warehouse.

·

Increased productivity – Automating business processes will increase the business’s productivity. Employees will spend less time preparing paper files. Square will allow employees to check inventory, place an order, and set up installation quickly in a single session with a customer. Further, Trusty Carpets will no longer need to rely on the accountant to find time to manage the business’s financials.

Square will provide other value to the business beyond the consolidation of business processes and data management. Using Square to maintain the business’s data will provide data security. Encryption and other security features will ensure that business and customer data is kept confidential. In addition, Square’s POS can act as an entry-level CRM system, thereby helping the business to keep customer contact details up to date, track every customer interaction, and manage customer accounts. Square can also be used to measure and improve customer service.

All the above-listed solutions to the problems faced by Trusty Carpet would improve its IT infrastructure, customer service, data management, and inventory.

V. Alternatives Analysis

An analysis of alternative solutions identifies several ways to accomplish consolidation of the distinct business processes and business data for the three companies. The analysis will also compare the alternatives, facilitating selection of the best option for the business. The four alternatives considered below are: 1) the status quo or maintain current state; 2) acquiring Square’s retail Point-of-Sale (POS) solution; 3) SAP enterprise CRM solution; or 4) a process change – combining the ordering and scheduling of installation processes.

A.
Status Quo

Trusty Carpets currently utilizes diverse solutions to provide for order, accounting, payroll, sales, and vending. Maintaining the current approach brings several benefits and risks to the company.  

Benefits

There are no gains in benefits by continuing with the current system. By continuing with the current processes in place, Trusty Carpets will continue on their recent growth and sales margin glideslope.

Costs/Risks

There are no tangible additional costs to maintain the current way of doing business by not changing processes and systems. However, there may be costs incurred by not altering the status quo.

· Audits. If Trusty Carpets were to be audited by the IRS or another financial regulatory entity, the time and effort expended by the staff would result in high overtime costs to meet the needs of the audit. If the company chose to hire an accounting firm to handle the audit, it would also result in increased cost due to the paper-based sales system for the two locations.

· Lost Sales. The lack of a website in the modern era is stunting the advertising and growth avenues for Trusty Carpets. This loss will grow with time.

· Increased Risk of Errors. Managing business operations in different locations using different methods, particularly the paper-based method, means the approach is error-prone, which could result in harm to business’s reputation and affect profits.

Feasibility/Defining Issues

Trusty Carpets ownership has a vision for the future and where to take the company. But unfortunately, the status quo cannot meet those needs for growth, modernization, and technological IT solutions that meet business sales and development objectives. Instead, as sales increase, labor costs to hire additional people to keep up with bookkeeping requirements.

B.
Square Retail Solution

The proposed solution for Trusty Carpets and its upcoming merger is Block’s Square Retail. This option is an industry-leading financial services company specializing in the processing of digital payment systems. Their Retail solution brings an end-to-end integrated solution to link geographically separated locations through robust inventory management, payment, accounting, customer relationship management, payroll, and appointment systems, as well as a unified website (Block, Inc, 2022).

Benefits

As a cloud-based solution, Square Retail enables connection between multiple locations and mobile users to provide cohesive management across sites seamlessly over the internet. Specifically:

· Inventory management. Systems provide for stock counts and forecasts, barcoding systems, and stock management across multiple locations. Additional integration supports connections to vendors for ordering.

· Payment systems allow acceptance of cash, check, debit, and credit cards with magnetic strip, embedded chip, or touchless as well as e-payment methods from Apple and Google. Industry-leading security standards protect these methods (Block, Inc, 2022).

· Website. Square provides an easy-to-use website builder that meshes with the rest of the system to provide for online orders for shipping or in-store pickup, gift cards, and, importantly, listing via Google products search engine.

· Electronic accounting. Square centralizes all transaction records in a federally compliant central database that allows for an easy understanding of business transactions. Square can also generate reports like sales, vendor usage, inventory, and profit margins. Payroll is the last module that allows Trusty Carpets to easily add or shrink the employee pool if there are surges in work for installations or holiday seasons. The system provides timecard reports and labor versus sales reports at a touch of a button (Block, Inc, 2022).

Costs

To bring Square Retail solution to Trusty Carpets locations and mobile installation teams, there are some IT infrastructure purchases and upgrades that must be made.

· Hardware.

Square Retail provides several options to allow the in-store setup of their software (Block, Inc., 2022). The recommended setup includes the procurement of:

· Two Register kits per location at a price of $1,269 each.

· Two iPads for the Metro location at $329 each

· Two Blocks for smartphone use for mobile installation teams, $49 each

· Networking.

· Installation of broadband internet connection at the Metro location

· Service. Square Retail service has several fee structures depending on how money is received.

· Premium service is $299/month per location (Kriss, 2021). This gives you the full integration necessary to manage people, inventory, financials, and website seamlessly.

· Card fees are: 2.5% + $.10 for cards present at transaction, 3.5% + $.15 for online purchases, invoice fees are 2.9% +$.30 and through the online store 2.9% +$.30 per transaction (Kriss, 2021).

Feasibility

The feasibility of this solution is relatively straightforward. The lack of an IT team at Trusty Carpets is not a concern due to the user-friendly setup and design of the Square Retail software and hardware. When new equipment connects to the system, it receives automatic syncing and minimal configuration. The integral structure of the software makes it intuitive for first-time users or those who do not wish to learn complex software. As the organization is just transitioning into a much larger company, the culture is ready to adopt a new way of doing business without the change causing shockwaves.

Risks

A few of the risks with this solution are:

· Loss of Internet – Loss of broadband connection can bring the business sales capabilities to a halt if an alternate link is not found. This is the Achilles heel of cloud-based solutions. However, this risk is mitigated with offline storage as long as transactions are processed within 72 hours (Block, Inc., 2022).

· Potential Data Breach – Any system with network connectivity is at risk for a cyberattack, which could result in loss of service or exposure of confidential data.

· Portable Devices – Businesses must safeguard portable devices to prevent unauthorized use and security breaches.

Defining Issue

Square Retail exists to help accelerate small businesses into the modern connected age of sales. It was designed from the ground up to be an easy-to-use, quick to startup, and simple-to-maintain system that provides robust business capabilities to small business owners. Its widespread acceptance and success have fueled its development and further integration and usage. Square Retail offers a quick way for Trusty Carpets to modernize and move into the future with a persistent online presence.

C.
SAP Enterprise CRM Solution

One alternative solution for Trusty Carpets is to implement an enterprise solution CRM from SAP. The business processes and market at Trusty Carpets are not unique or demanding of a customized solution. Instead, cost-effectiveness and streamlined integration can be attained using a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solution from a name-brand provider. This plan will enable Trusty Carpets to acquire a top-tier software solution that modernizes its business processes without the lengthy timeline of a custom-built software solution while realizing benefits like high security, functionality, and reliability (CompTIA, n.d.). This CRM solution can solve manual process problems, separate store locations, and modernization through website integration.

Benefits

An aggressive marketing strategy coupled with the proposed system will enable Trusty carpets to realize measurable increases in efficiency, metrics, and data analytics. In addition, intangible benefits to the company manifest through better understanding their customers. By implementing a master system to track and understand their clients, Trusty Carpets will be better poised to anticipate needs and changes in the market. This will result in higher customer satisfaction and increased word-of-mouth advertising. In addition, the proposed system will improve customer data security and significantly reduce threats posed by external actors.

Costs

Establishing a full server stack CRM is an expensive endeavor up front. To onboard an enterprise system, a substantial amount of equipment will need to be purchased.

· Hardware.

· Server stack – the CRM is comprised of a four server stack including the SAP server, SQL database, and terminal server (SAP, n.d.). $35,000

· 6 Personal Computers – Business specific personal computers for front of house, accounting, and stock management. $600/each

· Software

· SAP Business 1 modules to support sales, accounting, payroll, email, supply chain management, order processing, and data analytics. $3,200 one time or $132/user per month

· Networking.

· Installation of broadband internet at the Metro location $100

· VPN router with wireless access point at each location. $400 each

Feasibility

As a small market capacity company, Trusty Carpets is looking to scale production in an existing market and not seek to be at the forefront competing against large international sales. To that end, a cutting-edge solution is not necessary. Solutions that utilize on-site hardware, software, and networking using a pre-built enterprise software solution are within the capabilities of a contract team to provide support in the event of a service interruption. While a full-blown IT system changes the organization, it fits in with the expansion to new locations and the possible incorporation of mobile user teams in the field installation business. Financially, the company can cover the costs necessary to incur these products; however, the service contracts required for maintenance can be steep.

Risks

A few of the risks with acquiring and implementing this solution are:

· Loss of Servers – Losing the server will cause serious damage and requires a robust backup contingency plan for on and off-site data backups.

· Loss of Internet – This may cause issues between the servers in the two locations unable to sync, process billing, or payments.

· Security Breach – centralized data without constant IT monitoring is more at risk due to lack of updates to operating systems and antivirus definition updates.

Defining Issue

While enterprise CRM solutions offer a large amount of customization, storage, and expansion, these types of solutions are expensive. They require a large amount of up-front investment in equipment, tailoring, and training. To maintain an on-site network server stack, a team of dedicated IT professionals or a contract company will be necessary to perform preventative and corrective maintenance to ensure software, hardware, and networking devices are up to date and secure at all times.

D.
Process Change

Trusty Carpets could modify the process for ordering and scheduling installation of carpets to consolidate the businesses without acquiring new IT. Now, as described above, ordering carpets and scheduling installation is a two-step process. Orders are processed using a Google document and then shared using Google cloud. Separately, Trusty Carpets’ salespeople must contact Mike’s installation company to determine availability of the installers and determine availability of the customer to schedule an installation day and time.

Instead, the sales staff from Trusty Carpets could use the Google calendar to schedule installation of the carpet with the customer at the time of the order without needing to make separate contact with Mike or his installers. In addition, Trusty’s salespeople can use the same Google document form to store the installation details.

Benefits

Enabling the salespeople to place both the order and schedule the installation saves time and money. First, this method streamlines the business process by eliminating time-consuming steps. Second, this method reduces the number of records, particularly paper records, to be stored by the business reducing storage costs. Third, combining the ordering and installation onto the Google doc form allows for digitization of the files associated with the installation of the carpets. Fourth, digitizing files will allow the files to be shared with the accountant who handles the financials for Trusty Carpets. Ultimately, this process change will allow Trusty Carpets and Mike’s installation business to operate as one business.

Costs

The costs of implementing this process change will be minimal. Trusty’s sales people currently share the order forms with installers through Google cloud. Installers will continue to access order forms and scheduling info in the same manner. Trusty will not need to acquire any new IT but may want to consider purchasing additional tablets if more salespeople are hired. In addition, Trusty Carpets can continue to use its employee’s, Ben’s, IT knowledge to assist with the use of Google calendar and any other basic IT issues. Accounting costs could increase, however, as there will be more financial data due to the merger of the two businesses. Trusty may need to have a full-time accountant rather than part-time.

Risks

There are a few risks associated with this process change. First, the salesperson scheduling installation must be familiar with the amount of time needed to install the carpet purchase. The time needed to install could vary based upon the complexity of the job. The scheduling needs to account for these different variables and unanticipated issues. Failure to do so could result in overlapping or missed installation appointments and unhappy customers. So, organizationally, the salespeople need to have a basic understanding of the installation process.

Second, there is an IT risk as this method does not provide for any additional IT support. A process change does not contemplate aligning the hardware used by Trusty Carpets and the installation company. Nor does the process change contemplate hiring IT support to handle more complex IT issues. Finally, there is a security risk. While Google cloud has built-in security features, this process change does not ensure that installers use a secure network to access business data.

Feasibility/Defining Issue

Overall, while this solution is organizationally, economically and technically feasible as it will take minimal skill, time, and expense to implement, it does not fully achieve the goal of consolidating the three businesses into one. This process change would merge Trusty Carpets and Mike’s installation business, but it would not assist with merging Metro Carpets. Metro Carpets has no IT within its store and would need some capability to use the Google form and Google cloud. Without IT, the Metro Carpets location will operate with different business processes and use a different method for storing data, meaning Trusty Carpets will not be as efficient, in both time and costs.

E. Comparison of Alternatives

The table below summarizes the pros and cons of the four alternatives discussed above. Comparing the alternatives reveals which option is most beneficial for Trusty Carpets.

Table of Alternatives for Trusty Carpet’s Business Consolidation

Name of Alternative

Positive Aspects

Negative Aspects

Maintain Current State

· No costs to implement

· Does not assist with meeting business objective
· Not efficient
· Will likely result in loss of profits over time
· Will result in additional business expenses over time to manage business operations

Square’s retail Point-of-Sale (POS) solution

· Ability to link geographically separated locations
· Allows inventory management,
· Provides payment system for multiple forms of payment
· Manages accounting and payroll functions
· Allows customer relationship management
· Provides an appointment system
· Allows website development
· Easy to use

· Costs – hardware, internet connection, monthly service costs, and card payment fees

SAP Enterprise CRM Solution

· High security
· Increases efficiency
· Data analytics to track and understand customers and market changes

· Expensive and time-intensive to implement
· Extensive training necessary
· Dedicated IT professionals or a contract company necessary for maintenance

Combining the Ordering and Scheduling of Installation Processes

· Minimal costs
· Minimal time needed to implement
· Will merge Trusty Carpets and installation business
· No new IT capability needed
· Can use Trusty Carpets employee for basic IT help

· Does not assist with merging Metro Carpets
· Long-term cost savings will be minimal
· Not the most efficient time-saving solution

F. Selected Alternative

Square Retail is the selected alternative for Trusty Carpets. It provides a consolidated system to manage brick-and-mortar locations and integrate the carpet installation business with a single solution. The cloud-based solution provides a lightweight, flexible, and expandable product that modernizes Trusty Carpets’ business processes. Square Retail addresses concerns over business practice modernization without a bloated enterprise architecture solution that provides way too many features that a small business does not need. Square employs world-class security professionals and maintains industry standards for security, a critical requirement for expanding the business to accept electronic transactions and the institution of a website.

This is accomplished while maintaining federal, state, and local financial regulations. Square Retail is a tested and proven solution used by small vendors to large-scale companies around the globe.

VI. Feasibility Analysis

A feasibility analysis indicates that Trusty Carpets has the economic, organizational and technical feasibility to successfully acquire and implement the Square retail POS solution.

A.
Economic/Financial

Acquiring and implementing the Square retail POS solution is economically feasible for Trusty Carpets. As mentioned above, industry reports indicate that demand for carpet will continue to increase over the next 5 years (Mordor Intelligence). North America has the largest market for carpet sales while Asia has the fastest growing market (Mordor Intelligence). Residential uses are driving the market demand primarily because of increased housing construction, renovation, and remodeling across the United States (Carpet and Rug Mills, 2021). The global compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for carpet and rugs is predicted to be above 4.5% (Mordor Intelligence). Carpet tiles, a growing trend, “is anticipated to register a CAGR of more than 4%” from 2021-2026 (Mordor Intelligence). There is also a demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly carpets (Mordor Intelligence). Trusty Carpets is well-positioned to increase its market share and Square will assist with that effort.

Trusty Carpets is a profitable business and has the financial resources to support the IT solution. Trusty Carpets, with newly acquired Metro Carpets and the merger of Mike’s installation business, has a combined annual revenue of approximately $4.6 million with a 9% profit margin. Trusty Carpets has annual sales of about $1.2 million with $100,000 in net profit. Metro Carpets has annual sales of about $3 million with $360,000 in net profit. The installation business earns $1.50 per square foot of installed carpet which amounts to about $375,000 in revenue from installation of Trusty Carpets alone. With increased efficiencies and increased profits, Trusty Carpets should start recovering the costs of implementation within two to three years.

B. Organizational/Operational

Implementing Square is organizationally feasible as it will achieve the goal of consolidating the three businesses and make Trusty Carpets more efficient and more profitable. The new innovation will decrease redundant business functions, decrease risk of error, decrease costly business expenses, and enhance the client experience. The new system will require additional equipment and the installation of an internet connection at the Metro Carpets location, but the time needed to setup Square should be minimal. Square is also simple to coordinate into the existing IT framework.

No additional staff are needed to implement this solution. The current employees would be trained on the use of new technologies as they evolve in the company. Square could consolidate the accounting functions of Trusty Carpets, the installation business and Metro Carpets and eliminate the need for multiple personnel.

C. Technical

Assessing the technical feasibility of installing Square Retail examines several factors. As an off-the-shelf system, the setup is for users with little to no IT background. The system is easily within Ben’s capabilities to install and network. The local internet service provider will complete the remaining technical installation for broadband internet. The system is intuitive and easy to use. Employees of all ages should use the system with minimal issues. If problems arise, Square has a support desk to help businesses with any hardware or software issues (Block, Inc, 2022). This system is a new installation and does not require data migration. Instead, a clean cutover from handwritten ledgers and paper records will occur. The management of the system requires minimal effort. The majority of data entry supports inventory management across the locations, vendor ordering, and accounting. These daily functions do not require an extra step beyond the typical workday. As Trusty Carpets expands capabilities, inventory, locations, or employees, the owners only need to purchase additional terminals or iPads to expand capabilities rapidly and at a low acquisition cost.

VII. Requirements Checklist

The Square solution must meet certain requirements to enable Trusty Carpets to achieve its business objectives. Generally, the solution must meet the following types of requirements: 1) functional requirements – what the system must do; 2) data requirements – how the system must handle data; 3) technical requirements – how the system must perform; and 4) security requirements – how the system must secure data.

A.
Functional Requirements

Requirement 1 – The system must calculate the cost for carper based on the amount of square feet needed and the price per square foot.

Requirement 2 – The system must display whether an item is in-stock at the business’s warehousing using the item number.

Requirement 3 – The system must accept in-store and online purchase orders.

Requirement 4 – The system must accept all current credit card technology payment methods.

Requirement 5 – The system must provide an enterprise solution to inventory management.

B.
Data Requirements

Requirement 1 – The system must provide a report of in-store purchases.

Requirement 2 – The system must calculat4 the square footage of a carpet order.

Requirement 3 – The system must be compliant with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Requirement 4 – The system must connect to a website for online sales.

Requirement 5 – The system must generate cost of goods reports.

C.
Technical Requirements

Requirement 1 – The system must be able to operate on tablets.

Requirement 2 – The system must have at least 99.97% availability daily.

Requirement 3 – The system must support mobile users through an app.

Requirement 4 – The system must utilize a redundant cloud-based storage solution.

Requirement 5 – The system must support at least 20 concurrent users.

D. Security Requirements

Requirement 1 – The system must require two-factor authentication for log-in access.

Requirement 2 – The system must comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) (U.S. Treasury, 2021).

Requirement 3 – The system must limit access to personally identifiable information.

Requirement 4 – The system must utilize end-to-end encryption protocols.

Requirement 5 – The system must support VPN technology.

VIII. Context Diagram

Diagramming system functionality from a top-down perspective is critical to creating a great product. This method analyzes external interfaces and drills down into high- and low-level functions (Conger, 2008). This method ensures the scope of the project is bounded correctly. Context diagrams examine external entities that interact with the system and are uncontrollable by the modification to the processes. These diagrams will show relationships, data flows, and data stores to help determine the interactions and improve them. The context diagram for Trusty Carpets is listed as Appendix A below. Here, Square Retail is located in the center as the enterprise solution to be employed. Arrows demonstrate the data flows in and out of the system to support the processes of the outlying blocks regarding customer data, purchases, inventory management, and installations.

IX. Project Management

The implementation of the Square Retail POS must be carefully managed to ensure achievement of Trusty Carpet’s business objectives. Specifically, successful implementation requires developing a project management plan, identifying the project team and establishing a project schedule.

A. Project Management

The project management plan serves as the blueprint for carrying out the project and “defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled” (OSP International LLC). The project management plan includes the following areas:

1. Project Scope

To manage the scope of the project, the first step is to meet with the relevant parties within Trusty Carpets and the installation business that will use the Square system. The goal is to ensure there is a comprehensive list of the specific requirements for the Square solution in order to accomplish the business objective. Using this list coupled with the business objective, Trusty Carpets can develop a scope statement, which will help guard against scope creep. During the development and implementation of the Square solution, Trusty Carpet’s project team must review all deliverables to ensure consistency with the project scope. Finally, the scope should be reviewed at regular intervals throughout the course of the project to determine if changes are necessary to complete the project consistent with the business needs.

2. Time/Schedule

To manage the project’s schedule, the first step is to identify the project team member(s) who will develop and monitor the schedule. To develop the schedule, the project team should develop a list of the specific tasks that need to be accomplished and order the list in the sequence needed to complete the project. After determining how long it will take to complete each individual task, the project team can determine how long it will take to complete the project. The project team must also determine when deviations from the schedule will be permitted. The project team should monitor the schedule throughout the development and implementation of Square to ensure the project is on schedule and whether changes are needed.

3. Cost

To manage the project’s cost, the first step is to develop a plan for maintaining control of the budget. After determining project costs and finalizing the project budget, the plan should identify when budget changes are permitted and the method for approving any budget changes. For example, a 10% cost increase in any budget line item should need approval from the project sponsor. During development and implementation of the Square solution, the project team should regularly compare expenditures with the project budget to ensure that the project is staying within the budget scope or if adjustments are needed.

4. Quality

To manage the quality of the project, the first step is to develop a plan identifying the quality standards that the Square solution must meet to be acceptable and how the solution will be inspected to determine that the standards are met. Quality standards should be identified after discussions with relevant stakeholders and consistent with the identified requirements. The project team should ensure that the Square solution is tested throughout development and implementation in accordance with the plan to ensure that the solution meets the standards, requirements and business needs.

5. Communications

To manage communications during the project, Trusty Carpet’s project team must develop a communications plan. The plan must set forth how often to communicate with the relevant stakeholders and the appropriate methods for communication. The plan should be followed throughout the development and implementation of Square and the project team should regularly revisit the plan to determine if changes are needed.

6. Stakeholders

To manage the project’s stakeholders, the first step is to identify the stakeholders and their interests with respect to the business objective and the Square solution. As the Square solution is being developed and implemented, the project team should regularly communicate with the relevant stakeholders to provide updates about the project. Engagement with stakeholders should also include addressing any concerns or questions from stakeholders.

B.

Project Team

To successfully develop and implement the Square solution to accomplish Trusty Carpet’s business objective, Trusty Carpets needs a project team, which will be responsible for developing and overseeing the project management plan and the completion of the project. The project team will consist of:

1. Project Sponsor

The project sponsor is generally responsible for approving the project, including the financing of the project. For the Square solution, the project sponsor will be responsible for approving the project management plan, the project budget and approving advancement of the project phases. The project team, or primarily, the project manager, will report to the project sponsor. The project sponsor will also help resolve any disagreements or major problems that arise during the completion of the project (Villanova University, 2021).

2. Project Manager/Business Analyst

Generally, the project manager is responsible for ensuring that the project is carried out successfully and consistent with the project management plan. The business analyst’s role is similar to the project manager. However, the business analyst is generally responsible for ensuring that the project is meeting the business objective and the identified requirements (Villanova University, 2021). Given that Trusty Carpets is a small company, the project manager and business analyst roles can be consolidated and filled by one team member.

3. Project Team Member

The project team member will help accomplish the various tasks associated with the project and assist the project manager/business analyst as needed.

C Schedule. Provide a schedule that lists the major tasks involved and how much time they require. The schedule should be detailed enough to cover all the important activities, but does not need to include a Work Breakdown Structure.

Approach to Developing this Section

The six management areas listed come from the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) list of about 10 knowledge areas. Use the resources provided in the Week 6 Content to fully understand what is to be included for each of the above management areas.

In developing the list of the project team members, keep in mind the scope and budget for the project. The project team should have all the required skill sets, but team members may function in multiple roles. In order to keep costs low, the team should be as small and efficiently designed as possible. The team should include both functional and IT personnel.

The schedule should be developed with the understanding that when the business case is approved, many of the project planning and analysis and design steps will have been completed. So, using the information previously documented in the business case, the team should identify the major steps that remain to fully implement the project, and determine reasonable timeframes for them to be accomplished. The schedule should be presented as a table with tasks, duration, and participants, including the person who has the lead for that activity. The following table may be copied and used, if so desired:

Task

Duration

Leader

Participants

Task 1

Task 2

Etc.

X. Acquisition Strategy

The acquisition strategy to implement the proposed solution outlines requirements for three key areas: end-user devices, the proposed solution those devices interface with, and the connectivity that provides the backbone for information to travel. Each area below includes explanation of the scope, necessary infrastructure and the contracting method.

A. End User Hardware.

1. Scope

.

Implementation of the proposed solution requires acquiring some user devices. The company will need to acquire two registers for each location, two iPads for Metro Carpets, and two Square Blocks for the mobile installation teams. These devices are all one-time purchase and will be owned outright by the company. Due to the equipment and application’s proprietary nature, the equipment will only work with Square Retail’s software and is only customizable within the limits of Square’s software.

2. Infrastructure

.

Beyond the edge devices, system connectivity will be accomplished via wireless connections from the service-provided wireless internet modem/router combination units from Cox Business Internet Services at each location. Square’s devices come pre-loaded with the latest software that incorporates industry standard security protocols for the devices and payment information to protect it from malicious actors. Wireless connections will be protected via 802.11 WiFi security protocols.

3. Contracts

.

Acquisition of the required hardware will be accomplished via two direct purchase orders. Square Retail registers and Blocks are purchased directly from Square and iPads will be purchased directly from Apple.

B. Proposed System.

1. Scope.

Square Retail is acquired as a complete service utilizing tiers for access to various modules. To achieve the desired end state, the premium tier is required. This provides access to digital process payments, inventory management, accounting, customer relationship management, payroll, appointments, and integration of the website.

2. Infrastructure.

All Square Retail services are hosted at cloud datacenters around the world. This allows Square to provide complete off-site data redundancy and access via any web-enabled device with proper login credentials in the event of disaster or loss of devices. Connectivity to the Square services is accomplished via the internet in any form through the registers or via iOS application on smart devices. Square offers industry-leading security for the applications, retail software and server-side applications.

3. Contracts.

Services for Square will be acquired through a subscription to the software-as-a-service via monthly or annual service subscriptions. There is no cancellation fee or contracted time period before ending service.

C.
Connectivity to Proposed System. This includes whatever is needed for the end users to connect to the proposed system (both from the business

locations and remotely, as appropriate).

1. Scope

a. What items in this category need to be acquired (list)?

b. Buy as a product or service? (some items may be purchased and others may be acquired as a service)

c. Commercial-off-the-shelf (including open source) or custom?

d. Will in-house staff or external contractors support custom development, integration, or sustainment?

2. Infrastructure

a. Will system hosting services be needed?

b. How will connectivity be made available?

c. What security considerations should be included in the contracts?

d. Will any specific hardware or software need to be acquired to provide security?

e. Will Business Continuity requirements need to be included in the contract(s)?

f. Will separate Business Continuity solutions or components need to be included or acquired?

g. Are there any data management considerations to be included in the acquisition(s)?

3. Contracts

a. Purchase order?

b. Local commercial purchase?

c. Service Level Agreement?

d. Lease?

e. Subscription?

f. Service Agreement?

g. Competitively awarded contract?

h. Time and materials contract?

i. Fixed price contract?

Approach to Developing this Section

Before beginning this section, read the “Basics of Defining Information System Acquisition Strategies,” in the Week 6 Content. It explains how to approach acquisition planning and will help in responding to the questions above. That document provides a guide to completing the documentation for a full acquisition strategy plan, which would include many of the same topics as are included in the business case. For this section, focus on responding to the questions above, as they apply to what will need to be acquired for the system you are proposing. Multiple acquisition strategies may be identified for the proposed solution. For example, some components may be purchased outright, other products or services may be leased or available by subscription/service contracts. If such is the case with the proposed solution, all of the applicable questions for each type of acquisition recommended need to be considered and responses should be provided if they apply to what is being acquired. Some questions may not apply to the component being acquired (e.g., there does not need to be a data management strategy identified for a printer that is to be purchased). Keep in mind that the full security requirements and solution will be covered in Section XII (yet to be developed), but your solution should have identified what security hardware and software would need to be acquired, and you should include here any security requirements that should be included in contracts or service requests associated with your solution.

References

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https://squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale/retail.

Block, Inc. (2022). Hardware Kits. Retrieved from squareup.com:

https://squareup.com/shop/hardware/us/en/pos-kits.

Block, Inc. (2022). Process Payments with Offline Mode. Retrieved from Squareup.com:

https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5095-process-payments-in-offline-mode.

Carpet and Rug Mills. (2021). In Gale Business Insights: Global Collection. Gale, a Cengage Company. Retrieved from

https://bi-gale-com.ezproxy.umgc.edu/global/article/GALE%7CBHHZIM370384503/9c23ef5f7467d0c2607d8e7409df04f2?u=umd_umuc

.

CompTIA. (n.d.). What is Saas – Advantages and Disadvantages: Cloud Computing: Comptia. Default. Retrieved February 2, 2022, from https://www.comptia.org/content/articles/what-is-saas.

Conger, S. (2008). The New Software Engineering. Global Text Project.

Flooring Inc. (2021, November 30). 2022 Carpet Trends:

25

Eye-catching Carpet Ideas. Flooring Inc. Retrieved January 17, 2022, from

https://www.flooringinc.com/blog/carpet-trends/

.

Hartney, J. (2021, June 8). The 10 PMBOK Knowledge Areas. ProjectEngineer. Retrieved February 19, 2022, from http://www.projectengineer.net/the-10-pmbok-knowledge-areas/.

Kriss, R. (2021, September 22). The Ultimate Guide to Square Fees. Retrieved from Fundera.com:

https://www.fundera.com/blog/square-fees.

Mohawk Industries, Inc. (n.d.). Products. Products | Mohawk Industries, Inc. Retrieved January 17, 2022, from .

Mordor Intelligence. (n.d.). Global Carpet And Rugs Market – Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, And Forecasts (2022 – 2027). Industry Reports: Global Carpet and Rugs Market. Retrieved January 17, 2022, from

https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/global-carpet-and-rugs-market

.

Mordor Intelligence. (n.d.). North America Carpet Tiles Market – Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, And Forecasts (2022 – 2027). Industry Reports: North America Carpet Tiles Market. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from

https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/carpet-tile-market-in-north-america

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Orbus Software. (n.d.). It Governance for Small and Medium Business. Orbus 2021 Website. Retrieved February 12, 2022, from

https://www.orbussoftware.com/resources/blog/article/it-governance-for-small-and-medium-business

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SAP. (n.d.). CRM Software and Customer Experience Products for Businesses. SAP. Retrieved February 2, 2022, from https://www.sap.com/products/crm.html.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act. (2002). Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 15 U.S.C. § 7201. Retrieved from

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/107/hr3763

U.S. Treasury. (2021). Treasury Financial Manual (TFM), Part 5, Chapter 7000, Credit and Debit Card Collection Transactions.

Villanova University. (2021, August 31). Project Team Roles and Responsibilities Explained. Villanovau.com. Retrieved February 19, 2022, from https://www.villanovau.com/resources/project-management/project-team-roles-and-responsibilities/.

Appendices

Appendix A – Context Diagram

25