Write a paper work on IT Sourcing and Development in a Global Economy and Technological Globalization.
INTRODUCTION
Many information technology (IT) companies and IT departments have decided to outsource
projects overseas to gain competitive advantages both domestically and globally. For this project,
you will be choosing between two vendors bidding for an IT project for a U.S. company.
SCENARIO
You are the senior director of information technology at Endothon Inc. (Endothon), a U.S.-based
company located in Atlanta, Georgia. Your company makes aircraft seats and accessories for
private and small commercial aircraft. You have five manufacturing plants in the United States.
Your company has recently expanded into western Europe due to long-term contracts with
Airbus, Dassault, and Bombardier in France and the United Kingdom. This newly acquired
business in western Europe required the company to purchase three manufacturing plants in
western Europe. Also, you currently have long-term contracts with Boeing, Cessna, and
Grumman in the United States.
The CEO and the board of directors at Endothon have indicated they want a new enterprise
resource planning (ERP) system for their company, and they would like it to be compatible with
their customers’ systems. All of Endothon’s customers have Systems, Applications, & Products
in Data Processing (SAP) provide their ERP systems. They want the ERP to be configured and
implemented in the next 10 months. Realizing this is an aggressive schedule, they have
authorized you to outsource the development of the ERP system to either an inshore or offshore
company to contract for the necessary resources to accomplish this project. Your team will be
involved in this endeavor so that they will eventually learn the system. However, the initial
configuration, implementation, maintenance, and support will have to be serviced by your
selected vendor and transitioned to your team two years after initial implementation. As the
senior director, you have already determined that the cost to implement this project with a
domestic contractor or within the company is prohibitive. To achieve the aggressive timeline and
the budget, you must find a lower-cost resource capability offshore. You have issued a request
for proposal (RFP) and have gone through a selection process to the point that you now have the
final two competing vendors. The budget for this project is $10,000,000.
The SAP ERP system you are going to be implementing will have a number of modules that
represent core business processes and areas. You will focus on three major modules within the
SAP ERP system:
1. Financial Accounting and Controlling (FICO) Module: This includes procurement
and payments for international contracts. It also includes the recording of financial
transactions and the assurance of the correct payments for the correct performance.
Transfer pricing (monetary exchange rates), tracking, and posting are continually
managed by this system.
2. Human Resources Management System (HRMS) Module: All personnel data,
including personal information, work history, medical records, training history,
salary information, and organizational placement are contained in this system.
3. Sales and Distribution (SD) Module: The eight manufacturing plants are automated
and tracked through this module. This includes the proprietary designs and
components of the various products. Product design information is transmitted in
encrypted form from the headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, to the various plants on a
continual basis. This includes customer data, shipping and receiving information,
and inventory loads.
As the senior director of information technology at Endothon, you are tasked with selecting a
vendor based on these two final proposals and then suggesting modifications to the winning
vendor’s proposal to align to the company’s needs.
REQUIREMENTS
Your submission must be your original work. No more than a combined total of 30% of the
submission and no more than a 10% match to any one individual source can be directly quoted
or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. An originality report is provided
when you submit your task that can be used as a guide.
You must use the rubric to direct the creation of your submission because it provides detailed
criteria that will be used to evaluate your work. Each requirement below may be evaluated by
more than one rubric aspect. The rubric aspect titles may contain hyperlinks to relevant portions
of the course.
A. Summarize Endothon’s outsourcing needs and expectations for the outsourcing vendor,
based on the attached “Sourcing Plan Case Study” and “Request for Proposal.”
B. Identify the project sponsor, stakeholders, and steering committee based on information
in the Endothon corporate profile, using the attached “Sourcing Plan Case Study.”
C. Summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the proposal from Bullzai Ltd. (Bullzai),
noting any gaps in the vendor’s response to requirements specified in the attached
“Request for Proposal.”
Note: Use the “Bullzai_Response to Request for Proposal” attached.
D. Summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the proposal from Synesthor Ltd.
(Synesthor), noting any gaps in the vendor’s response to requirements specified in the
attached “Request for Proposal.”
Note: Use the “Synesthor_Response to Request for Proposal” attached.
E. Identify which vendor you want to award the outsourcing contract to, justifying why that
vendor was chosen.
F. Recommend modifications to the chosen vendor’s bid, amending key weaknesses and
oversights in the selected vendor’s response to the RFP (i.e., the “Synesthor_Response
to Request for Proposal” or the “Bullzai_Response to Request for Proposal” attachment)
and justifying how the recommended modifications will benefit your company.
G. Summarize how a problem-solving negotiation strategy could be used to renegotiate the
weaknesses and oversights identified in part F.
H. Recommend training to mitigate misunderstandings in cultural communication that may
arise between Endothon and the chosen outsourcing vendor.
I. Explain technical and security challenges related to the country where your chosen
vendor is located, including IT security, physical security, and the protection of
intellectual property.
J. Explain how Encryption and Export Administration Regulations (EAR), Category 5,
Parts 1 and 2 apply to communications between your company and your chosen vendor.
K. Acknowledge sources, using APA-formatted in-text citations and references, for content
that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
L. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your
submission.
1
Type Title of Paper in Full
Type Your Name Here
Western Governors University
Course number: Name
Instructor
Term
2
Abstract ( not required usually)
This is where you will insert the abstract of your paper. The abstract is a very brief summary of
your paper. The abstract should be one double-spaced paragraph that is NOT indented. It is usually
no more than 150-250 words long. Tell your reader the purpose of your paper in the abstract and
describe the main points of your paper. It is usually easiest to write your abstract after you’ve
written the rest of your paper.
Keywords: word 1, word 2, etc.
(An abstract is optional for student papers. Please check with your instructor to see whether an
abstract should be included in your paper.)
3
Title in Full
This will be the body of your paper. Each new paragraph is indented one tab. The entire
body of your paper will be double-spaced. This includes the “References” page at the end. Don’t
forget that you’ll need to include an in-text citation every time you quote, paraphrase, or
summarize an outside source of information. This is very important. Each item that you include
an in-text citation for must also be listed in your reference list.
(A short student paper may not have section headings. Please check with your instructor to see
whether section headings should be included in your paper.)
Type Your Level One Heading Title
Type Your Level Two Heading Title
Conclusion
4
References
Author, A. A., Author B. B., & Author, C. C. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal,
volume(issue), page-page. doi:x.xxxx/xxxx-xxxx.xx.x.xxx
Author, D.D. (year, Month day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper,
https://newspaper.homepage
Author, E.E., & Author, F.F. (year). Title of book. Publisher.
Author, G.G., & Author, H.H. (year, Month day). Title of document. https://www.xxxxxxx
Your references will be listed alphabetical by author’s last name. They will not be indented the
same way as the body of your paper. Each reference will have a “hanging indent,” like
this paragraph is written. This guide shows how to create different types of reference
entries: https://national.libguides.com/apa_7th/reference
Student Name and ID#
1
Recommendations for Changes to the Five Year IT Global Strategic Plan
For Lee and Mary’s Gourmet Ice Cream
Introduction
Section A: Summary of the State of Current Technologies
•
Data Storage (target 1)
•
Unified Communications (target 2)
•
Enterprise Resource Programming (ERP) System (target 5)
•
Integrated Point-Of-Sale (POS) System (target 6)
•
Customer Resource Management (CRM) System (target 11)
Section B: Recommended Changes to Data Storage Activities in Target 1
Section C: Recommended Changes to Unified Communications Activities in Target 2
Section D: Recommended Changes to ERP System Activities in Target 5
Section E: Recommended Changes to POS System Activities in Target 6
Section F: Recommended Changes to CRM System Activities in Target 11
Section G: Justification of Above Changes and Alignment with Company Goals
•
Addressing Global Technology Trends
•
Maintaining Technology Standards and Best Practices
•
Supporting Company Initiatives
Student Name and ID#
2
Section H: How Recommended Changes Address International Market Opportunities and
Global Economic Challenges
Section I: Explanation of Challenges and Opportunities Resulting from Implementing and
Maintaining This IT Globalization Plan