A university has rapidly expanded and recently computerised its teaching and assessment processes based on a customised version of an off-the-shelf software package. The Library introduced a computerised system several years ago. Accounts and payroll are handled by separate computer systems in the Accounting department, using accounting and payroll software packages.

To achieve improvements, the university asked consultants to assess the existing systems and see whether they meet its objectives. The consultants advised that it is inefficient having too many independent systems. They suggested an integrated information system using an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. They were concerned about the lack of automated procedures for purchases and the lack of integration of Student Records with Accounting (especially regarding fee payments).

While the Technology department is technically capable of implementing an organisation- wide ERP system, they are under-staffed. Management believes that an external software development company should be approached to build the new system. They are concerned about a lack of infrastructure to support uninterrupted, secure operation of the proposed options. There have been several service outages recently, all of which were caused by technology failures and which resulted in data loss. Given that management identified 24 hour online access to library resources, e-learning and email 365 days a year, as essential, these outages are concerning. The consultants suggested a cloud-based system.

The directors of the Accounting department and Library were both reluctant to change from their existing systems, so management thought it would be better to exclude them in the discussions. To minimise impact, it was decided that the chosen system should be in use before the start of next semester, in two months’ time and that it should be implemented by direct conversion over a weekend.

a) Assess the risk of another service outage occurring and your recommendation using the concept of the risk analysis matrix covered in the lecture. Provide detailed reasons for your assessment based on the case study and make recommendations how the risk can be reduced.

b) What do you think the college was trying to achieve by going to an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Also detail and explain which data would be shared between the different modules.

c) Discuss the university’s approach to the system conversion and identify two (2) other conversion strategies that could have been used. In your discussion, explain which strategy would be best and why.