"Case Problem / May Day -May Day, Portal is Down!!!!"

A medium-sized consulting firm by the name of "Eugene and Associates (E&A)" has been hired to maintain the portal for a large-scale law firm in Detroit. The consulting firm, itself has about fifty people working in its ranks. Ten of the fifty are Vice Presidents (VP-s). They split all of the profit sharing at the end of the year, and are often rewarded $50,000+ bonuses annually. This is not included in their base salaries of $250,000. For the most part, some of these individuals are people who've achieved their status in the company through "family connections." The others are the individuals who have finance or marketing backgrounds and have master's degrees in Business and Administration (MBA-s). Another ten of the fifty individuals work in manager roles, but they have IT backgrounds in specific IT Specialties (thus, some of these individuals have 'Systems Analysis' backgrounds). Let's refer to them as IT Managers. They are "white collar" individuals who hold technical degrees and/or certifications. The average salary among these individuals is $140,000 per year. There are 10 additional individuals out of the fifty who holds the distinction of being project managers. They are responsible for managing problem resolutions to technical problems. For the most part, these individuals hold PMP Certifications, and they have their own niches when it comes to IT Specialties. Their average salaries range from $75,000 to $150,000 per year (based upon the complexity of visibility of the Projects/Programs they manage). The remaining 20 individuals are technicians who have deep technical expertise in their respective disciplines. Their salaries range anywhere from $50,000 per year to $100,000. Ironically, Eugene himself is a Systems Engineer who graduated from UDM's CIS Program after which he landed a huge government contract after consulting for two years. Instead of taking the $50 million contract, instead, he decided to lease some office space at very cheap rates in the Ford Building, in downtown Detroit so that he could re-invest in his consulting practice expanding it and adding more associates. See the breakdown below.

E&A Consulting / Breakdown

10 Vice Presidents (3 from past IT Projects and 7 with Finance or Accounting backgrounds).

10 IT Managers (Technical Degrees and/or Technical Certifications).

10 Project Managers (Technical niches with PMP Certifications).

20 Technicians (Most technical individuals in the organization).

The Client / The Law Firm The Law firm which has called upon EA for its portal expertise is a large "silk stocking" firm, with over 1000 attorneys. Ten percent of 1000 (100) are Senior Partners who have salaries that average $250,000 although their bonuses can range from $50,000 to $400,000 a year. The Senior Partners live relaxed lifestyles. They watch presentations, go to meetings, and eat "Power Lunches" all day long. They average working 40 to 50 hours per week because they've already done their time, working the long hours as associate attorneys and/or junior partners. 20 percent of 1000 (200) are Junior Partners. These individuals have established reputations as having certain specialties in the law (ie. Mergers and Acquisitions, Real Estate, Environmental, Tax Law, and Corporate Litigation). They average working 80 hours per work week. Their salaries can be as high as $250,000 but they are not compensated by profit-sharing bonuses like the senior partners. They are well on their way to becoming senior partners and they tend to keep in great shape. They are the shining stars from the associate ranks. The remaining 700 people in the firm are made up of mostly associate attorneys (600) and administrative support personnel (Paralegals, HR, Secretaries, Librarians, IT Legal Administrators, Patent Agents, Systems Support, and Litigation Support Personnel). The attorneys range from being fresh out of law school, to those who've been with the firm for 5 to 10 years. This is the "proving ground section" of the firm. Everyone is shooting to make junior partners and eventually senior partners. The average starting salary is about $100,000 per year. They hold the potential of doubling their salary and going beyond that if they work 80+ hours a week, which is the norm. The overtime is what takes their $100,000 per year salaries up to $200,000+ per year. The problem is that they don't have the time to spend it, and often they get burned out.

The Law Firm / Breakdown

100 Senior Partners

200 Junior Partners

600 Associate Attorneys

100 Administrative Support (This group consists of IT Personnel, which focus on different aspects of Technology, Legal Assistants, and Secretaries).

The System Problem to Address

A few years ago, one of the senior partners in the law firm went to lunch with one of the VP-s from EA and conveyed that the law firm needed a portal for the Law Firm's website. The rationale behind this idea was that the firm was expanding to different cities throughout the world and he felt that there should be one single access point where any person in the law firm could log on via this portal and conduct firm business which ranged from finding out a paralegal's phone number or e-mail address,...to entering a billing entry for some time that an attorney may have spent with a client. The portal should have access points to; all HR Systems, all Billing Tracking Systems, all Library Systems (Westlaw), and all Bar Ex Preparation databases and documentation. It is basically the front page of the entire law firm.

The portal was developed and implemented by E&A, and for the most part, it's been a success until recently. To add technical context to this scenario, the main office of the E&A is housed on 8 floors of the First National Building, and the 6th Floor of the Firm is entirely dedicated to the Firm's Data Operations. That floor requires special access privileges to get exit the elevator. There are raised floors, which are required for the cabling connectivity to the large-scale servers, Storage Area Networks, and at least two tape libraries. Additionally, the 6th floor has a cooling system to keep the equipment running optimally.

Getting back to the technical problem, because the law firm has offices in different time zones around the world, it is essential for the network to stay accessible 24 hours a day. As of recently, the portal has started to crash frequently. When the portal goes down, all of the virtual aspects of the firm go down. Attorneys don't have access to their e-mail. Electronic encrypted contracts which can usually be signed and authenticated for the courts are no longer an option. Fax to electronic imaging is no longer an option. The online billing tracking system which ties into a mainframe is no longer accessible (most of the older Senior Partners are most familiar with using this system). Internet access is blocked when the portal goes down, and all of the access to the library systems which enable the attorneys to conduct all of their legal research are no longer accessible in these instances.

The frequency of the problem has raised some eyebrows in the ranks of the law firm's senior partners. Now the senior leadership at both the Law Firm and EA have made it a top priority for this problem to be resolved. Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of Systems Analysis.

The Data Operations floor will have to conduct a power down, one month from now. During the power down, all electricity will be shut down on the 6th floor, however, there are backup generators--to which 100% of the servers, SANS, and tape libraries are connected. 10 E&A Technicians will participate in the planning of a shutdown, two weeks ahead of the real event, in preparation for the actual shutdown which is one month away. Those technicians are paired off, with different focuses. They are as follows.

E&A Group 1 (Pair) Focus on Window Operating Systems which run on all workstations and laptops for the Attorneys and Staff.

E&A Group 2 (Pair) Have technical expertise with the tape libraries, which the Law Firm's administrative support personnel (which focus on IT) maintain.

E&A Group 3 (Pair) Has technical expertise with the large-scale EMC Storage Area Network which is still under warranty with EMC Corporation but is maintained by the Law Firm's administrative support personnel (which focus on Storage Area Networks) maintain.

E&A Group 4 (Pair) Have technical expertise with the AS400 Mainframe which is the same model machine that runs at the Law Firm (specifically housed on the 6th Floor), which the Law Firm's administrative support personnel (focus on Mainframe System Administration) maintains.

E&A Group 5 (Pair) Have technical expertise in building Portals on Linux and Wintel Platforms and both Operating Systems run on various servers on the 6th Floor. These servers are maintained by the Law Firm's administrative support personnel (which focus on Windows and Linux System Administration) maintain.

The sales vendors from the contracted hardware/software companies have assured us that 100% of the equipment can run comfortably in varying temperatures. The power down will occur on a Friday evening and all power will be restored to the building on Sunday night to allow for extra time for issues that may arise when the power is brought back up. Some IT managers have opted for their System Administrators to bring their servers down during the weekend window. Others are taking the advice of the sales vendors and entrusting the fact that the hardware will continue to run properly. 100% of the hardware has warranties and contractual support from the hardware/software companies. Adequate data backups will be needed prior to the power down. Some network managers have decided to make some changes to the cabling during the downtime. The Law Firm's Administrative PC Support Group has decided that they will install new wireless technology on the 6th floor so that the Attorneys can connect from other floors.

Question 1) As an IT Manager (who will be managing either the personnel or the Projects, during this power-down) what are some essential questions that you'd need to be answered prior to the scheduled event taking place. What are some of the artifacts/technical documentation which you'd prefer to have, or that you'd advocate acquiring 'ahead of time?