Stage 1: Strategic Use of Technology

Before you begin work on this assignment, be sure you have read the Case Study on Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC). MTC is a fictional company created for IFSM 300s Case Study. It is also recommended that you review the additional Stages (2, 3 and 4) as well as the vendor brochure provided for Stage 4. This will help you understand the overall report and potential solution.

Overview

As a business analyst in the Chief Information Officers (CIO's) department of Maryland Technology Consulting (MTC), you have been assigned to conduct an analysis, develop a set of system requirements, evaluate a proposed solution, and develop an implementation plan for an IT solution (applicant tracking or hiring system) to improve the hiring process for MTC. This work will be completed in four stages, and each of these four stages will focus on one section of an overall Business Analysis and System Recommendation (BA&SR) report to be delivered to the CIO.

Section I. Strategic Use of Technology (Stage 1) - The first step is to look at the organization and explain how an IT system could be used to support MTC's strategies and objectives and support its decision-making processes.

Section II. Process Analysis (Stage 2) Next you will evaluate current processes and workflow and explain how MTC can use IT to improve its processes and workflow.

Section III. Requirements (Stage 3) Then you will identify key stakeholder expectations for the new technology solution to support MTCs hiring process and develop a set of requirements.

Section IV. System Recommendation (Stage 4) Finally, you will review the provided Vendor brochure for a proposed applicant tracking system and explain how it meets the requirements and what needs to be done to implement the system within MTC.

The sections of the BA&SR will be developed and submitted as four staged assignments. In stages 2, 3 and 4, you will also incorporate any feedback received when the previous stage was graded to improve the effectiveness of your overall report and then add the new section to your report. At the end of the course, you will submit a complete BA&SR document that includes all the sections and changes that resulted from previous feedback. Part of the grading criteria for Stage 4 submission includes addressing previous feedback to improve the final report.

assignment BA&SR: Introduction and Section I. Strategic Use of Technology

Write an appropriate Introduction to the entire BA&SR Report (guidelines are provided below). Section I of the BA&SR document contains an organizational analysis and identifies ways in which an information system to improve the hiring process can help MTC, the organization in the case study, meet its strategic goals and meet the information needs of various levels of management.

Using the case study, assignment instructions, Content readings, and external research, develop your Introduction and Section I. Strategic Use of Technology. To start, review the readings in Weeks 1 and 2. The case study tells you that the executives and employees at MTC have identified a need for an effective and efficient applicant tracking or hiring system. As you review the case study, use the assignment instructions to take notes to assist in your analysis.

Use the outline format, headings and tables provided and follow all formatting instructions below. For Stage 1, create a title page and reference page that will be used for all 4 stages.

Apply specific information from the case study to address each area.

introduction

Begin your report with a clear, concise, well organized introduction to explain why you are writing and what is to come in the complete BA&SR report (not just Stage 1). This should briefly set the context for MTC business purpose, environment, and current challenges related to hiring. Then specifically provide what is to come in the full report. Keep your audience in mind this is an internal report for the CIO of MTC. Provide an introduction in one paragraph that engages the readers interest in continuing to read your report.

1. Strategic Use of Technology

1. Organizational Strategy In this section, you should clearly present at a broad level what MTCs organizational strategy is (refer to case study information), then what issues the current manual hiring process may present that interfere with achieving that strategy, and how improving the hiring process will benefit MTC and support its business strategy. (Use two to three strong sentences that explain how the system would support the strategy and justify your position with specifics from the Case Study.)

2. Competitive Advantage - First, provide an overview of the competitive environment that MTC is currently operating in based on information from the case study. Then explain how and why MTC can use the new hiring system to increase its competitive advantage. Your explanation should demonstrate your understanding of what competitive advantage is as well as how improving the hiring process will help achieve MTCs competitive advantage. Include how MTC can use the type of data/information that will be in the hiring system for strategic advantage. (Paragraph of 4-5 sentences)
3. Strategic Objectives- Review the four Strategic Goals presented in the Strategic Business Plan section of the MTC Case Study. The CIO has asked you to come up with an example of an objective to meet each goal and explain how a new hiring system would help achieve that objective. As you can see from the example provided in the table below, an objective is a statement that is clear (not vague) and is something that can be measured or evaluated to determine whether it has been met or not. An important part of setting goals is that they are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound). In order to evaluate whether a goal has been achieved, its important to be able to measure it. Consider this difference Student wants to get a degree (non-specific and not measurable) vs. Student wants to earn a degree in Information Systems Management by May 2020. (This goal provides specific what and when.) First, insert an introductory opening sentence for this table. Then, for each of the rows listed below, complete the table with the requested information. (Provide an introductory sentence and copy the table. Create an Objective for each of the 3 remaining Goals and explain using 2-3 complete sentences for each.) This is not about an objective to implement a hiring system or broad business goals but rather the focus is on objectives that would be supported by the use of a technology solution to support/improve the hiring process.

Strategic Goal (from case study)	Objective (clear, measurable and time-bound)	Explanation (2-3 sentences)
Increase MTC Business Development by winning new contracts in the areas of IT Consulting
Build a cadre of consultants internationally to provide remote research and analysis support to MTCs onsite teams in the U. S. EXAMPLE PROVIDED (Retain text but remove this label and gray shading in your report)	Increase international recruiting efforts and employ 5 research analysts in the next 12 months.	The new hiring system would allow applicants from around the world to apply online, increasing the number of international applicants. It would enable the recruiters to carefully monitor the applications for these positions, identify the necessary research and analysis skills needed, and screen resumes for these key skills. Recruiters could quickly view the number of applicants and identify when additional recruiting efforts are needed to meet the objective.
Continue to increase MTCs ability to quickly provide high quality consultants to awarded contracts to best serve the clients needs
Increase MTCs competitive advantage in the IT consulting marketplace by increasing its reputation for having IT consultants who are highly skilled in leading edge technologies and innovative solutions for its clients

4. Decision Making - In the reading, How Information Supports Decision Making, you were introduced to the information requirements of various levels of the organization. First, insert an introductory opening sentence for this section. Then, for each of the management roles listed below, complete the table with the appropriate level (as defined in the reading one word is all that is required in this column), an example of a specific decision supported by the Hiring System to be made at that level, and what type of information from the hiring system would be needed to support that decision. Think about what information the hiring system could provide about applicants, etc., and then identify an example of a decision that might be made by each level of management. A decision is a choice or conclusion that the management might make about business operations or future planning. This is not about the decisions about implementing a new technology solution or about general responsibilities of each role. Example: A decision example could be stated as: CEO decides to expand MTCs services to include cybersecurity. He can make this decision because the hiring system provides information that many applicants have the needed skills, certifications and experience to enable MTC to easily recruit IT consultants in this area. (Provide an introductory sentence then copy the table and insert information within, writing in complete sentences.)

Role	Level as defined in IS Course Reading	Example of Possible Decision Supported by Hiring System	Example of Information the Hiring System Could Provide to Support Your Example Decision
Senior/Executive Managers (Decisions made by the CEO and the CFO at MTC supported by the hiring system.)
Middle Managers (Decisions made by the Director of HR and the Manager of Recruiting supported by the hiring system.)
Operational Managers (Decisions made by the line managers in the organization who are hiring for their projects supported by the hiring system.)

Maryland Technology Consultants, Inc Maryland Technology Consultants, Inc. Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC) is a successful Information Technology consulting services firm that utilizes proven IT and management methodologies to achieve measurable results for its customers. Its customer base includes small to mid-tier businesses, non-profit organizations and governmental agencies at the local, state and federal levels. MTC feels strongly that its success is dependent on the combination of the talent of its IT consultants, the best practices MTC employs, and a dedication to delivering truly beneficial IT solutions to thein clients. Corporate Profile Corporate Name: Founded: Headquarters Satellite Locations Number of Employees Total Annual Gross Revenue: $95,000,000 President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Samuel Johnson Maryland Technology Consultants, Inc May 2008 Baltimore, Maryland Herndon, Virginia; Bethesda, Maryland 450 Business Areas MTC provides consulting services in the following areas Business Process Consulting - Business process redesign, process improvement network support selection and performance management; Service Level Agreements IT Consulting IT strategy, analysis, planning, system development, implementation, and IT Outsourcing Consulting- Requirements analysis; vendor evaluation, due diligence Business Strate MTC's business strategy is to provide extraordinary consulting services and recommendations to its customers by employing highly skilled consultants and staying abreast of new business concepts and technology and/or developing new business concepts and best practices of its own. Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study MTC Case Study 12/5/2018 Excerpt from the MTC Strategic Business Plan While the complete strategic plan touches on many areas, below is an excerpt from MTC's latest Strategic Business Plan that identifies a few of MTC's Goals Goal 1: Increase MTC Business Development by winning new contracts in the areas of IT consulting Goal 2: Build a cadre of consultants internationally to provide remote research and analysis support to MTC's onsite teams in the U. S Goal 3: Continue to increase MTC's ability to quickly provide high quality consultants to awarded contracts to best serve the clients' needs Goal 4: Increase MTC's competitive advantage in the IT consulting marketplace by increasing its reputation for having IT consultants who are highly skilled in leading edge technologies and innovative solutions for its clients. Current Business Environmen MTC provides consultants on-site to work with its clients, delivering a wide variety of IT-related services. MTC obtains most of its business through competitively bidding on Requests for Proposals issued by business, government and non-profit organizations. A small but growing portion of its business is through referrals and follow-on contracts from satisfied clients. MTC anticipates it will win two large contracts in the near future and is preparing proposals for several other large projects. MTC, as a consulting company, relies on the quality and expertise of its employees to provide the services needed by the clients. When it is awarded a contract, the customer expects MTC to quickly provide the consultants and begin work on the project. MTC, like other consulting companies, cannot afford to carry a large number of employees that are not assigned to contracts. Therefore, they need to determine the likelihood of winning a new contract and ensure the appropriately skilled consultants are ready to go to work when needed. MTC relies on its Human Resources (HR) Department to find and hire the personnel that the line managers need for upcoming contracts. It is very much a "just in time" hiring situation. The Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, houses approximately 350 employees. Satellite offices have been opened in the last two years in both Herndon, Virginia and Bethesda Maryland to provide close proximity to existing clients. It is anticipated that new pending contracts would add staff to all locations. The management team believes there is capacity at all locations, as much of the consultants' work is done on-site at the customers' locations. Strategic Direction As a small to mid-size business (SMB), MTC recognizes that it needs to carefully plan its future strategy. Considering the competitive environment that contains many very large IT consulting firms, such as Hewlett-Packard (HP), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), and Science Applications Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study MTC Case Study 12/5/2018 resumes can get lost in interoffice mail or buried in email; and, when hiring manager calls us we often cannot immediately provide the status of where an applicant is in the process. This can be very frustrating all around. Speaking for myself and the other recruiters, I have high expectations for this solution. We need to really be able to deliver world-class service to MTC in the recruiting and hiring areas to meet the business goafs. Administrative Assistant: Tom Arbuckle "I support the recruiters in the hiring process. After the recruiters screen the resumes and select the best candidates for a position, my job is to route those applications and resumes via interoffice mail to the respective functional/hiring manager, receive his or her feedback on who to interview and who should be involved in the interviews, schedule the interviews based on availability of applicants and the interview team members, collect the feedback from the interview team and inform the assigned recruiter of the status of each candidate who was interviewed. Then, after job offer has been made and accepted, i coordinate the paperwork for the new hire with HR and Payroll to ensure everything is ready to go on the first day. As you can imagine when hiring volume is up, I'm buried in paperwork and trying to keep all the applicants and their resumes straight, track their status in the process, and ensure everyone has what they need is very challenging. Any tool that would help the workflow and enable many steps in the process to be done electronically would be wonderfu!." Hiring Manager (in functional area; this person would be the supervisor of the new employee and would likely issue the job requisition to fill a need in his/her department/team) "While it's a good problem to have -new business means new hires the current method for screening applications, scheduling interviews, identifying the best qualified applicants, and getting a job offer to them is not working. My team is evaluated on the level of service we provide our clients, and it is very important that we have well-qualified staff members to fulfilf our contracts. Turnover is common in the IT world and that along with new busines:s development, makes the need for hiring new staff critical and time-sensitive. I confess that sometimes I'm not as responsive to HR as I should be, but this is only one of several areas I'm responsible for. I look to the recruiters tostay on top of this for me. In the ideal world, l'd like an electronic dashboard from which I can see the status of any job openings in my area information on all qualified candidates who have applied and where they are in the pipeline. Electronic scheduling of interviews on my calendar would be a real time saver. It's important that we impress candidates with our technology and efficiency - after all we are an IT consulting company-and using manual processes makes us look bad. And, this system must be easy to use - I don't have time for training or reading a 100-page user's manual. Just need to get my job done." Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study MTC Case Study 12/5/2018 Maryland Technology Consultants, Inc Maryland Technology Consultants, Inc. Maryland Technology Consultants (MTC) is a successful Information Technology consulting services firm that utilizes proven IT and management methodologies to achieve measurable results for its customers. Its customer base includes small to mid-tier businesses, non-profit organizations and governmental agencies at the local, state and federal levels. MTC feels strongly that its success is dependent on the combination of the talent of its IT consultants, the best practices MTC employs, and a dedication to delivering truly beneficial IT solutions to thein clients. Corporate Profile Corporate Name: Founded: Headquarters Satellite Locations Number of Employees Total Annual Gross Revenue: $95,000,000 President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Samuel Johnson Maryland Technology Consultants, Inc May 2008 Baltimore, Maryland Herndon, Virginia; Bethesda, Maryland 450 Business Areas MTC provides consulting services in the following areas Business Process Consulting - Business process redesign, process improvement network support selection and performance management; Service Level Agreements IT Consulting IT strategy, analysis, planning, system development, implementation, and IT Outsourcing Consulting- Requirements analysis; vendor evaluation, due diligence Business Strate MTC's business strategy is to provide extraordinary consulting services and recommendations to its customers by employing highly skilled consultants and staying abreast of new business concepts and technology and/or developing new business concepts and best practices of its own. Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study MTC Case Study 12/5/2018 Excerpt from the MTC Strategic Business Plan While the complete strategic plan touches on many areas, below is an excerpt from MTC's latest Strategic Business Plan that identifies a few of MTC's Goals Goal 1: Increase MTC Business Development by winning new contracts in the areas of IT consulting Goal 2: Build a cadre of consultants internationally to provide remote research and analysis support to MTC's onsite teams in the U. S Goal 3: Continue to increase MTC's ability to quickly provide high quality consultants to awarded contracts to best serve the clients' needs Goal 4: Increase MTC's competitive advantage in the IT consulting marketplace by increasing its reputation for having IT consultants who are highly skilled in leading edge technologies and innovative solutions for its clients. Current Business Environmen MTC provides consultants on-site to work with its clients, delivering a wide variety of IT-related services. MTC obtains most of its business through competitively bidding on Requests for Proposals issued by business, government and non-profit organizations. A small but growing portion of its business is through referrals and follow-on contracts from satisfied clients. MTC anticipates it will win two large contracts in the near future and is preparing proposals for several other large projects. MTC, as a consulting company, relies on the quality and expertise of its employees to provide the services needed by the clients. When it is awarded a contract, the customer expects MTC to quickly provide the consultants and begin work on the project. MTC, like other consulting companies, cannot afford to carry a large number of employees that are not assigned to contracts. Therefore, they need to determine the likelihood of winning a new contract and ensure the appropriately skilled consultants are ready to go to work when needed. MTC relies on its Human Resources (HR) Department to find and hire the personnel that the line managers need for upcoming contracts. It is very much a "just in time" hiring situation. The Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, houses approximately 350 employees. Satellite offices have been opened in the last two years in both Herndon, Virginia and Bethesda Maryland to provide close proximity to existing clients. It is anticipated that new pending contracts would add staff to all locations. The management team believes there is capacity at all locations, as much of the consultants' work is done on-site at the customers' locations. Strategic Direction As a small to mid-size business (SMB), MTC recognizes that it needs to carefully plan its future strategy. Considering the competitive environment that contains many very large IT consulting firms, such as Hewlett-Packard (HP), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), and Science Applications Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study MTC Case Study 12/5/2018 resumes can get lost in interoffice mail or buried in email; and, when hiring manager calls us we often cannot immediately provide the status of where an applicant is in the process. This can be very frustrating all around. Speaking for myself and the other recruiters, I have high expectations for this solution. We need to really be able to deliver world-class service to MTC in the recruiting and hiring areas to meet the business goafs. Administrative Assistant: Tom Arbuckle "I support the recruiters in the hiring process. After the recruiters screen the resumes and select the best candidates for a position, my job is to route those applications and resumes via interoffice mail to the respective functional/hiring manager, receive his or her feedback on who to interview and who should be involved in the interviews, schedule the interviews based on availability of applicants and the interview team members, collect the feedback from the interview team and inform the assigned recruiter of the status of each candidate who was interviewed. Then, after job offer has been made and accepted, i coordinate the paperwork for the new hire with HR and Payroll to ensure everything is ready to go on the first day. As you can imagine when hiring volume is up, I'm buried in paperwork and trying to keep all the applicants and their resumes straight, track their status in the process, and ensure everyone has what they need is very challenging. Any tool that would help the workflow and enable many steps in the process to be done electronically would be wonderfu!." Hiring Manager (in functional area; this person would be the supervisor of the new employee and would likely issue the job requisition to fill a need in his/her department/team) "While it's a good problem to have -new business means new hires the current method for screening applications, scheduling interviews, identifying the best qualified applicants, and getting a job offer to them is not working. My team is evaluated on the level of service we provide our clients, and it is very important that we have well-qualified staff members to fulfilf our contracts. Turnover is common in the IT world and that along with new busines:s development, makes the need for hiring new staff critical and time-sensitive. I confess that sometimes I'm not as responsive to HR as I should be, but this is only one of several areas I'm responsible for. I look to the recruiters tostay on top of this for me. In the ideal world, l'd like an electronic dashboard from which I can see the status of any job openings in my area information on all qualified candidates who have applied and where they are in the pipeline. Electronic scheduling of interviews on my calendar would be a real time saver. It's important that we impress candidates with our technology and efficiency - after all we are an IT consulting company-and using manual processes makes us look bad. And, this system must be easy to use - I don't have time for training or reading a 100-page user's manual. Just need to get my job done." Maryland Technology Consultants is a fictitious company created for the IFSM 300 Case Study MTC Case Study 12/5/2018