The main purpose of the service request SR-rm-022 is to integrate existing variety of HR tools into a single integrated application. Riordan Manufacturing wants to take advantage of more sophisticated, state-of-the-art, information systems technology if their Human Resource department. The service has been requested by COO of Riordan Manufacturing, Hugh McCauley to Smith Services Consulting. The expected result from Smith Services Consulting is to “Define the business requirements for the development of an HR system to support the objective of this request. Create a detailed system design and a project implementation plan required to complete the project” (Smith Services Consulting, Apollo Group. 2011)
Key Stakeholders
I will be gathering requirements from managers of different sub-groups within the Human Resources department of Riordan Manufacturing. The key stakeholders in Riordan Manufacturing from whom I will gather requirements are,
Hugh McCauley – COO of Riordan Manufacturing.
Yvonne McMillan – Director of Human Resources.
Andrea Gamby – Employee Relations Manager.
Terri Caranza – Compensation and Benefits Manager.
Silvija Peterson – Payroll Manager.
Information-Gathering Techniques and Systems Analysis Tools
As the purpose of this project is to integrate various HR tools used by Riordan Manufacturing into one application thus it is important to gather information from different stakeholders which are mentioned above in the document. I would use various techniques to gather requirement which are mentioned below, Conducting Interviews
The Essay on Riordan Manufacturing Service
Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics manufacturer employing 550 people with projected annual earnings of $46 million. The company is wholly owned by Riordan Industries, a Fortune 1000 enterprise with revenues in excess of $1 billion (Riordan Manufacturing, 2013). The plastics that Riordan produced include beverage containers, custom plastic parts, and plastic fans which are made in three ...
I will be interviewing individuals to gather requirements and to get an understanding from users of different HR tools which are used by Riordan Manufacturing HR employees. “There are several basic steps to the interview process:
• Preparation for the Interview
• Design of Interview Questions
• Conduct the Interview
• Document the Interview
• Perform a Follow-Up Interview.” (Systems Analysis. mis.uhcl.edu)
Joint Application Development
I will also use Joint Application Development (JAD) sessions to gather requirements. JAD sessions involve various stakeholders. JAD sessions are session in which all the key players of the project are together in a room. “JAD is a useful process to gather cross function information and different opinions effectively. Its usage keeps expanding thus its definition keeps changing. Although different people might have different understanding and application of JAD, the essence of JAD is the facilitated session.” (Mei C. Yatco, 1999)
Observing Users
I will also be observing users to see how they carry out various functions within the tools that they use from the list of tools which needs to be integrated into new HR application.
Document Analysis
I will also be reviewing documents and artifacts of current HR tools to get a good understanding of the current functionalities of each of the tool used by HR department at Riordan Manufacturing.
Process Modeling
I will be using process modeling as a tool to assist me in information gathering. “Process modeling involves graphically representing the processes, or actions, that capture, manipulate, store, and distribute data between a system and its environment and among components within a system. A common form of a process model is a data-flow diagram (DFD).” (Valacich, J. S., George, J. F., & Hoffer, J. A. 2012)
The Term Paper on Project Management For Information Systems
Abstract Information systems (IS) projects are vulnerable to resource cutbacks and the increasing complexity of systems and advances in information technology make finding the right personnel difficult and the associated development costs high. Good project management is essential for success. Some alignment methodologies include IBM's business systems planning (BSP), Robert Holland's strategic ...
Key Factors to Ensure Information is Gathered Successfully
Following are some of the key factors which I will consider to ensure that all the information required for this project is successfully gathered, Send out meeting notes after JAD sessions and get an informal approval on my understanding. Create process flows and get an approval from stakeholders to ensure all the steps have been covered. Communicate with project stakeholders to ensure all of us are on the same page. Baseline requirements with approvals from stakeholders.
Project Scope and Feasibility
The scope of this project is to integrate all existing HR tools used by Riordan Manufacturing into one state-of-the-art information system application. All the systems are currently functioning thus no development is needed for this project and this means the cost associated with the project is also minimal. There are two main areas of project feasibility that are examined in the analysis phase of SDLC, Will the proposed solution work for the project?
Do the benefits of projects exceed the cost associated?
References
Smith Services Consulting, Apollo Group. 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2014 from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/ServiceRequests/index.asp#Riordan Manufacturing
Mei C. Yatco. Joint Application Design/Development.1999. Retrieved from http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/JAD.html
Phase 2: Systems Analysis. Retrieved from https://mis.uhcl.edu/ROB/Course/SAD/Lectures/SystemRequirements.pdf
Valacich, J. S.,George, J. F., & Hoffer, J. A. (2012).
Essentials of systems analysis and design (5th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education
