IT Department
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Introduction
Organization Details:
Type: Multinational Corporation - Private Limited Company
Vision Statement
“Lead from the front, prepare for the future and create solutions from data.”
-DataStackArray Systems Pvt. Ltd.
DataStackArray Systems (DSAS) Private Limited is an organization that has a mission to provide a comprehensive and valuable platform for individuals and organizations seeking solutions from their big data. DSAS has a vision towards the big data industry to become a platform that provides viable solutions for all kinds of big data and makes the life of solution seekers easier. DSAS strives to grow its flagship product BigStackData with integrity and honesty to create a sustainable platform that derives meaningful solutions for its customers. The company’s objective is to become a market leader and a one stop solution in the field of big data analytics. The company’s vision is embedded in its mission statement i.e. to lead from the front, prepare for the future and create data solutions. DSAS has flagship product which is in line with the futuristic technologies of big data and analytics. DSAS is investing in technology and people to create a valuable product. DSAS is leading from the front in creating a complete platform and one-stop solution for futuristic technologies. DSAS is creating solutions for individuals and organizations by helping them embrace the power of their big data that is not optimized to extract meaningful and useful information.
Organizational Assessment Techniques
Technique-1: A four stage process that consists of survey, categorization, investigation and evaluation.
Stage-1: Survey: This stage is carried out through either method of evaluating existing records, filling out questionnaires, individual interviews, observations or focus groups. The survey stage creates an output that becomes an input to the next stage which is the categorization stage. The output would depend on the nature of the organizational assessment being carried out.
Stage-2: Categorization: The categorization stage consists of filtering out the information gathered from the earlier stage to create a deeper inspection and derive valuable results.
Stage-3: Investigation: The investigation stage determines the value from the earlier two stages to complete the assessment. Investigation stage looks at all the relevant resources and outputs from earlier stages.
Stage-4: Evaluation: In this stage, the final evaluation or assessment of the organization is performed to choose a generic strategy or a set of actions for the firm.
(Duncan, Ginter & Swayne, 1998)
Technique-2: McKinsey 7-S model of organizational assessment
The 7–S that describes 7 interdependent variables that are Structure, Strategy, Systems, Style, Skills, Staff, and Shared Values. The 7-S model is a useful tool for analyzing organizational internal performance and evaluation of internal issues. The 7-S model is designed to discuss the organizational variables with key stakeholders and experts with a focus on the relation of the variables with each other. The key findings are then summarized and provided in a form of a report to the senior management. The report is then used for discussion with the relevant department executives and managers (Wilson, & Beaton, 2003).
Evaluation of DataStackArray Systems (DSAS) Pvt. Ltd. Based on McKinsey 7-S Model
Structure: DSAS has a flat structure and follows the agile method of development models. It is a small company that is privately owned and consists of a non-hierarchical management.
Strategy: DSAS has a flagship product into BigData and analytics, and it is developing this product at a large scale to fulfill data-oriented solutions for individuals and organizations. The strategy followed by DSAS is of exploiting the BigData industry.
Systems: DSAS has an old system of information technology that consists of software and hardware components. It needs to invest in new technology to expand its BigData based product.
Skills: DSAS is primarily created by a set of high-end data scientists, and they have brought together a set of other highly skilled data oriented professional working towards a development of the BigDataStack product.
Staff: The organization consists of ten data scientists, two senior engineers, one IT manager, one CEO and one CTO along with five to six support staff for various other organizational activities. The staff utilization is high and adequate.
Shared values: DSAS has a small team of 20+ people that work on the shared value and mission of DSAS which is to make it a leader in the field of BigData Analytics solution. The core professional values of the team are embedded, and each of the staff works on the same mission and vision of the company.
Evaluation report: Based on the 7-S framework of organizational assessment it has been reported that DSAS needs to improve and expand its infrastructure regarding hardware and software technologies to adapt to the growing demand of the BigData solutions. DSAS must adopt the Scrum and extreme programming (XP) agile methodologies. DSAS needs to expand its human capital by hiring more resources in the various division of IT, maintenance, human resources and engineering.
Strategic Plan for the new Information System
The strategy for the information system for DSAS needs to be enhanced and formulated to achieve its vision and mission of making the BigDataStack product as a one-stop platform for all BigData solutions as highlighted in the organizations’ vision statement. The enhancement must consist of three overlapping objectives that are Data Processing (DP), Management Information Systems (MIS) and Strategic Information Systems (SIS). DP would enhance the operational efficiency of DSAS through automation. MIS would enhance decision-making processes for DSAS while SIS would enhance the competitiveness of the organization. The strategic framework further consists of catering to the internal and external environment, stakeholders and business planning (Ward & Peppard, 2016).
Operational Aspects
The operational aspects of the new Information System for DSAS consists of managing the hardware and software components. It is recommended to use high-end new technologies for hardware procurement i.e. leveraging the cloud technologies and virtual machines for high computing applications. The operation of light weigh cloud-based system is easier to perform and also requires less maintenance and support staff (Buyya et. al., 2009). Monitoring and alarm systems must be in place that creates an early warning in case of emergencies or any form of system failure or crash with an aim to minimize the impact on the end customer and the data centers of DSAS.
Organizational Aspects
The organizational aspects of the strategy include those of senior management and taking their consent in moving ahead with the proposed strategy. The most important aspect at the organizational level is the upfront cost. However, it must be presented to the senior management the long term benefits against the immediate cost. Prioritization of the projects and strategy phases would further boost the support of the organization’s senior management.
Political Aspects
An important aspect in distributed and cloud-based systems is that of security. Security may also arise as a concern and objection from senior management concerning the proposed strategy of cloud-based infrastructure. The political aspects could be two-fold i.e. favoritism towards a particular vendor or issues and concerns related to the movement of client data into cloud-based data centers which are usually of specific countries or locations with different sets of laws governing the data. However, such aspects must be handled carefully through the inclusion of experts (Buyya et. al., 2009).
Management, Outcome, and Justification of the Enhanced Information System
The new cloud-based information system for DSAS and its flagship product BigDataStack would be very beneficial as now large big data analytic solutions are moving towards cloud-based solutions because of low-cost, agility and speed of rendition of machines. For DSAS such a strategy would prove to be highly successful not only to reduce cost but also for agility and flexibility of the development processes. The management would be combined with the vendor support and the technical staff of the organization. Overall, this could lead to highly fruitful and positive results for the company driving it towards its vision to become a global leader in BigData analytics solutions across the globe.
References
Buyya, R., Yeo, C. S., Venugopal, S., Broberg, J., & Brandic, I. (2009). Cloud computing and
emerging IT platforms: Vision, hype, and reality for delivering computing as the 5th
utility. Future Generation computer systems, 25(6), 599-616.
Duncan, W. J., Ginter, P. M., & Swayne, L. E. (1998). Competitive advantage and internal
organizational assessment. The Academy of Management Executive, 12(3), 6-16.
Ward, J., & Peppard, J. (2016). The Strategic Management of Information Systems:
Building a Digital Strategy. John Wiley & Sons.
Wilson, D., & Beaton, L. (2003). Promoting institutional and organisational development:
a source book of tools and techniques. Department for International Development:
London, UK. 19-20.
