Essay About Current System And Project Managers

Hardening Systems
IST 7060 WEEK 7 PAPER- CASE Q&ACase Study – FOREMOSTCO INC.SummaryForemostco Inc. was an importer and distributor of starter plant material such as seedlings, cuttings, bulbs, etc.  There were 60 employees and the company had $16M in sales.  It was a small player but very successful.The foliage industry is very intensive in terms of logistics since the product material is live plants that are highly perishable. Often importing from the supplier and exporting to the buyer could be as little as 48 hours.Management of the data in the company database is critical to the business. Much of the data in the company database is inter-related and accessed by staff throughout the company.Their current system was becoming outdated and could not be upgraded, and they were faced with the coming Y2K problem.The company decided to change to a completely new data management system.  The choice was to use an existing commercial product or develop their own proprietary system and do it in-house.As graduate project managers, you are now equipped to see the flaws in failed projects.  You are a project manager consultant brought in to do the post-mortem.  Analyze the case and answer the questions below as the consummate professionals you are.  Be sure to support your answers. – (APA format)QuestionsWhy did this project get into so much trouble?How would you ensure that progress was being made in the development of the new system?Under what circumstances would you write your own software rather than buying Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) software?During the implementation, what might you have done to prepare the employees for the system change?What are the best methods for managing a new IT system and the associated business process changes?“Is it better to introduce a new system all at once and force immediate changeover or should you present it one module at a time and let people learn the system in digestible chunks?” Reason?Describe the pluses and minuses for both strategies Provide an example of the right choice for each strategy and explain why it would be the right choice.