IT Strategic Plan

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1 IT Strategic Plan Molly Richard Professor Ahmed Munu Management of Info Technology November 18, 2023

2 Structure and Organization The current IT organization for Vermont Teddy Bears is comprised of “Bob and his seven person IT organization” (Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear). The IT organization seems to use a Flat organizational structure with Bob Stetzel at the top. Bob Stetzel, the Vice President of Information Technology for Vermont Teddy Bears, oversees the IT organization while the other employees are at the same level as each other. Some of the employees has narrower expertise than the rest of the group, but they all work together at the same level in the organizational structure. Bob would be the person to make the final decisions when it comes to the IT organization. Vermont Teddy Bears communicates with the customers “via telephone, mail-order, and the Web” (Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear). The customers place an order using one of the three communication methods and the information is stored in the company’s Information Systems. The System is made out of “comprising a mix of homegrown and packaged applications from a variety of vendors, and knit together with middleware” (Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear). Customer Profile The customers who buy from Vermont Teddy Bears, 65% are men looking to buy gifts for their wife/girlfriend/mother around the important holidays such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day and 35% are women. The company started expanding into more products for females to bring in more of the female clientele. This is a large customer community since the company has both men and women as customers. The primary customers for the organization will have to be the men that the employees refer to as “‘Late Jack,’ an internal moniker describing men who

3 ordered bears at the last minute instead of buying flowers or chocolates for girlfriends, wives, or mothers” (Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear). Those customers though only buy during the holidays, which is not cost effective for the company. The high increased volume of customers only during those times can cause the information system to slow down/freeze, which is an IT-related issue. The demographic profile of the customers tends to be middle-aged (ages 20-64) men who are married/dating. IT Values The IT organization does not have anything in place to handle intellectual property rights. If an employee were to leave, “they would walk away with important knowledge about the company’s IT applications or infrastructure, which had not yet been captured or codified” (Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear). The IT organization is focused on giving the employees/customers the enhancements to any processes they needed / wanted. This shows that the IT organization values its customers and the customers’ opinions. The customer’s data gathered through the company’s system goes through many different applications which are connected to each other using middleware. The company uses applications (such as Circle Commerce) to be able to handle the whole system process (including Order Management and Order Fulfillment). There currently don’t seem to be any policies that are in place for the IT organization. Internal Standards Right now, the IT organization is doing what is requested of them, but not the proper way. The baseline for appropriate practice is set low since there are no formal processes implemented in the company. The employees would stop working on high priority projects to work on little

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4 enhancements instead of having them wait until the larger project is completed as well as not fully filling out the proper paperwork. This has caused application development and implementation of updates to not have enough time to happen. Bob realized this and is trying to put a procedure into effect. Bob Stetzel created a “a complete, current catalog of all computing hardware and shared applications in use” as well as a putting in a process where the IT organization will have to properly fill out an IT Architect Document and stopping all new projects until the system is working properly. IT Vision The IT organization is very important to Vermont Teddy Bears. Vermont Teddy Bears uses a bunch of different technologies to run the company. The IT organization is needed to make sure that all the technology used functions as efficiently as possible throughout Vermont Teddy Bears ordering process. The customers can place their orders via technology like telephones and the Web and then the customer/order information is gathered and stored in different technological applications. The IT organization should be both in the support role, supporting the processes that are already created, and in the directive role, creating new processes to take over the older ones to help them run faster and more efficiently. The easier to use and smoother the processes are, the more customers the business will be able to keep/gain. IT Mission Our organization’s mission is to: provide the best technological solutions to efficiently help the business’ processes run as smoothly as possible to help gain/keep consumers.

5 SWOT Analysis: Strengths  The new Chief Information Officer (CIO), Bob Stetzel, has many different years of experience in different fields of technology. o Bob Stelzel has worked “ for 12 years as a database analyst and administrator at the Holstein Association in Vermont, 2 years in a similar role at Fleet Bank, and 10 years as Vice President of Business Information Services at Yankee Candle Company” (Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear).  The IT department employees have a general expertise within the company’s current technological systems in place.  The core transaction-processing infrastructure is strong and forward-thinking, which causes good practices. o Vermont Teddy Bear has “ good practices in password management and recovery mechanisms” (Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear). SWOT Analysis: Weaknesses  Troubleshooting is taking priority over other projects. o The IT department “spent too much time troubleshooting, leaving little time to develop new applications or implement new versions of packaged software” (Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear).  The company uses multiple different types of middleware based off the employees’ personal preferences.

6 o The different middleware being used “contained a great deal of business logic, most of which was undocumented” (Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear).  The IT department has no complete technical documentation. o The IT organization “had not instituted such processes nor prepared such a document” (Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear). SWOT Analysis: Opportunities  The IT Department can enhance data integration. o To enhance Vermont Teddy Bear’s experience, “better data integration and improved analytic tools [would make it] easier to coordinate marketing, forecasting and production across the product lines” (Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear).  The IT Department can create a virtual reality website that goes along with the bears. o There will be a created website that the kids can play on virtually that corresponds with the teddy bear that was purchased.  The IT Department can create technology that goes into the bears. o This is where certain actions can produce a certain sound that comes from the plush toy. SWOT Analysis: Threats  The lack of innovation leads to the company being less competitive in the industry . o If the company is less competitive, then they will lose customers and may not be able to afford to fix the IT Department’s infrastructure .

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7  The IT Department may not be carefully managing the information technology systems. o Going back to all the middle ware that was being used depending on the worker’s preference which has caused a data issue.  Not integrating newer technology into the information technology system. SWOT Analysis: SWOT Summary While Vermont Teddy Bear’s IT Department is already successful, the department can still implement changes to help Vermont Teddy Bear increase the number of its potential customers and run more efficiently. The department has some weaknesses that were spotted which should be what the company focuses on fixing right away. Some of the weaknesses are already being acted upon, (the CIO is already looking into the middleware issue), while some issues should be made a priority to fix right away, such as prioritizing troubleshooting over creating new processes/applications for the company. Another thing that the Vermont Teddy Bear’s IT Department should be looking into is working on the opportunities presented while also making sure to account for the potential threats. Strategic Outcomes: SWOT Strategic Outcome One: Make trouble shooting less of a priority. Trouble-shooting needs to be a lower priority than the company has right now. The IT Department needs to be able to innovate new processes and continue other projects that were started but were delayed or had to be put on hold due to employees having to stop the work to trouble shoot other issues for other employees. Innovation is what is going to keep this company competitive in the industry.

8 Strategic Outcome Two: Manage the information technology systems more effectively. The information system needs to be managed more effectively. One of the biggest parts of the technology systems that needs to be managed more effectively is the middleware that was being used. Before Bob Stetzel was in charge of the IT Department, each of the IT employees were using different forms of middleware depending on their personal preferences. Each of middleware being used has some information that would be in one system, but it wouldn’t be in the other systems and there was no system of complete data anywhere. Strategic Outcome Three: Create technical documentation. The IT Department needs to create complete documentation of all of the IT Department’s current and new processes. This documentation is important for the department to have in case any of the employees leave for any reason. Some employees have a narrower expertise than others, so this will help them gain more experience in fields outside of their comfortable skillsets. Strategic Outcome Four: Enhance data integration. Enhancing the data integration will help the company become more effective. The more data the IT Department has in its system, the more improved the analytical tools the department can use and the more helpful information the department can gain to help Vermont Teddy Bear give the customers’ the best experience they can.

9 Strategic Outcomes: Vision, Mission, and Values The IT department's mission and vision statements are as follows: Vision : IT organization should be both in the support role, supporting the processes that are already created, and in the directive role, creating new processes to take over the older ones to help them run faster and more efficiently . Mission Statement : Provide the best technological solutions to efficiently help the business’ processes run as smoothly as possible to help gain/keep consumers. Strategic Outcome One: Put all the information from all of the used middleware in one database. To help support the processes that are already in use, the middleware needs to be fixed. The multiple middleware that was being used made the processes run slow since they have to search all of the different middleware to find the needed information. Putting all of the information from all of the different middleware into one source will help support the current processes run as efficiently as possible. Strategic Outcome Two: Check all the current processes for efficiencies. Make sure that all of the current processes the IT Department uses are as efficiently made as could be. Sometimes older processes have some redundant steps or was created with the longer way to do the process. This can cause the processes to be slow. Slow process can make customers impatient and get annoyed with the company which would make them not want to come back.

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10 Strategic Outcomes: Ethics and Laws Strategic Outcome One: Add more security for the customer’s information. As the IT Department is in charge of the personal, private information of the customers of Vermont Teddy Bear, the IT Department needs to be able to make sure that information is properly secured. If the information isn’t properly secured, there is a big chance that someone could hack the information from the system and steal the customers’ identities, which the company would be liable for. Strategic Outcome Two: Protection for Whistle Blowers. It’s important that the IT department is able to make sure that their employees stick to the ethical standards of the company. Whistleblowers are the employees who will go to their boss and report any of the unethical behavior that other employees may be participating in. Protecting these people will make any/all of the employees feel more comfortable in being able to come forward to become whistleblowers for the company. Action Plan for IT Strategic Outcomes There are many different plans that would be able to achieve this strategic outcome. The main plan the IT Department would stick with would be to set aside a certain amount of time per day/week to spend on any non-essential trouble shooting. If its essential trouble shooting than that should be done right away. The IT Department should dedicate about 1 hour a day for any non-essential trouble shooting, if there is any. The IT Department should have the employees alternate when the employees are working on troubleshooting, that way there is almost always someone trouble shooting and someone working on whatever project is needed.

11 The IT Department needs to manage the information technology more effectively. First, the IT Department needs to go through all of the different middleware that were being used and move all of the information into one data source. Then, the company needs to make sure the information security has been updated and is as effective as possible so there is no fraud that can happen. Following that, make sure all of the systems software is updated to reflect the newest update available for use. The newer the software, the less likely the technology will bug, the faster the process will go, and the more secure the program should be. The IT Department will need to enforce the creation of documentation for all the current processes and all the future processes. For each process, the employees will need to create a technical document that holds all of the different data points such as: what fields were being used to gather the needed information, what fields were needed to place the needed information, the data type of the needed information, what forms were used to collect the information, etcetera. The employees will also need to create a flow chart to break down the process into a high-level step-by-step guide. Finally, they will also need to create a guide with more detailed steps that include screenshots which explain exactly how the process works. These documents should be put in a shared file for all employees to be able to access. Regulations and Standards Before the changes can be implemented, the IT Department must work with Vermont Teddy Bear to put privacy policies, company standards, and process guidelines into place. The IT Department will also need to make sure that they create and use service level agreements. These agreements are used to document “ understanding between the entity providing the service and the one receiving the benefits of the service” ( What is a service level agreement (SLA)? ) which

12 works between both customers and vendors as well as between the different departments in a company. Having a service level agreement with help prevent any miscommunication about any of the changes that would be made to implement any changes. Value Assessment All of the action items for the strategic plans are very valuable for the business processes, quality management and organization impact. These action items are going to help the company to fix the noticeable weaknesses and threats towards the IT Department and Vermont Teddy Bear. With the improvements upon the weaknesses and threats towards the IT Department, the quality of the current and new business processes will become more efficient and the organization will become positively impacted by the changes. Fiscal Management All of the improvements for the IT Department that are being requested are free, though there is an action item that would help the company gain money. When all of the data from the different middleware gets moved into one data source, then the IT Department can stop paying for all the different middleware and only pay for the one being used by everyone. This would save the company a good amount of money. Other than that, the rest of the action items are just having the IT Department go through all of the current processes and making them become more efficient and have the IT employees allot a specific amount of time each day/week on their calendars. These action items are free to do and the results from the completion of the action items will help the organization gain more money.

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13 References  Gogan, J. L., & Lewis, M. O. (2011). Peak experiences and strategic IT alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear. Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases . https://doi.org/2043-8869/11  (n.d.). What is a service level agreement (SLA)? Service Now. https://www.servicenow.com/products/itsm/what-is-sla.html

IT Strategic Plan

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