What should you recommend?
###BeginCaseStudy###
Case Study# 2
Corporate Information and Physical Locations.
Fabrikrm,Inc. is a building materials manufacturing company that specializes in producing raw
materials. Fabrikam customers include companies that make products for residential and
commiercial construction projects. Fabrikam has 5,000 employees and earns $600 million in
annual revenues. Fabrikam has plans and offices worldwide.
EXISTING ENVIRONMENT
Existing Business Processes
Fabrikam has the following business processes:
The Plant Safety department is responsible for notifying and scheduling employees for safety
training and medical testing procedures. The department also records and reports on training and
testing procedures for management and government safety regulatory agencies. All emplloyees
are required to pass an annual mine safety training course and various medica certification tests
to continue working. Non-compliant employees cannot work, reducing production enfficiency.
Government safety inpectors perform random onsite inspections and verify that employees are
certified. Each item of non-compliance costs Fabrikam time and lowers employee productivity.
The Plant Safet department hired a full-time Safety Coordinatinator and a temporary employee to
help employees maintain their certifications. They notify employees when their certifications are
about to expire and assist employees to schedule appointments to renew their certifications.
Existing Technology Infrastructure
Fabrikam has the following technologies implemented on the network:
A third-party, Web-based workforce management application
A Microsoft SQL Server-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system
Microsoft Office Excel used to update safety information by using spreadsheets.
Farbrikam has a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) that includes Microsoft Software
Assurance (SA). All client computers run either Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003 or
Microsoft Office 97. The department is underskilled and understaffed.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Planned Changes
Fabrikam has the following business goals:
Provide role-based access to process, operational, and financial information.
Eliminate paper-based processes, including reporting processes.
Reduce the number of technology platforms that require support.
Problem Statements
Fabrikam has identified the following business problems:
Mine safety compliance issues have shut down production at some plants, creating 60 days of
lost productivity during the past year.
Safety training records are often inaccessible.
Training dates and medical testing results are often outdated.
Safety reports are only available to managers at the end of each month.
Safety performance metrics are shared via e-mail only.
Plant safety training and medical testing data is recorded on paper forms and then entered
manually into a spreadsheet on a Safety Manager’s computer.
Reporting is delayed because safety data is outdated and inaccurate.
Business Goals
Fabrikam has the following business goals:
Reduce costs associated with meeting regulatory compliance requirements:
Eliminate paper-based processes.
Improve access to safety performance reporting.
INTERVIEWEES
Vice President (VP) The VP is the executive responsible for overseeing general business
operations and for maintaining profitability. VP goals include:
Rducing operational cost. Increasing production productivity
Eliminating plant shutdowns caused by non-compliance.
Plant General Manager
The Plant General Manager (GM) is responsible for maintaining plant profitability, operational
efficientcy, production costs, product quality, and employee safety. Plant GM goals include:
Automating production monitoring, alerts, and reporting.
Eliminating paper-based processes.
Implementing an online system to track safety training records and medical testing records.
Production Operations Manager
The Production Operations Manager (OM) is responsible for maintaining overall operational
efficiency of production plants, and maintaining costs within budget. Production OM goals include:
Monitoring and reporting on safety performance for all plants.
Implementing a company-wide safety certfication management system.
Eliminating manual reporting on operational key performance indicators (KPIs).
Corporate Controller
The Corporate Controller is responsible for financial management, the IT department, budgeting,
and treasury.
Corporate Controller goals in clude:
Addressing unbudgeted costs that result from non-compliance issues.
Gathering business performance data worldwide and reconciling all data.
Addressing poor productivity caused by the lack of information sharing
Plant Safety Department Manager
The Plant Safety Department Manager is responsible for managing safety education and medical
testing. Plant Safety Department Manager goals include:
Accompanying government safety inspectors during their plant visits.
Implementing e-mail to notify employees who are due for training and testing.
Implementing alerts to the Human Resources department (HR) when employee are uncertified.
Implementing the daily sorting of spreadsheets to identify which employee are due for training
and testing.
###EndCaseStudy###
You are evaluating improvements to the Fabrikam certification process. You need to recommend
a solution to achieve the companys business goals. What should you recommend?
Which problem should you identify?
###BeginCaseStudy###
Case Study# 2
Corporate Information and Physical Locations.
Fabrikrm,Inc. is a building materials manufacturing company that specializes in producing raw
materials. Fabrikam customers include companies that make products for residential and
commiercial construction projects. Fabrikam has 5,000 employees and earns $600 million in
annual revenues. Fabrikam has plans and offices worldwide.
EXISTING ENVIRONMENT
Existing Business Processes
Fabrikam has the following business processes:
The Plant Safety department is responsible for notifying and scheduling employees for safety
training and medical testing procedures. The department also records and reports on training and
testing procedures for management and government safety regulatory agencies. All emplloyees
are required to pass an annual mine safety training course and various medica certification tests
to continue working. Non-compliant employees cannot work, reducing production enfficiency.
Government safety inpectors perform random onsite inspections and verify that employees are
certified. Each item of non-compliance costs Fabrikam time and lowers employee productivity.
The Plant Safet department hired a full-time Safety Coordinatinator and a temporary employee to
help employees maintain their certifications. They notify employees when their certifications are
about to expire and assist employees to schedule appointments to renew their certifications.
Existing Technology Infrastructure
Fabrikam has the following technologies implemented on the network:
A third-party, Web-based workforce management application
A Microsoft SQL Server-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system
Microsoft Office Excel used to update safety information by using spreadsheets.
Farbrikam has a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) that includes Microsoft Software
Assurance (SA). All client computers run either Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003 or
Microsoft Office 97. The department is underskilled and understaffed.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Planned Changes
Fabrikam has the following business goals:
Provide role-based access to process, operational, and financial information.
Eliminate paper-based processes, including reporting processes.
Reduce the number of technology platforms that require support.
Problem Statements
Fabrikam has identified the following business problems:
Mine safety compliance issues have shut down production at some plants, creating 60 days of
lost productivity during the past year.
Safety training records are often inaccessible.
Training dates and medical testing results are often outdated.
Safety reports are only available to managers at the end of each month.
Safety performance metrics are shared via e-mail only.
Plant safety training and medical testing data is recorded on paper forms and then entered
manually into a spreadsheet on a Safety Manager’s computer.
Reporting is delayed because safety data is outdated and inaccurate.
Business Goals
Fabrikam has the following business goals:
Reduce costs associated with meeting regulatory compliance requirements:
Eliminate paper-based processes.
Improve access to safety performance reporting.
INTERVIEWEES
Vice President (VP) The VP is the executive responsible for overseeing general business
operations and for maintaining profitability. VP goals include:
Rducing operational cost. Increasing production productivity
Eliminating plant shutdowns caused by non-compliance.
Plant General Manager
The Plant General Manager (GM) is responsible for maintaining plant profitability, operational
efficientcy, production costs, product quality, and employee safety. Plant GM goals include:
Automating production monitoring, alerts, and reporting.
Eliminating paper-based processes.
Implementing an online system to track safety training records and medical testing records.
Production Operations Manager
The Production Operations Manager (OM) is responsible for maintaining overall operational
efficiency of production plants, and maintaining costs within budget. Production OM goals include:
Monitoring and reporting on safety performance for all plants.
Implementing a company-wide safety certfication management system.
Eliminating manual reporting on operational key performance indicators (KPIs).
Corporate Controller
The Corporate Controller is responsible for financial management, the IT department, budgeting,
and treasury.
Corporate Controller goals in clude:
Addressing unbudgeted costs that result from non-compliance issues.
Gathering business performance data worldwide and reconciling all data.
Addressing poor productivity caused by the lack of information sharing
Plant Safety Department Manager
The Plant Safety Department Manager is responsible for managing safety education and medical
testing. Plant Safety Department Manager goals include:
Accompanying government safety inspectors during their plant visits.
Implementing e-mail to notify employees who are due for training and testing.
Implementing alerts to the Human Resources department (HR) when employee are uncertified.
Implementing the daily sorting of spreadsheets to identify which employee are due for training
and testing.
###EndCaseStudy###
You need to identify which problem in the current process has the greatest business impact on
the company. Which problem should you identify?
Which value proposition statement should you present?
###BeginCaseStudy###
Case Study# 2
Corporate Information and Physical Locations.
Fabrikrm,Inc. is a building materials manufacturing company that specializes in producing raw
materials. Fabrikam customers include companies that make products for residential and
commiercial construction projects. Fabrikam has 5,000 employees and earns $600 million in
annual revenues. Fabrikam has plans and offices worldwide.
EXISTING ENVIRONMENT
Existing Business Processes
Fabrikam has the following business processes:
The Plant Safety department is responsible for notifying and scheduling employees for safety
training and medical testing procedures. The department also records and reports on training and
testing procedures for management and government safety regulatory agencies. All emplloyees
are required to pass an annual mine safety training course and various medica certification tests
to continue working. Non-compliant employees cannot work, reducing production enfficiency.
Government safety inpectors perform random onsite inspections and verify that employees are
certified. Each item of non-compliance costs Fabrikam time and lowers employee productivity.
The Plant Safet department hired a full-time Safety Coordinatinator and a temporary employee to
help employees maintain their certifications. They notify employees when their certifications are
about to expire and assist employees to schedule appointments to renew their certifications.
Existing Technology Infrastructure
Fabrikam has the following technologies implemented on the network:
A third-party, Web-based workforce management application
A Microsoft SQL Server-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system
Microsoft Office Excel used to update safety information by using spreadsheets.
Farbrikam has a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) that includes Microsoft Software
Assurance (SA). All client computers run either Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003 or
Microsoft Office 97. The department is underskilled and understaffed.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Planned Changes
Fabrikam has the following business goals:
Provide role-based access to process, operational, and financial information.
Eliminate paper-based processes, including reporting processes.
Reduce the number of technology platforms that require support.
Problem Statements
Fabrikam has identified the following business problems:
Mine safety compliance issues have shut down production at some plants, creating 60 days of
lost productivity during the past year.
Safety training records are often inaccessible.
Training dates and medical testing results are often outdated.
Safety reports are only available to managers at the end of each month.
Safety performance metrics are shared via e-mail only.
Plant safety training and medical testing data is recorded on paper forms and then entered
manually into a spreadsheet on a Safety Manager’s computer.
Reporting is delayed because safety data is outdated and inaccurate.
Business Goals
Fabrikam has the following business goals:
Reduce costs associated with meeting regulatory compliance requirements:
Eliminate paper-based processes.
Improve access to safety performance reporting.
INTERVIEWEES
Vice President (VP) The VP is the executive responsible for overseeing general business
operations and for maintaining profitability. VP goals include:
Rducing operational cost. Increasing production productivity
Eliminating plant shutdowns caused by non-compliance.
Plant General Manager
The Plant General Manager (GM) is responsible for maintaining plant profitability, operational
efficientcy, production costs, product quality, and employee safety. Plant GM goals include:
Automating production monitoring, alerts, and reporting.
Eliminating paper-based processes.
Implementing an online system to track safety training records and medical testing records.
Production Operations Manager
The Production Operations Manager (OM) is responsible for maintaining overall operational
efficiency of production plants, and maintaining costs within budget. Production OM goals include:
Monitoring and reporting on safety performance for all plants.
Implementing a company-wide safety certfication management system.
Eliminating manual reporting on operational key performance indicators (KPIs).
Corporate Controller
The Corporate Controller is responsible for financial management, the IT department, budgeting,
and treasury.
Corporate Controller goals in clude:
Addressing unbudgeted costs that result from non-compliance issues.
Gathering business performance data worldwide and reconciling all data.
Addressing poor productivity caused by the lack of information sharing
Plant Safety Department Manager
The Plant Safety Department Manager is responsible for managing safety education and medical
testing. Plant Safety Department Manager goals include:
Accompanying government safety inspectors during their plant visits.
Implementing e-mail to notify employees who are due for training and testing.
Implementing alerts to the Human Resources department (HR) when employee are uncertified.
Implementing the daily sorting of spreadsheets to identify which employee are due for training
and testing.
###EndCaseStudy###
You are evaluating an automated safety certification management system for Fabrikam. You
need to present a high-level value proposition statement to the Vice President. Which value
proposition statement should you present?
Which interviewee should you exclude from the data collection method?
###BeginCaseStudy###
Case Study# 3
Corporate Information and Physical Locations
A Datum Corporation is a midsize consumer marketing company based in Denver, Colorado,
that has a number of regional offices. A.Datum provides marketing consulting and services to
customers across the United States. A.Datum has enjoyed steady revenue growth during the past
decade, earning approximate annual revenues of $50 million.
EXISTING ENVIRONMENT
The company has an incentive program whereby Engagement Managers and Engagement staff
are rewarded for reducing project costs. In addition, rewards are increased exponentially with the
number of hours billed and/or the number of staff assigned to a project. Despite these incentives,
however, staff turnover has increased.
Existing Business Processes
A.Datum has the following business processes:
Business process for hiring new employees – Each office is responsible for its own hiring. New
employees are required to complete a variety of paper forms that are faxed to the Human
Resources department in Denver. The information is then entered manually into a third-party
human resources database system. Business process for assigning resouces to customer
projects – For each new project that A.Datum starts, an Engagement Manager selects an
Engagement Team based on the manager’s preferences, the team member’s availability, and the
project’s requirements. Business process for drafting proposals – Proposal drafting and
opportunity management are handled by the regional offices and are responsible for the primary
source of revenue for A.Datum. Proposals are developed by a team of four to five Engagement
Team members and generally take one to three weeks to complete. Each team member
dedicates between six and 10 hours to building one of the many sections of the proposal. Team
members collaborate on documents by using e-mail. All proposals are reviewed by the regional
office lead prior to being submintted. Business process for project collaboration – Documents and
materials for A.Datum’s client projects are usually developed and reviewed collaboratively by the
Engagement Manager and the Engagement Team members. Collaboration is facilitated by using
e-mail.
Existing Technology Infrastructure
The technology infrastructure is managed at corporate headquarters in Denver. The company
currently has an Enterprise Agreement (EA) with Microsoft, but has not deployed Windows Vista
or Microsoft Office 2007.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Planned Changes
The company is experiencing a decline in new business, so management is planning to freeze
new employee hiring to reduce costs.
Problem Statements
Manual routing and data entry processes cause delays in new employee onboarding and
inaccurate data entry. Scheduling of resources is a problem when projects take longer than
anticipated, creating resource shortages for other engagements, and pushing back start dates
leaving staff underutilized. Engagement Team members are often asked to help develop sales
proposals, usually in addition to their current engagements. The current drafting process is
manually intensive, and employees must recreate similar content from proposal to proposal.
Multiple versions of documents cause issue with versioning and unnecessary utilization of server
storage. The CIO has stressed the importance of improving the company’s underlying technology
infrastructure, but most of the staff is wary of technological change.
Business Goal
The President of A.Datum wants to increase revenue by 10 percent and decrease overhead by
10 percent during the next 10 months. A.Datum of initiatives are underway to reduce costs,
though little has been done to increase revenue.
INTERVIEWEES
Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Supports the IT Directors.
Provides insight into current technology and technology initiatives.
Regional Office Lead
Financial responsibilities with full insight into administrative overhead.
Provides insight into management practice variance across offices, and highlights additional
challenges not covered by corporate.
Engagement Manager
Mid-level manager in charge of engagement delivery.
Makes staffing, resource, and delivery decisions.
Provides insight into problems and opportunities relating to customer engagements.
Engagement Team Member
General Information Worker (IW), supporting the Engagement Manager.
End-user of Microsoft technology, responsible for content development and delivery.
Deputy Director of Human Resources (HR)
Supports Director of HR and key influencer in resource assignment decisions.
May gather HR feedback on different processes that touch HR.
Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Supports the CFO to manage the organization’s finances and financial reporting.
###EndCaseStudy###
The Deputy Director of HR will be unavailable during the business value planning services
(BVPS) engagement. As a result, A. Datum has opted to have its proposal development
process analyzed. You need to design a data collection method. Which interviewee should you
exclude from the data collection method?
Which statement should you identify?
###BeginCaseStudy###
Case Study# 3
Corporate Information and Physical Locations
A Datum Corporation is a midsize consumer marketing company based in Denver, Colorado,
that has a number of regional offices. A.Datum provides marketing consulting and services to
customers across the United States. A.Datum has enjoyed steady revenue growth during the past
decade, earning approximate annual revenues of $50 million.
EXISTING ENVIRONMENT
The company has an incentive program whereby Engagement Managers and Engagement staff
are rewarded for reducing project costs. In addition, rewards are increased exponentially with the
number of hours billed and/or the number of staff assigned to a project. Despite these incentives,
however, staff turnover has increased.
Existing Business Processes
A.Datum has the following business processes:
Business process for hiring new employees – Each office is responsible for its own hiring. New
employees are required to complete a variety of paper forms that are faxed to the Human
Resources department in Denver. The information is then entered manually into a third-party
human resources database system. Business process for assigning resouces to customer
projects – For each new project that A.Datum starts, an Engagement Manager selects an
Engagement Team based on the manager’s preferences, the team member’s availability, and the
project’s requirements. Business process for drafting proposals – Proposal drafting and
opportunity management are handled by the regional offices and are responsible for the primary
source of revenue for A.Datum. Proposals are developed by a team of four to five Engagement
Team members and generally take one to three weeks to complete. Each team member
dedicates between six and 10 hours to building one of the many sections of the proposal. Team
members collaborate on documents by using e-mail. All proposals are reviewed by the regional
office lead prior to being submintted. Business process for project collaboration – Documents and
materials for A.Datum’s client projects are usually developed and reviewed collaboratively by the
Engagement Manager and the Engagement Team members. Collaboration is facilitated by using
e-mail.
Existing Technology Infrastructure
The technology infrastructure is managed at corporate headquarters in Denver. The company
currently has an Enterprise Agreement (EA) with Microsoft, but has not deployed Windows Vista
or Microsoft Office 2007.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Planned Changes
The company is experiencing a decline in new business, so management is planning to freeze
new employee hiring to reduce costs.
Problem Statements
Manual routing and data entry processes cause delays in new employee onboarding and
inaccurate data entry. Scheduling of resources is a problem when projects take longer than
anticipated, creating resource shortages for other engagements, and pushing back start dates
leaving staff underutilized. Engagement Team members are often asked to help develop sales
proposals, usually in addition to their current engagements. The current drafting process is
manually intensive, and employees must recreate similar content from proposal to proposal.
Multiple versions of documents cause issue with versioning and unnecessary utilization of server
storage. The CIO has stressed the importance of improving the company’s underlying technology
infrastructure, but most of the staff is wary of technological change.
Business Goal
The President of A.Datum wants to increase revenue by 10 percent and decrease overhead by
10 percent during the next 10 months. A.Datum of initiatives are underway to reduce costs,
though little has been done to increase revenue.
INTERVIEWEES
Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Supports the IT Directors.
Provides insight into current technology and technology initiatives.
Regional Office Lead
Financial responsibilities with full insight into administrative overhead.
Provides insight into management practice variance across offices, and highlights additional
challenges not covered by corporate.
Engagement Manager
Mid-level manager in charge of engagement delivery.
Makes staffing, resource, and delivery decisions.
Provides insight into problems and opportunities relating to customer engagements.
Engagement Team Member
General Information Worker (IW), supporting the Engagement Manager.
End-user of Microsoft technology, responsible for content development and delivery.
Deputy Director of Human Resources (HR)
Supports Director of HR and key influencer in resource assignment decisions.
May gather HR feedback on different processes that touch HR.
Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Supports the CFO to manage the organization’s finances and financial reporting.
###EndCaseStudy###
You are evaluating a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 solution for A. Datum. You need to
identify which value proposition statement will have the greatest impact on the Engagement
Manager role. Which statement should you identify?
Which of the following is the most important calculation?
###BeginCaseStudy###
Case Study# 3
Corporate Information and Physical Locations
A Datum Corporation is a midsize consumer marketing company based in Denver, Colorado,
that has a number of regional offices. A.Datum provides marketing consulting and services to
customers across the United States. A.Datum has enjoyed steady revenue growth during the past
decade, earning approximate annual revenues of $50 million.
EXISTING ENVIRONMENT
The company has an incentive program whereby Engagement Managers and Engagement staff
are rewarded for reducing project costs. In addition, rewards are increased exponentially with the
number of hours billed and/or the number of staff assigned to a project. Despite these incentives,
however, staff turnover has increased.
Existing Business Processes
A.Datum has the following business processes:
Business process for hiring new employees – Each office is responsible for its own hiring. New
employees are required to complete a variety of paper forms that are faxed to the Human
Resources department in Denver. The information is then entered manually into a third-party
human resources database system. Business process for assigning resouces to customer
projects – For each new project that A.Datum starts, an Engagement Manager selects an
Engagement Team based on the manager’s preferences, the team member’s availability, and the
project’s requirements. Business process for drafting proposals – Proposal drafting and
opportunity management are handled by the regional offices and are responsible for the primary
source of revenue for A.Datum. Proposals are developed by a team of four to five Engagement
Team members and generally take one to three weeks to complete. Each team member
dedicates between six and 10 hours to building one of the many sections of the proposal. Team
members collaborate on documents by using e-mail. All proposals are reviewed by the regional
office lead prior to being submintted. Business process for project collaboration – Documents and
materials for A.Datum’s client projects are usually developed and reviewed collaboratively by the
Engagement Manager and the Engagement Team members. Collaboration is facilitated by using
e-mail.
Existing Technology Infrastructure
The technology infrastructure is managed at corporate headquarters in Denver. The company
currently has an Enterprise Agreement (EA) with Microsoft, but has not deployed Windows Vista
or Microsoft Office 2007.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Planned Changes
The company is experiencing a decline in new business, so management is planning to freeze
new employee hiring to reduce costs.
Problem Statements
Manual routing and data entry processes cause delays in new employee onboarding and
inaccurate data entry. Scheduling of resources is a problem when projects take longer than
anticipated, creating resource shortages for other engagements, and pushing back start dates
leaving staff underutilized. Engagement Team members are often asked to help develop sales
proposals, usually in addition to their current engagements. The current drafting process is
manually intensive, and employees must recreate similar content from proposal to proposal.
Multiple versions of documents cause issue with versioning and unnecessary utilization of server
storage. The CIO has stressed the importance of improving the company’s underlying technology
infrastructure, but most of the staff is wary of technological change.
Business Goal
The President of A.Datum wants to increase revenue by 10 percent and decrease overhead by
10 percent during the next 10 months. A.Datum of initiatives are underway to reduce costs,
though little has been done to increase revenue.
INTERVIEWEES
Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Supports the IT Directors.
Provides insight into current technology and technology initiatives.
Regional Office Lead
Financial responsibilities with full insight into administrative overhead.
Provides insight into management practice variance across offices, and highlights additional
challenges not covered by corporate.
Engagement Manager
Mid-level manager in charge of engagement delivery.
Makes staffing, resource, and delivery decisions.
Provides insight into problems and opportunities relating to customer engagements.
Engagement Team Member
General Information Worker (IW), supporting the Engagement Manager.
End-user of Microsoft technology, responsible for content development and delivery.
Deputy Director of Human Resources (HR)
Supports Director of HR and key influencer in resource assignment decisions.
May gather HR feedback on different processes that touch HR.
Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Supports the CFO to manage the organization’s finances and financial reporting.
###EndCaseStudy###
You are evaluating a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 solution for A. Datum. You need to
communicate the business value of the recommended solution to the A. Datum management
team. Which of the following is the most important calculation?
Which two process steps should you identify?
###BeginCaseStudy###
Case Study# 3
Corporate Information and Physical Locations
A Datum Corporation is a midsize consumer marketing company based in Denver, Colorado,
that has a number of regional offices. A.Datum provides marketing consulting and services to
customers across the United States. A.Datum has enjoyed steady revenue growth during the past
decade, earning approximate annual revenues of $50 million.
EXISTING ENVIRONMENT
The company has an incentive program whereby Engagement Managers and Engagement staff
are rewarded for reducing project costs. In addition, rewards are increased exponentially with the
number of hours billed and/or the number of staff assigned to a project. Despite these incentives,
however, staff turnover has increased.
Existing Business Processes
A.Datum has the following business processes:
Business process for hiring new employees – Each office is responsible for its own hiring. New
employees are required to complete a variety of paper forms that are faxed to the Human
Resources department in Denver. The information is then entered manually into a third-party
human resources database system. Business process for assigning resouces to customer
projects – For each new project that A.Datum starts, an Engagement Manager selects an
Engagement Team based on the manager’s preferences, the team member’s availability, and the
project’s requirements. Business process for drafting proposals – Proposal drafting and
opportunity management are handled by the regional offices and are responsible for the primary
source of revenue for A.Datum. Proposals are developed by a team of four to five Engagement
Team members and generally take one to three weeks to complete. Each team member
dedicates between six and 10 hours to building one of the many sections of the proposal. Team
members collaborate on documents by using e-mail. All proposals are reviewed by the regional
office lead prior to being submintted. Business process for project collaboration – Documents and
materials for A.Datum’s client projects are usually developed and reviewed collaboratively by the
Engagement Manager and the Engagement Team members. Collaboration is facilitated by using
e-mail.
Existing Technology Infrastructure
The technology infrastructure is managed at corporate headquarters in Denver. The company
currently has an Enterprise Agreement (EA) with Microsoft, but has not deployed Windows Vista
or Microsoft Office 2007.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Planned Changes
The company is experiencing a decline in new business, so management is planning to freeze
new employee hiring to reduce costs.
Problem Statements
Manual routing and data entry processes cause delays in new employee onboarding and
inaccurate data entry. Scheduling of resources is a problem when projects take longer than
anticipated, creating resource shortages for other engagements, and pushing back start dates
leaving staff underutilized. Engagement Team members are often asked to help develop sales
proposals, usually in addition to their current engagements. The current drafting process is
manually intensive, and employees must recreate similar content from proposal to proposal.
Multiple versions of documents cause issue with versioning and unnecessary utilization of server
storage. The CIO has stressed the importance of improving the company’s underlying technology
infrastructure, but most of the staff is wary of technological change.
Business Goal
The President of A.Datum wants to increase revenue by 10 percent and decrease overhead by
10 percent during the next 10 months. A.Datum of initiatives are underway to reduce costs,
though little has been done to increase revenue.
INTERVIEWEES
Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Supports the IT Directors.
Provides insight into current technology and technology initiatives.
Regional Office Lead
Financial responsibilities with full insight into administrative overhead.
Provides insight into management practice variance across offices, and highlights additional
challenges not covered by corporate.
Engagement Manager
Mid-level manager in charge of engagement delivery.
Makes staffing, resource, and delivery decisions.
Provides insight into problems and opportunities relating to customer engagements.
Engagement Team Member
General Information Worker (IW), supporting the Engagement Manager.
End-user of Microsoft technology, responsible for content development and delivery.
Deputy Director of Human Resources (HR)
Supports Director of HR and key influencer in resource assignment decisions.
May gather HR feedback on different processes that touch HR.
Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Supports the CFO to manage the organization’s finances and financial reporting.
###EndCaseStudy###
You are evaluating a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 solution that reduces the amount
of time required to draft proposals for A. Datum. A. Datum provides their current process state
diagram as shown in the exhibit. (Click the Exhibit button.) You need to identify which process
steps the SharePoint Server solution will most substantially affect. Which two process steps
should you identify? (Each correct answer presents part of the solution. Choose two.)
Which outcome should you identify?
###BeginCaseStudy###
Case Study# 3
Corporate Information and Physical Locations
A Datum Corporation is a midsize consumer marketing company based in Denver, Colorado,
that has a number of regional offices. A.Datum provides marketing consulting and services to
customers across the United States. A.Datum has enjoyed steady revenue growth during the past
decade, earning approximate annual revenues of $50 million.
EXISTING ENVIRONMENT
The company has an incentive program whereby Engagement Managers and Engagement staff
are rewarded for reducing project costs. In addition, rewards are increased exponentially with the
number of hours billed and/or the number of staff assigned to a project. Despite these incentives,
however, staff turnover has increased.
Existing Business Processes
A.Datum has the following business processes:
Business process for hiring new employees – Each office is responsible for its own hiring. New
employees are required to complete a variety of paper forms that are faxed to the Human
Resources department in Denver. The information is then entered manually into a third-party
human resources database system. Business process for assigning resouces to customer
projects – For each new project that A.Datum starts, an Engagement Manager selects an
Engagement Team based on the manager’s preferences, the team member’s availability, and the
project’s requirements. Business process for drafting proposals – Proposal drafting and
opportunity management are handled by the regional offices and are responsible for the primary
source of revenue for A.Datum. Proposals are developed by a team of four to five Engagement
Team members and generally take one to three weeks to complete. Each team member
dedicates between six and 10 hours to building one of the many sections of the proposal. Team
members collaborate on documents by using e-mail. All proposals are reviewed by the regional
office lead prior to being submintted. Business process for project collaboration – Documents and
materials for A.Datum’s client projects are usually developed and reviewed collaboratively by the
Engagement Manager and the Engagement Team members. Collaboration is facilitated by using
e-mail.
Existing Technology Infrastructure
The technology infrastructure is managed at corporate headquarters in Denver. The company
currently has an Enterprise Agreement (EA) with Microsoft, but has not deployed Windows Vista
or Microsoft Office 2007.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Planned Changes
The company is experiencing a decline in new business, so management is planning to freeze
new employee hiring to reduce costs.
Problem Statements
Manual routing and data entry processes cause delays in new employee onboarding and
inaccurate data entry. Scheduling of resources is a problem when projects take longer than
anticipated, creating resource shortages for other engagements, and pushing back start dates
leaving staff underutilized. Engagement Team members are often asked to help develop sales
proposals, usually in addition to their current engagements. The current drafting process is
manually intensive, and employees must recreate similar content from proposal to proposal.
Multiple versions of documents cause issue with versioning and unnecessary utilization of server
storage. The CIO has stressed the importance of improving the company’s underlying technology
infrastructure, but most of the staff is wary of technological change.
Business Goal
The President of A.Datum wants to increase revenue by 10 percent and decrease overhead by
10 percent during the next 10 months. A.Datum of initiatives are underway to reduce costs,
though little has been done to increase revenue.
INTERVIEWEES
Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Supports the IT Directors.
Provides insight into current technology and technology initiatives.
Regional Office Lead
Financial responsibilities with full insight into administrative overhead.
Provides insight into management practice variance across offices, and highlights additional
challenges not covered by corporate.
Engagement Manager
Mid-level manager in charge of engagement delivery.
Makes staffing, resource, and delivery decisions.
Provides insight into problems and opportunities relating to customer engagements.
Engagement Team Member
General Information Worker (IW), supporting the Engagement Manager.
End-user of Microsoft technology, responsible for content development and delivery.
Deputy Director of Human Resources (HR)
Supports Director of HR and key influencer in resource assignment decisions.
May gather HR feedback on different processes that touch HR.
Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Supports the CFO to manage the organization’s finances and financial reporting.
###EndCaseStudy###
You need to identify which outcome of the current proposal development process has had the
least business impact on A. Datums business. Which outcome should you identify?
What is the current state of the proposal development process?
###BeginCaseStudy###
Case Study# 3
Corporate Information and Physical Locations
A Datum Corporation is a midsize consumer marketing company based in Denver, Colorado,
that has a number of regional offices. A.Datum provides marketing consulting and services to
customers across the United States. A.Datum has enjoyed steady revenue growth during the past
decade, earning approximate annual revenues of $50 million.
EXISTING ENVIRONMENT
The company has an incentive program whereby Engagement Managers and Engagement staff
are rewarded for reducing project costs. In addition, rewards are increased exponentially with the
number of hours billed and/or the number of staff assigned to a project. Despite these incentives,
however, staff turnover has increased.
Existing Business Processes
A.Datum has the following business processes:
Business process for hiring new employees – Each office is responsible for its own hiring. New
employees are required to complete a variety of paper forms that are faxed to the Human
Resources department in Denver. The information is then entered manually into a third-party
human resources database system. Business process for assigning resouces to customer
projects – For each new project that A.Datum starts, an Engagement Manager selects an
Engagement Team based on the manager’s preferences, the team member’s availability, and the
project’s requirements. Business process for drafting proposals – Proposal drafting and
opportunity management are handled by the regional offices and are responsible for the primary
source of revenue for A.Datum. Proposals are developed by a team of four to five Engagement
Team members and generally take one to three weeks to complete. Each team member
dedicates between six and 10 hours to building one of the many sections of the proposal. Team
members collaborate on documents by using e-mail. All proposals are reviewed by the regional
office lead prior to being submintted. Business process for project collaboration – Documents and
materials for A.Datum’s client projects are usually developed and reviewed collaboratively by the
Engagement Manager and the Engagement Team members. Collaboration is facilitated by using
e-mail.
Existing Technology Infrastructure
The technology infrastructure is managed at corporate headquarters in Denver. The company
currently has an Enterprise Agreement (EA) with Microsoft, but has not deployed Windows Vista
or Microsoft Office 2007.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Planned Changes
The company is experiencing a decline in new business, so management is planning to freeze
new employee hiring to reduce costs.
Problem Statements
Manual routing and data entry processes cause delays in new employee onboarding and
inaccurate data entry. Scheduling of resources is a problem when projects take longer than
anticipated, creating resource shortages for other engagements, and pushing back start dates
leaving staff underutilized. Engagement Team members are often asked to help develop sales
proposals, usually in addition to their current engagements. The current drafting process is
manually intensive, and employees must recreate similar content from proposal to proposal.
Multiple versions of documents cause issue with versioning and unnecessary utilization of server
storage. The CIO has stressed the importance of improving the company’s underlying technology
infrastructure, but most of the staff is wary of technological change.
Business Goal
The President of A.Datum wants to increase revenue by 10 percent and decrease overhead by
10 percent during the next 10 months. A.Datum of initiatives are underway to reduce costs,
though little has been done to increase revenue.
INTERVIEWEES
Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Supports the IT Directors.
Provides insight into current technology and technology initiatives.
Regional Office Lead
Financial responsibilities with full insight into administrative overhead.
Provides insight into management practice variance across offices, and highlights additional
challenges not covered by corporate.
Engagement Manager
Mid-level manager in charge of engagement delivery.
Makes staffing, resource, and delivery decisions.
Provides insight into problems and opportunities relating to customer engagements.
Engagement Team Member
General Information Worker (IW), supporting the Engagement Manager.
End-user of Microsoft technology, responsible for content development and delivery.
Deputy Director of Human Resources (HR)
Supports Director of HR and key influencer in resource assignment decisions.
May gather HR feedback on different processes that touch HR.
Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Supports the CFO to manage the organization’s finances and financial reporting.
###EndCaseStudy###
You need to document the current state of A.Datum’s proposal development process.
What is the current state of the proposal development process? To answer, move the appropriate
processes from the list of processes to the answer area and arrange them in the correct order.
Which two negotiation points should you identify?
###BeginCaseStudy###
Case Study# 3
Corporate Information and Physical Locations
A Datum Corporation is a midsize consumer marketing company based in Denver, Colorado,
that has a number of regional offices. A.Datum provides marketing consulting and services to
customers across the United States. A.Datum has enjoyed steady revenue growth during the past
decade, earning approximate annual revenues of $50 million.
EXISTING ENVIRONMENT
The company has an incentive program whereby Engagement Managers and Engagement staff
are rewarded for reducing project costs. In addition, rewards are increased exponentially with the
number of hours billed and/or the number of staff assigned to a project. Despite these incentives,
however, staff turnover has increased.
Existing Business Processes
A.Datum has the following business processes:
Business process for hiring new employees – Each office is responsible for its own hiring. New
employees are required to complete a variety of paper forms that are faxed to the Human
Resources department in Denver. The information is then entered manually into a third-party
human resources database system. Business process for assigning resouces to customer
projects – For each new project that A.Datum starts, an Engagement Manager selects an
Engagement Team based on the manager’s preferences, the team member’s availability, and the
project’s requirements. Business process for drafting proposals – Proposal drafting and
opportunity management are handled by the regional offices and are responsible for the primary
source of revenue for A.Datum. Proposals are developed by a team of four to five Engagement
Team members and generally take one to three weeks to complete. Each team member
dedicates between six and 10 hours to building one of the many sections of the proposal. Team
members collaborate on documents by using e-mail. All proposals are reviewed by the regional
office lead prior to being submintted. Business process for project collaboration – Documents and
materials for A.Datum’s client projects are usually developed and reviewed collaboratively by the
Engagement Manager and the Engagement Team members. Collaboration is facilitated by using
e-mail.
Existing Technology Infrastructure
The technology infrastructure is managed at corporate headquarters in Denver. The company
currently has an Enterprise Agreement (EA) with Microsoft, but has not deployed Windows Vista
or Microsoft Office 2007.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Planned Changes
The company is experiencing a decline in new business, so management is planning to freeze
new employee hiring to reduce costs.
Problem Statements
Manual routing and data entry processes cause delays in new employee onboarding and
inaccurate data entry. Scheduling of resources is a problem when projects take longer than
anticipated, creating resource shortages for other engagements, and pushing back start dates
leaving staff underutilized. Engagement Team members are often asked to help develop sales
proposals, usually in addition to their current engagements. The current drafting process is
manually intensive, and employees must recreate similar content from proposal to proposal.
Multiple versions of documents cause issue with versioning and unnecessary utilization of server
storage. The CIO has stressed the importance of improving the company’s underlying technology
infrastructure, but most of the staff is wary of technological change.
Business Goal
The President of A.Datum wants to increase revenue by 10 percent and decrease overhead by
10 percent during the next 10 months. A.Datum of initiatives are underway to reduce costs,
though little has been done to increase revenue.
INTERVIEWEES
Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Supports the IT Directors.
Provides insight into current technology and technology initiatives.
Regional Office Lead
Financial responsibilities with full insight into administrative overhead.
Provides insight into management practice variance across offices, and highlights additional
challenges not covered by corporate.
Engagement Manager
Mid-level manager in charge of engagement delivery.
Makes staffing, resource, and delivery decisions.
Provides insight into problems and opportunities relating to customer engagements.
Engagement Team Member
General Information Worker (IW), supporting the Engagement Manager.
End-user of Microsoft technology, responsible for content development and delivery.
Deputy Director of Human Resources (HR)
Supports Director of HR and key influencer in resource assignment decisions.
May gather HR feedback on different processes that touch HR.
Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Supports the CFO to manage the organization’s finances and financial reporting.
###EndCaseStudy###
You propose a solution to Woodgrove Bank. The bank responds that the proposed solution is too
expensive and will take too long to implement. You need to identify which negotiation points will
likely convince Woodgrove Bank to purchase the proposed solution. Which two negotiation points
should you identify? (Each correct answer presents part of the solution. Choose two.)