Riordan Service Request SR-rm-022, Part 1
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BSA/375
18 May, 2015
Instructor Name, Instructor

Riordan Manufacturing, in planning to implement a new human resource system must make considerations and joint decisions with some of the company's key stakeholders. Moreover, information gathering and analysis methods must be considered prior to the implementation of the system. In order to accomplish these ends, the overall scope of this new project must also be determined and taken into account during the entire development process.
In order to effectively develop this system, joint development with the company's key stakeholders must be done. Below are some of the key decision making stakeholders that should be involved in the decision making process during the HR system's development.
Chief Executive Officer Dr. Michael Riordan heads the corporation and is key in the company's decision making process. His main focus is going to be making decisions that best benefit the wellbeing of the company as well as its shareholders and employees. This makes his input central to the decision making process.
As Senior Vice President of Research and Development, Kenneth Collins plays a role in the decisions made during the planning phase of the HR system in that he must anticipate needs of the corporation and its operations as they interact with human resources. These needs may not be evident to the remainder of the development team.
Hugh McCauley is the Chief Operations Officer. As such, he coordinates the corporation's activities, policies, and mission to the benefit of the board of directors and the overall company mission goals.
Yvonne McMillan is the head of Human Resources. Her input on the development of the system is critical, as her function at Riordan is directly within human resources. As such, her input into the new and consolidated HR system will have the most direct impact on the functionality of the system. Furthermore, Ms. McMillan would be wise to include her three key managers in the planning phase of the software. While the head of HR may have an overall view of the operations of the department, the ground crew and their direct management undoubtedly will have a more hands on and direct view of HR operations as they will apply to the development of the system. Another consideration that must be made is that Mari Carillo, Training and Development Specialist may need to be consulted periodically, concerning implementation and training requirements during the deployment phase.
Dale Edgel is the Chief Financial Officer of Riordan and is directly tied to all monetary concerns of the corporation and the ties that the finances have to the human resources department.
Maria Trinh is the Chief Information Officer at Riordan. Her input is critical because a large part of the efforts of implementing the new HR system will lie on the shoulders of her department. It will be her department's burden and responsibility to develop, incorporate, and execute a plan to deploy the new system. Ms. Trinh will need to consult her substantial crew compliment, almost from top to bottom in order to get a feel of the impact this system will have on the corporate IT infrastructure. Specifically, the four Network Administrators and her three Database Analysts should be regularly consulted, as these personnel have the most direct interfacing with the portions of the IT structuring that will be impacted. The five programmer analysts will undoubtedly require some level of training for implementation, troubleshooting, and upkeep purposes and should be briefed regularly as such. The web support specialist may need to be advised on the system, depending on the scope of the project, and whether or not HR will implement some form of web-based user interface or employee portal.
Lowell Bradford is the Chief Legal Counsel and must consider legal actions and ramifications that others may not, specifically as they apply to deployment and operations of a new software system.
Director of operations at each of the corporation’s remote sites will also need to be regularly advised. These are the people that will directly head much of the process of adoption and implementation of the new system. They also will keep employees advised of the status of the new system, what it does, and what it means for them at their level in the corporate hierarchy.
Techniques to gather data are equally crucial to the consideration of personnel that will make decisions for implementation. Information sources must be identified first. The first is the employee pool. Personnel are the people that will interact with the new system. Development should take into account what it is that the employees will need in order to make the new system a worthwhile investment. Corporate standards, rules, and procedures are another source. By looking at what's needed, what improvements to the current system need to be made, and, what the company's needs in the system are, potential problems can be flushed out and the system development can happen much more efficiently. A Systems Requirements Specification (SRS) should be developed to specify what information must be provided. It can also aid in some level of detailed system design. The SRS should be complete and specify operational, tactical, and strategic information requirements (Information Gathering, 2012).

The methods of gathering information should be fleshed out in the initial phases of development. The most valuable means of gathering data will be in the form of feedback from employees. Whether via interviews or in written submissions, employee feedback is ultimately what will shape this system. The input from employees will help to determine the longevity of the system. Long term potential problems and solutions can be determined by utilizing the input of employees. (Mind Tools, 2012).
Another consideration is the scope of the project. This is a key consideration, as it is critical to ensure the system will do what is needed of it without going outside of its design criteria and wasting resources during development, implementation, and use. Items within the scope of the project that must be considered include, but are not limited to justification, project objectives, acceptance criteria, constraints, and assumptions (Dummies.com, 2012).
Following these steps, it can be determined whether the implementation of the new HR system is feasible. From there, development of a project solution can proceed.

References
Mind tools. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_77.htm
Information gathering. (2012). Retrieved from http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IISc-BANG/System%20Analysis%20and%20Design/pdf/Lecture_Notes/LNm3.pdf
Dummies.com. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/what-to-include-in-a-project-scope-statement.html
Apollo Group, Inc. (2013). Virtual Organization Portal: Riordan Manufacturing. Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Riordan/index.asp
Valacich, J. S., George, J. F., and Hoffer, J. A. (2012). Essentials of Systems Analysis and Design (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Retrieved from the University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.