Business Case Proposal to Introduce Cloud Computing Assignment

Instructions for completion

This template has been provided as a guide only. Instructions on how to complete the template are included in Arial 11 blue italic font. Please delete this text when you complete each section - it should not be included in the final product. Also provided is some suggested text. This is in Arial 11 black font. This is not intended to be prescriptive - please change this to meet the requirements of your project.

The Project Brief must accurately reflect the project mandate and the requirements of the business and the users.

1. Project definition

Background and objectives

Branda Robson, the original owner of Gaming Galore has successfully built four stores. Here, she realises that as the business grows, an upgrade is necessary and cloud computing is the way forward to reduce the complexity and improve the efficiency of the processes. As a non-tech-savvy individual, she recognises that he needs an ICT expert to get advice on strategies to expand opportunities in a more economical way.

The business has limitations regarding its technology and software. These limitations have created a correlating effect where the goal of consolidating the shopfront into a cohesive identity is not achievable

The stores have several computers that were purchased in 2010. She spends an extra money per year on external IT contractors for various IT troubleshooting issues. Each of the stores computers have been having more and more issues over the last couple of years and she has needed to have repairs several times. Operations are slowing down productivity. Saving a file takes a long time whether it is to the local drive (which is very full) or to the server. The internet connection so simple

She would like to be able to access all the records from home and while visiting different worksites. Also she need to adopt new strategy for her business.

2. Outline Project Business Case

a. Relationship to Gaming Galore strategies and objectives

Cloud-based platforms can be used by large corporations and the stores for creating, testing, deploying, and storing apps, backing up, and recovering data. A public cloud is a platform that is provided by third parties via the internet for several enterprises.

Among the use cases for cloud computing are storage, disaster recovery, and backup. The cloud can also be used for testing, development, social networking, and communication.

It is a strategy that spans a time frame. The costs will start to go down when the business goes to the cloud. The gradual ramp-down in on-premises spending linked to your cloud migration strategy may be predicted.

It is possible for businesses to expand successfully because of cloud computing's scalability. As business grows, it can expand its infrastructure and facilities without having to anticipate its server demands or buy more storage space. Only thing it must do now is contact with service provider to change the subscription.

b. Business options

The main goal for the business is work efficiency and making profit at a minimum level of expenses. In the Gaming Galore stores situation, leave the system as it is and (do nothing) unjustified expenses will be incurred such as more money for repairing the current old version PC, which was $3680 just during the current period.

The stores have an opportunity to make changes and replace some features to save money and time, reduce maintenance costs, and can be anywhere. That will happen when all stores using public cloud and google drive for storage systems and MYOB or QuickBooks online for cloud accounting systems.

c. Benefits

State here the expected outcomes of the project in terms of benefits it will provide to the organisation. This statement forms the heart of the business case and needs to be carefully presented and phrased in outcomes, not outputs. Benefits can be financial or non-financial.

d. Risks

• Risks if the project does proceed per your plan
  • In a dot point list, identify risks of implementing your project
  • Underneath each risk, briefly state your planned risk mitigation strategy for managing the identified risk
  • Business/Benefit risks include such areas as:
    • the validity and viability of the Project Business Case
    • whether the project continues to support agency/program strategies and objectives
    • the consequences to the organisation of failure or limited project success
    • the stability of the business areas involved
    • program requirements
    • legislative changes
    • political factors including public opinion
    • environmental issues
    • impact on the customer of the results of the project
    • the risks of the end-result meeting the stated requirements, but not fulfilling expectations
    • stability of related processes or policies.
    • privacy issues
    • Risks if the project does not proceed
    • State the risks to Gaming Galore if this project does not proceed. Mitigation strategies are not required for this section.

e.Costs

A best estimate of the costs entailed in the project should be made. Any unknowns or uncertainties should be clearly stated, as should the approach to resolving these uncertainties. Detail on the costing assumptions should be outlined in the costing model table below.

The following table provides indicative costs for delivery of the project and likely on-going operational, maintenance and support needs for the projects deliverables.

The expected life of the projects deliverables (benefits provided) is years.

(Costs from Idea definition to project close and default 3 years worth of recurrent costs.

Refer to your textbook for a definition of total cost of ownership and for an example costing table to gather ideas. Your answer must factor in training for your staff.

The table below should include both Financial and Non-financial costs.

Financial cost examples include: Vendor Costs, Maintenance and Support (Annual licences), Software, employee, contractor costs

A non-financial cost example is employee dissatisfaction / loss of productivity

Discussion of costs and benefits

• Write a couple of paragraphs discussing/justifying your budgeted costs and comparing them to costs if you chose not to proceed with the cloud project.
• Compare the aggregated benefits and costs (financial and non-financial). The objective is to be able to define the value of a project as an investment.

f. Sources of advice

• Given the cloud solution you have recommended, identify a minimum of 3 sources of advice the business could approach if they have issues with their IT system. For example, MYOB has a help website.
• Provide an example situation where it would be advisable to contact each source of advice.

3. Project approach

a. Options analysis

Before any planning of the project can be done, decisions must be made regarding how the work of the project is going to be approached. For example, will the solution be developed in-house or contracted to third parties? Will the solution be a modification to an existing product, or built from scratch? Will the solution be based on a commercial off-the-shelf product or something that is custom-designed? The selected project approach will affect the timescale and costs of the project, plus possibly its scope and quality.Analyse available delivery solutions and recommend the most appropriate option after considering alignment with agency/program/industry standards, operations and maintenance implications and training needs etc. Add further options, as required.

Completing this section correctly will make AT3 (the implementation plan) much easier.

• Option 1 Do nothing to current IT implementation
  • Provide a description of the option. This would be a summary of their current IT implementation and identification of workarounds to the identified risks.
• Option 2 - title
  • Provide a detailed description of your proposed cloud solution.

b. Comparison of options

There are several methods of comparing options against each other in terms of how they best meet the combination of key requirements. The table in this section of the template displays a simple comparison matrix. The aim of this section is to provide a straight-forward analysis that presents sufficient insight to judge the validity of the recommended approach.

c. Recommended approach

Identify which of the options in the previous analysis is the recommended approach. If there is not a clear best option, then it should be substantiated why the preferred option was selected.
The project approach most appropriate to delivering the project product and achieving the outline Project Business Case is >.

4. Timeframes

The table below outlines an indicative timeframe for the delivery of this project:

5.Stakeholders, users and any other known interested parties

Outline the stakeholders who have a specific interest in this project. This interest may be from a project delivery perspective; use of the products produced in the project; or their business may be impacted by the outcomes of this project.

• Identify all teams/people that will be involved in the project (including any external help you want to hire if that is planned/budgeted for). This includes those you are reporting project status to, those you are training, and those with a more hands-on role in the project implementation.

• For each identified stakeholder, identify their role in the project.

6. Appendix A - Record of organisational survey & response

• This section should contain your survey of the organisation (email format, approximately 20 questions) clarifying the cloud computing needs of the business, and the Managers response to these questions.