MODMETERS CASE ANALYSIS

Modmeters Case Analysis



Executive Summary

This case is about a company at the very beginning of some huge expansion initiatives. A feasibility analysis from all departments is just starting to get under way. We will be looking at IT's role in the analysis, which will include all department's participation. The departmental executives meet to take account of their current budget needs and to see what departmental initiatives to be instituted to adopt the new strategic plans.

Executive Summary2

Case Background4

Key Issues5

Case Evaluation Strategy that was used6

Literature Review7

History8

Central Computer Systems9

The Personal Computer10

Network systems11

Value and Role of IT for MM13

SWOT Analysis15

IT Governance and Management20

IT Infrastructure needed to Expand in Asia or Eastern Europe23

Network Resources25

Client-Server Architecture25

Load-Balancers25

Open Software System25

IT Outsourcing at MM27

Why Outsourcing is required?28

Costs of Outsourcing29

Analysis29

Outsourcing Management30

Business Impact assessment32

Conclusions and Recommendations33

References35

Modmeters Case Analysis

Case Background

This report is written to discuss the current requirements of ModMeters organization. The company wants to go global from its North American operations with expansion into Asia and Europe seen as the next logical step. The challenge was in terms of infrastructure, connectivity and establishing direct sales contact with the customers. The process model needs to be re-engineered so that all the obstacles in the path of success and growth of ModMeters Company can be removed. Company needs to expand its business in other countries as well. The IT infrastructure requirements have been discussed in this report. The company needs an analysis of its IT infrastructure and services mainly to implement two initiatives which are discussed below:

Company needs to be operational at the global level shifting from the existing North American operations.

There is no existing way by which direct-to-customer sales can take place. So the company has to find some way to implement this operation.

The company has major limitations too which are discussed below:

The budget granted to IT is very limited.

Whole budget is consumed by the patching and maintenance activities.

It means IT system needs to be re-engineered; otherwise the entire budget will be consumed by the maintenance activities. Also there was a need to have an enterprise level IT infrastructure in place to address the issues and overcome the challenges put forward. This report suggests how ModMeters should modify its IT infrastructure and introduce new technologies in order to smoothly scale up its business.

Key Issues

Following are the key issues that were company facing:

The company has grown before do meet demand.

Strategic initiative 1: Go from North American operations to global operations.

The plan involves opening new plants in Asia and Eastern Europe.

Some proposed countries lack the infrastructure the operations will require.

IT funding within the organization is tightly controlled and hard to get.

Strategic initiative 2: Set up direct-to-customer sales.

This will place new web driven demands on the company.

The current architecture is a large range of technologies, layered on top of each other, that do not work together well.

Outside auditors are given new authority and will be demanding new information.

The IT budget is cut up with 50% going to support current operations and 30% towards ...