CIS3700 Information Technology for Management: HR Software Analysis

This homework assignment for CIS3700, Information Technology for Management, analyzes various software solutions for human resource management, focusing on a case study for Hickory Furniture Manufacturing Company. The assignment is divided into three parts: Part 1 requires filling a table with examples of different software categories (COTS, SaaS, Custom) and vendors. Part 2 involves creating a grid to identify the most suitable software types for a manufacturing company based on its size and IT budget. Part 3 presents a scenario where the student, acting as a purchasing analyst, must recommend an HR software solution to the vice president of HR, comparing a custom-built outsourced solution, a vendor-provided business application, and a SaaS solution. The analysis considers implementation time, initial and annual costs, and key features, ultimately recommending Novious HR Systems Inc.'s business application software due to its industry experience, large client base, moderate costs, and ability to accommodate future growth.

CIS3700 Information Technology for Management Homework Assignment
Student
5 APRIL, 2016

Contents
PART 1...................................................................................................................................................................................2
PART 2...................................................................................................................................................................................3
PART 3...................................................................................................................................................................................5

PART 1
Fill in the table below by providing at least 2 examples for each category of software available for companies to
assist with human resource management.
Provide vendor names and top level web address for all types except Custom. Although some vendors provide
software that falls into more than one category, do not use the same vendor name more than once.
For Custom Function Specific software, provide the two different options companies have when building custom
software. (10pts)
Information
COTS General
Purpose
COTS
Function Specific
Custom
Function
Specific
Business
Applicati
on
Software
(custome
r hosted)
SaaS, Cloud, ASP
Vendor 1
IBM High Line
BambooHR
firLab
Web address
1 www.ibm.com www.highlinecorp.com www.firlab.com
Vendor 2
Lanteria Deskera
PeopleMatter
myofficehub
Web address
2 www.lanteria.com www.deskera.com www.myofficehub.com
Provide examples of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf software
that can be installed on a personal
computer
Provide the two
different options
companies have
when building
custom software
Provide
examples of
software
that are
installed on-
site at a
company’s
premise that
require
server(s),
network,
and data
base
resources
Provide examples of software
products that are licensed for use,
but all software, data, servers
maintained on a remote
premise

PART 2
Using your knowledge of the different types of application software available to companies, fill in the grid below
and identify which types of software are most appropriate for a manufacturing company to use for its human
resource management. The company intends to use the software for the traditional purposes of payroll, personnel
records, and analyzing personnel utilization.
Create a grid similar to the one below, use the following codes to identify which type of software suit a company
based on its size (10pts).
Type of Application Software Implementation to Manage Human Resources
Company Size
# employees, IT
Budget
COTS
General Purpose
COTS
Function Specific
Custom, Function
Specific
Business
Application
Software
(customer hosted)
SaaS, Cloud, ASP
Less than 25
$25,000
ˣ ˣ NA NA NA
25-99
$200,000
ˣ NA ˣ NA NA
100-499
$1,000,000
ˣ NA NA NA NA
500-4,999
$10,000,000
NA NA NA ˣ NA
5,000+
$10,000,000+
NA NA NA NA ˣ
ˣ -> MEANS SUITABLE
NA -> MEANS NOT APPLICABLE OR SUITABLE

Type of Application Software Implementation to Manage Human Resources
Company Size COTS
General Purpose
COTS
Function Specific
Custom, Function
Specific
Business
Application
Software
(customer hosted)
SaaS, Cloud, ASP
Less than 25 B B S NR NR
25-99 B S S NR NR
100-499 B NR NR S NR
500-4,999 NR NR NR B S
5,000+ NR NR NR S B

PART 3
You are a purchasing analyst working for the 700 employee Hickory Furniture Manufacturing Company. You
have been asked by the vice president of human resources, Robert Takeshita, to analyze and write a
recommendation for the replacement of your company’s current human resource information system. Mr.
Takeshita would like you make your recommendation based on the following 3 options:
a. A custom built outsourced software solution
b. A implementation of a vendor provided business software application hosted at your company
headquarters
c. A Software-As-A-Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Application Service Provider (ASP) solution
Mr. Takeshita is aware of the complexity of software and the time needed to implement the new solution for the
entire company. He would like to understand the long term (~8 year) costs for each option. He also feels that
Hickory Manufacturing Co.’s requirements for this type of software are very similar to the capabilities most
companies his size have for an HR management system.
Consider the following assumptions you should use for your analysis.
Software Type Vendor Vendor History Software Owner Time to
implement
#of top 10 key
Features covered by
the software
Initial Cost Annual
Cost
Custom built
outsourced
software, hosted at
your company
headquarters
ABC Software
12 yr old
company with 70
clients, 1.36MM
annual revenue
Hickory
Manufacturing 18 months 9/10 $100,000 $10,000
Business
Application
Software, hosted at
your company
headquarters
Novious HR
Systems Inc.
20yr old
company with
175 clients,
5.25MM
revenue
Novious HR Systems
Inc. 4.5 months 8/10 $80,000 $12,000
SaaS, Cloud, ASP WorkTime Inc.
4yr old company
with 75 clients
1.5MM in annual
revenue
WorkTime Inc. 3 months 7/10 $70,000 $10,000
Mr Takeshita would like your summary analysis to address the 3 vendor options above and make a single
recommendation for his new HR system. Your recommendation should include the benefits of your chosen
solution as well as the reasons you recommended against the other two options. Don’t assume that Mr Takeshita
knows about the different types of application software.

Your analysis should be a 500-700 word summary document, double spaced with 1-inch margins, using 12-point Times
New Roman font. Include the word count of your analysis only (30pts).
ANALYSIS: all the features of these companies are quite good and similar except one or two. The first option
Hickory Manufacturing’s software although is very similar to the company’s requirements yet the initial cost is
very high. Also the implementation time is very high. The company needs to replace the current system inn
shortest possible time. Among the other two options Novious HR Systems Inc. and WorkTime Inc., the
previous one has higher initial and annual cost. But its rating is also high than WorkTime Inc. and the company
is in this business from last 20 years having a huge client base. Whereas WorkTime Inc. has been in the
industry since past 4 years. So we can say that Novious HR Systems Inc. has higher trust in the market.
Although ABC Software also has been in the industry since 12 years and rating is the highest among the three
options. But yet its cost is an important factor. Also it is a custom built software which will have to be
redesigned when the manpower will increase in the next 8 yrs. Whereas, Novious HR Systems Inc. and
WorkTime Inc. are Business Application Software and SaaS, Cloud, ASP based respectively. This means that
these two can accommodate the increasing human resource requirement. But after comparing all the features,
we can say that Novious HR Systems Inc’s software will be best suited because it has the following things:
a. Industry experience of 20 years
b. Large client base which means that it is a reliable one.
c. Less time for implementation
d. Good rating in the industry that is, 8/10.
e. The implementation cost is moderate and so is the annual cost.
f. The database will be at the company headquarters so the company can add its own extra security measures.
g. It can accommodate the increasing manpower records and does not require re designing of the system.
So we can say that it fits the requirements, time and budget of the company and will be the best solution.