Preliminary Investigation Report: Customer Billing and Payment System

Based on the provided information, PEP is seeking to replace its current customer billing and payment system due to a backlog in the billing and payment processes. The proposed system aims to interface with other new IT systems and updated business processes as needed. The key stakeholders involved are the Invoicing Department, Accounts Receivable Department, Sales Department, Ordering & Shipping Department, Marketing Department, and various executives. The current system uses an in-house developed Microsoft Access-based solution that is managed by the IT Department. The proposed system requires integration with other departments, secure data storage, automatic receipt generation upon payment recording, and reporting capabilities for company entities. The Preliminary Investigation Report will examine the problems/opportunities, identify benefits of a new system, and report on various aspects of feasibility.

Group Project: Enterprise Governance Process Presentation
Before you begin this assignment, be sure you have read the Case Study.
Purpose of this Assignment
This assignment gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to participate in a
team project and to communicate effectively with an important group of stakeholders. This
assignment specifically addresses the following course outcomes to enable you to:
• plan, build, and maintain systems that meet organizational strategic goals by
applying enterprise architecture and enterprise governance principles, and
 practices effectively communicate with stakeholders to determine, manage, and
document business requirements throughout the SDLC.
A further objective is to provide an opportunity for students to construct an alignment
between the staged assignments used for the course and IT governance processes used in
organizations.
Assignment
The case study used in this class, Precision Electronic Parts (PEP), Inc., describes the IT
Steering Committee (ITSC) that has been formed to make investment decisions related to
the information technology used by PEP. The case study identifies the membership of the
ITSC, which includes the Chief Information Officer (CIO). The CIO has asked your group to
develop a presentation for the ITSC that describes an enterprise governance process which
uses each of the following documents in the IT decision making and project management
processes:
 the Preliminary Investigation Report,
 the Requirements Specification,
 the Design Specification, and
 the Final System Report.
The governance process should be centered around the system development life cycle
(SDLC) phases and the milestone decision points at which decisions are made on whether to
proceed to the next phase. The explanation should include for each document from the list
above:
 the phase of the SDLC in which the document is created and how it fits in that phase,
 who should be involved in creating the document,
 a list of the major stakeholders – each of the members of the ITSC - and what their
individual areas of particular interest are,
 a list of at least 3 important questions to be answered at this stage, and
 what the major considerations are for a go/no-go decision, including consideration,
where applicable, of the PEP strategic business plan, the IT strategic plan,
components of the Enterprise Architecture, and other applicable documents the team
may identify.
The phases of the SDLC to be used are discussed in the Systems Planning Course Module and are:
 Systems Planning
 Systems Analysis
 Systems Design
 Systems Implementation
 Systems Operation

The presentation is to be developed using Microsoft PowerPoint for delivery to the
executive leadership team, and should be at a level appropriate for that purpose. Your
presentation format should be professional and use frames, color and/or style to make it
interesting in appearance to keep your audience’s attention. Each slide should have a title, a
slide number, and a limited number of bullet points. A presentation should capture key
bullet points and not include complete paragraphs and detailed text. The bullet points in
your presentation will be supported by relevant details in the Notes section of the slides. Use
the Notes area to write what you would say (all your words from "Good morning" to
"Thank you") if you were giving this as a presentation. Presentations with limited or no
Notes will receive much lower grades. The use of at least three (3) external resources
(other than the textbook and classroom resources) is required; your sources should be
scholarly sources, not Wikipedia and the popular press. Remember to correctly cite and
reference your sources. Any direct quotes should be indicated within the slide text with
appropriate quotation marks and an in-text citation (however direct quotes should be short
and used sparingly, if at all). Complete references for all sources should be included in the
corresponding Notes section. Paraphrased material can just be referenced within the Notes
section of the slides without an in-text citation on the slide. This deviates from APA style but
keeps the slides more readable.
Your presentation should be at least 10 slides, including:
• 1-2 slides that explains the overall governance process that is being proposed
which will include decision points based on the four documents listed
Case Study:
Introduction
This case study will be used for a series of staged assignments. It should be thoroughly read and
understood prior to working on any of the assignments.
Setting
Precision Electronic Parts (PEP), Inc., is a small private business that has retained you to assist in the
development of a new billing and payment system and associated processes.
Background
PEP is a small, private specialized electronics company in Kansas. For the past 20 years, it has
manufactured a wide range of precision electronic components and replacement parts for medical
equipment used in hospitals, doctor’s offices, and pharmacies. Last year, the company began building and
delivering custom low voltage motors that reduced electricity costs and made older medical equipment
more environmentally friendly. More recently, PEP has added a new line of more efficient low voltage
motors that can be used in precision equipment outside the healthcare industry.
As a result, PEP is experiencing significant increases in orders for the motors. The manufacturing facility
has been expanded, and the sales and marketing teams have been enlarged. All of this is straining the
Ordering & Shipping Department and the Inventory Management Department, which have received no
increase in personnel. They are meeting the challenge, but the Executive Leadership Team (the CEO,
COO, CFO, and CIO) know that they are only treading water. The Finance Department, however, is

getting further and further behind in their invoice, billing and payment processes. The Business
Administration Department has stepped up to the task, but is at the breaking point.
IT Steering Committee
The IT Steering Committee (ITSC) at PEP is comprised of the Executive Leadership Team, the Senior
Vice President and Vice President.
• Carolyn West is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). She has been at the company for 11 years. Carolyn
has a background working for and managing electronics companies. Like most CEOs, Carolyn is focused
on the strategic and long-term business health of PEP. She chairs the IT Steering Committee. Carolyn and
the committee members jointly make decisions about IT systems and major organizational business
process changes.
• Tim Uduak, Jr. is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and the son of founding partner Tim Uduak, Sr.
Tim has been around the company since its inception in one capacity or another, except for four years of
college and a 3-year break to startup his own company. When his startup failed, Tim came back to PEP as
the SVP, Engineering & Manufacturing Operations. Last year, he was promoted to COO. While Tim has
a strategic focus and is not technology averse, he prefers to solve business challenges with processes
rather than information technology.
• Karl Manley is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He has been with the company for 9 years. Karl has a
background in accounting and finance, and is a certified public accountant (CPA). He tends to focus on
the company’s financial health to the exclusion of all other business concerns. While Karl is technology
fluent, he resists new IT purchases unless there is a clear and direct connection made between the
technology investment and improving the company’s financial profile. The Director, Accounts
Receivable (Mary Winston) and the Director, Accounts Payable (Amy Dole) report to the CFO, and
together are responsible for the financial operations of the business.
• Mark Temple is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and head of the IT Department. He provides all IT
services to PEP. Prior to being hired as the CIO, Mark was an IT manager at a large multi-national
corporation responsible for providing IT services to their offices from the headquarters in Lincoln,
Nebraska. While in that position, Mark participated in very structured IT processes, and developed an
appreciation for working with the operational and management divisions to ensure success of IT projects.
When he arrived at PEP, he advised the CEO, COO and CFO that an IT Steering Committee could help
ensure they pursued the most beneficial IT projects. He is your primary point of contact for dealing with
PEP in analyzing their processes and systems.
• Susan Black is the Senior Vice President (SVP), Engineering & Manufacturing Operations and is Tim’s
replacement. Susan has worked for the company for 13 years. She started as a Senior Engineer, and after
six years was promoted to Director, Engineering, where she spearheaded the successful research and
development of the low voltage motors. Susan is a champion of information technology as long as it is
clearly focused on the core business.
• Jason Udo is the Vice President (VP), Business Administration. He oversees all departments, except
Engineering & Manufacturing, Finance, and IT. His responsibilities include key support functions such as
Sales, Marketing, Ordering & Shipping, Inventory, and Human Resources.
The ITSC has adopted the IT governance processes recommended by the CIO. They review proposals for
IT investments and determine where to invest their limited funds. Each of the members has particular

areas of interest, but all of them are focused on reducing the overall cost of running the business,
increasing sales, and managing the cost of IT for the company. The ITSC has established a series of
checkpoints at which they make go/no-go decisions on IT projects. At these decision points the following
documents are reviewed by the ITSC:
Preliminary Investigation Report – describes the problem/opportunity, identifies benefits of a new system,
and reports on various aspects of feasibility of the proposed project.
Requirements Specification – documents the requirements to be fulfilled by the proposed system.
Systems Design Specification – translates the requirements into a logical design for the proposed system.
Final System Report – compiles previous documents and lays out the way ahead if the project is approved
and funded.
As each report is approved, work on the following step begins. This controls the amount of time and
effort put into a request for a system. For example, if the Preliminary Investigation Report is not accepted
by the ITSC, no further work is performed on the system proposal.
Your Task
You are an independent Business and IT Systems Analyst, specializing in developing IT solutions for
small business needs. You have been contracted by the CIO to prepare the documentation required for the
ITSC as they consider replacing the information systems associated with operations, business
administration, and finance. Due to the backlog in the billing and payment processes, the ITSC wants to
start by replacing the current customer billing and payment system and processes. However, the ITSC
requires assurance that a new billing and payment system and processes can be interfaced with other new
IT systems and updated business processes as needed. While there is currently no money in the budget
allocated to replacing or upgrading these systems, the executives are committed to moving the company
forward and improving PEP’s ability to manage its growing business efficiently and effectively.
Your Activities
After interviewing each member of the ITSC, you have collected the following information regarding the
invoice, billing and payment processes and needs:
• Customer billing is handled by the Invoicing Department, which reports to the VP, Business
Administration.
• Customer payments are handled by the Accounts Receivable Department, which reports to the
CFO.
• Customer billing and payments are managed and recorded in an in-house developed Microsoft
Access based solution. The solution was developed by the IT Department and is housed on a server
controlled and managed by the IT Department. The solution is updated on request from the Invoicing and
Accounts Receivable Departments.

• The Sales Department works with Invoicing to establish new customer accounts and update and close
existing accounts as needed.
• The Ordering & Shipping Department sends a monthly report to Invoicing where the products ordered
and shipped and their codes are entered into the invoicing module. Pricing is computed based on the
product codes and quantities entered.
• Invoicing is responsible for adding, updating, and maintaining the product codes and pricing used by the
invoicing database on the 15th of each calendar month. The monthly report containing the updates is
provided by the Marketing Department.
• Invoicing generates and mails customer bills on the last business day of each calendar month.
• Customer payments (lump sum) are due by the 10th of each calendar. Customers send the payments to
Accounts Receivable. Accounts Receivable is responsible for updating customer account records when
the payments are received.
• Invoicing is responsible for identifying accounts that are 30 days, 60 days or more overdue. These
reports are sent to Accounts Receivable and Sales. Accounts Receivable handles all collections.
• There is a 2% fee added to all invoices that are 30 days or more overdue.
• Accounts Receivable notifies the Sales Department to assist with customers who are 60 days or more
delinquent. Ordering & Shipping is also notified so that no further shipments are made until the
outstanding invoice is paid in full. These situations are rare.
• Installation services are offered as a fixed price fee for small businesses (doctor’s offices, individually
owned pharmacies, etc.). Larger installations (hospitals, chain pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers,
etc.) are billed on a pre-defined hourly rate.
• Volume discounts are not currently offered, but Marketing is planning to offer this discount within the
next six (6) months because the low voltage motors are increasingly being ordered in quantities of five (5)
or more. The following volume discounts will be offered:
o 5 or more: 2%
o 10 or more: 5%
o 25 or more: 10%
• Electronic invoicing via email is not currently offered, but Marketing and Invoicing plan to offer this
feature within the next six (6) months.
• Electronic payment to a lockbox account is not currently offered, but Marketing and Accounts
Receiving plan to offer this feature within the next six (6) months.
• The customer account data elements currently include:
o Customer Organization Name

o Customer Street Address
o Customer City
o Customer State
o Customer Zip Code + 4
o Primary Contact First Name
o Primary Contact Last Name
o Primary Contact Phone Number
o Primary Contact Email Address
o Secondary Contact First Name
o Secondary Contact Last Name
o Secondary Contact Phone Number
o Secondary Contact Email Address
o Products Ordered
o Product Ordered Date
o Products Shipped
o Product Ship Date
o Quantity
o Product Pricing
o Calculated Price (Calculated Field)
o Amount Due (Calculated Field)
o Amount Paid
o Date Paid
o Amount 30 Days Overdue (Calculated Field)
o Amount 60 Days Overdue (Calculated Field)

o Amount Greater Than 60 Days Overdue (Calculated Field)
o 2% Overdue Amount (Calculated Field)
• The customer account data elements required for near-term plans include:
o Quantity Discount (Calculated Field)
o Electronic Invoicing (Check Box)
o Electronic Payment (Check Box)
• Paper invoices currently contain the following data elements:
o Unique Serialized Invoice Number (System Generated?)
o Customer Organization Name
o Customer Street Address
o Customer City
o Customer State
o Customer Zip Code + 4
o Products Ordered
o Product Ordered Date
o Products Shipped
o Product Ship Date
o Quantity
o Product Pricing
o Calculated Price (Calculated Field)
o Amount Due (Calculated Field)
o Amount 30 Days Overdue (Calculated Field)
o Amount 60 Days Overdue (Calculated Field)
o Amount Greater Than 60 Days Overdue (Calculated Field)

o 2% Overdue Amount (Calculated Field)
• Paper invoice data points required for near-term plans include:
o Volume Discount (Calculated Field)
o Electronic Invoicing (Yes or No)
o Electronic Payment (Yes or No)
• When electronic invoices are offered, the same current and near-term data elements as shown above will
be included.
You have also documented the following additional considerations:
• All customer, invoicing, and payment data must be secured, but accessible to those departments and
personnel who have a need to know.
• PEP requires the ability to generate a receipt automatically at the time payments are recorded. The
receipt will be sent electronically to the organization’s primary contact email address. The receipt must
contain:
o Unique Serialized Invoice Number
o Customer Organization Name
o Customer Street Address
o Customer City
o Customer State
o Customer Zip Code + 4
o Amount Paid
o Date Paid
o Amount Outstanding
• The following company entities need to be able to generate their own reports as needed:
o COO
o CFO
o Director, Accounts Receivable

o Accounts Receivable Managers & Staff
o Director, Accounts Payable
o SVP, Engineering & Manufacturing Operations
o VP, Business Administration
o Invoicing Managers & Staff
o Sales Managers & Staff
o Marketing Managers & Staff
o Ordering & Shipping Managers & Staff
Your Deliverables
Your first task is to develop the Preliminary Investigation Report (PIR), which will examine the
problems/opportunities, identify benefits of a new system, and report on various aspects of feasibility of
such a project. You will draw upon the background and other information provided above to develop the
PIR. If that Report is accepted by the ITSC, you will analyze and organize the requirements you have
collected into a Requirements Specification. After receiving approval of the Requirements Specification,
you will develop the Systems Design Specification, which will translate the requirements into a logical
design of the proposed system. With a further decision to proceed, you will then develop the Final System
Report, which will combine your previously developed documents and lay out the way ahead if the
project is approved and funded.