Automating Student Queries using RSS Technology

The Kogod School of Business aims to enhance its student queries routing system using advanced technology to improve information flow, reduce unnecessary discussions, and add economic factors. The system will allow students from various countries to access resources and resolve queries effectively. It is expected that this technology will provide a competitive edge for the school's students, support marketing efforts, engage students with the university, and create an interactive learning environment.

Kogod Business School
IT Infrastructure
Report
ABC
[Pick the date]

Contents
A. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................2
B. The applications portfolio what is .......................................................................................................2
B.1 Strategic Grid.....................................................................................................................................4
B.1.1 Factory........................................................................................................................................5
B.1.2 Strategic......................................................................................................................................6
B.1.3 Support.......................................................................................................................................7
B.1.4 Turnaround.................................................................................................................................7
C. Business benefits & opportunities.......................................................................................................8
C.1 Individual...........................................................................................................................................9
C.2 Function...........................................................................................................................................10
C.3 Organization....................................................................................................................................10
D.1. Business transformation and development.......................................................................................11
D.1.1. User’s exploitation -....................................................................................................................14
D.1.2. Internal integration –...................................................................................................................14
D.1.3. Redesign of Kogod’s overall process-.........................................................................................15
D.1.4. Redesign of Kogod’s network-...................................................................................................15
D.1.5. Kogod’s redefinition of scope-....................................................................................................16
E.1. Strategic information plan..................................................................................................................16
E.1.1. Enhancement of the student facing system..................................................................................17
Feasibility factors..............................................................................................................................17
Strategic factors.................................................................................................................................18
E.1.2. Enhancement of the advanced student queries routing system....................................................18
Feasibility factors..............................................................................................................................18
Strategic factors.................................................................................................................................19
F. Conclusions & Recommendations.........................................................................................................20
References.................................................................................................................................................21

A. Introduction
The Kogod Business School operates in the educational industry in America. It is associated with
the American University in Washington, D.C. It is one of the top business schools of America
and attracts the students from 60 or more countries. The business school offers both the graduate
and the undergraduate programs to its students who come from all over the world. So, this shows
that the organization is involved in the business of providing education to the students. The
vision of this business school is to support the value of the mobile technology on its campus and
to enable its students to access the technology via mobile phones. So, to fulfill its vision, the
business school plans to become the first business school that provides BlackBerry devices to the
300 business students of graduation and the faculty of the school. The mission of the schools is
to engage the students of the college in a meaningful way by creating a wireless strategy for
them and to empower them with the technology so that they feel the experience of the education
is a different way. The goals of Kogod business School is to extend the BlackBerry Enterprise
Solution beyond the e-mails so that the students of this business school remain engaged with the
courses and the faculties throughout the academic experience. Further, in order to fulfill the
vision and mission statements of the University the director wanted to implement the technology
of streaming media which will help the campus to remained connected and will evolve around
the university goals, improvise communication and develop community to a great extent, etc. So,
the university decided to come up the RSS (Real simple streaming) technology is defined as a
technique for transferring the data which can be processed at a continuous and a steady stream.
The RSS technology includes the audio and a video content which is delivered in a form of
compression through the internet and it is being played spontaneously instead of being saving to
the hard drive. In the RSS technology, the media is transferred through a server application and it
is being received and shown in real time by an application. The Kogod business school chose

Real Simple Streaming (RSS) as a way to push out student-selected web content to BlackBerry®
devices, including coursework, admissions, job listings and news media. RSS is based on a
traditional web model for viewing content, but combined with BlackBerry, it becomes a way to
push syndicated, spam-free content according to the user’s specifications. Many news
organizations, such as the Washington Post, use this on-demand approach to send content to its
subscribers.
B. The applications portfolio
The application portfolio is referred to the collection of applications of software along with the
services which are relied on the software which helps in attaining the mission, vision and the
goals of the organization. The concept of application portfolio brings together the existing,
planned and potential information systems and it helps in assessing the contribution of these in
the business of the company. In the applications portfolio, a “matrix” approach is adopted in
which the management is willing and able to categorize the systems in a particular way (Stettina,
2015). The matrix is being used in the application portfolio as it will help in determining the
adoption of the systems of information technology and how they will impact the functioning of
the Kogod business school to a great extent. Further, this will help the university to find a way
which will lead to the engagement of students in a vibrant experience of education and provide
valuable information beyond the traditional web and e-mail communications. The Kogod
Business School have created a system to facilitate the students with access to internet as a
resource and an access to the resources of the college that the faculty etc. will provide to the
students.
The Information Technology Assessment and Adoption Matrix (ITAA)

In the applications portfolio, the composite matrix will be used which is the Information
Technology Assessment and Adoption Matrix (ITAA) developed by Munro and Huff
(Davenport, 2013). This matrix helps in determining that how the companies adopt the IT
systems as a competitive weapons. The developers of the matrix have identified that the
companies are either driven by technology or they are driven by issues. When the organization is
driven by technology, they look for ways in which they can deploy the new technology to their
advantage. When the organization is driven by issues, the company looks for the new
opportunities for its business within the scope and the known possibilities of the existing
technology. This matrix will help in determining the importance of IT to Kogod School of
Business and it will also determine the impact of IT on business processes of the company
currently and in the near future.
High Technology Driven Normative Ideal
Low Opportunistic Issues Driven
Low High
The above model is the ITAA matrix. The matrix depicts that when the organization has low
issue and low technology emphasis, that mean it is opportunistic, when the emphasis of the
organization is high on the issue and high on technology, then it is technology driven. When the
issue emphasis is high but the technology emphasis is low, that means the organization is issues
Technology
Emphasis
Issue Emphasis

driven and finally when the technology emphasis is high and the issue emphasis sis low, the
organization is normative ideal.
As per the composite matrix, the Kogod Business School is technology driven because it
emphasizes more on the technology and less on the issues. The organization needs to focus more
on the technology or the IT because the school emphasis on using the mobile technology for
carrying out its business processes and for using its mobile technology applications in the
education environment. The school wants to streamline the technology so that the spam-free
content is pushed to the students on their devices. This will improve the communication in the
campus regarding the events, the current events could be shared with the students in the class and
the students will get a competitive edge in the market. Therefore, the RSS technology will be the
most suitable one for the Kogod business school which will help in accomplishing the vision and
mission statements along with the goals and the objectives.
B.1 Strategic Grid
The strategic grid is referred to enable the visualization of the relation among the strategy of
information technology and the business operations and the strategies. The grid helps in
analyzing the impact of present IT application and the future application portfolio. The grid
includes four boxes i.e. strategic which shows that the investment is critical for the future
accomplishment, turnaround which shows the investment which is strategically important and
offer great opportunities, factory which shows that investment is necessary to sustain the
business and it further aims to minimize the cost and improvise the performance, support which
shows that the investment is essential for the improvisation but it is not critical to the business.
Furthermore, the classification supports the management to view that the investments of the

information technology in order to align it to the objectives of the business to support the growth
of the business along with the competitiveness.
This grid is made as per the applications which are there in a particular portfolio upon the
contribution to the objectives of business in the current and the future scenario (Turel, 2014).
The school is planning to use the RSS technology and the following applications will be
provided by the RSS technology. The school is currently linking up several streams of content,
such as RSS readers for admissions and calendar updates; graduate streams that include career
feeds from the nation’s top job sites; and newsreaders for publications such as the Washington
Post and New York Times. One of the first things that changed was the ability to communicate
current updates to schedules and learning opportunities in a student’s day
Factory
Class tutorials system of servicing
Fess processing system of unity
Configured system of ERP
Student queries routing system
Strategic
System of fee-servicing
Student facing system
People Soft system
Library access services system
Support
Web based version
Turnaround
Updates including retroactive
transformations

B.1.1 Factory
1. Class tutorials system of servicing
In this system, the students will be able to access the tutorials on their BlackBerry and they will
be able to access the materials that will be or had been taught in the class. Also, if the students
miss any class, he can get a short tutorial on that particular topic so that he does not miss on
anything for the future. The dependency on this application is high because it will help the
organization is saving the time of the teachers to take extra classes and also the time of the
students will be saved.
2. Fess processing system of unity
It will serve as an advanced system in the RSS technology which will be designed for the
students and the parents who may have unique request decisions on the fee payments. They will
be able to pay the fees on time, they will now when the next fees is due and thus the dependency
is high because when the school will get the fees, it will be able to maintain its sustainable
growth.
3. Configured system of ERP
The use of ERP along with RSS will help the company in facilitating a smooth flow of the
information to the students which is also one of the goals of the business school and the
resources of the business school will stay coordinated. Here also, the dependency is high
because if the information flow breaks, the entire usability and applicability of the RSS in
BlackBerry will go waste.
4. Student queries routing system
In this system, the interactive voice can be implemented and the queries of the students can be
recorded. Also, if the students have some serious questions and doubts like at the time of

examinations, project submissions etc., they can be connected to the representative over a call
and they can ask their questions over that. It is peaceable on the factory column because the
dependency is high and the students need to interact with the authorities in case they have some
serious doubts. Also, the requirements of the students can be fulfilled in a much effective way if
they are able to solve them via an effective source.
B.1.2 Strategic
1. System of fee-servicing
To handle the management of the operations in an effective manner, the accuracy of operations is
an important consideration for the business school. The reports regarding the fee structure and
the payment of fees will have to be made by the business school. Thus, it is strategic in nature
because it is a vital step for the future of the business school.
2. Student facing system
The entire plan is in regard of the students. The RSS aims to interact directly with the students
and cater to their concerns, this will help in following up with the students. There are many
students in the business School and thus the task is strategic with high dependency. It will also
have to deal with the students who will enrol here in the future.
3. People Soft system
Along with the RSS, the business school will have to deal with its financial transactions and the
human resources. The HR of the organisation contribute to their growth in the future like the
quality of teachers, the concerns etc. Therefore, it is strategic and the dependency is also high.
4. Library access services system

With the help of RSS and the mobile technology, the people will be able to access the library
database and they will get an edge over the other students. Thus, it is a strategic move by the
organisation and it is also very important.
B.1.3 Support
1. Web based version
It is the first time that Kogod business school is using the RSS technology and introducing the
concept of blackberry phones for the students. With this, the organisation will be able to run
through the web content and the students will be able to browse the information and
registrations. It is a part of the support because it is used by the business school for improving its
services. With this application, the other systems and applications are able to work in a proper
manner and thus the impact that this application has is low.
B.1.4 Turnaround
1. Updates including retroactive transformations
As per the requirements of the students, the system can detect the records of the students and the
changes can be made accordingly. It comes in the category of turnaround because the system is
under progress and the impact of this system on the working of organization is less. But, in the
future, it will play an important role because the changes will require to be made continuously.
C. Business benefits & opportunities
By keeping in mind that the vision of this business school is to support the value of the mobile
technology on its campus and to enable its students to access the technology via mobile phones.
The mission of the schools is to engage the students of the college in a meaningful way by
creating a wireless strategy for them and to empower them with the technology so that they feel

the experience of the education is a different way. The goals of Kogod business School is to
extend the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution beyond the e-mails so that the students of this
business school remain engaged with the courses and the faculties throughout the academic
experience. This section will talk about the business benefits expected by Kogod of Business
after the installation of the systems i.e. attracting students with the leading competitive
technology, engaging students to develop a community sense, offering students a competitive
advantage by offering real-world technology, publicizing and sharing the news of the campus to
develop a vibrant experience for students and offering an interactive learning environment where
present events will be integrated in the classrooms. Here, the index matrix will be used to depict
the benefits of the system that the organization is planning to install. The benefits to the business
school will happen at different levels like the individual level, the functional level and the
organizational level.
The following applications will benefit the organization:
1. Student-facing system
2. System of fees- servicing
3. People soft system
4. Updates including retroactive transformations
5. Fees processing system of unity
6. Configured system of ERP
7. Class tutorials system of servicing

8. Web based version
9. Library access service system
10. Student queries routing system
Beneficiaries Individual Function Organization
Benefits
Efficiency 2, 4, 5,6,7,8, 9
The tasks will get
automated
1, 4, 6, 8
The processes will
get automated
1,3, 5, 6, 7, 8
The organizational
integration will
enhance
Effectiveness 2, 4, 5,6,7,8, 9
The tasks will get
improved
1, 4, 6, 8
The functions within
the organization will
get improved
4,5, 6, 10
The services given by
the organization will
get enhanced
Transformation 1, 3, 5, 10
The role
enhancement will
happen
4,5, 7
The functions will get
redefined
3, 4, 7
The product
innovation will
happen

C.1 Individual
The applications of the RSS under the individual are efficient for them because these are very
helpful for the students of the business school. The systems or the applications which are
mentioned in the efficiency segment help the students in accessing the resources and other
material of the college thus, they things becomes automated for them and they can interact with
the resources in a much easier way. Then, the applications will make the individuals effective
because they will make the quality of the tasks better, the students will feel much more closer to
the events and happenings of the school and thus they will be driven closer to it. The students
will be able to interact with the business school in a much easier way. Finally, the other
applications mentioned will ring transformation because they will help in enhancing the role of
the students in the university (Morecroft, 2015). They will enter a new phase, in a new way and
they will let go the old way of doing things and studying in the college.
C.2 Function
Under this, the applications which can make the completion of the tasks easier are mentioned.
Also, the operation of the things improves with these applications. The efficiency will come in
the form of improved interactions between the teachers and the students of the Kogod business
School. The applications mentioned under the efficient system help in automating the
functionality of the company. The effectiveness will come when the functions that will be
performed by RSS will improve the way in which things are done in the business school (Grant,
2016). With the systems and the applications, the organization and its students become adaptable
to the new technology and they can access the resources in a much easier way. The applications
are transformational as they help in transforming the old way of doing things and instead of that,
the advanced way of working will happen in the business school.

C.3 Organization
Here, the applications under the organization are very useful for the business school. They give
the advantages of efficiencies and hence the business school is able to obtain great achievements.
Thus, the business school not only increases its earnings but also obtain a competitive edge in the
market. The systems are effective because the business school is able to give the desired result to
the business school and help it in meetings its objectives. The transformations are those in which
the business school taken up to the entire new level with the help of the creativity that the
systems offer and the innovation that it fosters.
Thus, it can be concluded that the systems that will work in Kogod business school and the
technology of RSS that will be installed in the mobile devices, will provide various applications
and these will benefit the individual, the function and the organization in different ways. They
will help in making the process of the business school more effective, efficient and transform the
old way of doing things into the new ones.
D.1. Business transformation and development
The below given are the applications which are required by the Kogod School of business in
order to effectively use the RSS technology.
1. Student-facing system
2. System of fees- servicing
3. People soft system
4. Updates including retroactive transformations
5. Fess processing system of unity

6. Configured system of ERP
7. Class tutorials system of servicing
8. Web based version
9. Library access services system
10. Student queries routing system
If the Kogod School of business will not effectively implement the RSS technology while using
‘Blackberry’ mobile devices then the Kogod School will face various challenges in order to use
the information system. For example, the organization will not be able to syndicate the content
effectively and will lose the control on the online activities. Further, the organization will not be
able to provide the expected benefits to the students like all the information will not be placed at
the same place and it will take a lot of time to gather the information by using the information
system. The students will not be able to access the information whenever they want to
(Westerman, 2014). Also, the professors will not be able to place the content timely and the
process of updating will become complicated. Moreover, in order to use the technology of RSS
effectively it is important that the Kogod School should make the changes in the various levels of
the organization so that the users can effectively use the information system in order to improve
the knowledge and the capabilities quickly.

Levels systems
User’s exploitation System of fees- servicing, class tutorials
system of servicing and library access
services system
Internal integration web based version, updates including
retroactive transformations, fess processing
Kogod’s
redefinition of
scope scope
Redesign of
Kogod’s
network
Redesign of
Kogod’s overall
process
Internal
integration
User’s
exploitation

system of unity
Redesign of Kogod’s overall process people soft system and configured system of
ERP
Redesign of Kogod’s network student-facing system and people soft system
Kogod’s redefinition of scope student-facing system, configured system of
ERP and the student queries routing system
D.1.1. User’s exploitation -
The three types of systems are required at this level i.e. System of fees- servicing, class tutorials
system of servicing and library access services system. The users will be students and the
professors who will be using these system in order to access the information with an ease and
improve their knowledge to a great extent. Further, these systems will help the Kogod School of
business to improve the value of the business and the organization will be able to attain the
expected benefits by using the technology of RSS in the Blackberry. Moreover, the change at
this level will evolve the present conditions of the organization and the organization will be able
to make the changes effectively and productively and it will make easy for the students to gain
the knowledge without making much efforts. Also, the communication will improve among the
professors and the students to a great extent. Therefore, the risks of imitation will be high due to
the competition.
D.1.2. Internal integration –

The systems which will be used at this level are web based version, updates including retroactive
transformations, fess processing system of unity. They are the improvised versions which will be
used by the Kogod School of business. Further, the systems will be made in order to offer the
new and innovative features along with the satisfaction to the students. The students will be able
make their semester fees easily through the usage of the RSS technology in the mobile device i.e.
Blackberry which will be provided to the students. Therefore, these systems have the restricted
effect from the competitors because the systems will be installed with complete security and the
information will not be stolen.
D.1.3. Redesign of Kogod’s overall process-
The systems which will be used at this level are people soft system and configured system of
ERP which will be applied by the system of innovation in order to attract the students to avail the
knowledge to a great extend in order to improve the capabilities (Kane, 2015). The human
resource e management team will work at the system of people soft in order to implement the
technology of RSS effectively and efficiently for the better future of the students along with the
Kogod School of business. Therefore, the organization is able to analyze the future as their
experiment of using mobile devices by the 100 students was successful.
D.1.4. Redesign of Kogod’s network-
The systems which will be used at this level are student-facing system and people soft system.
The systems will help in exchanging the networks of the Kogod School of business along with
the networks of the students. Moreover, it will provide the opportunity to the students to focus

more on their curricular activities in order to excel more and improve their knowledge and the
skills. The system will be flexible enough so that the students can access the applications easily.
D.1.5. Kogod’s redefinition of scope-
The systems which will be required at this level are student-facing system, configured system of
ERP and the student queries routing system. The systems will help the students to resolve their
issues while accessing the information on their mobile devices i.e. Blackberry. Moreover, it will
include less human interactions and will completely rely on the web and the things will be made
easy to learn and access.
E.1. Strategic information plan
It has been observed that the strategic information system planning is the process of identifying
and analyzing which relies on the application portfolio of the computers which are to be
implemented. Further, the SISP has the capability of developing a benefit over the rivals and are
further aligned highly with the strategy of the organization.
To create access to RSS technology, it enabled the Mobile Data Service (MDS) feature of the
BlackBerry Enterprise Server. MDS allows mobile applications to run smoothly on BlackBerry
devices. The Kogod School of Business worked closely with its network carrier and a technology
partner, New Target, to build the RSS functionality.
1- Low
10- High
Enhancement of student
facing system
Enhancement of advanced
student queries routing
system
Feasibility factors

Technical 6 8
Social 8 7
Legal 1 1
Schedule 9 8
Operational 9 5
economic 3 5
average 7 5.9
Strategic factors
productivity 7 7
differentiation 5 6
management 7 7
average 6.8 7
E.1.1. Enhancement of the student facing system
This system will help in keeping the track of the students and the various curricular activities will
be done accordingly. The system will help in bridging the communication gap among the
professors and the students and they will be able to get the guidance according to their
requirements and this will help in improving their knowledge and the skills for the better future
(Botha, 2014). Further, the RSS technology will help in keeping the track of all activities through
this system. The students will be able to get the information regarding their semester fees and the
notes for every class so that they can grasp the things more quickly and also get adapted to the
advanced technology.

Feasibility factors
The system requires highly qualified experts as the system will be used through internet. So, it is
important that the system gets implemented effectively. Further, the effective implementation
will help the users to use the application through mobile device with an ease and they will be
able to share the knowledge to a great extent without facing any difficulty and this will make the
students technology savvy (Fitzgerald, 2014). The system will not cost the school much in order
to make the changes. Further, the system doesn’t have any legal issues in order to implement or
use it effectively.
Strategic factors
The above given table demonstrates that the system will be effective enough in order to attract
the students to a great extent. Further, the professors will find the application of mobile devices
more convenient in order to share any information. The technology of the RSS in the blackberry
mobile devices will be unique and different and this will help in keeping the track of the
performance of the students individually rather than keeping the records manually. Moreover, the
Kogod School of business will always remain competitive enough in order to attain the
sustainable competitive edge for a longer period of time.
E.1.2. Enhancement of the advanced student queries routing system
The advanced student queries routing system will help in solving the queries of the users i.e.
professors and the students. This will help in improving the flow of the information to a great
extent and the students will be able to improve their knowledge along with the grades to a great
extent. Further, the number of calls will be balanced among the operators so that all the calls will
be answered appropriately. The calls will be answered from the various locations as the Kogod
School of business have students from various countries. The voice will be recorded as there will

be no human interactions until the issue will be serious and the further discussions will be done
accordingly.
Feasibility factors
The system is about the advanced technology only as it will respond to the queries of the users
without the assistance of the humans. Further, this will reduce the unnecessary discussions
among the users and the operators which becomes the great issue for the organization sometimes.
The system will help in adding the factors of the economy to a great extent and it will bring a
great change in the Kogod School of business for the better future of the students. Also, the
implementation of RSS technology will not include any legal issues during the installation of
application (Coskun, 2013).
Strategic factors
It has been observed that the RSS technology will be productive enough to the Kogod School of
business as it will help in bridging the communication gap and the queries of the students will be
resolved effectively. It is a unique system because there will be no human interactions through
the calls until there will be occurrence of any serious issue. Moreover, the RSS technology will
require the experts so that the advanced student query routing system will be implemented
adequately.

F. Conclusions & Recommendations
The Kogod Business School is one of the top schools in America. The organization as thought of
a great plan to distribute the BlackBerry mobile phones to the students and install RSS
technology in the phones to empower the students with various resources. The activities of the
business school are managed using the latest systems. There are some of the systems that may
not be very effective in fulfilling the goals of the company but, the others have a great impact on
the working of the business school and help its students in gaining a competitive edge over the
others. Some of the benefits that the Kogod School of Business expects from its BlackBerry and
RSS wireless solution include:
• Supporting marketing efforts by attracting new students with leading edge technology;
• Engaging students with the university before they enrol and throughout their education to
build a sense of community;
• Giving students a competitive edge by using real-world technology in their day-to-day lives;
• Improved ability to share and publicise campus news and events to create a more vibrant
student experience;
• Providing an interactive learning environment where current events can be shared wirelessly
and integrated into the classroom;
• Linking students with recruiters during their education to promote internships and job
opportunities
It is recommended that the business school must also establish a separate It department in its
college to take care of this new systems. With technology, there are many bugs and spam files

that also come up. So, there must be someone to take care of the functionality of the business IT
management plan. Also, with the advancement in the technology, the systems must be upgraded
continuously. Thus, the department with the specialized people and experts must be set up so that
the systems work in an effective way and the competitive edge becomes a sustainable thing for
the business school.

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