Information Technology and Telecommunications Consultancy Report

This report provides a comprehensive ICT consultancy analysis for a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) with over 5000 centers in Australia. It begins by defining information technology and its importance in the current globalized business environment, highlighting the necessity of risk assessment with IT implementation. The report analyzes the RTO's existing IT solutions, identifies stakeholder requirements (remote access, data sharing, mobile support, and management information systems), and outlines expected benefits such as cost-effectiveness and improved operational efficiency. It then delves into risk assessment strategies, focusing on security risks (hacking, cyberattacks, and data privacy) and the importance of a user-friendly interface. The report also addresses requirements negotiation, change requests in a dynamic environment, and contingency planning, covering business continuity issues like financial constraints and user competency. Finally, the report discusses dependencies, interdependencies, the interface between business stakeholders and technology, actions to be taken, and the application of risk management guidelines (AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018), concluding with an overview of implementation strategies and modeling tools for business.

INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY AND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
CONSULTANCY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Strategies to align ICT with organisational goals ...........................................................................1
Business requirements and needs of stakeholders.......................................................................1
Expected benefits of project in accordance with strategic alignment .........................................2
Risk assessment strategy .................................................................................................................3
Necessary business operations and associated risks....................................................................3
Requirements negotiation as per stakeholders.............................................................................3
Change requests in dynamic environment...................................................................................4
Contingency plan.............................................................................................................................5
Business continuity issues............................................................................................................5
Dependencies and interdependencies of organisation.................................................................5
Interface between business stakeholders and technology ...........................................................6
Actions to be taken.......................................................................................................................6
Risk profile review ..........................................................................................................................7
AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018 Risk management guidelines ............................................................7
Application and challenges of security and industry disruptions................................................7
Analysis of existing information and functionality.....................................................................8
Risk management strategies ........................................................................................................8
Implementation strategy...................................................................................................................9
Modelling tool for business ........................................................................................................9
Information gathering tools .......................................................................................................10
Requirement analysis.................................................................................................................10
Technical specification..............................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
According to Hobbs and et.al., (2016) information technology is defined as the strategy to
use information and communication (IC) devices for the exchange and management of
information resources. The use of ICT has made it possible for the organisation to explore the
huge market and growth opportunities of business. In this globalised era it can be considered as
impossible for any organisation to sustain its continuity and efficiency without using information
technology. Ranging form the business operations all activities such as promotional events, data
sharing, analysis and recording are performed by IT services. However, with the huge benefit's
information technology security concerns and threats are also associated with the ICT (Wu,
Straub and Liang, 2015). Thus, it is very essential that suitable risk assessment must be
conducted with the implementation and usage of IT services so that its benefits can be optimised.
The Registered training organisation (RTO) is having more than 5000 centres in Australia
which provides vocational education and training (VET) to international students. In order to
execute the operations successfully it is required that organisation must analyse its IT resources.
The report will analyse the existing information technology solutions and related risk profiling so
that necessary IT changes can be done. It will also provide contingency strategy so that RTO can
meet its business objectives with improved integration of IT services.
Strategies to align ICT with organisational goals
Business requirements and needs of stakeholders
Different stakeholders of RTO have different requirements which must be satisfied by IT
systems. The organisation has different offices in different parts of Australia and thus one of the
key functionality is remote access and data sharing. The organisation is required to have IT
services which provides safe, secure and fast medium to access, share and modify and store the
information. For example students who desire to enrol for the course to receive any information
from the organisation can their mobile phones to access the site of organisation. Thus,
organisation must have a system which allows the mobile support to the services. Similarly, the
management requires storing the details of students, course and staff members.
Thus, IT system must also consist of management information system which are capable
of processing the information and to analyse the performance (Laudon and Laudon, 2015). The
long term goal of the organisation is to enhance its profitability by providing qualitative
education and services to its students and to enhance its functional range by providing services to
1

more international boundaries. In order to achieve this RTO must target new market segments
and improve its operational and management functions. The above discussed requirements can
help organisation to improve its existing capabilities and to develop IT system which can manage
huge data volume with efficiency (Nguyen, Newby and Macaulay, 2015). One of the critical
requirement which is essential for all stakeholders is minimum response time and easy user
interface so that IT system can provide optimum performance.
Expected benefits of project in accordance with strategic alignment
The proposed project will analyse the existing capabilities of IT network and will suggest
the improvements which enables the maximum profitability. One of the greatest advantage of
using IT systems is that ICT is cost effective and improves the efficiency of the operations. The
analysis of the existing systems will help RTO to assess the risk involved in different IT
technologies. For example many of the systems are not updated and are using old software. It
makes them slower and reduced efficiency. When marketing executives of the organisation
communicate with the investors or the students then poor connectivity and increased delay gives
unsatisfactory experience to customers and it affects the brand value of the organisation.
The use of advanced information technologies such as voice over protocol and
conferencing tools will enhance the functional efficiency of the organisation (Tallon and et.al.,
2016). With the increasing work and operations the existing system may not show higher
suitability and performance. In accordance to meet the demands of user organisation must
identify the drawbacks of existing management system so that they can be improved.
The proposed project will explore the functional areas which affect the overall
performance of the system. For example the existing issues such as increasing vulnerability of
cyber attacks and networking threats, slower performance of the system and complex user
interface system can be addressed only when advanced IT systems are used. Another benefit
which can be used by RTO is that the use of advanced IT tools will allow organisation to
improve the integration of existing IT system.
It will help different departments of the organisation to share the information with each
other. This benefit enhances the coordination among various departments of the company and
quick actions can be taken in response to the situational changes (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017). The
company is also spending huge amount on the maintenance of some old systems. The evaluation
2

of such system can help to identify the alternative choices so that maintenance cost can be
avoided and a low cost new and advanced system can be incorporated.
Risk assessment strategy
Necessary business operations and associated risks
It has been very critical for the organisation to assess the potential risk which can
influence the operational continuity. The most significant risk is security risk such as hacking
and other cyber attacks. These types of risks are mainly due to unauthorised access which mainly
due to weak passwords, authentication errors and negligence. This type of risks are major
vulnerabilities and can completely interrupt the business functions. In addition, the information
management system contain the personal information of the students and staff members. Thus,
security risks must be addressed as the first priority so that personal information of the
stakeholders and other business information can be protected as per the data privacy regulation.
It is also vital from the competitive perspective (Huang and et.al., 2015). The information
technology is also used by RTO for communication purpose.
Along with inter departmental communication there is also need of communication
between service users and company. Thus, RTO must assure that the user interface of its
information system is very simplified and safe so that it can be used without any difficulties and
errors. The website of the organisation is one of the major tool which acts as a communication
bridge between company and service users. Thus, the failure to maintain the complexity and
functionality of user interface can be considered as harmful for the growth of organisation. The
marketing and financial management functions are also performed by the company.
Thus, these tools must be capable to use advanced services with easy interface,
communication facility and support of remote access and multiple languages for international
target audience. The information is regularly shared between different resources of the company
(Yeh, Lee and Pai, 2015). Thus assuring the data security and privacy regulation is also one of
the critical aspect. The failure to practice such compliance not only leads to legal trouble and
penalties but also affect the performance of the organisation.
Requirements negotiation as per stakeholders
The key objective of the information system is to facilitate the easy exchange of
information and to reduce the work complexities for service users. Hence, for the successful
implementation and exploration of IT system it is important that these system requirements must
3

be negotiable as per the users. For example company can use email systems so that students can
be informed about each and every progression of their admission status and other enquiry.
Similarly, a generalised email can also be used to inform employees regarding any strategy or
communication (Peltier, 2016). Most of the organisation sends email to their users but does not
allow users to reply on them thus it blocks the two way communication. Contrary to this if IT
systems are improved in a way that they enable bidirectional interaction then it can be beneficial
for the company. It is also required that information must be accessible to users as per the
authenticity and particular scope.
Thus, for this purpose the organisation can use filter tools so that each user can be
provided only necessary and relevance information. It will help to increase the effectiveness of
the information shared over the network. The stakeholders may also have different needs and
extent of security and IT uses which must be controlled by the company. For example to enhance
the security RTO can impose restrictions on access to specific websites or the data so that data
flow can be controlled. It is possible that one type of data may require in one department or to a
specific user but the same data may not be required by other user. Thus, systems must have
ability to identify and process such needs so that project objectives can be accomplished
(Schwalbe, 2015).
Change requests in dynamic environment
Information technology has been changing and if companies do not respond to these
changes then they may not survive in this challenging technical world. There have been several
advancements in the telecommunication services. Thus, RTO must incorporate the systems and
technologies which are highly advanced. For example instead of using separate systems for
financing operations and customer management company can use a single handed database
which is capable of performing all operations.
With time the needs of the service users may vary thus company must utilise system
which can meet such types of needs. For example most of the students who want to take
admission for the VET may need counselling and personalised communication with the RTO
executive. Thus, the website must have option for chat so that individuals can solve their queries.
Similarly, in future the storage capacity may proves to be ineffective (Qian and Lin, 2016). In
such situations the existing systems must be capable to increase the storage and processing limit.
4

The proposed project will evaluate that as per the future needs of the company what
necessary changes are required in IT system of company. With increasing work force and branch
offices monitoring, security and performance evaluation can also become more critical challenge
in the future. This issue can be overcome by considering techniques such as biometric security,
network analysers and controllers so that activities on the network can be controlled and
regulated. These changes are vital to improve in the existing system so that IT does not impose
any restrictions or barriers on the growth and security of the business functions and needs
(Sadgrove, 2016).
Contingency plan
Business continuity issues
RTO may face several issues which can influence the continuity of IT services and
related business functions. The finance can be one of the challenge to sustain the effective IT
system. For example RTO may not be able to regularly afford the routine updates of antivirus or
firmware systems and installation of IT protection system. It can increase the security risk
vulnerabilities and can also reduce the operational efficiency of the staff members. Another
aspect which can affect the quality and outcomes of using IT system is that way users employ it.
The information technology is rapidly changing and thus for some employees it may not be
possible to use it in safe and effective manner. To overcome such issue it is recommended that
RTO must conduct training sessions for its staff members so that employees can follow the safe
practices of IT. IT system can deliver quality outcomes only if they are acceptable to
stakeholders and their needs (Soomro, Shah and Ahmed, 2016). If organisation install system
which is highly complicated and stakeholders does not accept it then instead of giving benefits it
can reduce the profitability and continuity of the business.
Dependencies and interdependencies of organisation
There are several factors which makes IT system highly dependable while the others may
not have strong interdependencies with the information flow. For example the user interface of
any proposed system completely depends upon its usage, organisational goals, finance as well as
needs and capabilities of the system users. The technical limitations and specifications of the
system is also taken into consideration as vital element in incorporating IT based changes
(Carvalho and Rabechini Junior, 2015). In addition to this business functions of RTO also have
inter-departmental relationships. It means that one user may require personal detail of other user.
5

Thus, different departments share information with each other. In such situation's
information technology must also have interdependencies with other. This can be accomplished
by using system which allows such dependencies. For instance two different branch offices of
RTO are able to share information only if they have email services or the facility to transfer the
information outside local area network or intranet of the campus. However contrary to this if
each branch office does not have internet service or IT system supporting external sources then
users will not be able to share data (Wu, Straub and Liang, 2015). It is very essential for RTO to
assess such interdependencies among its operational events. It will help company to choose the
most suitable and effective IT solution for its business requirements.
Interface between business stakeholders and technology
There has been strong association between technical advancements and the stakeholders.
It is possible that one IT system may be suitable for one user but for the other it may not be
appropriate and may need additional modifications. For example the use of suitable technology
can increase the communication between company and students. The voice over internet protocol
may be one of the effective tool of interaction between various departments but it cannot be
suitable for the interaction between RTO and its clients. Hence, it is very essential that company
must choose technology as per the needs and suitability of their stakeholders.
The organisation can conduct market analysis or can directly receive feedbacks from the
stakeholders so that cost and quality effective IT solutions can be explored and implemented.
The different users of information technology within company can coordinate and communicate
with the information technology department of the organisation if they face any issues (Nicholas
and Steyn, 2017). However contrary to this the remote users such as clients or the students may
not have direct approach to IT department thus they can also inform the issue via mail or on the
suggestion column of the company's website. It is necessary for the management to consider
such issues so that stakeholders can integrate with the technology and can enhance their
performance.
Actions to be taken
To overcome possible IT and operational issues company must have well defined IT
management strategies. Organisation must conduct a regular audit for assessing the effectiveness
of its IT solution. It will help to identify the risk factor which can act as threat to the information
technology and business process. For this purpose it is recommended to use network analysers
6

and monitoring tools so that unauthorised activities of users can be traced and information flow
within company can also be controlled. The regular monitoring will also help individual users to
ensure that their system is safe and their practices does not encourage any kind of cyber threats
(Sadgrove, 2016).
To promote the efficiency of the system in desired manner company must also provide
training to their users so that they can understand the purpose and efficient ways to use the
information system. In order to improve the functionality and performance of systems RTO must
implement any information system after analysing the needs and expectations of various
stakeholders and the extent of its alignment with the long term goals of company. The
performance of implemented systems must also be reviewed regularly so that operational
efficiency of the business can be enhanced.
Risk profile review
AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018 Risk management guidelines
The standard gives standard approaches and guidelines so that companies can face and
manage the risk experienced by the organisations. The standards be used by the company to
assess the existing risk management approaches followed by the company as well as ways
through which leadership, management and corporate governance can be improved. Risk
management has been one of the key principle in AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018 standard which aims
at detecting, anticipating and acknowledging risks so that companies can provide suitable
response the probable risk factors. The standards also states that all business processes must be
proportionate and customized as per the needs of stakeholders (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017). It can
be improved by emphasising on leadership, decision-making strategy as well as time frame.
Another critical principle used within this standard is that risk management cannot be
accomplished without considering cultural factors, business limitations and human resources.
However, the experience and improved learning opportunities can play significant role in
assessing the risk factors and their management strategies. It is suggested from the standard that
risk management activities must be aligned with organisational goals (Tallon and et.al., 2016).
Thus, they must be comprehensive and embedded within different functions of the business so
that companies can easily respond to dynamic changes.
Application and challenges of security and industry disruptions
Challenges of security and the industry disruptions are
7

Analytics : Now the analytics become the prevalent throughout the layers of technology that is
used by the business and appear everywhere from its development, management of IT and
database to customer management of experience. Throwing off a lot of data causes the RTO to
make it invest in the analytics this is because now they can analyse the things that can not be
possible to do before (Gelenbe and Caseau, 2015).
Speed : This driven from the software as the speed is the being driven as the disrupting influence
in the RTO. As transactions are being needed as processed automatically and rapidly through the
application that is customer facing. It is the acceleration that how the business is conducted and
having the profound effect in software (Kim and Shin, 2015). Traditional dividing line in
between the front -end and back -end is decayed and end to end dynamic supply chain is
delivered as the software in the service and gained the prominence.
Agility : Now the software development has become more agile and noted that web applications
used as a monolithic. By develop movement, software development are being more involved
from the business decisions. As they are not leading the company at the same they are not grunts.
The shift agile from the waterfall is the critical and the same companies stick from the waterfall
is being going to fall behind (Kim and Shin, 2015).
Analysis of existing information and functionality
JRF's Information technology and BSSI that is having the department that is consist of the
experts belonging in the field of information technology, software programming and the web
management specialist. Department supports the facilities globally at the same integrate and
maintain the servers at many places (McNeill, 2015). These departments are consisted of the
highly trained statisticians at the same the professional use the state of art in the statistical
packages of software that analyse to generate the data, as in the part of the test and study for the
regulatory purpose. Functionality of the department are :
There is statistical data processing that performs the test.
There is a development and the validation in the software programme that can be use for various
facility.
Risk management strategies
Risk management is the strategy that provides the structured approach to identify and
access or manage the risk. Risk management strategies is the application for the various risk
management methods. Risk management is the series of process that involves in dealing for the
8

uncertain events at the work place. Risk management arise at the time to identify the risk that
may be positive and negative (Gelenbe and Caseau, 2015). These strategies also prioritize that
which risk is considered first and what risks need to respond immediate. Some of the risk
management strategies are :
Apply safeguards : It is the avoidance strategy where the organization decides to minimize the
impact of risk at every cost and it focuses on the great deal of resources at the end.
Risk transfer : It is the strategy of transference and in this the company transfer the risks to
another entity.
Reduce the impact : it is also termed as the mitigation strategy in this the company do the work
so that it can reduce the impact of risk from the methodology, teams and the whatever resources
are at its disposal (McNeill, 2015).
Risk Acceptance : This is the strategy of acceptance, in this it is important to identify the risk
and accept it so if it occurs one can deal it with than and there only.
Implementation strategy
Modelling tool for business
It is one of the main task of business analyst that is being required to engage the current
state of the business and that must be continuously analysed for its bottlenecks and lapses that is
built over the time. The purpose of the business modelling tools is to improve the performance
by increasing the efficiency and productivity. This tools are being used essentially for the visual
aid that can quickly as well as clearly tells the process story such as making the reservation
online, fulfil the online order and al;so one can transfer the fund (Weidmann, 2015).
PERT Diagram : (Programme evaluation and review technique)
This is being used and helps in identification of the minimum amount of the time that is
being needed in the completion of project. The concept of this technique is about that the certain
activity can not be started until the others were completed. It also helps in avoiding the
unrealistic short timelines.
Lucid chart
It is the web based propitiatory platform that is being used to allow the users that are
being located in the multiple locations and helps in collaboration from their colleagues in
9

drawing, revising and sharing the charts as well as diagrams. This chart run on the browser and
supports the HTML5 (Williams, Rana and Dwivedi, 2015).
Pegasystems
Pegasystems is the software design for the customer relationship management, digital
process automation and the management for the business process. This suits for the application
of the customer engagement and the digital process.
Information gathering tools
Information gathering tools are also known as the RE techniques and these are the
methods that are being used by the analysts to determine the needs of their customers as well as
for the users. This are the techniques that provides the safety, utility, usability, learn ability etc.
for the result of shareholders in their corporation with the commitment and sincerity. There may
be having the tools for survey as the company RTO must be having the tools of survey as it is
used widely for the disseminated, and they are one of the most time efficient method for the
collection of information and the respondents. As the people generally responds anonymously
while conducting the survey.
The company must be having the tools that allows the organization to collect and survey
the data for free or at a very low cost or it may depend on the length of the survey and from the
number of respondents (Büyükbaykal, 2015). Focus groups is also very useful as the company
wants to gather the lot of information from the group of stakeholders within the short span of
time. Focus group is for the 8 to 15 people and it is generally conducted by the third party at the
same the sponsor agency is also not present in the focus group. Interview is also the very useful
tool for the company to gather the depth information of the stakeholders. They are valuable as
they allow the follow up questions for the interviewees at the time there is a need for the
clarification of the particular response (Williams, Rana and Dwivedi, 2015).
Requirement analysis
For the company RTO they must need the various tools that are being required to process
the operation of the company smoothly. For this the company needs to do the requirement
analysis for determining the expectations of the user or a new modified product and the analysis
done for the requirement must be of quantifiable, relevant and the detailed. For the company
there is a need design the tools for the Human Resource so that they can manage their work in
the smooth manner. There may be having the requirement of the business tool such as the system
10