Analyzing SSL's IT: IS Strategy, Resource Allocation, and Management

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the information technology (IT) infrastructure and strategy of SSL, a company in the security sector. It evaluates the existing IT portfolio, including hardware, software, and human resources, using the Ward and Griffith Matrix to identify its values and contributions to business operations. The report highlights the lack of a proper IS strategy within SSL, which hinders its competitiveness and sustainability. It emphasizes the need for formulating an effective IT strategy to address critical business needs, analyze the value chain, and improve core competencies. The report also discusses the importance of evaluating resource allocation decisions to ensure strategic benefits and improve customer engagement. Furthermore, it explores the potential of Business Re-engineering (BRE) to maximize IS and IT potentials, and the need for centralized management of IT functions within SSL to improve efficiency and reduce costs. The analysis concludes that strategic alignment of IT with business objectives is crucial for SSL's future growth and optimization of business operations, and the importance of data management from a centralized location.

Running head: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR BUSINESS
Information Technology for Business
[Name of the Student]
[Name of the University]
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Question one:
The values which the existing portfolio of the information system of SSL is having can
be identified by classification of the applications which are already existing along with the
processes and peoples as well in accordance to the Ward and the Griffith Matrix. Some of the IT
physical resources includes the personal computers, WAN connectivity and the IBM AS/400.
There also exists certain software which includes the following:
 Pegasus payroll package
 Budgeting & costing software,
 Routing and rostering software,
 Productivity type packages;
In addition to this some of the IT human resources is associated with includes the
following:
 One ex-policeman who is in-charge of the Private Transport Division,
 A 24-year-old Business Computing Graduate in charge of the Business Security Division,
 A hybrid manager,
 Four programmers,
 The analyst/ programmer,
 Six data entry clerks,
 A system analyst, and
 Two computer operator systems.
The values of SSL have been listed below:

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1. Values provided by the IT resources which is responsible for supporting the entire
system. This particular category is associated with including the various kind of software
which are associated with helping in running of the business functions.
2. Second value includes the contributions in terms of operationalization of the various kind
of processes and activities of the SSL. One example is the auto route option of the
applications which are seen to be used by the computers in the transport department and
this is associated with making of plans and scheduling of the routes so as to optimize the
business operations. The LAN networks are used so as to help in maintaining the
seamless connection.
3. Followed by this is the steering of the organization towards setting the goals and
objectives. One example is the productivity package used by the business in the PCs
present in the Home Office Service Division of the organization. This helps in
determining the level of productivity and the ways of boosting up the production,
The pace of the technology which is growing rapidly is responsible for putting forward of
the needs related to making of investment by the organization, along with the dire needs related
to establishment of particular matrices in order to evaluate the investments upon the IS
(Ghaffarianhoseini et al., 2017). One example of the matric includes the time of payback so as to
assess the time that would be required for recuperating the financial resources which has already
been established upon the IS.
Question two:
From the analysis it has been identified that many sections of the organization is lacking
appropriate IS strategy which acts as the deficiency that are responsible for being very severe for
the competitiveness as well as the sustainability of the organization (Bradley, 2016). Due to this

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the need of formulating the IS strategy is very necessary so as to analyze the success factors
which are very important. This in turn is associated with providing of assistance in the process of
establishment of the IT needs of the business units and the other departments. Addressing the
needs in an improper way might be responsible for the business operations stalling and for this
reason the critical factors are to be identified in a proper way so as to determine the areas that
needs IT investments.
Secondly there is also a need of analyzing the value chain which is associated with
helping in the identifying the capabilities of the existing IT and the assets which are associated
with offering the competitive edge. After successful identification the rare IT assets which are
rare and unique would be associated with making the organization become capable of
determining the areas requiring IT investments. Followed by this the value chain analysis is
associated with helping in identification of the capabilities which are having a lack but is
important for making improvements in the efficiency (Mithas & Rust, 2016). This type of
analysis is associated with helping in pointing out of the needs for the IT infrastructure
investment so as to improve the core competencies of the organization. Another integral part of
success involves the determination of the IT planning process and the structure of the
organization is considered to be a matrix which consists of the business heads who would be
entirely in the departments charge. One of the strategic function is the IT planning which is
responsible for making the middle out as well as the innovative plan to go well with the
organization.
IT strategy established successfully would be responsible for bringing of lot of benefits
and one such is the improved business capabilities. One example of the existence of improper IT
strategy is the communication hampering because of the IT strategy which is already existing.

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The IT strategy is also responsible for the removal of the process related to function duplication
and this would be helping in removing the need of the six data entry clerks.
IT is also helpful in having a competitive advantages and the reason behind this is that the IT
would be associated with helping a lot in the decision making in an improved manner by means
of utilization of the new opportunities (Shao, Siponen & Pahnila, 2019). In addition to this the
unit business manager who would be having new idea would also be responsible for making of
improvements in the process of making value proposition improvements. the IT would also be
helpful in creation of proper communication means by usage of proper mediums which is helpful
in eliminating the longer waiting times as well as the risk related to the seizing of the opportunity
the other competitors.
Question three:
The decisions related to the channeling of the resources is to be evaluated in a proper way
so as to determine if the investments are associated with bringing of strategic benefits for the
organization or not. SSL being present in the security sector would lead to losing of customers in
case of any mistake (Aakhus, 2017). For this reason there is a need of making IT investments in
a proper way so as to make the organization become capable of delivering values of high quality
which would also be unique in nature. The IS investments are also associated with helping the
businesses in improving the engagement of the customers along with helping in inspiring
business loyalty.
One of the integral part of SSL is associated with including the Suppliers. The IT
infrastructure which is already existing is not associated with supporting of facilitating the
communication with the stakeholders one such example is the process of taking follow ups of the
payments which along with being difficult are also strenuous in nature (DeLone, & McLean,

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2016). However if there exists a State-of-art documentation system then would be surely be very
helpful for the suppliers and this would also be associated with the elimination of the needs
related to visiting soa sto take follow ups. IT investments are also helpful in the process of
streamlining the different kind of different supply chain process as well.
Business Re-engineering or the BRE is also helpful in the making the IS and IT potentials get
maximized (Anwar, Masrek & Sani, 2018). This in turn is associated with helping the business in
formulation of new ways by which the business would be capable of adding newer values to the
business processes. Conducting of the VIRO analysis point outs the fact that the valuable process
are rare along with being non-imitable which in turn is responsible for acting as the main reason
behind providing of competitive advantage. This analysis is also helpful in the process of
establishing the process which are having the capability of the acquiring the new values if they
are improved by the investments made upon the IT.
Question four:
Considering the IT functionalities of SSL it can be stated that the functions are distributed
across the different functional units and there exist no central management from the
headquarters, so it can be stated that there are some divisions of SSL which are lacking proper IS
investments. One such department is the domestic security (Freitas, Monteiro & Costa, 2018).
Additionally, the discrepancy which is seen to be existing amongst the IT professionals are also
responsible for putting forward of the fact that there is an absence of proper and centralized
management of the Information Technology. The transport department which is managed by the
ex-policeman is seen to be having experience but is having a lack of training in terms of
managing the IT. Along with this the presence of a hybrid manager who is having a good
experience regarding the financial and the IT, in the home office division is seen to be well

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endowed by the IT experts as well as by the programmers who are present in the department
(Benitez, Ray & Henseler, 2018). Additionally the disintegration which is seen to be existing in
the ways of managing the IT is seen to be responsible for stemming in terms of the ways by
which the organization has grown in the last few years. The existence of the core business along
with the startups in terms of the security segments as well as in the process of taking over and
getting merged with the other companies proving same services, has been associate with helping
the organization in growing in terms of having an organic growth.
The existing situation of SSL portrays the fact that the existing IS of SSL is not
associated with working in an optimal way so as to serve the objectives that the firm is having
and due to this there exists an essential need of exploring the IT and IS so as to identify the areas
which are in essential need of making investments so as to help the organization in grow in
future (Cui et al., 2015). Besides the by taking into account the various operations of the
management department existing in IT infrastructure helps in determining the fact there exists a
centralized management system which is associated with providing assistance in the process of
improving the efficiency along with being indulged in making contributions so as to reduce the
cost. The main reason which is seen to be lying behind this is that each of the department of SSL
would not be needing any kind of hiring of the technicians. In addition to this when the IS
strategy is being considered it depicts the fact that the best option is to consider the strategic
functions which needs to be carried out for the purpose of helping the executives existing at the
top level (Bernardet, Carson & Tallapragada, 2017). Besides all this intertwining of the different
components which the IS strategy is having with the other strategic objectives is associated
acting as the best way of injecting the culture related to the leveraging of the IS for the purpose
of making the business operations get optimized. Another major factor which is to be considered

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is the management of the data administration from a centralized location along with the system
which would be decentralized includes those functions which would be associated with dealing
with the supports from the users.

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