Based on the material covered in the Team section of this course, this paper will investigate how to put some of the concepts presented in the readings and in class into practice. Using information and concepts you initially synthesized in your first paper on the Individual Contribution to IT based on the Rock Coast Bank “The Rock” mobile application, this paper will focus on the next level in IT around how to manage this application from a team/group/leadership perspective. Be sure to build on what you learned in Paper 1 as you complete this assignment.
It is important to realize, quickly, that not much in IT is successful from a single person’s work. No one person has enough resources, time, and skill to build and operationalize a running system. This was not the case 20+ years ago, but with the advancements in technology post the internet, cyber security (or lack thereof), mobility, cloud among other developments the thought of a single individual having all the hard and soft skills to perform all needed tasks is not attainable anymore.
A team is not just a group of people. The ability to call a meeting and invite many people is one of the worst ways to try to accomplish any task, let alone a highly complex technology task with many unknowns. What will need to be identified in this assignment is how to design, build, run, and manage an effective team that will require some adjunct components to not only make it effective, but also efficient. At each step in the development process, decisions will have to be made which have ramifications beyond the individual and the team. Decisions which affect society, too.
The major scope / backdrop for this paper is to take from the previous paper on some of the components required from an Individual to now be leveraged in a team to make “The Rock” a reality and something that can be managed and administered by the right people inside of Rock Coast Bank. It will be the goal for this effort that “The Rock” has requirements to be live in 90 days with an Alpha trial team of internal Rock Coast Bank employees, and then a Beta trial with 50 real customers who have signed NDAs and are willing to participate in the testing and QA (quality assurance) in the process for final product go live in 6 months.
What needs to be identified in this paper is the team(s) that will be required to design, build, test, deploy, administer, manage and maintain “The Rock” as it goes from the information gathered in paper #1 to go-live in 6 months. This will require an opening section that will define the scope/team members/etc and a conclusion on why it is important to define all of the teams and members of their teams to support effective and efficient practices to bring “The Rock” to market.
In addition to the opening and conclusion sections, there will need to be identified value creation in the following sections:
Introduction
Start with your ideas/thesis on the subject at hand and start to build your narrative that will be supported by the rest of the paper and specifically the 5 sections listed below. 150-200 words
Team Definitions
Who will be members of which teams? Define what positions you need to be filled.
Define what positions can be remote and which positions must be filled with individuals who can work in person.
Assume you will include team members from outside of the Rock Coast Bank employee pool. Include what needed to ensure they understand what they can and can not discuss outside of Rock Coast Bank employees.
Describe your criteria for choosing someone to be a member of your team. Be specific in regards to particular positions. Include literature that speaks to the needs of the project and cite what makes someone professionally capable to do this project.
Cover topics such as: Who will be members of which teams? Is there a need for all team members to be local to one another, i.e., in the same location? Are there team members who are not Rock Coast Bank employees and if so, what is needed to ensure they understand what they can and can not discuss outside of Rock Coast Bank employees. What affects your decisions to ask individuals to be members of the team? Why do you choose one person over another? 250-300 words
Team Collaboration
Describe how your team will collaborate with the client Rock Coast Bank. Include at least three guiding principles and how they will be put into practice.
Include citations of resources that speak to effective communication and collaboration.
Name what technologies will enable your team to collaborate most effectively and efficiently within the group and with the client. Cite articles or resources that prove their effectiveness and efficiency.
Cover topics such as: How will the teams collaborate? Will they collaborate the same way or are there different ways that are more effective with different teams? How does a team decide how to collaborate efficiently and effectively? What technology will enable more effectiveness and efficiency? 200-250 words
Originality / Plagiarism
Detail which work is open to use/copy freely vs code that has to be licensed.
Describe a process for documenting materials that come from other sources.
Describe a process for testing code to identify if there is risk due to the code being publicly or privately available.
Include citations of resources that speak about issues of originality and plagiarism.
Include guidelines (at least three key points) for your team to follow to ensure the production of original work and avoiding plagiarism. Reference literature or resources that point to the importance of these guidelines.
Cover topics such as: What needs to be defined as it relates to the ability to leverage code on the Internet? What is open to use/copy freely vs code that may have been produced or licensed in a way that does not allow anyone to use without some restriction(s)? How will it be documented on what was from other sources? How can you test your code to identify if there are any risks due to code publicly or privately available?How do teams produce original work and avoid plagiarism? 250-300 words
Agreements / Contracts
Define agreements between Rock Coast Bank and any external resources that may be on the project.
Describe the main component of the agreements/contracts to ensure low to no risk on the part of Rock Coast Bank in the use of external resources for “The Rock.”
Describe the functions of team members who work on agreements and contracts. Cite literature that can guide them in their decision making.
Cover topics such as: Define agreements between Rock Coast Bank and any external resources that may be on the project as a developer, project manager, advisor, consultant, etc. How can you enforce any of these agreements/contracts if there is a known misuse of data or privacy. What are the main components in the agreements/contracts that would ensure low to no risk on the part of Rock Coast Bank in the use of external resources for “The Rock”? What are the functions of team members who work on agreements and contracts? In creating agreements and contracts, why do they make the choices they do? 200-250 words
Leadership / Management
Create an organizational chart of what the management of “The Rock” looks like within Rock Coast Bank.
Make notes about how information flows between each level of management.
Describe who initiates decisions on strategy regarding the App.
Describe how each level brings value to the Rock Coast Bank.
Cover topics such as: Organizational structure – define what the organization looks like with levels of management all the way to the CEO/CFO. How and why does information flow between levels in the organization? When there is a need for a strategy decision, who makes it and at what level? How does each level in the organization bring value to Rock Coast Bank? Why is each level of management involved? 200-250 words
Conclusion
Use this section to “wrap up” your thoughts based on your original thesis from the introduction. Should finalize your ideas using the 5 sections to support your original thoughts. 100-150 words
