INSY4325 COURSE PROJECT
Exploring Information Technology Project
Objective 
Provide an opportunity for students to apply a technology solution to a business problem in a specific company or organization that adds value to the organization. 
Guidelines  
Step 1: Exploring Information Technology: Project-topic selection (1-2 paragraphs) 
Begin thinking of a business problem that could be solved with a technology solution for a company or organization you are familiar with. See the Course Project Technical Areas for ideas.
1. Subject of Course Project
2. Business problem statement
3. Name of the company or organization
Step 2: Course Project Proposal (1-2 pages) Graded Portion 
Upon the approval of Course Project Topic from your professor, complete the Course Project Proposal using this format: 
1. Subject of Course Project
2. Business problem statement
3. Name of the company or organization
4. Brief description of proposed solution
5. General benefits it will provide the organization
6. Audience to whom you are presenting the recommendation(s)
Based on the Professors feedback to your proposal, develop the Course Project. You are required to use a minimum of ten credible sources for research on your proposed solution and to correctly cite all references using APA style. Make sure you do not use more than 20% material from other sources so that 80% of the paper should be your original words. 
See the suggestions below for ideas on ways to develop your project. Use this format for the project: 
Course Project Table of Contents (6 -8 pages) 
Cover Page 
Table of Contents 

Abstract
Brief Company background
Discussion of business problem(s)
High level solution
Benefits of solving the problem
Business/technical approach
Business process changes
Technology or business practices      used to augment the solution
Conclusions and overall      recommendations
High-level implementation plan
Summary of project

References 
Appendices  
Completed Course Project Graded Portion
Final Project Paper 10 points
Presentation (PowerPoint or any type of multimedia) 5 points
Course Project Technical Areas 
The Course Projects focus is on the use of technology to solve specific business problems. While the list of technologies that you can choose for your Course Project is vast, the following are some current technical topics that you could consider in solving your business problem. 

Cloud computing, either cloud      storage, and/or cloud applications 
User involvement in IT projects 
Mobile devices including phones      and tablets 
B2C and/or B2B and other types of      e-commerce 
Databases required for your      project 
Infrastructure and networking (at      a non-technical level) 
Business and process reengineering      to streamline a business, followed by several new business technologies to      support the new business model 
The implementation of a secure      business (website, software development, administration) 
Development of an e-commerce      website for a brick and mortar business 
IS Management (examples:      Outsourcing, ASP’s, ERP, CRM, SCM, Website Development, Linux) 
Corporate Applications (examples:      Information Security, EIS, Expert Systems, Artificial Intelligence, DSS,      Groupware, Intranets/Extranets) 
Telecommunications and Networks      (Examples: Gigabit and higher networks, SAN’s, Video Conferencing, VoIP,      Wireless networking) 
IS Acquisitions (Examples: Cost      Justification Methodology, Total Cost of Ownership, Systems Development      Life Cycle, Prototyping, Weighted Criteria Analysis) 
Miscellaneous (Examples: Computer      Ethics, Virtual Reality, Multimedia, Telecommuting, Data Security,      International Issues, Computer Based Learning) 
End User Software/Applications      (Examples: Database, Operating System, Office Suite, Project Management) 

Course Project Suggestions  
The purpose of the Course Project is to describe the solution to a business problem where technology can be of value. 
Some ideas to identify a business problem: 

Lack of competiveness and/or      profitability
Inefficient processes
Slow product development
Obsolete IT organization and      technologies
Poor corporate communications 
Ongoing personnel issues

Some benefits it will provide the organization could be things like: 

Financial profitability,      revenue, product costs
Improved competitiveness
Better marketing positioning
Efficiency in key processes, e.g.,      sales, manufacturing, development
Improved product and/or service      quality
Improved product development
Better and more accurate support      turn-around
Preparation for the future how      is the organization positioning itself for future growth

Some ideas on how the project could tie together: 

As an example, you could write      your paper on some aspect of ecommerce. You might tie it in to targeted      advertising. You could then tie the back-end databases that are necessary      to support ecommerce. For example, how databases contain information that      allows vendors to target their audience and what those databases are.
Another example might be the      functionality of enterprise systems. You might choose a specific      enterprise system like ERP, CRM or SCM and detail how the functionality is      delivered. This could be how a business person would access this type of      information. 
The business problem is high cost      of IT and product development and the benefits are profitability, faster      development time, or increased sales. The solution might be cloud      computing describing the cloud computing approach taken, e.g., SaaS or      cloud virtualization.

Possible audiences might be: 

Senior management
Customers
Suppliers
Specific departments

Summary of Course Project Requirements 

The proposal must be submitted and      feedback received from the professor before beginning the project.
The project should follow the APA      style of citing references in the text and on the bibliography page. No      fewer than ten references must be used for research and properly cited.
Credible reference sources are available      through the School Library and other sources.
The paper must be 6-8 pages in      length, double-spaced, using a size 12 standard business font, using 1-inch      margins and topic headings listed for the format requirements.