For this writing assignment, let’s focus on developing an essay based on the “five-paragraph” structure. Following that structure means that your paper should include one paragraph for the Introduction, three paragraphs for the Body, and one paragraph for the Conclusion. You do not have to label your paragraphs as Introduction, Body, Conclusion.
Using this structure should allow you to present your position in sufficient depth. Don’t worry if you end up writing six paragraphs. The point here is to give you guidance on the basic structure to be used for this assignment.
Here are some tips to help you set up the formatting for your essay. We recommend you use the Microsoft Word application from your Bellevue University Office 365 account.
Formatting
· Start by putting your name, the course name, and the date in the upper-left corner of the document, as shown above.
· Select the “Layout” option above to set you “Margins” select the 1-inch margins for all sides.
· Select the “Home” button option above and locate the “Line and Paragraph Spacing” button and select “2.0” which is double spacing, this should be set for the entire essay.
· Remember Not to add additional spacing between paragraphs only the double spacing.
· Ensure that you indent the first line of each new paragraph ½ inch, this can be done by pressing the “tab” button on your keyboard.
From the “Home” tab in Microsoft Word, select “Times New Roman” as the Font Name and “12” as the Font Size.
Next, go to the “Layout” tab to set up your margins. Under the Margins dropdown, select Normal for 1-inch margins all around.
Introduction
The introduction should be a minimum of three sentences in length. Use the first two sentences to provide the context for your paper. You should clearly state the position you are taking so that you get the reader’s attention and guide them toward your claim. The last sentence of the introduction is the thesis statement (i.e., argument) and it should identify what is going to be discussed in the body of the paper. Because the body is supposed to consist of three paragraphs, it is a good practice to break down your thesis into three main ideas that support your position. See the example below.
Back when my mom did all my laundry, I just threw all my clothes into a pile and didn’t worry about how everything was washed. However, now that I have experience doing my own laundry, I must stress the importance of properly separating clothes into “whites,” “lights,” and “darks” or you will risk ruining your wardrobe. If you do not want ruin your clothes, then you should follow the steps I am about to describe for managing your laundry.
Body
The paragraphs in the body should develop the main ideas of your thesis. Write three paragraphs for the three points or pieces of evidence. The paragraphs should be about 5-8 sentences in length and provide sufficient details that explain what is meant by each of the main ideas in your thesis. Be sure to introduce and summarize each main idea in the individual paragraphs.
Each body paragraph should start with a transition into the topic—words or phrases like “First,” or “Another important point is,” See the example below.
First, I recommend making piles for white, light, and dark clothing. Your white pile should be for articles such as socks, underwear, and t-shirts. (Continue to explain this point in the remaining sentences)
Next, continue separating your colors into piles for light and dark clothing. (Continue to explain this point in the remaining sentences)
Finally, your dark pile should have gray, black, purple, dark blue, and so forth. (Continue to explain this point in the remaining sentences)
Conclusion
The concluding paragraph will recap the thesis and the main ideas presented in the introduction and body of the paper. Briefly restate the main points of your essay and tell the audience why you are right. Tie your topic to a bigger point so that your audience understands the significance of your position.
Remember, you cannot stick a red towel into a load of white laundry without damaging the rest of the clothes in that load. So the next time you set out to do your laundry, make sure you follow the steps outlined above for separating your clothes before washing them. Following these steps might even save you money in the long run because you will not have to buy new clothes to replace the ones that get ruined by improperly separated laundry.
If you use any references or quote another writer, be sure to add a References section at the end of your paper. For each reference, be sure to include the Title, Author, Date, and URL if available. If you have more than one source, be sure to separate them.
Here are a couple examples:
References
Pod, Tide. (2019). The Laundry Separator’s Handbook. Detergent Publishing, Inc.
Shirt, Tee. (2017). Wash Me with My Friends. www.not_a_real_site.com. Accessed on 7/31/2020.
* Feel free to save this document in your personal files for future reference.
The General Accountability Office (GAO) issues standards for the audits of governmental organizations, programs, activities, and functions that are commonly referred to as the Yellow Book.
Review the latest publication of the Yellow Book on the GAO website, specifically the following sections:
Application Guidance: Complying with GAGAS.
Relationship between GAGAS and other Professional Standards.
In what significant way do financial audits in government and not-for-profit organizations differ from those carried on in business?
Directions: Below is a case study presentation of a patient with a condition covered in Chapter 10. Read the case study, and answer the questions below. Some questions will ask for information not included within this chapter. Use your textbook, a medical dictionary, or any other reference material you choose to answer these questions. Be sure to cite any outside sources, including the textbook, in APA format.
An 88-year-old female was seen in the physician’s office complaining of SOB, dizziness, orthopnea, elevated temperature, and a productive cough. Lung auscultation revealed rales over the R bronchus. CXR revealed fluid in the RUL. The patient was sent to the hospital with an admitting diagnosis of pneumonia. Vital signs upon admission were: temperature 102°F, pulse 100 and rapid, respirations 24 and labored, blood pressure 180/110. She was treated with IV antibiotics and IPPB. She responded well to treatment and was released home to her family with oral antibiotics on the third day.
Critical Thinking Questions
Answer the questions below regarding this case study. Do not just copy words out of the case study; translate all medical terms. To answer some of these questions, you may need to look up information from another chapter of this textbook.
1. What is this patient’s admitting diagnosis? Look this condition up in a reference source, and include a short description of it.
2. List and define each of the patient’s presenting symptoms in your own words.
3. Define auscultation and CXR. Describe what each revealed in your own words.
4. What does the term “vital signs” mean? Describe the patient’s vital signs in your own words.
5. Describe the treatments she received while in the hospital in your own words.
6. Explain the change in her medication when she was discharged home
Employee demographics: • The average age range is 25–55. • There is a mix of males and females. • Two of the administration team are from non-English speaking background. As a manager, it is important that you review customer service and seek ways to make improvements. It is important to consider improving not only your own standard of customer service but also how you assist others to make improvements in their standard of customer service. In order to identify ways to make improvements in customer service, you need to clarify and accurately assess the needs of customers. There are several ways that this can be accomplished, but they are all based on communication techniques. By ensuring that there is good communication with customers, the number of customer complaints will reduce. Communication techniques may relate to: • Analysing customer satisfaction surveys • Analysing quality assurance data • Conducting interviews • Consultation methods, techniques, and protocols • Making recommendations • Obtaining management decisions • Questioning • Seeking feedback to confirm understanding • Summarising and paraphrasing Task 1 Part A Imagine you are a customer of ABC Stationary. Think about the type of service you would expect from the business and staff and also what kind of situations would make you unhappy with their service. With this information in mind, develop a questionnaire (minimum of ten questions) that you could use to gather information from customers on what they like about ABC Stationary’s service and what they think could be done better and what kind of service could be implemented that is not currently provided. It could cover such areas as: Customer needs may relate to: • Staff attitude • Staff knowledge • Complaints • Prices/ value for service • Purchasing experience • Return of goods experience • Accuracy of information provided them • Instore experience • Patient chairside experience (dental students) • Anything else?
Part B Ask (at least ten) customers to complete the questionnaire. If you don’t work or have the opportunity to ask customers in a retail situation, adjust the questionnaire so it suits the area in which you work. If you are not currently working you may simulate the customer responses. Simulations can include using friends and family to complete the questionnaire. Customers may include: • Corporate customers • Individual members of the organisations • Individual members of the public • Patients • Internal or external • Other agencies
Task 2 Analyse the feedback from the questionnaire. Create a report explaining your findings, i.e. what are the customer’s needs, and make a comment (recommendation) on areas in customer service where improvements could be made.
Task 3 Using the information from Tasks 1and 2, explain in a report the customer service issues and problems that you diagnosed and the appropriate options that you identified for improving customer service. Include in this report budget allocations that are required and where the budget allocation will come from. Your report should also outline how you will promptly action procedures to resolve customer difficulties and complaints whilst acting within organisational requirements. You need to mention how these options meet with the organisation’s requirements, i.e. business aims, objectives, and strategies, and you should provide opportunities for continuous improvement. Organisational requirements may include: • Access and equity principles and practice • Anti-discrimination and related policy • Confidentiality and security requirements • Defined resource parameters • Ethical standards • Goals, objectives, plans, systems, and processes • Legal and organisational policies, guidelines, and requirements • OHS policies, procedures, and programs • Payment and delivery options • Pricing and discount policies • Quality and continuous improvement processes and standards • Quality assurance and/or procedures manuals • Replacement and refund policy and procedures • Who is responsible for products or services? Strategic areas for improvement may include: • Courtesy/politeness • Delivery times • Merchandise characteristics • Price offers • Product/refund guarantees • Product/service availability
Task 4 Develop a PowerPoint presentation to present your findings from Tasks 2 and 3 on service needs of customers and ways to make improvements. There should be no more than 12 slides. The presentation will be shown to management, staff, and other interested parties with the aim of promoting strategies to improve customer service. Arrange with management, staff, and other interested parties to attend the presentation on customers’ service needs and strategies to improve customer service. Design a presentation feedback form (of at least five questions) to gather comments from your audience on customer service needs and your proposed improvements. Provide your assessor with a copy of the feedback form. Task 5 Gather and analyse the presentation audience feedback on customer service needs and your proposed improvements. Explain your findings in a report, e.g. did the audience agree with, disagree with, or support your findings and ideas; did they reflect concern to change; etc. Deliverables required You are required to submit: Task 1 A- your questionnaire with 10 questions (blank) Task 1 B- At least ten copies of your questionnaire completed by ‘customers’ Task 2 – A short report (questionnaire feedback findings) Task 3- A short report (customer service issues) Task 4- PowerPoint presentation (12 slides), and presentation feedback form Task 5 –Report on presentation audience feedback The submission upload on My eCampus can only accept one file so if you have more than one file to submit, zip them together. See the instructions link in the Assessment Submission requirements PDF on the assessment page. Please ensure you add your name and email address to all files you submit
Introduction Setting up service desks in offshore locations is big business. There are various drivers behind such efforts. Some are pure cost savings. Others are to attain quality improvements by leveraging superior language or business skills available in the new location. Some projects can be extremely emotive, and all are certainly challenging projects that need to be handled with care.
Recently I was employed by a corporation to manage their first foray into this arena. Their service desk supported not just internal but also external customers, providing in particular incident and access management plus request fulfilment. Their key driver was that their existing service desk was reaching capacity. Expansion in the current location was not physically possible or cost effective, and so an offshore location was selected. To add urgency, a new IT product was going to be released which meant an imminent increase in volume and pressure on the service desk. Demand and capacity management already had calculated the size of the expansion required (150 extra service desk staff, along with the usual supporting IT infrastructure).
The project to set up the new service desk following ITIL® procedures was formally initiated by the company’s official IT change authority, in our case called the Change Advisory Board (CAB). The CAB rightly recognized early on the scale of the change and so officially invoked the project management group. The vice president for the overall department was confirmed as the project executive to sponsor the project going forward. I was assigned the project to set up the new offshore service desk to run in parallel with the existing service desk. Specifically, I had to ensure the new desk was designed and built to replicate the existing service desk, and bring the two physical services desks together so that they became a single logical virtual service desk.
PRINCE2 supporting ITIL From the moment the CAB provided the project mandate, the project was run using PRINCE2™ methodology. PRINCE2 was extremely valuable in ensuring success. It did this in many ways, but of particular value were the following:
1. The PRINCE2 principle focusing on business justification throughout.
2. PRINCE2’s management by stages to break it down into manageable chunks.
3. The PRINCE2 emphasis on lessons learned from previous efforts.
4. PRINCE2’s risk management provided a methodical and consistent approach throughout.
1. Business Justification Perhaps the greatest benefit PRINCE2 brought was the principle of continued business justification and consistent focus on the business case throughout the project. It ensured that the project
did not deviate away from its central objective. And thank goodness. As there were many tests and traps trying to entice the project away from the original design.
One such lure away from the plan was in the area of function creep. The primary aim of establishing the new service desk was to ensure greater capacity ahead of the release of a new IT product. The new service desk had to be online and ready ahead of the IT product’s launch. It had to be done at minimal expenditure, and so the second site in an offshore location was selected rather than expanding the existing site. The second site did provide other benefits, in particular some extra cover for disaster recovery. If there was a denial of service (such as a fire alarm) or denial of access (such as a network outage) in the existing site, then the new second site could be designed to provide business continuity.
However, to guarantee such extra benefits were realized required extra expense. This additional expense was not overly significant in relation to the overall budget for the project. Moreover, some project savings had already been made elsewhere, so we did have sufficient funds to cover the extra expenditure. However, I did NOT authorise the expenditure. PRINCE2’s principle on focusing on the business case ensured I did not fall into the trap of spending the savings on realising these extra benefits.
Why not? Yes, thanks to the savings already made on the project, our budget would still have remained within our financial tolerances as laid out by the project board. And yes, it is certainly true that it is cheaper to put in place the disaster recovery (DR) infrastructure from the outset (as retrofitting offices with the extra DR requirements afterwards will always be the more expensive option). However, the DR benefits were a perfect example of gold plating. They were still an exception beyond what we had originally justified. Our PRINCE2 business case reminded us that we were not creating this site specifically for disaster recovery purposes. Our primary concern was to expand capacity. So when extra expense was requested to ensure the new site was fully capable of providing such business continuity options, it was clear this was beyond the scope of the original business case. As the project manager, I had been entrusted to spend specific company resources to expand capacity. I therefore could not authorise spending on something else, however inexpensive and beneficial that might be.
That is not to say that I ignored the potential extra benefits either. In such circumstances it is not the role of the project manager to say no and to move on regardless. I worked to ensure the project board were aware of the new opportunity. It was their decision, and the request had to be referred to them. My role and the role of the project team was to provide the board with all the information to help them weigh up the pros and cons of extending the project to include this extra requirement.
Ultimately they deemed the risk to the timeline to be too high and so the project continued as originally planned. The project board confirmed it was better for me and the project team to focus on delivering the extra capacity by the required date
as stated in the business justification and ensure that that meets the requirements. The cost of missing the deadline far outweighed the cost of retrofitting the new site with the full DR capability, and so only minimal DR that did not add any extra time was completed.
2. Management by stages ITIL is huge. It has a wide breadth, covering all IT functions across the organization. It also has a great depth, getting deeply involved in the very root of processes and their design. Making changes and additions to ITIL can therefore be very daunting. The ramifications can spread far and wide. PRINCE2 helped us be successful by ensuring we avoided biting off more than we could chew. It did this through PRINCE2’s management by stages.
We focused on Service Operations, and within that on the Service Desk. We ensured each of the ITIL service operations processes (Incident management, problem management, access management, event management and request fulfilment) were covered and adopted correctly by the new service desk. Of particular benefit was the Service V-model. The Service V-model breaks down relatively high level requirements into smaller more detailed designs. It does this by defining the requirements at the high level and requiring that to be signed off. Once that is approved, the next level of more detailed design is then documented and approved. Each step of the model can be considered a stage for PRINCE2. The V-model gets its name because the requirements and documented design represent the left hand side of the ‘V’. As they get towards the base of the ‘V’ the signed off definitions get progressively more detailed. The right hand side of the ‘V’ then shows the test plans, with each of the tests being built around its equivalent requirement definition on the left hand side. This stepping stone approach down one side and then back up the other helps ensure that you document and sign off first and then test and deliver precisely what is required. We tailored the model to meet the specific project requirements, making sure we kept the fundamental concept of the defined requirements at each level then being used as the acceptance test and sign off criteria going forward. Each definition itself was signed off before we moved onto the next one, thereby ensuring we managed the project in sizeable chunks.
3. Lessons learned The emphasis on learning from previous experiences is another area that PRINCE2 helped ensure the successful implementation of the ITIL based service desk. Lessons learned from past efforts (both successful and disastrous) were used from the outset. For example, the business justification and business case were based upon former historical failures. Previous IT product launches had swamped the service desk. The ramping up of service personnel had been reactive, with major decreases in customer satisfaction reflecting the lack of investment. Those lessons were used in the business case to justify the upfront expenditure ahead of the launch. It was the first time the company had geared up ahead of a major IT product release.
The consistently high customer satisfaction scores during the eventual IT product release were a real vindication of the forward planning.
Lessons learned also helped avoid common pitfalls in setting up the new service desk. A review of other expansion attempts within the company was carried out. There had been one or two attempts by other departments to expand, and so a few nuggets of value were gleaned from this internal review. In parallel a review of external sources for lessons learned was also undertaken. Some of the best lessons came from this. In particular, industry trade bodies were a wealth of information around what works and what doesn’t. I already had set up service desks abroad for previous companies as well, and so I brought with me some key lessons from outside of the organization. The combination of internal and external sources helped ensure all possible lessons were learned.
We reaped the reward for these internal and external lesson learned reviews as we progressed. The single biggest win I felt was in ensuring that all the potential costs were accounted for up front. We therefore avoided underestimating the total expenditure. The hidden costs were everywhere, ranging from individual extra talent acquisition to consultancy for local tax experts to help you move your IT stock from one floor to another within the same building! Not only were we able to identify up front the vast majority of the potential extra costs. (It is perhaps unreasonable to think you will get all of them!). We were also able to accurately estimate them as well. It was only thanks to the review of lessons that ensured we could provide the estimated costs with such accuracy. The fact that we successfully came in under budget is in no small part thanks to the effort made up front in calculating all the potential costs.
The lessons learned did not stop with previous projects. By identifying and capturing lessons within our own project itself, we learned quickly what we were doing right and wrong. By doing this methodically at least at the end of each stage, we were then able to communicate that out to the wider project team, so they could replicate what works and avoid what did not. For example, we learned early on that there was an incredibly long lead time to source IT equipment in the remote location. Items that might only take a few weeks in the UK could take many months to arrive in the new location. We therefore adjusted our project plans to ensure this lengthy delivery time was accounted for. We could not change the project completion date. Rather we moved other work around, and brought purchase requests forward as much as possible. The long delivery times actually moved some of the procurement items onto the critical path, and therefore they gained the correct visibility to get them completed on time.
Lastly, our project provided lessons for future efforts as well. In this regard our own project plugged well into ITIL’s “Continual Service Improvement” theme. While building the new service desk we identified specific process improvements which could
be harnessed by both service desks in the future. These follow- on action recommendations were collated and made available in the end project report, ready to be used by future projects.
4. Risk Management The risk management aspects of the PRINCE2 method helped guarantee a consistent attitude to both opportunities and threats. It provided a methodical and robust approach throughout the project. In particular it supported the change advisory board (CAB) in their efforts. PRINCE2’s emphasis on identifying and assessing risks helped the CAB in its role to provide approval for rolling out the changes. The detailed risk register reinforced to the CAB how seriously the project took risk management. The CAB recognized that the project team was working hard to reduce and avoid threats occurring. In particular the fallback or contingency plan (often a roll back plan) should the threat occur helped the Change manager and the CAB give the required approvals.
ITIL supporting PRINCE2 I found during the project that the relationship between PRINCE2 and ITIL was not all one-sided. Quite the reverse. For each occasion where PRINCE2 supported the ITIL implementation, ITIL reciprocated. In particular, ITIL helped the PRINCE2 implementation in the following:
1. During Starting Up a Project
2. Communication
3. Quality versus cost balancing
4. Plugging a potential PRINCE2 gap
1. ITIL supporting Start Up Over recent years I have noticed that projects initiated by departments that are mature practitioners of ITIL have certain things in common. Take for instance the project mandate; it is never an illegible scrawl on the back of an envelope. Service Strategy and Service Design generate very clear and detailed project mandates. The reasons why the project is being undertaken, why this particular approach is required, the scope, the success criteria and so on all tend to be clearly thought through and then documented. These greatly simplify the time and effort required in starting up the project.
It could be argued that the clear mandate is as much a reflection of the maturity of the organization as it is to do with their adoption of ITIL principles. What is less contentious is how ITIL helps the designing and appointing of the project board when the venture is starting up. ITIL initiated projects tend to have clearly identifiable personnel to fit the roles of the project management team. For instance, in my project, the incident manager was an obvious candidate to sit on the project board as the senior user.
2. Communication Another area where ITIL supported the PRINCE2 project was communication. ITIL provided a standard language around which all could operate. To ITIL practitioners, incidents are clearly different to problems which again are clearly different to requests. Thanks to ITIL, we were able to make these kinds of distinctions and therefore speak very precisely. It ensured there was no confusion.
For instance, PRINCE2 rightly places significant focus on defining the products required and the quality criteria of the products. We used ITIL heavily in the quality definitions of the end products. The service desk technology was all defined using ITIL terminology. Likewise ITIL featured in the job descriptions of the new service desk personnel. When the time then came to managing product delivery the team managers knew exactly what was required of them.
I mentioned the Service V-model earlier. One additional benefit of the Service V-model was in communication. There were stakeholders who were ITIL trained, and stakeholders who were PRINCE2 trained, but few knew both. Using the Service V-model allowed us to speak to both ITIL and PRINCE2 audiences at the same time, each understanding immediately where we were in the project. Even those uninitiated in these Office of Government Commerce best practices could still very quickly understand and follow the project plan thanks to the intuitive nature of the model.
3. Quality versus cost balance As with all things, there is a risk of getting bogged down in the detail. It sometimes becomes difficult to see the wood for the trees. ITIL’s emphasis on seeking an optimal balance between quality and cost proved extremely useful as a reminder to take a step back and weigh up quality improvements against the bigger picture. In our project, as we focused on the details, some of the IT teams began to lose sight of the need to be cost effective. IT teams generally can be extremely customer focused. They often go into IT support because they enjoy helping people, and this is a very positive attribute. This though became a concern during the project as some of the IT teams appeared to put the customer first regardless of costs. We were not a charity. I needed a way to gently remind members of the IT teams of the overarching company goal to increase revenue and decrease cost. ITIL’s constant balancing act of quality versus cost fitted the bill perfectly. When requests came in to spend budget on specific tools, functionality, resources, etc, I encouraged those making the applications to review them using this ITIL principle. The number of change requests decreased as people realized the costs of making the changes. More cost effective alternatives began to be sought. ITIL helped make sure that the project team only had to focus on the most important change requests.
4. Plugging a gap Perhaps the biggest benefit of ITIL was in plugging a potential gap within the project. We had been tasked to implement a new service desk following ITIL principles. As with all good projects, we were working and being measured against what the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) sums up as the “triple” constraints. This covered not just the traditional measures of cost, time and quality, but also the more modern and enlightened approach of measuring as well against risks, scope and customer satisfaction.
Towards the end of the project, we were ready to roll out the new service desk. We were within both time and cost tolerances. We had stayed within the clear scope outlined. The quality of the end product itself as well was met, as the new service desk team had been trained, tested and were ready to go.
From a purely PRINCE2 project perspective we were hitting our key targets as outlined in our own project’s success criteria. However, the rollout of the product (the new service desk) was going to impact the quality of the existing service desk. There was still some nervousness and anxiety within the existing service desk team. While it had not been technically within the boundary and scope of the project, this was obviously a major concern.
The nervousness of the existing teams had to be addressed. We could not let morale of the existing team suffer needlessly. Based on ITIL principles a change to our project was therefore made. The emphasis moved away from rolling out the new service desk by the deadline come what may. We still had to launch the new service desk by the required deadline, but now we had to do it without negatively impacting the existing service desk.
This reflected ITIL’s need for transition of the new service into operations without generating undesired consequences. ITIL’s stability versus responsiveness principle as well ensured that we looked at not just delivering the project’s end product regardless. We had to also be aware of and minimise any ramifications on other groups. So although it increased the costs, a more gradual rollout of the new service desk was agreed upon. This ensured a good balance of stability to the existing operations while allowing the new team to be introduced into their work.
Whilst this oversight in the original project brief might have been captured anyway, ITIL helped ensure that it was resolved satisfactorily, with the best solution in mind. Like programme management best practice (as reflected in Managing Successful Programmes), ITIL helped the project remember that it is simply an enabler. Delivering an end product is the goal of the project, but to only consider that goal is not enough. The project must also keep one eye on the benefit realisation that will come from that end product. The project itself cannot necessarily focus 100% on this, as often the benefits only commence after the project is completed. We successfully avoided the temptation to roll out the new service desk and declare victory too soon. When our post project review took place, it showed the extra
costs spent in rolling out the desk were well spent. The review demonstrated that the benefits had indeed been realized and firmly embedded in.
Weaknesses of combining PRINCE2 and ITIL This is not to say that ITIL and PRINCE2 were a marriage made in heaven. As in any partnership, there are some lows as well as highs. Some of the ITIL functions and processes certainly added an extra level of bureaucracy to the project. For instance, the change management process covered all IT changes. However, it was independent of the financial approval process which went through a completely separate procurement process. We therefore on occasions had the odd situation where we had the project executive’s approval, and the business and financial approval (shown through the approval of the purchase order), yet we still struggled to get approval from the IT change authority. This added if not time then certainly some frustration to the project. With hindsight, one potential solution could have been for the role of the leader of the CAB (the official IT change authority) to have been added to the project board. This would have given the CAB greater insight into the project, which could only be a positive step.
Another area where the two did not mesh so well was that ITIL did seem to introduce an inordinate number of stakeholders. It is understandable that lots of departments and lots of personnel would be interested in the introduction of a new service desk. However, we were somewhat taken aback by just how many groups felt they should have a say in project decisions. ITIL terms were often quoted to justify this. It is difficult to say if this was more to do with the specific ITIL implementation and the personnel involved rather than ITIL itself. Either way, it did seem to be overkill. The project team had did have to spend significant effort on engaging and managing stakeholders with sometimes tenuous links at best to the project.
Conclusion Whatever metrics you choose, the project was a success. From a timing perspective, it was completed ahead of the release of the new IT product, and so it was able to manage the spike of incidents that followed. From a quality and customer satisfaction perspective, our loyalty scores not only avoided a dip, but in fact increased, both during the period when the new service desk came on line, and then later when the new IT product was launched. From a cost perspective we came in just under budget, and that included some extra costs to provide a more gradual rollout.
Moreover, the project illustrated several key benefits in using PRINCE2 and ITIL together. Yes, there were some conflicts. But overall the two OGC best practices did naturally and neatly interlock together. ITIL worked well in defining the best
practice targets; PRINCE2 then assisted as the best practice route to get there. For me it was clear that combining the two provided benefits greater than the sum of the individual parts. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that we do not see more ITIL and PRINCE2 projects together.
Author Noel Scott (PMP)Consultant
Noel Scott (PMP) is a MSP Advanced Practitioner, PRINCE2 Practitioner and ITIL Practitioner specializing in managing programmes and projects within the contact centre industry. With over 10 years experience in a wide range of customer services programmes, Noel regularly delivers articles and speeches on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of contact centres. Noel is a leading member of the “Customer Contact Council” and the “Service and Support Professionals Association”.
Acknowledgements Sourced and published by TSO on www.Best-Management-Practice.com
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The Yourtown Government Building Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security will use a three-phased approach to the activation, management, and eventual deescalation of the COOP plan. (You will use the same incident/emergency you selected in Topic 3 for this assignment).
For this assignment use the Anytown example below to create a Time Phased Implementation chart for Yourtown, consistent with the type of information below.
You need to write 500-750 words in your final chart:
Phase
Time Frame
Activity
Phase I- Activation and Relocation
0-12 Hours
· List who you would want to notify (likely alternate Anytown mayor/city manager/administrator/other VIP’s) of impending activation and relocation requirements. · List how you would best notify impacted Anytown, state, and or federal agencies (use any State and U.S. model). · Discuss how to activate plans to transfer to alternate facility within Anytown. · Instruct advance team(s) to ready alternate facility. · Notify likely Anytown employees and contractors regarding activation of COOP plan and their status. · Assemble a brief list of likely Anytown of documents/equipment required to be maintained for essential functions at alternate facility. · Order likely needed equipment/supplies as reflected by the emergency you selected in Topic 3. · List where you might transport vital documents and operate communications/dispatch. · Detail how you would secure original facility. · Describe how best to continue essential functions at the Anytown Gov’t Building, if available, until alternate facility is ready. · Answer where the operations and support teams would be coming from and how they would get there. · And, how best to activate operations and support teams as necessary.
Phase II- Alternate Facility/Work Site Operations
12 Hours to Termination of Emergency
· Provide guidance to Anytown contingency team personnel and information to the public. · Identify likely replacements for missing personnel (delegation of authority and orders of succession). · Explain how to commence full execution of operations supporting essential functions at the alternate facility.
Assignment; Physical Security Infrastructure for securing a Data Center building, Office Building, or Neighborhood.
Using proper APA formatting, write a 400-word discussion paper describing:
Any hypothetical organization henceforth needs a disaster plan ready for any eventuality. In as much as most disaster plans focus on internet security, there is also need to give weight to physical security in case of a disaster; though in actual sense, one might find it tasking in trying to manage physical security.
· Search the Internet for an article on a physical security disaster plan .
· Please cite two sources
Length: 2-3 paragraphs
Second Assignment (Need this by this Sat)
Using proper APA formatting, write a 400-word discussion paper describing:
· Search the Internet for an article for examples of Physical Security Infrastructure for securing a Data Center building, Office Building, or Neighborhood.
· Why is Chain-Link Fence Standards, Doors, Doors Frames, and Signage and Glass and Windows? So crucial in a data center building, office building, or neighborhood?
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Networking Assignment Designing a solution for Small Office Home Office (SOHO) network Mark & Horton tax accountants have opened a new office in Melbourne, Australia. They are committed to providing taxation and financial planning services to both individuals and small business owners. Currently, they have four (4) full-time tax accountants, two (2) junior accountants and two (2) receptionists appointed to facilitate the clients. Additionally, two (2) financial advisors work two days a week. You have been hired as a network technician to help in the design and deployment of this network. Tax Accountants: 04 Junior Accountants: 02 Receptionist: 02 Financial Advisors: 02 Total Host= 10 host Objectives: • Set up a small office network, identify devices, network components and media type used • Assigning IP addresses to devices connected in a LAN environment • Identify issues and suggest solutions related to network or internet Scenario – Designing a solution for Shine Dental Clinic (Network Solution): Tom and Steph has recently opened a new clinic, “Shine Dental”, in Sydney, Australia. They are committed to providing quality dental services to people of all age group. They have four full-time surgeons using surgery rooms, four assistants working with the surgeons while performing surgery, three receptionists/admin staff, completing daily paperwork, admin, client consulting and handling the front desk. The area for the new office is 250 sqm approximately. For detailed dimensions and floorplan, refer to Figure 1. The clinic required eight workstations, one server and a printer and needed to be installed at the following locations: • One reception desk with space to place two computers (Workstation 5 and 6), • One small consulting room (Workstation 7) • One server room with extra space to place an additional computer (Server, Workstation 8) • Four surgery rooms (Workstation 1 – 4) The entire floor divided with each other by drywall sheets. The office is fully furnished (except computers, networking devices and cabling) The owner of “Shine Dental” has purchased eight (8) desktop computers of the same type. Table 1 shows the sample specification. Desktops x 8 Specifications Acer Aspire TC-series Desktop Processor Brand/Type AMD A10-7800 RAM 16GB HDD 1TB Wired Networking Gigabit Ethernet Connectivity 1xHDMI, 1xVGA, 3xUSB3.0, 4xUSB 2.0, RJ45 Operating System Windows 10 Pro Table 1 The owner of “Shine Dental” has also purchased one (1) server, eight (8) monitors to be connected with desktops and four (4) overhead screens, with the specifications provided in Table 2, Table 3 and Table 4 simultaneously for your reference. Server x 1 Specifications Acer TS-series Server Processor Brand/Type Intel Processor RAM 64 GB HDD 2TB Wired Networking Gigabit Ethernet Connectivity 1xHDMI, 1xVGA, 3xUSB3.0, 4xUSB 2.0, RJ45 Operating System Windows 2012 R2 Table 2
Monitors x 8 Specifications BenQ BL2400 series Brand BenQ Display LED-TN Dimension 579 x 213 x 502 mm Display resolution 1920 x 1080 Connectivity HDMI, D-sub Display size 24” Table 3 Overhead screens x 4 Specifications Sony 3200 series Brand Sony Display LED Dimension 731.8 x 87.3 x 435 mm Display resolution 1280 x 720, 1366 x 768 Connectivity DVI, USB, Ethernet, Antenna in Display size 32” Table 4
Figure 1 In addition to the computers, he has also wanted to purchase one LaserJet multifunction printer for print/copy/scan/fax. The printer should have USB 2.0, Gigabit LAN, Wi-Fi(n) and other prominent printing and scanning features. All computers/server has got a dedicated screen. In addition to that, there are four additional overhead screens attached in the four surgery rooms for patients to view local TV channels. Those four screens are also attached to the main computers in the surgery room. Doctors should display x-rays on the overhead screen for patients, but simply changing the input on the TV, your job is to connect the overhead screen/TV to the computer as an extended display or mirror and the Antenna. You are also required to set up a backup for all the computers/server. All the backups should run each night and should get stored at one physical location within the premises, and a copy of the local backup has to be held on to the cloud utilizing one of the cloud services. As a consultant, you can choose any cloud service of your choice but must justify your recommendation. Assume that you have been hired as a network technician to help design and deploy this network. Perform the following tasks to support this. Task 1 To inter-connect the desktop computers and connect the overhead screens/TV with the computers and TV antenna, you have decided to use a wired network. What is the primary transmission media, connectors, adaptors you would use for this? For your recommendation of media, consider and explain the following criteria: • Speed • Length • Ease of installation • Compatibility with intermediary devices Your answer must also include transmission media, connectors, adaptors, and other necessary devices to help you implement this successfully. Task 2 Waiting customers should be able to access the “Shine Dental” Wi-Fi network for internet usage. What devices will you need to extend your wired network to support wireless devices with maximum speed and make sure that customers using “Shine Dental” internet do not cause interruption to the clinic’s network? Justify your answer. Task 3 In addition to the workstations and server, the multifunctional printer needs to be connected to the network. Would you connect it via a wired media or wireless media? Justify your answer. Recommend a make and model of the multifunctional printer as per the customer requirement. Task 4 Complete Table 5 to assign suitable static IP version 4 addresses to the devices (with subnet mask) on the network. You have decided to go with the class C private IP address range 192.168.30.0/24 (except where it is indicated otherwise). You need to complete 3rd column of Table 5. Device IP address IP address with subnet mask Workstation_1 (Surgery1) 1st usable IP address 192.168.30._ ? _ /24 255.255.255._ ? _ Workstation_2 (Surgery2) 2nd usable IP address 192.168.30._ ? _ /24 255.255.255._ ? _ Workstation 3 (Surgery3) 4th usable IP address 192.168.30. ? _ /24 255.255.255._ ? _ Workstation 4 (Surgery4) 5th usable IP address 192.168.30. ? _ /24 255.255.255._ ? _ Workstation 5 (Fdesk1) 7th usable IP address 192.168.30. ? _ /24 255.255.255._ ? _ Workstation 6 (Fdesk2) 8th usable IP address 192.168.30. ? _ /24 255.255.255._ ? _ Workstation 7 (Consulting) 10th usable IP address 192.168.30. ? _ /24 255.255.255._ ? _ Workstation 8 (BDesk) 11th usable IP address 192.168.30. ? _ /24 255.255.255._ ? _ Server_9 (Server) 14th usable IP address 192.168.30._ ? _ /24 255.255.255._ ? _ Printer 192.168.200.100/24 192.168.200.100 /24 255.255.255._ ? _ Table 5
Task 5 Implement the network topology (Figure 2 is a partial design to assist you) using a packet tracer. For example, it would help if you considered the following: • All devices (Server, workstations and printer etc.) mentioned in table 5 are labelled and have their IP addresses and subnet mask configured (as per your answer in Task 4) • Select the appropriate media in packet tracer, label the media type and use the switch 2960 with 24 ports and two-gigabit uplink ports to interconnect the Desktops • Connect workstation_5 and workstation_6 to one of the “5 port switch” of your choice and connect the switch to the 24-port switch • A standard wireless access point is added and configured with security. This wireless access point should be then connected to the 24-port switch via suitable wired media. • Printer is configured and connected to the previously added “5 port switch.” Figure 2 Task 6 Test the network using a suitable network utility and verify that workstation_7 can communicate with other workstations and servers. Provide screenshots to confirm that you have used the appropriate tools for this purpose. Use command-line utility only to test the connectivity Task 7 Configure the most secure protocol (available in packet tracer) to authenticate three newly hired part-time employees’ “Jason”, “John”, and “Steph”, assign 21st, 36th and 43rd usable IP addresses, respectively. Users should be able to differentiate the network before connecting to the office network easily. For example, provide screenshots and justify. Label Jason’s laptop as “jason_laptop”, John’s laptop as “john_laptop”, and Steph’s laptop as “steph_laptop” and configure in packet tracer. Task 8 Assume that Workstation_5 (consulting room) is a Linux box. You have run standard command-line tools and receive the following output:
Figure 3 Use Figure 3 above to answer the following questions:
What is the IP version 4 address of this machine?
What is the IP version 6 address of this machine?
What is the MAC address of this machine?
What is the default gateway?
Ping command gives the following error below, and the site cannot be opened. Give possible explanations, and provide a solution. Task 9 Assume that the network has been physically set up, as you have demonstrated in your packet tracer file (created in task 8). Users have complained that none of them can print. Using the packet tracer file, troubleshoot this issue and identify what might be causing this. Assume that the printer is mechanically functional and has no physical defect. Identify and discuss. The answer should be based on Task 4. Task 10 “Shine Dental” needs to store an image of all workstations and server in one location. Backups need to run each night, two copies of the backups need to be maintained at Shine Dental premises, and another copy will be stored on the cloud. You have decided to install NAS (Network Attached Storage) as a solution. How many hard drives would you install in NAS, and what raid Level would you use and why? Provide a cost-effective solution for the business. Performance is not essential. What media would you use to connect NAS to the network, and how would you connect it. For demonstration purposes, you can include a server in packet tracer, label it as NAS, and assign it 56th usable IP address to NAS. You must provide a relevant screenshot as an example
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To fully implement the new skills you are learning while using MS Office, you will be completing real life application capstone projects. For these projects, you will be given a scenario and asked to create a file that demonstrates you have achieved proficiency of the competencies as outlined in each module. For the Capstone Projects, you will be graded using a rubric that will assess if your submission demonstrates the required skills as well as if you have properly implemented the skills into a real life scenario. The goal of the capstone project is for you to reach a passing grade, you will be allowed two submission on the capstone project. You will make the first submission by the assigned milestone date as outlined in the course schedule. If you do not reach 80% proficiency, you will be allowed to resubmit the capstone project to the D2L dropbox again during the last week of the course.
Instructions
To fully implement the new skills you are learning while using MS Office, you will be completing real life application capstone projects. For these projects, you will be given a scenario and asked to create a file that demonstrates you have achieved proficiency of the competencies as outlined in each module. For the Capstone Projects, you will be graded using a rubric that will assess if your submission demonstrates the required skills as well as if you have properly implemented the skills into a real life scenario. The goal of the capstone project is for you to reach a passing grade, you will be allowed two submission on the capstone project. You will make the first submission by the assigned milestone date as outlined in the course schedule. If you do not reach 80% proficiency, you will be allowed to resubmit the capstone project to the D2L dropbox again during the last week of the course.
Scenario: You have recently been hired as the customer service manager at a local business (or you are managing your own business) and have determined that a newsletter would be very beneficial to the business and customers. You will need to create a monthly newsletter that gives customers an update on what is happen in the company and any specials that will be running for the next month.
This document will need to be a minimum of one page long.
The items that you will need to make sure you have included in the document are as follows:
Create a table showing new hires (minimum 6) and positions held
Table should have title and column headings
Select an attractive style for your table
Add a border style to your table
Sort the table alphabetically by last name
Insert a quote
Credit the source of the quote
Use WordArt for the title of the newsletter
Use two column format for the newsletter articles
Use one drop cap in the newsletter
Use column break as needed
Use a bulleted list for favorite products or services
Customize your bullets
Add and customize at least one graphic
You may need to look at some newsletters online to get an idea of what you might want to include in your document.
Please take this assignment and make it your document, and have some fun being creative
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