Problem-Based Learning Scenario

U.S. Sports Fanatics, LLC is a company that has been going strong, and demand for its popular goods among the sports-hungry fans is high. It has existed for 16 years. After reviewing proper data and statistics, the company needs to address issues in its response for better future requirements of the business. When the chief executive officer (CEO) noticed that something had to be done to accommodate the progressive growth of sales and increased customer base, locally and out of state, he and the rest of the management team decided to instill confidence by transforming their current enterprise system architecture (ESA) and information technology (IT) infrastructure to a better venue. Revamping of the IT infrastructure is an important need, and it will help with the transition from a mediocre IT infrastructure to the very latest state-of-the-art information technology platform.

Of course, any organization would love the top-of-the-line technology, but this all depends on the budget of U.S. Sports Fanatics. The gist of the upgrade that is needed is based on the fact that growth of the business has quadrupled. The gains and income have ballooned to new heights. Initial funding is not a problem, but maintaining the investment is the issue of the needed remodeling of the enterprise system architecture and IT infrastructure.

The chief information officer (CIO) has convinced the CEO to also expand their existence online and to be an e-commerce and e-business effective immediately. Both the CEO and CIO have decided on the expansion of the business and have made plans to move to a new building and require major upgrades in the facilities and information technology infrastructure.

Because of the popularity of the product that the store has, management decided to expand their inventory and implement a good database system and install methodology to transform the operating model to another type. Both the CEO and CIO are in complete agreement on the difficult and demanding task that lies ahead of them.

Currently, the enterprise system architecture and IT infrastructure have been bypassed as a stagnant and ineffective method of practice of business. Also, more policies and guidelines must be established with the way privileges are given to staff and managers to access available data. U.S. Sports Fanatics has to restructure its line of business to accommodate the excessive overhead caused by the lack of proper business venture that it runs. The human resources (HR) department has had a multitude of issues running their regular business with their staff because of a very outdated systems and impractical database use. As a consulting team of information technology and enterprise system architecture, you have to help U.S. Sports Fanatics reach its goal and implement all of its important needs. The time frame and deadline of effective renovations of the business IT infrastructure and enterprise systems architecture is mounting a complex challenge to you and to U.S. Sports Fanatics. It needs help in upgrading the following:

1. Evaluate the current enterprise system architecture and IT infrastructure for U.S. Sports Fanatics, LLC

2. Develop a course of action based on the resources that enterprise system architecture and IT infrastructure are supported and used at U.S. Sports Fanatics, LLC

3. Design the course of action and apply the solution with extreme caution and specificity

4. Implement the solutions, and make sure you run the two systems in parallel until the transitioning is a smooth process

5. Debrief and assess the implementation of the solution with an eye towards the future requirements of U.S. Sports Fanatics, LLC

6. Maintain the current and future status quo of transactions with a superb analysis of sales, backup, purchasing, budgeting, payroll, HR, and databases

7. Delegate authority to U.S. Sports Fanatics, LLC staff to fully cooperate with the consultant to reach a solution to the massive changes in U.S. Sports Fanatics, LLC

8. Analyze and compare the progression of the upgrade and expansion process very closely, and keep monitoring the status as the process is being installed to the U.S. Sports Fanatics, LLC's main source of business?