Kl Enterprises Worldwide Scenario This Work Identifies

KL Enterprises Worldwide

Scenario

This work identifies three IT enabled projects that have the highest priority for implementation in the company at focus for KL Enterprises Worldwide. As well taking on the role of the CEO a colleague in the executive committee and EVP of marketing and sales will be identified who it is felt will have a strong opinion in favor or against the selection and prioritization.

KL Worldwide Enterprises, Inc. is reported to have faced new business threats in 2005. KL Worldwide Enterprises, Inc. is a Boston-based sports apparel retailer. In 2005 lower cost production, capacities in China resulted in a tightening of margins as many similar sites sprang up. Information technology needed to be reinvented for KL for the purpose of improving production capacity and to enable integration of KL acquisitions. Demographic markets further created challenges and more zing was needed for the KL websites. Problems noted include that all KL, offices, and operations were using the "same general purpose application software" which included Microsoft XP, Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and SharePoint. While the company had a solid plan and had architecture that was uniform, the IT investments of the company had not been leveraged well. Specifically stated is that the company did not get the "best use of the collaborative technologies at hand" as the company was lacking both an intranet and enterprise portal. In addition it is noted that the company should spend more on production and sales related capabilities and less on ITS and if more was going to spent on IT then ROI justification should be demonstrated.

I. Scope of Project

The project is such that would leverage its IT investments and make best use of collaborative technologies including the development and implementation of an intranet and enterprise portal for KL Worldwide Enterprises. Included will be the updating of Information Technology infrastructure, as the present system is outdated. The communications network is priority for updating since the present IT technology is insufficient and the company is in need of technical networking that is more secure and flexible with real time and easy access to data and the ability to view financial management processes. Security is also a primary issue for the company.

Suggested for KL is the following solution:

IntelliEnterprise Version 10 -- This is an Intranet Modeler with a free web-based application that enables users to build a wireframe model of their Intranet. This contains industry-specific templates with drag and drop pages, modules as well as other components that assist with customization of the design for the specific organization based on that organization's needs. After the intranet model is drafted, the team is able to share the model with others in the organization and to receive feedback and promote buy-in. This model is fully clickable and allows end users to navigate the site as if the site had already been deployed so that they can better understand the layout and structure. Upon organizational approval and finalization of the model, this Intranet Factory can be generated with on click. It is easy for the organization to make changes to the navigation, structure, or layout once the model is deployed, and the site can be redeployed with one click and changes are applied. Included in the capabilities of IntelliEnterprise are the following:

(1) Daily Digest -- Users can decide what types of information they want to receive and how often they want to receive emails. For example, the user can decide to have all alerts and notifications combined into one daily or weekly email instead of receiving many individual emails.

(2) Weblog API -- Users can publish blog posts or other content directly from Microsoft Word 2007, with images uploaded and handled automatically.

(3) Employee Awards -- Awards given to employees can appear on the Intranet home page, as well as featured on employee profile pages.

(4) Extranet Invitations -- Users can invite external users into community sites and disable access when needed.

(5) Shared Content -- This library provides a central place to maintain and update images and other files used in multiple places on the Intranet.

(6) Image Gallery -- This gallery makes it easy to share photos and other images. A slide show option is included.

(7) Followers/Following -- User profiles show who the user is connected to, similar to Facebook and Twitter.

(8) Announcements -- Each department can have its own announcements. A RollUp mode combines announcements from different departments into one central location.