Baderman_Island_Resort__Software_Upgrade

Baderman Island Resort: Software Upgrade Project Overview In this project, Team B will evaluate the current word processing solution and offer a detailed outline to upgrade the word processing software at each building in the Baderman Island Resort. The Baderman Island Resort is a huge complex that consists of twelve separate buildings. The buildings are individually owned and operated but still fall under the control of Boardman Management Group. Each business building was opened at a different time and there are several different word processors on different operating systems at each building. In all there are 26 computers running Windows XP with Word XP, 38 computers running Windows 2000 with Word 2000 and 6 computers running Windows 98 with Word 97. Boardman Management Group has expressed their desire to have all of the new and enhanced features that are only available with a newly released word processing program. This will require an upgrade to several operating systems because of the incompatibility between new programs and Windows 98 (Microsoft Corp., 2011). The variety of hardware used does pose interesting obstacles and will force the Boardman Group to make further decisions to fully upgrade the word software as desired. Microsoft Word 2011 requires Windows XP with service pack 3, so to meet the service request additional upgrades must be made (Microsoft Corp., n.d.). Team B will address the complexity of multiple issues and answer the following questions: What is the purpose for the upgrade' Why is the upgrade a good business decision' Are there other viable options' What are the initial costs for such an upgrade' What benefits and features will come with the new software' What is the expected timeline for project completion' Other issues that will be explained will include; maintenance, training, testing, and Team B’s recommendation. Gathering information on the each of the twelve buildings will help determine project scope. Each building is operated differently and contains various versions of word processor software that is running on different operating systems. This may require an operating system upgrade in addition to the word processing software upgrade. In addition to the written proposal, Team B will provide a graphic timeline and a PowerPoint presentation that will support the best interest of Baderman Island Resort. Purpose The purpose of the upgrade is to afford each employee the same functionality when using Microsoft Word. While Microsoft does allow for backwards compatibility, it still will not allow older versions to create dynamic word documents. Users of older version may also have problems rending Word documents correctly due to the new document extension: DOCX. This could create a problem when working with customers, clients and vendors that are using an updated version. With this upgrade employees will be able to communicate better with each other as well as clients and vendors. A full migration to Word 2010 should be bundled with the rest of the Microsoft Office suite; these programs are designed to work well together to handle almost any business requirement. Business Requirement After successful upgrade, each workstation will have a word processor with all of the bells and whistles that upper management wants on a stable operating platform that most employees should be familiar with and can use almost immediately. With many of the current systems old and outdated; employees are forced to work with programs that are behind that of their competition. Some of the obvious benefits include: powerful co-editing tool that allow co-workers or clients to edit Word documents at the same time, regardless of whether you’re using the Windows or Mac version. Also, switching from one platform to another is easier because of better feature parity between the Mac and Windows suites (Macworld, 2010). By upgrading the software the employees can use the most up-to-date technology to exceed the world class service they already provide their guest and customers. References Macworld. (2010, Sept). Office 2011: Should you upgrade' Retrieved from http://www.macworld.com/article/154378/2010/09/office2011shouldyouupgrade.html Microsoft Corp.. (2011). About Microsoft Office 201. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/office-2010-frequently-asked-questions-HA101674631.aspx#System_Office_2010_2 Microsoft Corp.. (n.d.). Microsoft Office 2010 system requirements. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/microsoft-office-2010-system-requirements-HA101810407.aspx