Jackson Insurance and Title Company, Essay Example

Jackson Title and Insurance Company are having some difficulties with their data processing projects. These difficulties include poor project definition and poor participation on the part of the end user as well as poor programming quality of DP’s output. Mark Suturana introduced two ways to deal with these issues. First he wanted to implement a process in which the end user would be involved with the front end of the project, rather than a crash course in how to use the project after it was completed. The second idea was to create a position for a quality assurance manager who would approve the initial steps of the projects and also review each additional step.

It is apparent that a control system is necessary and this would be a good control system for the company. The first process would allow the project to be more defined and elicit more participation from the end user ensuring the project is completed to the end user’s expectations. Implementing a quality assurance manager would help the project to be of better quality and also be more controlled and organized.

This would also be a good control point even if only one aspect of the project’s objective is using DP. Due to Mark’s procedure of having the end user involved from the beginning of the project, the project will be better understood by the company through the expectations of the end user. The end-user of a project will have to participate which means that they could also offer input to the project as it is completed. Their expectations are more likely to be met in this manner.

Even from the viewpoint of a non DP manager, Mark’s ideas are very important. When the owner’s of the project are allowed input from start to finish it will be more likely that they will be satisfied with the project when it is finished. Also, having a quality assurance manager to keep the project on task but also enlisting quality in the process is important to any type of project.

Scope creep could become a problem with this new system. With the end user being more involved, the project definition may change multiple times leading to continuous growth or uncontrolled changes within the project. Having a quality assurance manager who is constantly reviewing the steps that are being taken on the project could also increase scope creep due to the changes that may be necessary to produce quality work.