Answer

IT Business Application Case Study

Abstract

            Due to the need to work from home, the company Miniworks had to adopt to the work from home style which was previously not available. This move resulted in a series of problems and challenges faced by the organizations, including reduced productivity, poor workflow and communication, and increasing customer dissatisfaction levels. In an attempt to resolve this business problem, the company chose Workpuls application to present an IT solution that would ensure all the challenges are effectively dealt with.

Introduction

            After the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies across the world were forced to shut down, while others had to adopt a system where the employees worked from home. Miniworks Company is a financial consultant company that serves companies, groups, and even individuals. That means that its employees need to constantly have meeting updates before offering the consultation with clients. Before the pandemic, the company thrived on teamwork because it meant that employees had to work together to brainstorm on the best financial solutions and directions for clients. Unfortunately, after the pandemic the company faced a series of challenges that prevented effective team work, and even the upholding of the company culture.

Business Problem Identified

            After the pandemic and the need to work remotely, the company suffered due to reduced performance and unsatisfactory service feedbacks. The clients were no longer happy with the service being offered. Most of the complaints revolved around the unavailability of employees during working hours. The set virtual meetings were proving futile even though it seemed like it was the best option given the health considerations of all parties involved. Immediately the management realised that there was a problem with the freedom and lack of monitoring of employees since they were working from home. It was difficult to establish what they were doing when not dealing with clients directly. Thus, many never went through the dashboard and memos to know if they have a meeting that they should be preparing for. Additionally, reaching employees through phone calls was quite hectic for the company since it was expensive and many were often unreachable. Therefore, it was evident that a solution is needed to ensure that even though employees are working remotely, they can still be monitored to ensure they complete their roles as needed.

Expected Deliverable from the Business Process

            It is expected that once a solution is implemented, the employees will be able to maintain their productivity just as they would while working from the office. That is because the management will be able to tell whether an employee is working or not even though they may be at home. Since a system will be put in place to enable the employees to sign in and out of the work dashboard, all those who do not work will be identified (Khan, Jhanjhi & Humayun, 2020). When taking a break the application will be designed to detect inactivity in the dashboard, thereby signing off. In addition, the system will be designed in such a way that real-time monitoring is enabled. It will ensure that the management can follow up on employee activities on the dashboard at all times.

            Another important deliverable relates to the use of applications and websites during work hours. Since the company system will be installed in their computers, it will be possible to determine which applications they are using during work hours. The frequency of use and overall amount of time spent on the applications will be recorded and summarised per day (Khan, Jhanjhi & Humayun, 2020). Thus, the management will know which employees are getting distracted, and by what. The summary will categorise the applications and websites as either productive or unproductive. For example, MS Word is considered to be a productive application since it is the writing pad where employees type in their ideas and even use for the development of project proposals. On the other hand, Facebook is an unproductive application. That means that the employee will not be engaging in any work related activities, but rather getting distracted. This analysis is expected to be a starting point of performance appraisals which managers can use to promote good behaviour, and correct any misbehaviours that the employees may showcase.

The Selected IT Application, Features and Benefits

            The IT application that best suits the needs of the current organization is Workpuls. It can be purchased through the website at https://www.workpuls.com/remote-workers. It is an application that enables the monitoring and time-tracking of remote workers (Workpuls, 2020). Through this application, the management can effectively track the time and attendance of employees from anywhere. It calculates the time spent working, and even records the time of signing in and out of work. The break time is also highlighted and factored in during the analysis. This is quite beneficial for the company as it will ensure that any individual who does not work is identified and dealt with appropriately (Khan, Jhanjhi & Humayun, 2020). Also, the design ensures that employees actually work even though they are not in the office. It will be difficult for them to pretend that they are working when in reality they are doing other personal activities.

            Second, this application has features that ensure employee productivity is improved. It tracks the applications and websites that the employees use during working hours (Workpuls, 2020). The record includes how frequently the applications are used, and how much time is spent on them. Some applications are required for work, while others may not be considered effective for work. This application takes note of the category that each application or website falls into. Thereby, it summarises the productivity through chats and reports. It is an important feature which ensures that management can easily review employee productivity at the end of the day (Khan, Jhanjhi & Humayun, 2020). The summary through chats and reports is important because it saves time that would have been spent trying to make sense of the data collected for each employee. These can simply be compared to rank which employees have been the most productive, and which ones have not.

            Third, the application has an additional feature involving the proof of work. Screenshots of employee’s desktops are taken randomly by Workpuls (Workpuls, 2020). The management may also request for on-demand screenshots. In addition, a summary of specific business related activities are also provided for future reference. This is beneficial for the current company since it provides proof of what is being done, at what time, and for how long. The company is able to make future strategic decisions based on this information since it is likely to note a trend that will enable an identification of activities that trigger unexpected results, and those that are not influencing revenue in any way (Khan, Jhanjhi & Humayun, 2020). Differentiation can be designed based on this information to gain a competitive edge.

            Lastly, the application enables organization of projects by breaking down major projects into smaller tasks (Workpuls, 2020). Thereafter, in terms of priority, each task is assigned to individual employees who are supposed to be working as a team to complete it. Therefore, each employee will receive a reminder or notification of their role, and what the eventual goal of the project should be. A time frame is set for each project and tasks to ensure that no time is wasted (Khan, Jhanjhi & Humayun, 2020). This is a beneficial feature since it will promote profitability by ensuring proper use of the time resource. In addition, each individual can be held accountable for a task that has not been completed by the set date and time.

Disaster Recovery and Continuity Planning

            Continuity planning is an important strategy that every business should consider. It ensures that operations can continue even if a service outage or downtime is experienced (Soufi,  Torabi & Sahebjamnia, 2019). The disaster recovery plan works to restore the data and any critical applications after a disaster has occurred. Hence, the two strategies should be balanced for the optimum occurrence. The new application Workpuls supports the business process since it features a backup system where all the data is stored. Therefore, this backup is what will kick-start once the disaster has been resolved (Soufi, Torabi & Sahebjamnia, 2019). That is because the employees work through a dashboard which constantly captures screenshots and takes a record of the activities being handled, and for which clients. The progress can also be checked through the application. Hence, it presents a long term back up system for recovery since all records are stored for up to one year before finally being deleted automatically.

Conclusion

            The business problem involving employee monitoring can be effectively resolved through the IT application solution identified. The application Workpuls has various capabilities that enable the management to monitor employees who are working remotely almost as if they are in the same office. The management will check on employee’s progress at any time needed. In addition, tasks can be delegated through the system to ensure effective completion of projects.