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Most organizations spend vast sums on information technology to gather, manipulate, store, and use the information and data they gather. Yet, as these authors point out, managing this resource entails protecting it and complying with all laws and regulations. The authors prescribe ten best practices that should allow an organization to protect its data and comply with the law.

Excel spreadsheet for product 9B05M066.

Jay Nielson has done charity work in India with AKKA International for a number of years. After a recent trip, the president of AKKA proposed that Nielson enter into a joint venture with AKKA to provide information technology outsourcing services to American companies. AKKA was willing to provide $100,000 in seed money to fund the venture. Nielson must decide whether he wants to undertake this challenge and what it would take to make it work. This also poses an ethical dilemma for him: Should he risk losing the much-needed funds in the hope of bettering a number of lives or request the seed money be used to provide direct services to the most needy?

Paybox.net AG was the world's first mass-marketable mobile payment system. Launched in 1999 at the height of the dotcom boom, it had been steadily losing ground. The company's founder, and architect of the technology underlying Paybox, must decide if his product has a future, and if so, what the market strategy should be.

Jay Nielson has done charity work in India with Akka International for a number of years. After a recent trip, the president of Akka proposed that Nielson enter into a joint venture with Akka to provide information technology outsourcing services to American companies. Akka was willing to provide $100,000 in seed money to fund the venture. Nielson must decide if he wants to undertake this challenge and what it would take to make this work. This also poses an ethical dilemma for him. Should he risk losing the much-needed funds in the hope of bettering a number of lives, or request the seed money be used to provide direct services to the most needy?

Paybox.net AG was the world's first mass-marketable mobile payment system. Launched in 1999 at the height of the dot-com boom, it has been steadily losing ground. The company's founder, and architect of the technology underlying Paybox, must decide if his product has a future and, if so, what the market strategy should be.

Fidelis is a large Canadian bank with several e-mail systems. The director of E-messaging must decide if it should standardize on one or more systems. He must analyze the various systems with costs for potential solutions ranging from $18 million to $100 million, and consider system complexity, technological nuances, and tradeoffs with technology standardization.

Ji'nan Broadcasting Corporation is a public television broadcaster in one of China's provinces. The company is working on a new market opportunity to provide data and voice telecommunication services to the majority of the province's businesses and inhabitants. Currently, no data services are provided in this province and only one competitor offers voice services. The project is behind schedule, over budget and under specification. The project manager must decide which steps to take next in order for the project to succeed.

Ji'nan Broadcasting Corporation, Shandong province's public broadcaster, is entering the data and voice transmission markets. The company is preparing for an initial public offering in 2005 and must show strong, positive growth. The most likely source of that growth is expected to come from Shandong's under-served business sector. Currently, no data services are available and only one company provides voice services. The data and voice project's scope indicates that multiple vendors might be needed. For an upcoming meeting with Nortel Network's account sales manager, the project manager must provide recommendations on vendors, equipment and network specification options.

DPSC created and marketed a range of compliance software to banks. Nine months after DPSC was purchased by Netzee, Netzee was in financial trouble. Since Netzee had purchased DPSC, DPSC's founder felt that Netzee had not fully utilized the potential of DPSC. He wanted to share his assessment of the merger and thoughts on future strategy with the new Netzee chief executive officer.

The Richard Ivey School of Business had recently introduced a wireless network and required all students to purchase laptops and network cards. After a year of use, the faculty decided to restrict laptop usage in class by disallowing the use of network cards. They felt the students were using the network cards for unrelated activities in class and that this was compromising the learning process. Reaction from the students was mixed, with some students quite vocal about the (un)fairness of this new policy. The section head for one of the MBA sections knew that finding a long-term solution would be a difficult process. There were valid points in the arguments to both restrict and not restrict the use of the cards. She had to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages in order to make a recommendation to the faculty at a section meeting the following day.

Medisys Health Group, a leading occupational health company, was founded in 1981. It began to look at the North American market for expansion, seeking ways to leverage the Internet to become a leading medical information management company. With a couple of Internet projects on the go, it is up to the director of Internet strategy to explain how each piece fits into the overall business strategy. He contemplates shifting the business from the provision of medical services to the provision of information using an application service provider model. This case may be used in conjunction with Ivey case 9A98E011, Creating a Web Site for Medisys Health Group.

The president and CEO of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) is faced with the task of reconstructing the TSE to succeed in the face of significant industry and technological change. The exchange industry is undergoing a transformation brought about by globalization of financial markets, consolidation of exchanges, and the introduction of new competitive players due to technological advancements. The TSE is Canada's largest equity market and has created and started to implement a plan to deal with these threats. Concurrently, the TSE has been recreating its technological platform, moving from its computer assisted trading system to the Torex system purchased from the Paris Bourse. Implementation problems have delayed the project from its original release date to three years later. During the time frame of this implementation, the TSE suffered several computer glitches causing closure of the exchange for temporary periods of time. The president and CEO needs to review the priorities of the TSE and consider what actions she should take to ensure the successful implementation of this new technology, and the long term alignment of information technology with TSE business strategies.

Sheldon Elman, founder and CEO of Medisys Health Group, Inc., a corporate health care services provider, has decided the company needs a web presence. France Mailhot, the vice president of operations, has been given the task of carrying out this idea. In order to do so, she must determine the company's needs with respect to a web site, set achievable, measurable performance objectives, and otherwise see to the implementation and administration of the site. She faces two main challenges: obtaining the necessary information and creating consensus in the organization. The case forces readers to consider the role of the Internet in a service organization's marketing strategy, and the possible impediments that need to be overcome in order to be successful.

Canadian Tire's information warehouse has become the victim of its own success. Both the end-user and IT communities have become increasingly frustrated with interruptions in service. The data architect for the warehouse needs to decide what needs to be met, in what priority, and with what programs.

Cisco is the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of routers and switches. In order to achieve this position, it has adopted an aggressive growth strategy, acquiring companies, their employees, and new employees at a rate of 250 to 300 employees per month. The Cisco Employee Connection (CEC), a corporate intranet, is the primary means by which new employees are absorbed and acculturated. The CEC is also the principal means of interaction for the multi-functional work team approach Cisco employs. This case critically assesses this approach to scaling an organization and the extent to which it can be maintained and transferred.

TSAT A/S is a small, global satellite communications manufacturer based in Oslo, Norway. The company is a niche player, specializing in VSAT (very small aperture terminal) satellite networks for mostly SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) applications. The case is written from the perspective of the marketing manager for Southern Europe and Latin America. The company is looking to expand into Latin America--the second fastest growing market in the world for VSAT applications. The marketing manager has identified three possible means by which to do so, and must decide which option is best. This case is useful for introducing satellite communications technology and for discussing channel choices and the diffusion of technological products. As such, it is best suited for undergraduate and graduate courses in data or telecommunications and marketing strategy.

The founder and CEO of Medisys Health Group Inc., a corporate health care services provider, has decided the company needs a web presence. The vice president of operations, has been tasked with carrying out this idea. In order to do so, she must determine the company's needs with respect to a web site, set achievable, measurable performance objectives, and otherwise see to the implementation and administration of the site. She faces two main challenges: obtaining the necessary information, and creating consensus in the organization. The case forces readers to consider the role of the Internet in a service organization's marketing strategy, and the possible impediments which need to be overcome in order to be successful.

CERNET, the China Education and Research Network, is a not-for-profit, central government body formed to oversee the development and implementation of a university-based nationwide Internet backbone. By 1997, fulfilling this mandate was well underway. CERNET was connected to 280 of China's 3,035 universities and colleges. Much work nonetheless remained. The case deals with managing the growth of the network from the perspective of the director of the Technical Board and Network Centre. Issues he had to contend with include hardware and bandwidth upgrades and installations, access, security, connectivity, costs, and tariffs. With over half the country's population not yet having made their first telephone call, these tasks proved daunting.

Cisco is the world's largest, and leading manufacturer and distributor of routers and switches. In order to achieve this position, it has adopted an aggressive growth strategy, acquiring companies, their employees, and new employees at a rate of 250 to 300 employees per month. The Cisco Employee Connection (CEC), a corporate intranet, is the primary means by which new employees are absorbed and acculturated. The CEC is also the principal means of interaction for the multi-functional work team approach Cisco employs. This case critically assesses this approach to scaling an organization, and the extent to which it can be maintained and transferred.