case Study: Lark Resorts (Timeshare Company) For this assignment you will examine a case study and craft an executive summary describing how deploying Microsoft 365 applications and productivity solut

case Study: Lark Resorts (Timeshare Company)

For this assignment you will examine a case study and craft an executive summary describing how deploying Microsoft 365 applications and productivity solutions will address a company's IT and organizational needs. 

To complete this assignment:1. Review the company information and scenario below

Review and analyze the company details below. Think critically about the situation and organize your thoughts by:

• Listing the weaknesses in the company's IT infrastructure and technological work flow
• Identifying goals and objectives that need strong technology backing them
• Brainstorming possible solutions, drawing on your experiences with Microsoft applications in this class, your prior work experience, individual research, and what you learned about other Microsoft applications in Discussion Board #2

One good exercise is to imagine what your life would be like if you worked at this company. What aspects would frustrate you? Hinder your productivity? Above all, how would you fix this situation? For example, the administrative staff needs to be able to collaborate on documents across multiple locations. There are a couple of ways to solve this with Microsoft products, which one would you recommend and why? Will those applications address other problems?

2. Create your executive summary 

An executive summary gives readers a strong, clear argument in favor of a proposed business solution. They offer concrete suggestions while explaining how to begin implementing the recommendations or findings. It allows professionals to become acquainted with the main points and key action steps of a larger proposal for change in an organization.

After you have analyzed the situation and organized your thoughts, craft your executive summary.

Your summary should:

• Clearly explain to the board how adopting Office 365 and other Microsoft products will address current issues in the IT infrastructure and advance the company’s goals
• Outline the specific software applications that will be deployed
• Draw specific connections between application functionality and individual objectives/goals
• Emphasize the benefits of your proposed solution
• Use proper grammar and spelling
• Be at least 400 words (or more) so as to thoroughly address the topic with an appropriate level of detail

Photo by Murray Foubister via Flickr

BUSINESS PROFILE - LARK RESORTS

Lark Resorts, a timeshare company based out of Colorado, has two separate properties in the state that feature year-round access to a variety of outdoor activities and pursuits.

Between two properties at Vail and Telluride, the company manages over 200 luxury condominiums with a mix of furnished and unfurnished, and four different floor plans available. The facilities each have multiple restaurants and cafes, pools, retail storefronts, exercise facilities, business centers, and communal spaces for activities and meetings.

Business/IT Challenges

Lark Resorts is poised to expand into both Alaska and California with new facilities that mirror their properties in Colorado. Facing the increased challenge of multiple locations and the accompanying increase in personnel, leadership has decided they would like to streamline their current IT infrastructure to facilitate communication and productivity across the company.

Currently, employees use a wide range of Microsoft Office versions (2003 - 2010) and a small minority use Google Apps. A few employees are also using personal computers that have varying licenses, security, and features. The company stores documents on a central file server with no versioning capability, with some employees storing information locally on their own systems or in personal cloud storage like Dropbox. When employees need to collaborate on a document or project, they usually email it back and forth.

In addition to the above inefficiencies, stakeholders across the company have specific goals that will require a robust IT infrastructure to achieve. Some of these are:

StakeholderGoals

Board of Directors

• Expand the company with two new locations in different states
• Accurate information for framing business decisions including:
  • Analytics
  • Market projections
• Consistent quality standards and experience across the company and all locations

Sales force

• Meeting with clients around the world at any time
• Dynamic, current presentation materials accessible anywhere, anytime
• Easy system for client purchases/sign up
• Clear, up-to-date print and web materials explaining all aspects of timeshare ownership
• Creating of mailings, catalogs and other materials on an ad hoc basis

Administrative Support

• Easy collaboration on documents across locations
• Simple system for client registrations, cancellations, and trades
• Safe, secure cloud storage
• A stable version control system (VCS) for company documents
• Access to the latest company information and analytics

Property Managers

• Real-time booking and cancellation data
• Ability to effectively track, coordinate and communicate with the cleaning and maintenance staff
• Up-to date client information
• Accurate inventories (for instance furnished vs. unfurnished condos)