Overview:

Create a two-slide PowerPoint presentation (include a third slide for APA citations) designed to convince a key business stakeholder of the value of a proposed IT solution. Have your presentation reviewed by a peer and prepare a summary of their review as part of your submission.

Note: Developing a business proposal requires specific steps that need to be executed in a sequence. The assessments in this course are presented in sequence and must be completed in order.

In business today, it is seldom that you will be given the resources needed to develop an IT solution without first presenting your proposal to decision-makers. But the proposal alone is not enough. Typically, you also must deliver a “pitch” of your proposal to key decision-makers.

To make a presentation effective, you must think about the needs of the key individuals. Usually, a presentation has a very limited timeframe.

In this assessment, your presentation is limited to two presentation slides to ensure that you are succinct. You also must understand your key talking points and how they will be delivered to these stakeholders so that they will be willing to give you the necessary resources.

Suggested Resources

The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.

Effective Communication to Stakeholders

To make presentations effective, you must think about the needs of these key individuals. Usually, the presentation has a very limited time frame. So, in this week, your presentation is limited to two presentation slides to ensure that you are succinct. You also need to understand your key talking points and how they will be delivered to these stakeholders, so that they will be willing to give you the necessary resources.

Many people are not able to move their IT solution proposals forward, because they think that simply identifying the problem and outlining the solution will be enough to convince decision-makers that their answer is correct. But in reality, more than just your ideas need to be considered. How are you meeting key business needs? How will your solution help the business or organization meet its goals? Most decision-makers must decide between many competing demands for resources. Why should your IT solution be funded, as opposed to other business needs? Why will your IT solution benefit the business or organization more than other proposals?

Remember that you have a limited amount of time to present your ideas. Think about your audience members and what they want to hear.

Use your What’s the Future of Business? text to read the following:

• Chapter 5, “The Dim Light at the End of the Funnel.”
• Chapter 6, “The Zero Moment of Truth.”
• Chapter 7, “The Ultimate Moment of Truth.”
• Chapter 8, “Opening a Window Into New Consumerism.”

Assessment instructions:

Note: Developing a business proposal requires specific steps that need to be executed in a sequence. The assessments in this course are presented in sequence and must be completed in order.

Preparation

You will create only two slides using PowerPoint. More importantly, you will need to prepare the appropriate talking points that will convince the business stakeholder that your IT solution is one they should support. Remember, this business stakeholder will determine whether you get the resources you need to actually develop the solution you are proposing. In this presentation, you need to think about the business stakeholder’s goals and needs.

Instructions

Be sure to include the following in your slides:

• Identify a business problem and develop an IT solution.
• Analyze the business and customer needs, so that you can advocate for an IT solution.
• Develop a presentation that succinctly describes the business problem and your IT solution. This presentation should be designed to convince a key business stakeholder of the value of your proposal.

This assignment has two parts: 1) develop an initial PowerPoint slides that you present to a peer, and 2) revise the PowerPoint slides based upon peer feedback with comments that explain the reasons for the changes on the slides. You will eventually submit this presentation in its final form in Assessment 5.

Consider the following while creating your presentation:

• What will be most convincing to the stakeholder?
• Potential business stakeholder(s) issues.
• Consider both human resource needs and new information technology requirements. The cultural and societal impacts are as important as the technology impact.
• Hardware.
• Software.
• Infrastructure/networking.
• Security safeguards.
• Human resources.
• Training.
• Maintenance.

Part 1: Initial Presentation

For the first part of this assignment, do the following:

• Prepare a two-slide PowerPoint presentation.
• Choose a peer in your workplace or a friend who is an IT professional to whom you will give the presentation.
• Use any technology that allows you to meet in a synchronous environment (Skype, Google Hangouts, phone call, or others) if the presentation is being done virtually rather than face to face.
• Present your proposal to your peer. Limit the presentation to 15 minutes. The peer will respond to your presentation as if they were a business manager, deciding whether to fund the IT solution,
• As the business analyst, keep notes about what portion of the presentation was convincing and which parts of the proposal needed to be strengthened to meet your business goals.

Part 2: Revised Presentation

After presenting to your peer, complete part 2 of this assignment:

• Revise your two-slide PowerPoint presentation used to influence and convince technology business decision makers to sign off on the resources needed for your IT solution.
  • Provide comments to indicate the reason for revisions you made on the slides.
  • Provide written excerpts and/or audio summaries of your presentation and feedback from your peer.
• Cite any sources used on a third slide of the presentation.
• Make sure your presentation is professionally written and free of errors, and that APA formatting is applied to the citations.

Submit both presentation files from Part 1) Initial Presentation and Part 2) Revised Presentation to this assignment.

Additional Requirements

Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA style and formatting found in the Capella Writing Center.
Number of resources: Minimum of four resources.
Length of presentation: Two slides for the proposal plus additional slides in an appendix to meet the requirements of this assignment.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competencies Measured

• Competency 1: Examine business goals to determine benefits from information technology and information systems.
  • Identify a business problem and develop an IT solution.
  • Analyze the business and customer needs to advocate for an IT solution.
• Competency 5: Communicate effectively using professional standards appropriate to the IT field.
  • Develop a presentation that succinctly describes the business problem and the IT solution.
  • Follow APA guidelines for resources and citations, and create a document that is clearly and professionally written and generally free of grammatical errors.