QMS Reference Documents-Report3 Franchisee Maintenance Strategy Report

Franchisee Maintenance Strategy Report

1.Purpose

This report outlines the Franchisee critical business processes at 4Phones and makes recommendations for maintenance strategies that minimise the levels of risk associated with a loss of business continuity.

2.Business process criticality

i.Methodology

The IT Unit interviewed franchisee Director Sam King to determine core business functions and underlying business processes for franchisees. Using a standardised checklist, Chris White guided Sam to rate the criticality of franchisee core business processes as either critical or non-critical. Maintenance strategies will support critical business processes.

ii.Results

The core business processes and their criticality for franchisees can be seen in Table 1.

Table 1: 4Phones Franchisee core business processes and business criticality

Franchisee core business processes /

Criticality

Downloading days trading figures to the head office server / C
Purchase PC’s through the IT department / N
Using the accounting system / C
Using the POS system / C
Using the customer database / N
Producing summary reports / N
Using the Franchisee database / N
Using workstations / C
Using the operating system / C
Purchasing hardware / N
Obtain company approved software / N
Checking file downloads for virus infection / C
Changing user passwords / N
Managing files / N
Using email / N
Backing up workstation data / C
Producing reports from the POS system / N
Using the Franshisee database / N
Using the customer database / N
Producing reports from the Franchisee database / N
Producing reports from the customer database / N

3.Risk analysis

i.Methodology

The franchisee critical business processes were analysed and critical IT infrastructure determined. The threats to IT infrastructure were determined as shown in Table 2.

ii.Results

Table 2: Threats to critical IT infrastructure

Critical IT infrastructure / Threats / Likelihood
Network / Power failure
Line failure
Component failure
Natural disaster
Fire
Virus infection / Very likely
Possible
Possible
Unlikely
Unlikely
Possible
Accounting system
Operating system / Malfunction of software
Loss or corruption of data
Virus infection
Sabotage / Possible
Very likely
Possible
Unlikely
PC-based POS system / Malfunction of hardware or software
Loss or corruption of data
Virus infection
Sabotage / Possible
Very likely
Possible
Unlikely
Workstation / Power failure
Cable failure
Component failure
Natural disaster
Fire
Theft / Very likely
Possible
Possible
Unlikely
Unlikely
Possible

4.Maintenance philosophy

The results of the risk analysis were analysed and a maintenance policy was developed for 4Phones. All maintenance decisions will be guided by the maintenance policy. The maintenance policy can be found in Appendix A of this report.

5.Audit

i.Methodology

Franchisee hardware and software was audited and existing inventories were updated. Warranty and maintenance agreement status was validated and recorded.

ii.Results

The results of the audit for the Ashfield franchise can be found in Appendix B.

6.Service level agreements

Service level agreements have been negotiated with franchisees based on agreed service requirements.

7.Maintenance strategy

The 4Phones maintenance strategy supports the strategic goals of the IT Unit.

Maintenance strategy

1. Maintain critical hardware through preventative maintenance measures
2. Maintain customised software and POS upgrades and e-commerce capabilities
3. Improve maintenance services.

8.Preventative maintenance schedule

A preventative maintenance schedule has been developed for the next year. All critical IT infrastructure will be put through this process over the coming year.

9.Maintenance procedures

Maintenance procedures have been developed for the following:

• Reporting service requests
• Standard response times
• Escalation procedures.

10.Help desk functions

Procedures have been developed for the establishment of the IT Help Desk. The IT Help Desk will implement industry best practices. The following recommendations have been made:

• Establish a goal to resolve 60-80% of service requests on the first call using support personnel.
• Develop a database of standard problem resolutions for the technicians and staff who want to try self-service. This should be accessed through the IT Intranet site.
• Allow users to track their service requests on the Intranet site.
• Adopt a change management approach by managing changes within the production environment particularly for in-house software and e-commerce implementations.
• Manage the help desk function according to the requirements of SLAs when they are developed.
• Automate the escalation of service requests.
• Have on-line access to hardware and software inventories.
• Identify SLAs impacted by interruptions to critical IT infrastructure and inform the relevant business units when related incidents are reported.

11.Summary

The development of a maintenance strategy is crucial for 4Phones. It ensures that IT maintenance services are aligned to the business. It also ensures that critical IT infrastructure is covered in the event of an interruption to business continuity.

12.Appendix A

Maintenance Policy

1. Only critical IT infrastructure will be covered by maintenance activities.
2. The IT Manager will make the final decision on the specific threats to critical IT infrastructure that will be prevented against, giving consideration to costs and recommendations from the risk analysis.
3. For critical IT infrastructure, maintenance agreements will be entered into with suppliers when warranties expire.
4. The type of maintenance agreement entered into will be decided after consideration is given to:

• The level of risk to business continuity should the IT infrastructure item fail
• The number of critical business processes the IT infrastructure item supports
• The cost of a 24/7 agreement compared to a per-call basis contract based on the previous year’s maintenance needs.

13.Appendix B

Ashfield franchise hardware audit

Computer name / Serial no. / Supplier / Model / Location / Allocated to / Warranty/
maintenance agreement? / Date coverage expires
Ash_DT04 / 765647 / Hytek / LM1 / Ash / Mike Donaldson / W / 15/2/2001
Ash_DT01 / 467889 / Hytek / Quant-V3 / Ash / Kathleen James / W / 01/10/2001
Ash_DT02 / 796565 / Hytek / Quant-V3 / Ash / Jennifer Su / W / 20/5/2001
Ash_DT05 / 676576 / Hytek / LM2 / Ash / Lai Young / W / 10/01/2002
Ash_DT06 / 664778 / Hytek / LM1 / Ash / Chaim Goldsmith / W / 18/03/2001

Network hardware audit

Computer name / Serial no. / Supplier / Model / Location / Allocated to / Warranty/
maintenance agreement? / Date coverage expires
NET_S01 / 222356 / HO / HO / MA / 5/2001
Ash_laser_01 / 005691 / Hytek / LaserJet 6L / Ash / Ash / W / 8/2001

Ashfield franchise software audit

Computer Name / Software / Licence Ref / Version / Warranty/
Maintenance agreement? / Date coverage expires
Ash_DT04 / Word / MS Office 95
Enterprise / 6.0 / N
Ash_DT04 / Excel / MS Office 95
Enterprise / 6.0 / N
Ash_DT04 / Powerpoint / MS Office 95
Enterprise / 6.0 / N
Ash_DT04 / PACS / none / 2.0 / N
Ash_DT04 / McAfee
Virus Checker / Corporate / 2.5b / N
Ash_DT04 / Netscape Communicator / Single / 4.0 / N
Ash_DT04 / Lotus Notes / Enterprise / 4.1 / N
Ash_DT04 / Acrobat Reader / Single / 4.0 / N
Ash_DT04 / WinZip / Single / 1.0 / W / 03/04/2001
Ash_DT04 / PAYEME / Site / 3.0.4 / N
Computer Name / Software / Licence Ref / Version / Warranty/
Maintenance agreement? / Date coverage expires
Ash_DT01 / Word / MS Office 98
Enterprise / 7.0 / W / 15/04/2001
Ash_DT01 / Excel / MS Office 98
Enterprise / 7.0 / W / 15/04/2001
Ash_DT01 / Powerpoint / MS Office 98
Enterprise / 7.0 / W / 15/04/2001
Ash_DT01 / PACS / none / 2.5b / N
Ash_DT01 / McAfee
Virus Checker / Corporate / 2.5b / N
Ash_DT01 / Netscape Communicator / Single / 5.0 / N
Ash_DT01 / Lotus Notes / Enterprise / 4.1 / N
Ash_DT01 / Acrobat Reader / Single / 4.0 / N
Ash_DT01 / WinZip / Single / 2.0 / N
Ash_DT01 / PAYEME / Site / 3.1.1 / N
Ash_DT02 / Word / MS Office 98
Enterprise / 7.0 / N
Ash_DT02 / Excel / MS Office 98
Enterprise / 7.0 / N
Ash_DT02 / PACS / none / 2.5b / N
Ash_DT02 / McAfee
Virus Checker / Corporate / 2.5b / N
Ash_DT02 / Netscape Communicator / Single / 5.0 / N
Ash_DT02 / Lotus Notes / Enterprise / 4.1 / N
Ash_DT02 / Acrobat Reader / Single / 4.0 / N
Ash_DT02 / PAYEME / Site / 3.1.1 / N
Ash_DT05 / Word / MS Office 95
Enterprise / 6.0 / N
Ash_DT05 / Excel / MS Office 95
Enterprise / 6.0 / N
Ash_DT05 / PACS / none / 2.5b / N
Ash_DT05 / McAfee
Virus Checker / Corporate / 2.5b / N
Ash_DT05 / Netscape Communicator / Single / 5.0 / N
Ash_DT05 / Lotus Notes / Enterprise / 4.1 / N
Ash_DT06 / Excel / MS Office 95
Enterprise / 6.0 / N
Ash_DT06 / Lotus Notes / Enterprise / 4.1 / N
Network software
NET_S01 / Accounting system / Corporate / 4.0 / MA / 06/2002
NET_S01 / POS / Corporate / 2.1 / MA / 03/2001
NET_S01 / Franchisee database / Developed in-house / 3.0 / N/a
NET_S01 / Customer database / Developed in-house / 2.1 / N/a
NET_S01 / NT Workstation / Site / N