After the CEO reviewed your recommendation, he asked you to review the business application, the ERP system, and provide a system management plan. This plan provides the executive team with the details of a new or upgraded system implementation and helps to decide if it’s a viable solution for the business. A plan of this nature is typically 4 to 5 pages in length with charts when appropriate.

Develop
a system management plan for a new enterprise system for International Plastics, Inc. Ensure you:

• Incorporate an ERP, CRM, Supply Chain Management (SCM), and data management into the International Plastics’ IT infrastructure.
• Summarize how software applications utilize the IT infrastructure.
• Describe the ethical and regulatory concerns associated with the plan.
• Classify each regulatory concern by its risk and potential impact.
• Justify the plan in the context of improved business performance.
• Address current trends and security concerns.

Narrative Descriptions of Network Diagrams for International Plastics Inc.

The set of network diagrams for International Plastics Inc. consists of five (5) diagrams. They are as follows:

1) International Plastics Inc. – Network Overview

a) This diagram shows the 4 physical locations of International Plastics Inc. interconnected by a WAN. The WAN connection between corporate headquarters and the China facility is specifically defines as a satellite link. Along with the location pictorial is a listing of the main functions taking place at that location, and also the number of current employees at that location.

2) International Plastics Inc. Corporate Headquarters

a) The network diagram for the corporate headquarters is really a composite of a number of sections: Note the backbone base for this location is 100baseT

i) The administration section. Displays the main operational functions: Corporate, HR, etc. with a computer icon that defines the current number of employees in that function, and a description of the computer. There are 36 VOIP telephones in this section.

ii) The R&D function, which has 1000baseF network backbone and is totally a MAC based environment. There are 15 employees each with their computers; the section includes 3 high-end color printers and a plotter. The 1000baseF network is connected to the corporate LAN through a switch.

iii) The servers and an NAS. The servers include WIN server, a WIN Exchange server, a UNIX server, which hosts the corporate SAP ERP SW. All the servers are IBM servers: the WIN servers are IBM HS20 blade servers and the main UNIX server is an IBM p series.

iv) An UPS is provided to prove backup power for the server room.

v) The last section is the communications environment, which has two main parts: the data link to the Satellite base station through a switch and a VOIP router to connect the two facilities with voice. The satellite operates in Ka band and is setup to handle an OC1 data rate with end-to-end encryption. The second part of the communications environment is a router to provide a T3 connection through a firewall to the outside network.

3) International Plastics Inc. – Albany, GA Network Diagram

a) The Albany network includes 20 office computers for the administration people in the facility. The local server is an HP BL460P blade server, which handles local print; file, exchange and interfaces back to the home office. A local NAS system provides local data backup. A 5KVA UPS is provides for power backup. A link to the router/firewall provides the T2 connection to the outside network. Internally the factory floor is connected to the main LAN through a 24 port Cisco switch.

4) International Plastics Inc. – Pontiac MI Network Diagram

a) The Pontiac network includes 45 office computers for the administration people in the facility. The local server is an HP BL460P blade server, which handles local print; file, exchange and interfaces back to the home office. A local NAS system provides local data backup. A 5KVA UPS is provides for power backup. A link to the router/firewall provides the T2 connection to the outside network. Internally the factory floor is connected to the main LAN through a 24 port Cisco switch.

5) International Plastics Inc. China Headquarters

a) The network diagram for the China facility is a composite of a number of sections: Note the backbone base for this location is 100baseT

i) The administration section. Displays the main operational functions: Corporate, HR, etc. with a computer icon that defines the current number of employees in that function, and a description of the computer. There are 35 VOIP telephones in this section.

ii) The R&D function, which has 1000baseF network backbone and is totally a MAC based environment. There are 15 employees each with their computers; the section includes 3 high-end color printers and a plotter. The 1000baseF network is connected to the corporate LAN through a switch.

iii) The servers and an NAS. The servers include WIN server, a WIN Exchange server, a UNIX server, which interfaces to the corporate SAP ERP SW. All the servers are IBM servers: the WIN servers are IBM HS20 blade servers and the main UNIX server is an IBM p series.

iv) An UPS is provided to prove backup power for the server room.

b) The last section is the communications environment, which has two main parts: the data link to the Satellite base station through a switch and a VOIP router to connect the two facilities with voice. The satellite operates in Ka band and is setup to handle an OC1 data rate with end-to-end encryption. The second part of the communications environment is a router to provide a T3 connection through a firewall to the outside network.

Copyright © 2017 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

Ethernet

Satellite dish

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International Plastics, Inc. – China Headquarters

Corp

Marketing

Finance

HR

R&D
Network

MAC
PRO
(15)

Dual 1.8 GB
1 Ghz 6 core
12 GB Ram
1 TB HD
27″ monitors

Satellite base station

NAS
Iomega
P800M

24 Port Hub
Linksys EF2H24

WIN
Exchange
Server

WIN
Network
Server

UNIX
ERP/MRP
Server
ERP = SAP

UPS:
Serve the entire server room; additional UPS in satellite base station.

IBM
pSeries
6E4 Multipocessor
16GB RAM
1 TB HD

2 ea IBM
HS20
Blade Svrs
2 X XEON
2.8 GHz
1 GB RAM

1 GB Fiber backbone

3 ea Phaser 6700 color Printers

1000 base T

35 ea Dell
Vostro
i3 3.3 Ghz
4 GB RAM
500 GB HD
WIN 7 OS
Office 200

7

12

8

8
7

2 ea 24 port switches
Cisco 2950

35 IP
Phones

Gateway/Switch

1 HP Plotter

Identical to other WIN servers

VOIP/Data
Router

T3 to
outside network

Gateway/Switch
VOIP/Data
Router

Ka Band
ATM AA1 PVC 51.8 Mb data rate, AES end-to-end

8 HP Laserjet BW printers – P3015dn
2 in each department

Ethernet

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Disk array

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Legend�

Legend Subtitle�

Symbol�

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Description�

Cisco Router
2900

T3 connection to corporate

UPS

HP Laserjet Pro MFN
M425dn

NAS Disk array

Cat 5 cable

45 client computers with Windows 7 and MS office 2007
4 Network Printers
Cat 5 cabling in building

45 office computers
Dell Vostro
I3 3.3 GHz
4 GB RAM
500 MB HD

Manufacturing
Floor

48 Port patch panels

Connection to
Corp.

Fiber link for NAS

2 – HP Laserjet M602n

HP CP4225n
Color Laser Printer

Blade Server
HP – BL 460 P
Print, file, Exchange, local ERP back to home office

Cisco Catylst 3580 Ethernet switch 48 port

Cisco catalyst 3560
Ethernet switch 24 port

APC Smart-UPS
5000 VA USB & Serial 220VAC

International Plastics, Inc.
Pontiac, MI Network Diagram

UPDATED NETWORK DIAGRAMS: JUSTIFICATION, RISKS, AND MITIGATIONS 6

Justification of the changes to the network diagrams, risks, and mitigations

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Professor’s Name

Course Name and Code

Date

Justification for the changes made to the network diagrams

Introduction

A network system should have a properly functional infrastructure in order to achieve its purpose and ensure optimal performance as well. For this reason, it is proper that staffing be adequate to handle the required technological maneuvers. Besides, the network system should be running on the latest technology available so that it does not suffer from the demerits of obsolete technology. This is because the world of technology keeps evolving especially in this era where quantum computing, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, machine learning, and virtual reality are the topics of pondering.

Changes to the International Plastics Inc. – Network Overview

The original diagram shows how possibly the headquarters is understaffed in comparison to the overwhelming number of employees are the subsidiaries. Since there is a higher number of employees at the subsidiaries, totaling 425, the headquarters, which currently has just 125 employees, should have at least have 50% of the total staffing at the subsidiaries. This should make the staffing at the headquarter about 212, an increment of 87 (69.5%). This is with a general assumption that the subsidiaries are performing at the optimum with their current staffing.

Changes to the International Plastics Inc. Corporate Headquarters

The backbone connection has been changed from 100baseT to 1000baseT so that more connections can be interlinked simultaneously and making the communication process essentially faster (Margaret, 2020). In addition, video cameras have been added to the network system so easy surveillance and monitoring. Backup serves have also been added to aid with data security. A firewall has been added and updated.

Changes to International Plastics Inc. – Albany, GA Network Diagram

The link to the outside network connections has been updated to be a T3 connection instead of a T2 connection. This is because a T3 connection is faster by about 43 Mbps (Baxter, 2017). This can boost the speed of the connections better. Additionally, surveillance cameras and backup servers have also been added to the network system. The firewall has also been updated.

Changes to International Plastics Inc. – Pontiac MI Network Diagram

The connection to corporate headquarters has been updated from a T2 to a T3 connection in order to boost the connection speed. Surveillance cameras and backup servers have also been added to the local area network system. Firewall updates have also been made.

Changes to International Plastics Inc. China Headquarters

The backbone connection has been updated from 100baseT to 100baseT in order to provide faster connections with more interlinking. Surveillance cameras and backup servers have also been added to the local area network system. A firewall has been added and updated as well.

Risks to the Network

The following risks have been identified concerning the network for International Plastics Inc.:

1. Susceptibility to unrecoverable loss of data – This is because the networking system did not incorporate the use of backup servers both at the subsidiaries and also at the corporate headquarters level.

2. Untraceable physical security breach – this is because there were no surveillance cameras in the networking system. This practically put the company into a blind spot.

3. Risk of slow connection speeds – this is because some of the networking components were running on outdated technology, such as a T2 connection while currently there are more superior technologies like T3 connection.

4. Risk of cybercrime – this is a risk that any computer-based institution remains susceptible to no matter the level of its advancement. Incidences like DoS (Denial of Service) and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, phishing, etc can befall International Plastics Inc. too.

How the changes will mitigate the identified risks

The following are the ways in which the identified risks can be curbed:

1. Susceptibility to unrecoverable loss of data – this has been solved by making provision for backup servers both at the subsidiaries and the corporate headquarters level.

2. Untraceable physical security breach – this has been solved by the addition of surveillance cameras to the network system.

3.

Risk of slow connection speeds – this has been solved by updating the network components to more efficient ones, e.g., from T2 to T3 connection.

4. Risk of cybercrime – this has been solved by making firewall updates throughout the entire network system.

References

Baxter, C. (2017). T1 vs. Cable Internet – What’s Best for Business? | Business.org. Retrieved 1 February 2021, from https://www.business.org/services/internet/t1-or-cable-internet-which-will-give-your-small-business-a-boost/

Margaret, M. (2020). Fast Ethernet vs Gigabit Ethernet, what are the differences? Retrieved 1 February 2021, from https://community.fs.com/blog/fast-ethernet-vs-gigabit-ethernet.html