Due Week 3 and worth 70 points Imagine you are the leader of the IT team at the national headquarters for a company supplying western wear to an international market. The owner, Sam Yosemite, tells your IT team to provide support to four (4) new satellite offices but his instructions are vague and incoherent. You only know that the employees in the new offices (numbering about 20 staff for each) will have to be self-sufficient and mirror nearly all the applications used at headquarters, but on minimal budgets. The satellite offices will be in operation for a combined total of 24 hours each day. Each office will operate based on its own set of local business hours, which do not overlap among other satellite offices. Your IT staff is solely responsible for providing support to the satellite offices. Your boss needs to keep the costs for licensing and support low or risk cutting into the budget for the IT staff salaries. Write a three to four (3-4) page proposal paper which covers the following: Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements: The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Title: Proposal for IT Support for Satellite Offices in the Western Wear Company

Introduction:
This proposal paper presents a plan for providing IT support to the four new satellite offices of a company supplying western wear to an international market. The main objective of this proposal is to outline a strategy that allows the satellite offices to be self-sufficient while minimizing costs for licensing and support. In order to achieve this objective, the proposal focuses on the following key areas: ensuring the offices have the necessary applications, addressing the unique scheduling requirements, and minimizing costs.

I. Application Support:
To enable the satellite offices to mirror the applications used at the headquarters, the following strategies will be implemented:

1. Application Standardization:

To reduce licensing costs and streamline support, a comprehensive review of applications used at the headquarters will be conducted. Non-essential applications will be identified and removed, while critical applications will be standardized across the organization. This will ensure that all satellite offices have access to the necessary applications while minimizing licensing expenses.

2. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI):

Implementing a VDI will allow the satellite offices to access virtual instances of the applications hosted at the headquarters. This approach eliminates the need for installing and maintaining applications on individual office computers, reducing licensing and support costs. Furthermore, any updates or patches for applications can be centrally managed, ensuring consistency across all offices.

II. Addressing Unique Scheduling Requirements:
As the satellite offices will operate based on their respective local business hours, a custom solution needs to be designed to accommodate their unique scheduling requirements. The following strategies will be implemented:

1. Shift-Based Support:

IT support will be structured to align with the opening hours of each satellite office. This will ensure that support is available to address any technical issues during their operational hours. Additionally, a tiered support model will be implemented, with initial support provided by the IT staff at headquarters, and escalations handled by a dedicated support team based on a follow-the-sun model.

2. Remote Troubleshooting and Assistance:

To minimize the need for on-site support personnel, a remote troubleshooting and assistance system will be established. This will enable the IT staff to remotely access the satellite office systems and provide real-time assistance for any technical issues that may arise. Remote access tools and VPN connections will be implemented to ensure secure and efficient support.

III. Cost Minimization:
To keep costs for licensing and support low, the following strategies will be implemented:

1. Volume Licensing:

By negotiating volume licensing agreements with software vendors, the company can secure discounts based on the number of licenses required for the satellite offices. Bulk purchases will help in reducing licensing costs while ensuring that all offices have access to necessary applications.

2. Scalable Infrastructure:

Investing in scalable IT infrastructure will allow the company to provide support to the satellite offices without incurring substantial hardware costs. Cloud-based solutions, such as Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), will be considered to provide the necessary computing resources, ensuring cost-effectiveness and flexibility.

Conclusion:
This proposal outlines a comprehensive plan for providing IT support to the satellite offices in a cost-effective manner. By standardizing applications, implementing virtual desktop infrastructure, addressing unique scheduling requirements, and minimizing costs through volume licensing and scalable infrastructure, the company can ensure that the satellite offices have the necessary support while keeping licensing and support costs low. By implementing these strategies, the company can successfully expand its operations without compromising the budget for IT staff salaries.