The technology needs of a business vary depending upon the goal or purpose of the organization. For example, the needs of a medical facility differ from the needs of an educational institution or small business. Recall information discussed in the previous module as you complete this milestone.

The purpose of the milestone activities is to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. You will receive feedback from your instructor based on the rubric. Be sure to incorporate your instructor’s feedback into your final project.

Overview: Basic knowledge of computers is practically essential for productively engaging in twenty-first-century life. Working knowledge of computer platformtechnologies impacts everyone from help-desk personnel and field technicians to project managers and business executives. In order to make sound businessdecisions, one must have the ability to analyze business needs and compare available computer technology options for effectively meeting those needs.Scenario: You have been hired as an IT consultant by an entrepreneur starting a small advertising company called MilleniAds. As a start-up, your client’scompany is relatively small and has a limited budget. There are only 10 employees, including a few creative directors, graphic designers, sales staff, a financialaccountant, and an office administrator, with the entrepreneur as CEO. The current IT budget cannot exceed $25,000 and ideally should come in as far underthat number as possible. Millennial will produce customized sales flyers, brochures, and other branded items, such as letterhead and business cards, that applya youthful, fresh perspective targeting millennial demographics. Therefore, the company needs the ability to store and manipulate digital images and to producephysical copies of their products for their clients. The CEO wants to keep track of inventory, sales, and expenses digitally, but she does not anticipate having verycomplex records for the first year. She projects having only a dozen or so accounts but hopes to scale up in the coming years. It would be ideal to have a simpleand user-friendly system for sharing information and files between employees. Many of the employees are millennial themselves who have indicated that theircurrent desktop PCs are limiting their capabilities and that they prefer using their phones and other mobile devices for their professional and personalresponsibilities. Two of the ten employees will operate primarily outside of the office, soliciting business from regional firms, and they will need to accesscompany information while on the road, in their home offices, and at customer sites.Beyond the specific information given above, you have the ability to fill in the gaps with assumptions or additional details that will make your final project uniqueand meaningful to you. If you have any questions, reach out to your instructor for guidance.Prompt: Given the scenario above, what are the best hardware, software, networking, and information security options for addressing your client’s businessneeds?Specifically, the following critical element must be addressed:I. Business Needs: In this section, list and describe all of the business needs that you have been able to determine given the information in the providedscenario and your own choices for filling in the gaps. Be sure that you provide enough detail to fully support the rest of your report.

Before we get into each milestone, etc. I want to be clear that this should not be considered a writing assignment in the classical sense. I do not want extremely long papers filled with text paragraphs, but rather a precise analysis of the Hardware, Software, and other IT solutions you are proposing. Each milestone can almost use a similar format, just with different data. Also, addressing the budget laid out in the case study MUST be addressed and a total cost of your solution provided to show it is within the budget or under, OR if you will overrun an analysis of why. That said, let’s look at the milestones.

This milestone establishes the needs which will drive the rest of the milestones. It is tempting to jump in and provide solutions, but that is not what this milestone is all about. Focus on taking the Scenario described and create Hardware, Software, and Networking/Security/Network Storage,etc. needs. My suggestion is to break each down by user-type, use course concepts to describe what they will need, but don’t go so far as to pick solutions. Think about it this way:

User Business Needs -> breaks down into -> Requirements (multiple) -> specifies ->A Solution (HW/SW/Network/Services) – for milestone 1 we’re just trying to determine the individual User’s Business Needs, the later milestones cover the rest.