It Doesn't Matter

1. Discuss two factors that contributed to iPremier’s situation in the case from the perspectives of people, process, or technology (one issue/factor per category). For each factor, provide direct evidence from the case to support your assertion.

1. From Technology:

The first factor that contributed to the situation was the resistance and lack of support the company had from their partner Qdata. The iPremier Company didn't choose a good partner to host its computer equipment and provide connectivity to the Internet. Owing to the contraction of the Internet bubble, Qdata didn’t invest to update its technology and retain high-quality talent staff. In the material, as we can see, the iPremier’s technical operations team leader complained about the poor instinct of Qdata’s staff. “I haven’t talked to anyone yet who knows what he’s doing.” (p. 5) Obviously, the slow and inefficient response to the emergency of Qdata made it hard for iPremier to figure out the situation. Even worse, when the hack occurred, there was no one in Qdata who could use the network monitoring software to see the traffic coming into the iPremier’s site, and they didn’t allow the iPremier’s staff to enter the NOC. It took too much time to coordinate between the two companies. They met resistance when trying to access the necessary equipment and didn’t get much support when they contacted the facility.

2. From Process:

Another important factor that contributed to the situation for the company was the lack of business continuity plan on how to deal with emergency like this.