Learning Objectives In this project, your team will:
1. Discover a technological related business problem either (real or hypothetical)
Amazon Web Services(AWS) and its impact on cloud computing
2. Describe the technology related business problem
Amazon Web Services is one of the largest providers of data storage for a number of large companies and government entities. The problem that exists is that so many companies have their data stored on Amazon servers, leading to a probability for a huge disruption pattern if these servers were ever taken offline due to cybersecurity issues or otherwise technological issues. Recently, there was a huge outage, and it was said that Amazon servers crippled the internet as consumers were unable to access their personal information.
3. Demonstrate that the project is worth the attention and efforts of 4-5 graduate students
Amazon is the big kid on the block, and it is so ingrained into people’s everyday lives whether it be the Amazon Alexa devices, the ability to have a one stop shop, or to access major websites. If Amazon’s servers experience additional problems, then the world essentially grinds to a halt.
4. Analyze the technology related business problem
So many companies are reliant on Amazon Web Services to maintain upper echelon IT (Information Technology) security, and to keep their respective companies safe from hackers, and other technology related issues. This is a problem because since so many companies rely on these servers if a server were to be attacked or simply go down then elements of the Internet (Facebook, Netflix, Capital One and even the Dept of State) would be inoperable. For example, if the servers housing DoS information was attacked then matters of national security could be impacted. During the most recent outage, people’s Ring/Alexas went offline opening another opportunity for criminals to strike the vulnerable.
5. Generate a set of possible alternative solutions to the technology related business problem
Companies build IT resources to house their own servers
Firms put a checks and balance system in place to ensure AWS is the approriate medium for storing their data.
Implore Amazon to invest and upgrade to higher quality equipment that can handle the overload of traffic at any point in time.
Make cloud computing more accessible so that not every company puts their eggs in Amazon’s basket.

6. Select a single solution from the set of possible alternative solutions to the technology related business problem

7. Defend why the solution selected is the best one available

Resources:
Webpages/Articles
1. https://fortune.com/2021/12/10/amazon-software-problem-cloud-outage-cause/amp/
2. https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/publicsector/10-years-of-government-cloud-innovation-aws-govcloud-us/
3. https://www.contino.io/insights/whos-using-aws
4. https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/cia-awards-multibillion-c2e-cloud-contract-aws-microsoft-google-oracle-and-ibm/
5. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/04/amazon-hiring-former-government-officials-491878
6. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/07/the-details-about-the-cias-deal-with-amazon/374632/
7. https://www.zdnet.com/google-amp/article/the-top-cloud-providers-for-government/
8. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/12/07/aws-outage-websites-offline/
9. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/technology/aws-outage-amazon-deliveries.html
10. https://www.thestreet.com/.amp/investing/why-did-amazons-aws-crash-and-can-it-happen-again
11. https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/6419140001
12. https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/publicsector/solving-worlds-most-difficult-problems-aws-ai-for-good/
13. https://aws.amazon.com/government-education/research-and-technical-computing/?wwps-cards.sort-by=item.additionalFields.sortDate&wwps-cards.sort-order=desc
14. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/aws-overview/aws-overview.pdf
Journals
1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347442916_AMAZON_WEB_SERVICES
2. https://www.ijtsrd.com/computer-science/other/14583/cloud-computing-using-amazon-web-services-aws/suyog-bankar
3. https://www.ijert.org/the-effect-of-amazon-web-services-aws-on-cloud-computing
4. https://www.irjet.net/archives/V2/i3/Irjet-v2i332.pdf

Revision by Yvette Poindexter
Group 6 will demonstrate Amazon Web Services (AWS) impact on cloud computing:
Amazon Web Services is one of the largest data storage providers for many large companies and government entities. So many companies rely on Amazon Web Services to maintain upper echelon IT (Information Technology) security and keep their respective companies safe from hackers and other technology-related issues.
The problem is that so many companies have their data stored on Amazon servers, leading to a probability for a vast disruption pattern if these servers were ever taken offline due to cybersecurity issues or otherwise technological issues. Recently, there was a massive outage, and it was said that Amazon servers crippled the internet as consumers could not access their personal information.
Since so many companies rely on these servers, if a server were to be attacked or simply go down, elements of the Internet (Facebook, Netflix, Capital One, and even the Dept of State) would be inoperable. For example, if the servers housing DoS information were attacked, then national security matters could be impacted. During the most recent outage, people’s Ring/Alexa’s went offline, opening another opportunity for criminals to strike the vulnerable.
As the big kid on the block. Amazon being ingrained into people’s everyday lives, whether it be the Amazon Alexa devices or e-commerce, the ability to have a one-stop shop, or access to significant websites. When Amazon’s servers experience problems, the world essentially grinds to a halt.
n who is working on a project with you and you have to ‘make it work.’
Learning Objectives
In this project, your team will:
1. Discover a technological related business problem either (real or hypothetical)
2. Describe the technology related business problem
3. Demonstrate that the project is worth the attention and efforts of 4-5 graduate students
4. Analyze the technology related business problem
5. Generate a set of possible alternative solutions to the technology related business problem
6. Select a single solution from the set of possible alternative solutions to the technology related
business problem
7. Defend why the solution selected is the best one available
Team Responsibilities
The completed project is the culmination of a semester’s worth of work. It is my hope that you feel that
your project is good enough to be included in your MBA portfolio.
Each team member will be graded based on the team’s effort to deliver and present the project based on
the submitted proposal. The team must turn the project deliverables on time to the instructor. Each team
member is responsible for his/her work. If the instructor requests any changes to your work, you must
make changes as soon as possible. Team members are responsible for working with each other and every
member of the team is responsible for its collective performance. Thus, while your grades are uniquely
determined, they are dependent upon your teammates’ work as well as your own. Aside from project
activities, many issues you will face will be team-related:
 Arranging meeting times,
 Defining and assigning tasks,
 Insuring timely completion of work,
 Dealing with slackers and dictators, and so on.
You and your teammates are responsible for the conduct of your team and for carrying out your project.
Managing group dynamics, as an individual and as a member of the team, is vital. This alone will give you
indispensable experience to carry into your career. It is essential that the team establish its working
process at the outset. Do not wait until the project is underway. As a group, here are some examples of
areas where decisions need to be made:
 How will members communicate with each other;
 What constitutes a “meeting”;
 What issues can be handled by phone, by email;
 How work is to be assigned and due dates established;
 How to track member performance and contribution.
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High Level Project Guidelines
Many students feel they must choose a truly “meaningful” problem, which may exceed the time and the
resources available. Problems may be drawn from personal or professional experiences. Students will
work in groups of four or so to analyze the impact of IT on a particular firm. The groups are free to work
on a firm of their choice, but to ensure diversity each group is expected to work on firms in different
industries. So, the groups are expected to work closely with instructor to get their choice approved before
they start working on the project; hence the topic submission and proposal assignments.
Students should be aware of the amount of the research that is required along with an extensive review
of the appropriate literature. The formulation of the project topic normally flows from students’ area of
expertise and/or interest. The instructor will comment on the soundness of the topic, and the
appropriateness of the project from the academic and practical point of view.
The emphasis in the team project is on primary research inside of a company in order to understand how
a particular application of IT is working within a particular organizational setting. Your paper must include:
 An examination of costs and benefits (both tangible and intangible) of the information technology
adopted.
 Problems that are being addressed or that are arising due to the new technology;
 Recommendations for the organization, as well as others who want to use the technology.
The project must not be just a simple book review or opinion piece; rather, it is expected that students
will conduct their research in scholarly journals, trade journals, and other works that are respected in the
field. Once you find a topic that could generate meaningful discussion, then your job is to research it.
Officially, the paper needs to sport at least 3 academic references(but no more than 10 references). These
references MUST fall into one of these categories (please note any journal articles are fine, and you may
want to use Google Scholar to find some resources, and blow are just some examples):
 Academic journal research article. Examples of acceptable journals:
o MIS Quarterly
o Information Systems Research
o Journal of Management Information Systems
o Academy of Management Review
o Information & Management
o Journal of the Association for Information Systems
 Practitioner journal articles. Examples of acceptable journals:
o Harvard Business Review
o Communications of the ACM
o Sloan Management Review
o California Management Review
 Books from an academic publisher
 Interview with subject matter experts (SMEs)1
Websites, newspapers, blogs, Wikipedia, etc. are unacceptable and will not count toward this 3 references
requirement. (If you cite something from a website, you would need to list it as a footnote. It does not

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If you choose to use a SME, be prepared to provide evidence that the person is truly a SME.
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count toward the required number of references.) You can use these sources; just know that you have to
have a minimum of three sources of the caliber mentioned above. If you were to think of this project as a
house, academic journals, practitioner journals, academic books provide the foundation and structure of
the house–i.e. these are the foundation, walls, windows, and roof. The obvious things that identify a
house as a house.
Deliverable (*ONLY one group member needs to submit the work on Blackboard)
The group project is comprised of three deliverables that sum to 280 points:
1. Deliverable #1: Project Ideas (20 points)
2. Deliverable #2: Project Proposal (20 points)
3. Deliverable #3: Completed Final Report (240 points)
Group Communication
Good communication is important for a successful group project. Below are screenshot showing how you
can find groups.
Find group page: Tools – Groups
There are also a few tools available in your group page.
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Task: You must initiate your group communication using Group Discussion Board.
Everyone must post a brief note about how you want to communicate (e.g., email or zoom) by Sunday,
Jan. 30, 2022 in group discussion board (see the screen shot above). So that, you may know each other
well before starting the group project. This will ensure that you do have started to communicate with your
group members. Then, as a group, you then need to decide what tools you may use for group meeting
and discussion. You may choose any other tools if you like. For sure, you may use email if you like. I will
check each group’s discussion board.
***If you do not start to communicate with your group members by the stated date, you
will be asked to finish the entire group project by yourself***
Deliverable #1: Project Ideas
Each team leader, after consulting with their team, needs to make brief statements (at least 200 words)
about the intended direction of their group project. What I am looking for is something that identifies the
problem, opportunity, topic, or dilemma that the team will be working on. This statement is intentionally
broad. The goal of this deliverable is to get an approved topic for your group project. Simply getting your
project ideas in on time is enough to warrant getting all 10 points even if we iterate for a few days after
that due date. After receiving an approved topic, your team has fulfilled learning objective 1 and has
started to fulfill objective 3 in the list of learning objectives on page 1 of this document.
Deliverable #2: Project Proposal
After approval of the team’s idea, but prior to start working on your course project, the group must submit
a formal project proposal. Each group should submit one to two pages written project proposal. The
project proposal is a statement with one main objective, which is to convince the reader (in this case, me)
that the group has identified a plan to complete the identified project. A good and strong proposal has
detailed, but yet precise description of the main purpose of the project. It is a well-organized plan and has
adequate depth of details to be a persuasive document. The project proposal is brief and concise
document intended to present a plan of action, outline the reasons why the action is necessary, and
convince the reader to agree with and approve the implementation of the actions recommended in the
body of the document. The proposals should include enough detail to convince the reader that the group
has found a good topic that it understands and has mapped out a plan for how to approach it.
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The group task is to identify an issue, a problem, dilemma or a topic, present a plan of action, outlining
the group approach, address the implementation plan, and gain approval of the implementation plans
that are described in the proposal. The proposal should clearly state the focus of the group’s project. The
proposal should identify the objective and the purpose of the project. The proposal should explain the
problem, the issue you are trying to address or solve.
The following are sections you need to include in your proposal:
 Background and significance of the project
 Statement of the problem
 Timeline and project plan – this should be this referring to your group’s plan/timeline to literally
complete final report. For example, you may put together a task list of the key milestones for
completing final report, with due dates and responsible parties assigned to each task.
 Proposed implementation plan (only if applicable)– this should be your proposed implementation
plan for your real/hypothetical company’s implementation plan to resolve the IT-related business
problem identified by your group )
As with the deliverable #1 (project ideas), simply getting your proposal paper in on time is enough to
warrant getting all 20 points even if we iterate for a few days after that due date. After receiving an
approved proposal, your team has fulfilled learning objectives 1, 2, and 3 in the list of learning objectives
on page 1 of this document.
Deliverable #3: Completed Final Report
You are writing this document/project for a review committee comprised of IS Professionals and user
representatives. In other words, you are not writing it for the instructor. Your role is to present your
project clearly and concisely so that the entire Review Committee will understand it.
Since a modern IS can be very complex, it is less likely that you will be able to cover an entire system.
Instead, you may want to choose some IS-related issue that you believe is important. For example, this
could be information technology (IT) used in the system (e.g., an email system can use different software
packages, some easier to use or richer in functionality than others; computer hardware can also be
problematic, such as a shortage of computer memory or weaknesses in functionality of some noncomputer hardware that is part of your IS; another option could be that your system is not based on
computers and that you see this as a problem). Alternatively, you may want to focus more on
data/information (e.g., data maintained in certain files may be susceptible to random errors, or
information provided by an IS may be lacking relevance, accuracy or some other quality). The team is only
limited by its creativity.
Properly Formatted Deliverables
Use the following guidelines to properly format your final deliverable:
 The Team Project must contain a title page, table of contents, and references. You must use
American Psychological Association (APA) style for documentation2
i.e. footnotes and references.

2 You only need to use APA for citing sources and things of that nature. There’s no need to use running heads and
other APA stylistic trappings.
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 It is recommended to use graphs, images, and tables where appropriate, but not on the expense
of good clear writing.
 Optional exhibit pages are allowed in ANY quantity, as long as they are referenced in the text of
the paper. Word can keep track of your tables, figures, and listings and even has a cross
referencing function that automatically keeps up with the order of the tables, figures, and listings.
 Your task is to include as much CURRENT information as possible (especially information released
in the last few years). If all your academic references are all from 2010 and before, there is a
problem.
 The paper must include a cover page (with title and group member names3
).
 A References section must be included that lists all references cited in the text of the paper.
 Use proper section headings in the final document.
 Ideally, your final project report should be between 22-30 pages exclude Appendix (double-space,
no spacing before and after paragraphs, Times New Roman, Justify alignment) with a text size of
12. These page estimates are for everything from the title page to the end of References. (Only
word files are accepted).
The following shows an outline of what is the expectation to be found in the final project document.
 Title Page which contains the title, authors, course, term, section number, and date
 Table of Contents. Single, or double-spaced ToC is fine.
 List of Tables.
 Executive Summary
 Body text
 References
 Appendix
Executive Summary
This section provides a single page summarizing the entire project in a few sentences so that a busy
executive can grasp the content of the document at a glance. You need to summarize every section of the
paper, and yet be brief. Assume that this summary may be all that some people would ever read. This
page should be the last thing you do so that it covers what is actually in the paper, not what you thought
would be in the paper four versions ago. Alternatively, you could write a few drafts of this before and
during the time, you write the main paper, in order to get a better sense of organization. Just make sure
the last version of the summary is written after the report is finished. An executive summary is NOT an
introduction; it is a concise summary of all the important things you say in your paper including what you
concluded and why you concluded what you did. If this goes to a second page, it is too long. Cut something
or write more concisely.
Body Text

3 Even if a member did not participate whatsoever, put their name on the title sheet. You do get
to rate your peers, and those evaluations directly impact the grade on the final part of the
assignment.
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The body of the paper should be insightful, important, and easy-to-read discussion. It should cover
introduction and other sections as explained below. Below are the required sections for the body text,
and please do use those headers provided (including Introduction and those shown in Other Sections).
Introduction
The goal of section is to present the topic with logics. First, you need to briefly explain the
background/problems (related to the topic you have chosen) in a clear context (e.g., individual,
organization/industry, and society). Second, you need to provide sufficient details to explain the
importance of the topic and the motivation (e.g., why you choose the topic? What problems you attempt
to resolve? Are there any practice importance and/or contribution to IS? And so son). Third, in the last
paragraph of this section, you need to present an overview layout of the next sections – briefly state what
will be covered in the rest sections of this project.
Other Sections
You need to provide detailed analysis in the remaining sections including Overview of Specific MIS
Issue, Possible Solutions and Recommendation (refer to High Level Project Guidelines), and Relevance
for Today’s Managers, Conclusion. (Notes: Refer to the rubrics in the end of this document, and you may
see what my expectation is!)
References
List all your references (no more than 10 references; refer to High Level Project Guidelines and see more
details) — print, electronic, or people you interviewed (you can use their title without name or with a
fictitious name, if privacy needs to be protected). Remember, use APA and only APA to document these
sources.
Appendix
Add auxiliary information (if any), that provides additional depth to the topic, but isn’t directly relevant to
the main thesis of the project. The appendix dos not count to the required number of pages.
Grading your project
A significant amount of your grade has been allocated to the project. Peer evaluations are a very important
part of the grading and emphasize the importance of trust, cooperation, responsibility, professionalism,
and teamwork in-group projects. Failure to do your work and failure to make good contributions to your
team could result in you losing a significant amount of project points if your teammates rate you poorly.
Thus, peer evaluations are meant to be honest and constructive, and are treated as real elements of
grading by the instructor. Generally, the paper is graded on its content (accuracy and realism),
contribution to the field of IS, cohesiveness and depth of your arguments, and professional style. A rubric
is provided in the end of this document. Note that each individual is responsible for knowing how to do
each step in the project. Each team member should also turn in their peer evaluation on WTclass (I will
announce when the peer evaluation form is available). If you fail to turn in a peer evaluation, I assume
you want to rate equally at full participation. Please note: your grade will be determined in part by your
team performance and peer evaluations. Upon submitting the group project, your team should have
fulfilled all the learning objectives listed on Page 1 of this document.