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Analysis of Riordan's Manufacturing IT Systems



I. History:
Riordan Manufacturing, Inc. is an industry leader in the field of plastic injection molding. With state-of-the art design capabilities, they create innovative plastic designs that have earned international acclaim. Attention to detail, extreme precision and enthusiastic quality control are the hallmarks of Riordan Manufacturing. Connected via a Wide Area Network (WAN) it maintains facilities in Albany, Georgia, Pontiac, Michigan, and Hang Zhou,



China. The company's research and development is done at the corporate headquarters in San Jose, Ca. Riordan's major customers are automotive parts manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, the Department of Defense, beverage makers and bottlers, and appliance manufacturers.

II. Assessment:
In order to stay competitive in a constantly changing business environment, Riordan needs to remain current with the latest technology, recent industry developments, and attend to the service requirements of its customers. According to Riordan’s CIO and other staff members, Riordan’s telecommunication and data networking systems necessitate upgrading to better support the company’s recent and future growth needs.
Team A began its investigation by gathering information about the existing network system. Based on the diagrams provided, we completed an inventory of the existing hardware and evaluated the security protocols for the wide area network (WAN) and local area network (LAN) connections in each location. The current networking model in place is a server-based (client/server) design. Each locality dedicates hardware (servers) for handling the application requests from the workstations. All locations support more than 10 users. (Greg, Tittel, & Johnson, 2004) In examining the networking schematics, we found that the diagrams and the logical designs were out dated; these were...