Advising About a Software Purchase

Due Week 8 and worth 50 points

Your local art museum recently purchased a quad-core computer with 16 GB of RAM. The curator read an article about an art collection inventory system software package that could go on the new computer. You have a long experience with end users hastily purchasing software that didn’t work correctly or fulfill its promises of functionality and you are concerned that they are jumping the gun.

Write a one to two (1-2) page letter to the museum’s board of trustees that expresses your concerns and suggests a better approach. The letter should cover the following:

1. Describe your rationale for concern with a graphic rendering of the purchasing system and your proposal as supporting evidence using Visio or its open source alternative software. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length.
2. Give three (3) reasons for doing more research before making a software selection.
3. Many prepackaged inventory software packages also include some other common features. Identify two (2) features commonly associated with inventory software and explain how the museum could benefit from them.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
• Include charts or diagrams created in Visio or Dia. The completed diagrams / charts must be imported into the Word document before the paper is submitted.