1. TISAP (The Information Systems Analysis Project) Thrivent Financial for Lutherans – Amy Hannemann

2. Introduction Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Chuck Van Duyse supplied the information Senior Manager of Desktop Services in the IT Operations department Talking about Information Systems in the organization and their components Hardware Software Networks People

3. Organization Information Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Faith-based, not-for-profit financial services organization that is membership owned The nation’s largest fraternal benefit society Mission To improve the quality of life of its members, their families, and their communities by providing unparalleled solutions that focus on financial security, wellness, and caring for others

4. Organization Information (cont’d) Thrivent Financial has approximately three thousand employees, both skilled and unskilled The structure of the organization has been described as traditional hierarchical, with movement toward more team-based activities

5. Information Systems of the Organization Types of information used Employee Customer Financial Organization’s information is very important, especially the customers’ They can be in serious trouble if it is lost Business Information Systems Transaction processing systems Management information systems Decision support systems Expert systems

6. Information Systems of the Organization (cont’d) Telecommunications systems used VoIP systems Cellular phones Smartphones Email Video conferencing Thrivent’s Information Systems are most definitely a competitive advantage Their information systems allow them to store customer data and market research information so they can provide the right services to the right people.

7. Information Systems of the Organization (cont’d) Types of hardware used Dell and Lenovo desktop computers Several different brands of laptops, including both Dell and IBM Servers from both Dell and IBM Bar code scanners Blackberry smartphones Several brands of multi-function devices such as copy machines, scanners, and faxes

8. Information Systems of the Organization (cont’d) Types of software used Microsoft Office Lotus Notes PBX Verint call recording Proprietary software developed in-house IS Staff In house Contractors Offshore personnel

9. Information Systems of the Organization (cont’d) Types of communications media and networks Ethernet hub/spoke network Campus-based organization LAN WAN Two main and several satellite locations must communicate Security measures used Combination of passwords and biometrics Everyone in the company uses the Information Systems at some point

10. Information Systems of the Organization (cont’d) Are employees involved in development of the IS? Requirements gathering Development Testing Implementation Code design Support Dependent upon what is necessary for their job Procedural information and best practice information are posted in employee handbooks and must be read before making use of any company computers

11. Information Systems Analysis Thrivent's information system is effective at providing its members with financial solutions that work for them Thrivent is a Fortune 500 company with 2.6 million members nationwide If the information system in use were incapable of or ineffective at providing members with appropriate financial solutions, they would look elsewhere

12. Information Systems Analysis Thrivent’s information system is efficient in the case of redundancy and amount of storage It is also efficient in its physical makeup It is not efficient in the way portions of the system have not integrated, or are not integrating well Much extra time and money has been spent trying to get lower-cost systems to behave in a manner befitting of the company’s needs

13. Information Systems Analysis Thrivent’s current information system proves both a competitive advantage and a hindrance The physical makeup of the system is excellent, and provides the company with everything it needs physically The integration issues, however, prevent the system from providing full competitive advantage Full competitive advantage is unobtainable if initially low systems costs drive up quality costs such as maintenance, rework, and supplements

14. Recommendations Recommendations for Thrivent Financial are not of a specific nature They have the correct types of systems in place, but must be more total cost focused, rather than focused on the cost of single pieces of software, to make their systems more efficient and enhance their competitive advantage With as large of an organization as Thrivent is, they have appropriate resources to make these issues obsolete They have IT staff with extensive systems knowledge Upper management pressures those persons to purchase lesser expensive software than desired, or to continue to use an outdated system, which makes the total cost of integration and systems maintenance much higher Utilizing the most appropriate systems, integration is much easier, and therefore provides the customer with much faster solutions by way of less down time dedicated to those difficult integration issues.