The Appleton Artists Collective Technology Upgrade Plan Background Information Appleton Artist Collective and Gallery is an organization that promotes artistic works in the Lowell area. The organization employs three workers on a permanent basis and these include the Resident Manager, custodian, and Gallery Director in addition to a board that consists of ten members. Currently, the organization has made little investments on technology due to its small workforce and only the Resident Manager and Gallery Director have computers at their disposal. Some of the uses of the computers at Appleton Artist Collective and Gallery include managing the organization’s financial accounts such as the management of its payroll and tracking revenue and expenses. The organization also operates a website that had been created using SquareSpace by the previous Gallery Director and the website allows artists to submit their exhibit proposals. Some of the issues facing the organization include increased costs of renting the building and low workload to the Resident Manager. The management believes that the Resident Manager’s responsibilities should be increased to include the rental management to reduce the organization’s monthly expenditure on the rents. The new Gallery Director believes that the organization’s website should be upgraded to include eCommerce solutions, improve the handling of the organization’s rentals, and enhance internal communications.  Appleton Artists Collective Mission Statement The organization’s mission is preserving in perpetuity the Appleton Artist Studios and Gallery as an affordable place for artists to work and live in and created based on a rental model. Appleton Artists Collective also strives to be recognized as an important arts building that has active participation from the residents in addition to participating in and supporting the arts community in the greater Boston and Lowell areas.  The Current State of Technology at Appleton Artists Collective Currently, Appleton Artists Collective has a significant shortage of computers and related networking hardware. The organization currently has only one desktop computer for the Gallery Director and another one for the Resident Manager in addition to two laser printers. The software installed in the computers include Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Avantquest Bookkeeper, and Microsoft Office Professional. The organization also operates a rudimentary website that was created using SquareSpace by the former Gallery Director and some of the apps used on the website include Google Calendar and FormStack for online forms. The two computers operate as standalone and this reduces the organization’s ability to evaluate its employees’ activities and integrate activities. The available at the organization is inadequate in making the organization competitive in meeting its obligations to the artists. However, the current Gallery Director is knowledgeable in graph.

1. The Appleton Artists Collective Technology Upgrade Plan
Background Information
Appleton Artist Collective and Gallery is an organization that
promotes artistic works in the Lowell area. The organization
employs three workers on a permanent basis and these include
the Resident Manager, custodian, and Gallery Director in
addition to a board that consists of ten members. Currently, the
organization has made little investments on technology due to
its small workforce and only the Resident Manager and Gallery
Director have computers at their disposal. Some of the uses of
the computers at Appleton Artist Collective and Gallery include
managing the organization’s financial accounts such as the
management of its payroll and tracking revenue and expenses.
The organization also operates a website that had been created
using SquareSpace by the previous Gallery Director and the
website allows artists to submit their exhibit proposals. Some of
the issues facing the organization include increased costs of
renting the building and low workload to the Resident Manager.
The management believes that the Resident Manager’s
responsibilities should be increased to include the rental
management to reduce the organization’s monthly expenditure
on the rents. The new Gallery Director believes that the
organization’s website should be upgraded to include
eCommerce solutions, improve the handling of the
organization’s rentals, and enhance internal communications.
Appleton Artists Collective Mission Statement
The organization’s mission is preserving in perpetuity the
Appleton Artist Studios and Gallery as an affordable place for
artists to work and live in and created based on a rental model.

2. Appleton Artists Collective also strives to be recognized as an
important arts building that has active participation from the
residents in addition to participating in and supporting the arts
community in the greater Boston and Lowell areas.
The Current State of Technology at Appleton Artists Collective
Currently, Appleton Artists Collective has a significant shortage
of computers and related networking hardware. The
organization currently has only one desktop computer for the
Gallery Director and another one for the Resident Manager in
addition to two laser printers. The software installed in the
computers include Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Illustrator,
Adobe Photoshop, Avantquest Bookkeeper, and Microsoft
Office Professional. The organization also operates a
rudimentary website that was created using SquareSpace by the
former Gallery Director and some of the apps used on the
website include Google Calendar and FormStack for online
forms. The two computers operate as standalone and this
reduces the organization’s ability to evaluate its employees’
activities and integrate activities. The available at the
organization is inadequate in making the organization
competitive in meeting its obligations to the artists. However,
the current Gallery Director is knowledgeable in graphic
designs as well as the management of the organization’s
website. The Gallery Director has succeeded in improving the
Appleton Artists Collective’s website design despite the
SquareSpace’s limitations and she believes that the organization
should consider building an enhanced website that would be
hosted by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Additionally, the
Gallery Director believes that the new website should have
integrated features that support internal communications,
eCommerce, and rental management to reduce the
organization’s operating costs.
Technology Acquisitions and Improvements

3. Presently, the organization requires a technology roadmap that
would help in communicating Appleton Artists Collective
technology strategy and aid in making strategic decisions on the
organization’s technical infrastructure. The technology roadmap
is also necessary because it assists the organization to determine
its hardware and software requirements in addition to making it
easier for Appleton Artists Collective to access funding to
support its technology upgrading efforts. Some of the
organization’s hardware requirements include a new HP
Compaq 6200 Pro computer with 16 GB DDR3 RAM, CPU
speed of 3.30 GHz, and a hard drive with 500 GB capacity that
will be purchased at $750. The Gallery Director will use this
computer to manage Appleton Artists Collective’s collection of
artistic works and enhance internal communications at the
organization. Appleton Artists Collective will also need to buy
a new HP Compaq dx7400 Microtower computer that will have
an 8 GB DDR3 RAM with a CPU speed of 2.33 GHz and a hard
drive with 250 GB capacity that will be bought at $600.
Moreover, the organization will need to buy an HP Compaq
ProLiant DL380 Gen 9 Server that will have a 16 GB RAM and
internal hard disk with a capacity of 500 GB. The server will
cost about $2,500 and will be used in supporting the
organization’s operation and communication needs. The server
is also important because it will increase Appleton Artists
Collective’s flexibility in addition to supporting the
organization’s future technology needs. The server will be kept
in a small room that will be rented for about $2,400 per year.
The organization’s required software will include Windows
Server 2017, Windows 10 operating system, SQLite database
that supports small to medium installations for between one and
one hundred users, Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5+, and IIS
Express Version 10. Appleton Artists Collective will also need
to develop an integrated library system and train its Resident
Manager on how to manage the new website. The organization

4. will also create a new website that will be hosted at InMotion
Hosting, Bluehost, or Dreamhost. The cost of the software to be
used and website hosting is approximated at $4,000 and the
hardware cost is $3,850.
Table Showing Appleton Artists Collective’s Hardware Needs
Location
Manufacturer
Model
RAM
CPU Speed
Hard Drive Size
Replacement Cost
Management
Gallery Director

5. HP
Compaq 6200 Pro
16 GB DDR3
3.30
500 GB
$750
Resident Manager
HP
Compaq dx7400
8 GB DDR3
2.33

6. 250 GB
$600
Server Room
HP
Compaq ProLiant DL380 Gen 9 Server
16 GB
2.33
500 GB
$2,500
Total Costs

7. $3,850
Appleton Artists Collective’s Technology Objectives and Goals
The organization wishes to improve its internal communications
to enhance the interactions between its two main departments
with the Collective’s artists. Appleton Artists Collective hopes
to achieve this by developing an improved and interactive
website that would allow the artists to communicate with the
Gallery Director and book for exhibitions. Additionally, the
organization also wishes to upgrade its technology to help in
reducing its rental costs and improve its profit margins. The
revamped website will help in offering a convenient online
platform that will allow the artists to advertise and sell their
artwork to their clients. The Gallery Director has indicated that
she understands how to develop a website that would meet the
board members’ technology goals.
The network server will help in offering a centralized
functionality to Appleton Artists Collective’s local area network
and it will serve as the organization’s application server, e-mail
server, database server, print server, and file server. A server-
class UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) will be used to
protect the server from power outages and the server will be
proactively monitored to identify and address any potential
problems with the system. The server will have the capacity to
support a maximum of 100 concurrent users and will be used in
supporting the organization’s enterprise resource planning
applications. The artists will have the opportunity of interacting
with their peers through the organization’s new website and
share ideas on how to improve the works. The Gallery Director
will also use the new website to schedule exhibitions and allow
the artists to submit their works.

8. Establishing a local area network is essential in the technology
upgrading process because it allows the Gallery Director,
Resident Manager, and board members to communicate
effectively and achieve their organization’s goals. Some of the
important resources that will be required for the technology
upgrade effort will include Internet access, connection to
subscribed databases, hosting services, and QuickBooks Pro that
will help in the Gallery Manager in developing the new website.
Appleton Artists Collective will also train the Resident Manager
on the use and management of the new website that will feature
a number of improvements over the old website that was built
using the SquareSpace that only supported basic features. The
new website will support eCommerce and online payments to
improve the artists’ sales to diverse clients while the Collective
will benefit from the upgrade by increasing its collection of
commissions from online sales.
Another objective of the technology upgrade program is
enhancing the current technology and establishing new avenues
of interactions among the artists and the local community in a
method that was previously impossible. One of the initiatives of
this objective is increasing the participation of Appleton Artists
Collective’s community with the newly established
telecommunications center. The new system will also be used to
engage the artists and Resident Manager in additional
modalities for interacting, advising, and learning opportunities.
The technology upgrade will also help in offering new and
increased access to important information to improve Appleton
Artists Collective’s decision-making processes through
increased access to information that could be used in planning
and operational use. The artists and employees at the
organization will also use the new website and communication
platform to access external and internal sources of information
effectively and efficiently. Moreover, the revamped website will
assist Appleton Artists Collective to offer customer-oriented

9. services to its end users and allow the organization to focus on
enhancing its value-added services.
The new website and computers will also be upgradeable to
allow Appleton Artists Collective to increase its flexibility and
evolve its services and infrastructure in the future to allow the
organization to leverage changing technologies. The strategy of
achieving this will include establishing and implementing an
infrastructure replacement cycle that meets the current
organizational requirements and anticipates its future needs.
Moreover, this will require the organization to conduct regular
assessments on its software and hardware in addition to creating
an improved local network infrastructure that facilitates
communication and improved services to the organization’s end
users. The Gallery Director who will be responsible for
maintaining the new website will also be involved in ensuring
that the organization’s technology for administrative purposes.
The revamped website will also have digital signage to assist
the customers who visit the organization’s digital platform to
easily browse through the different exhibitions as well as
identify the future shows.
Success Factors
The success of the technology upgrade depends on a number of
factors that include support from the board members and artists,
communication, appropriate staffing, and culture change. The
adoption of the new website and its strategic usefulness depends
on the level of support it receives from the artists, board
members, and employees at Appleton Artists Collective. The
previous website created using the SquareSpace software had
limited functionalities and supported a limited number of users.
However, the technology upgrade will result in the creation of a
system that will have far-reaching effects on Appleton Artists
Collective. Consequently, each individual at the organization
must understand the objectives and goals of the new technology

10. plan and how it will influence interactions at Appleton Artists
Collective. It is important that all the stakeholders at the
organization leverage and embrace the new technology upgrade
to realize its true value to the organization. The Gallery
Director should also conduct ongoing communication to ensure
that all the other stakeholders accept the proposed strategic
technology plan.
Nonetheless, the communication should be two way to ensure
that the artists, board members, and other Appleton Artist
Collective’s employees understand how to use the newly
adopted technologies as well as their impacts on their activities.
The Gallery Director will also need feedback from the other
stakeholders to assist her in identifying ways of improving the
technology to meet the organization’s future needs. In addition
to training the Resident Director on the new technologies
adopted by the organization, Appleton Artists Collective will
also employ an IT expert to assist in managing the new website
and the organization’s internal networking. The successful
adoption of the technology upgrade will also require a culture
change at Appleton Artists Collective because it will change
how the organization’s artists market and sell their artwork. The
support from the board members will also help in ensuring the
successful integration of the technology upgrade in the
organization’s operations. The board members should also help
in communicating the strategic benefits of upgrading the
organization’s technology.
Cost/Benefit Analysis
Technology Costs
Some of the expenses that will be incurred by Appleton Artists
Collective in upgrading its system include buying the new
personal computers and server, upgrading software, network
costs that include installation and administration of its local

11. area network, and renting a room for the server. Other expected
expenditures will include the costs of physical installation of
the new system, development and hosting of the new website,
training, software testing, and maintenance costs. Moreover, the
organization will have to review and upgrade its computers and
website after five years, and this will result in incurring
additional costs due to technology obsolescence.
Technology Benefits
The expected benefits from upgrading Appleton Artist
Collective’s systems will include enhanced marketing support
for the artists, improved rental management, enhanced customer
service, and improved accessibility to the organization’s
exhibition. The new system will improve the internal
communication at the organization as well as allowing the
artists to interact more effectively with their clients. Appleton
Artist Collective will also benefit from the new system by
increasing its capabilities to collect commissions from the sales
of its artworks as well as addressing the limitations created by
using the website designed using SquareSpace. Adopting the
new system will also help in improving Appleton Artist
Collective’s image and assist its management and board
members in identifying new opportunities to improve the
organization’s net profits.
order #276924615
Characteristics of Malcolm Baldrige Recipients
Name
Institutional Affiliation

12. Characteristics of Malcolm Baldrige Recipients
According to Keyes (2016), some of the important elements of
excellence according to Malcolm Baldrige include strategic
planning, leadership, and market or customer focus. The
recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige award have leaders whose
leadership qualities include the capacity to motivate workers to
increase their productivity, ability to develop energizing
organizational cultures, and value feedback. The leaders in such
organizations also insist on continuous improvement, build
powerful teams, and maintain upward momentum as well as
promoting excellence in their organizations. Furthermore, the
leaders demonstrate high levels of perseverance in addition to
sharing their visions and formulating processes, systems, and
strategies that allow their organizations to realize excellence
and long-term sustainability (Lighter, 2011). The organizations
also have confident and visionary leaders who proactively
promote and reward innovativeness.
Strategic planning is another important characteristic of the
Malcolm Baldrige recipients and this feature focuses on the
ability of the identified organizations to implement strategic
objectives that increase their future success, overall
performance, and competitive positions. For example, Lighter
(2011) observes that SSM’s leaders create Mission Awareness
Teams in the organization to ensure that all the work and
planning efforts are aimed at promoting its mission. The leaders
in the organization also create annual plans for their
subordinates to ensure that the employees understand the
milestones and benchmarks that they must meet each year. The
management at St. Luke’s Hospital has also designed a yearly
strategic plan that involves seven steps and ensures that all the
employees at the facility participate in the implementation of
the plan based on a Balanced Scorecard system.
The market or customer focus of the Malcolm Baldrige

13. recipients emphasizes how the organizations maintain
interactions with their clients. Additionally, this quality focuses
on the organizations’ commitment to identifying the major
factors responsible for the retention, loyalty, and satisfaction of
their customers (Lighter, 2011). Collier & Evans (2017) also
point out that such organizations listen to their clients and use
the feedback to identify new opportunities as well as improve
their service delivery. For instance, SSM collects its customers’
feedback through the organization’s SFPP system for
semiannual assessments to determine the customers’ satisfaction
levels based on how SSM’s conducts its operations.
References
Collier, D. A., & Evans, J. R. (2017).
OM
. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Keyes, J. (2016).
Implementing the IT balanced scorecard: Aligning IT with
corporate strategy.
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Lighter, D. E. (2011).
Advanced performance improvement in health care: Principles
and methods
. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.